I received a bit of hate mail and messages in review of my post on Yoga not increasing athletic performance. It has been entertaining just to read and interact with people who believe something, but no idea about the science behind what they believe. I did this last time, but Ill try again... I am not saying Yoga is bad. IT IS NOT. I am not saying it is not good for flexibility and mobility. IT IS. I am not saying Yoga is not relaxing. IT IS (for some people). I am not saying Yoga does not improve balance. IT DOES (in the poses practiced). I know and understand all the benefits of Yoga. The physiology behind it is pretty simple. SO AGAIN LET ME CLARIFY THAT I DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST YOGA. BTW, I had a Yoga studio at Crossfit Wilmington for over a year. It did exactly what it was supposed to do... taught the practice of Yoga. I closed it because there are facilities in Wilmington that are dedicated to the practice. They do a better job in an environment completely designed for Yoga. So if that article I wrote was not in opposition to Yoga, what was it? It was in contention to all these full of shit coaches out there who are purveying the benefits of Yoga as athletic performance enhancing. They are not only wrong, but simply put: Frauds trying to reel in female clients. I was going to write piece further explaining the physiology at play in Yoga, how flexibility is actually gained, and why the breathing techniques used in Yoga aid the peripheral nervous system to give up its protective hold it has over the skeletal muscle. But I am just not sure any coach or athlete who cannot connect the dots between how holding a static pose CANNOT improve dynamic movement will be able to grasp an article were I line out how golgi tendon organs, spindles, how the peripheral nervous system functions and allow for AND disallow flexibility. Just saying... if a coach does not understand basic stimuli / adaptation or the General Adaptation Syndrome, I can only guess an article detailing proprioceptors, autonomous inhibition, plasticity, elasticity and stretch reflex will likely be outside the left and right limits of said coaches aptitude also. Most of the counters Ive had on the article were along the lines of: Person: Yoga helped my _____. I ask Me: How to do know it helped your _____ ? Person: Becuase my ______ improved since Ive been doing Yoga. Me: Have you also been doing _____? Person Yes, but, um.... Exactly. If you tell me Yoga helped you improve your front squat by increasing your mobility that allows for a better bottom position, but youve been doing front squats, your study is invalid and it is simply more likely doing front squats improved your front squat. Yoga is not designed to improve any lift. It is not specific. Shelby Denton said it best when he said Yoga is the CrossFit of stretching. Yes, Yoga is broad and not specific. If you want a stretching routine that improves your athleticism in regards to your sport, we can call it applied flexibility, you must do stretches that support the bio-mechanics of your sport(s). Obviously, that is an article, or series of articles itself, but pick up a copy of the book Stretching to Win (thanks to James Tatum for referring it to me years ago). It is great reference for applying stretches to athletes and it will give you, the coach who wants to know more, a better understanding of applied flexibility. In sum... take athletic advice from coaches who have produced solid athletes in your sport. If they have put athletes on the podium of that sport and they use Yoga to do it, then get on board. But be aware that most of the Yoga sales pitches by strength coaches are lame attempts at marketing.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 18:31:04 +0000
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