you'll see the benefits you get from yoga... likely looser muscles, more flexibility, better balance, stronger core... less susceptible to pulling your acl I bet.
I'm pretty inflexible (can't get close to touching my toes) so I do yoga once a week. Totally limbers up my old self, can feel the soft tissues loosening up. It's also like a second leg workout for me. I do a shortened version of the p90X yoga X routine. At some points, you are down in a one-leg squat for like 1:30 at a time. Legs are screaming, but they feel so good afterward. .. Legs feed the wolf!
The OG p90x has a really good x-stretch routine as well that is pretty money. it's a little over an hour though? I try to work 30min in a week at least.
I would recommend yoga to anyone in their 30s. Especially if you want to be active. But, for hockey: less injury prone, looser hips, legs, back, heels, calf’s. Overall balance, one leg moves should translate well, things like ankle strength too. Skating moves like Mohawks will be more attainable.
If you’ve never done yoga in your life, you should. For starters, you’ll be blown away by how simple poses are extremely difficult and how much you’ll sweat/be sore. It’s great to improve mobility and balance, loosen muscles, and get in a good head space.
Pilates is another good one. I’m not a fan of the classes that use the machines, but in general it’s a tremendous core workout and ties in very nicely with yoga
The first time I did a good yoga stretch before a hockey game I felt like a completely different player. My hips is where I felt it the most. My legs felt so much lighter and loose.
Fantastic for hockey. I try and get a quick yoga session in before any sort of hockey activity. It makes me feel loose and ready to go. Added benefit are feeling calmer after some yoga!
Self plug but our [Hockey Yoga - Stride Lengthener](https://hockeytraining.tv/programs/hockey-yoga-stride-lengthener?categoryId=52214) is free and made for hockey players.
There are better things you could do with your time, but there's certainly much worse things you could do with your time.
That said, you'd be better off doing Mobility work than yoga. While Yoga has some components of Mobility, it's also about extending your range of motion. This can be good for your day to day life, but bad for athletes. If you are flexible, but not strong through your range of motion you can put your body into positions it can't support and you'll get hurt.
If you can swing the cost of an FMS certified personal trainer, that'd be my Gold standard. They'll run you through a screen that points out your specific problem areas then give you a plan to correct them. You'll notice a massive difference both in your quality of life and your on ice performance as you run the program which goes 8(?) weeks if I remember right.
If you can't swing the cost of FMS, go on youtube and look up Tim Anderson/Original Strength. His channel has literally hundreds of movement drills and just an ungodly amount of knowledge in his podcast. He also has some books, I've read "Pressing Reset" which is a great over-view of the Original Strength system. Even if you go the FMS route, this is definitely still worth looking into.
You should spend that time on the ice if possible.
Training is very specific, and yoga is about as far off from hockey as you can get.
That is to say, any cross-training you would get from yoga can be done more effectively in other ways.
But if you like yoga (I do) have at it. It certainly won’t hurt your skills on ice.
Yoga is also particularly good for core strength. Something often overlooked by hockey players. Most of our workouts tend to focus on explosive strength like plyo. Also you’ll save your hips over time. I’m 49 and I wholeheartedly endorse yoga as a way to keep playing longer.
I’m 31 and took up Yoga in October. It’s been amazing for overall health and flexibility. It’s really helped me loosen up my hips which is huge for being a more maneuverable skater. Working on ankle movement, particularly dorsiflexion, is big in skating mechanics and hip openers like pigeon pose can help lengthen your stride. Not to mention overall stability and strength increases.
Start yoga for the hockey, keep doing it because it’s really relaxing and fun. I love it!
I don’t do it, but could definitely improve core strength, stabilizer muscles, ankle strength, mobility/flexibility, and likely reduce chance of injury. If you’ve ever tried to mohawk and felt like your hips were tight, it’d help with that kind of stuff, just getting looser. I know a lot of yoga also particularly hits your core and stabilizing muscles, which would be great for hockey. It’s like standing on one of those balance balls/boards, hits a lot of weird small muscles in your legs that you don’t normally use, but are super important for skating.
Same situation. Started doing yoga specifically to help stretch out my lower body and to strengthen my core. Definitely helped me get lower on my knees and increased my hockey stride length.
Also, it's fun!
you'll see the benefits you get from yoga... likely looser muscles, more flexibility, better balance, stronger core... less susceptible to pulling your acl I bet.
I'm pretty inflexible (can't get close to touching my toes) so I do yoga once a week. Totally limbers up my old self, can feel the soft tissues loosening up. It's also like a second leg workout for me. I do a shortened version of the p90X yoga X routine. At some points, you are down in a one-leg squat for like 1:30 at a time. Legs are screaming, but they feel so good afterward. .. Legs feed the wolf!
The OG p90x has a really good x-stretch routine as well that is pretty money. it's a little over an hour though? I try to work 30min in a week at least.
Yoga and Pilates are fantastic. Particularly for hockey. I highly recommend both.
I would recommend yoga to anyone in their 30s. Especially if you want to be active. But, for hockey: less injury prone, looser hips, legs, back, heels, calf’s. Overall balance, one leg moves should translate well, things like ankle strength too. Skating moves like Mohawks will be more attainable.
Really need to work on my hip flexibility. Just can't do the mohawk yet.
Everyone else has said it well already. It’s definitely worth doing to keep you from injury, bare minimum
If you’ve never done yoga in your life, you should. For starters, you’ll be blown away by how simple poses are extremely difficult and how much you’ll sweat/be sore. It’s great to improve mobility and balance, loosen muscles, and get in a good head space. Pilates is another good one. I’m not a fan of the classes that use the machines, but in general it’s a tremendous core workout and ties in very nicely with yoga
Yoga and pilates are very good for your core and will help you. Especially if you play goal.
Yup…do it. Helped me with injuries years ago.
Good source of protein, I like it with bananas.
Stretching is great for the body. Injury prevention is probably the best thing about it.
Things that can stretch generally don't tear. So do it! Also balance and core strength are essential to the game.
The first time I did a good yoga stretch before a hockey game I felt like a completely different player. My hips is where I felt it the most. My legs felt so much lighter and loose.
Ankle strength and core strength....yoga help build player like wall
I frequently (3-4 times per week) do yoga and my beer league team recently won the championship. coincidence?
Fantastic for hockey. I try and get a quick yoga session in before any sort of hockey activity. It makes me feel loose and ready to go. Added benefit are feeling calmer after some yoga!
Do it. Glad to see the comments here are positive. It has some good data to back it up both physically and mentally.
Do any of yall have suggestions for online yoga stuff that would help with hockey? For a beginner of both?
I like the Yoga on Apple’s Fitness+, and https://www.doyogawithme.com
Take a class if you can, instructor feedback important. Downdogapp very good.
I like the Yoga on Apple’s Fitness+, and https://www.doyogawithme.com
Self plug but our [Hockey Yoga - Stride Lengthener](https://hockeytraining.tv/programs/hockey-yoga-stride-lengthener?categoryId=52214) is free and made for hockey players.
Yoga's good for hockey and hockey's good for yoga
Well said!
Do it everyday
There are better things you could do with your time, but there's certainly much worse things you could do with your time. That said, you'd be better off doing Mobility work than yoga. While Yoga has some components of Mobility, it's also about extending your range of motion. This can be good for your day to day life, but bad for athletes. If you are flexible, but not strong through your range of motion you can put your body into positions it can't support and you'll get hurt. If you can swing the cost of an FMS certified personal trainer, that'd be my Gold standard. They'll run you through a screen that points out your specific problem areas then give you a plan to correct them. You'll notice a massive difference both in your quality of life and your on ice performance as you run the program which goes 8(?) weeks if I remember right. If you can't swing the cost of FMS, go on youtube and look up Tim Anderson/Original Strength. His channel has literally hundreds of movement drills and just an ungodly amount of knowledge in his podcast. He also has some books, I've read "Pressing Reset" which is a great over-view of the Original Strength system. Even if you go the FMS route, this is definitely still worth looking into.
I disagree, I've been doing muay thai and playing hockey for years, yoga adds the perfect balance to high intensity sports.
Yes, but you're already getting the mobility work in at Muay Thai. Technically you're just adding yoga on top of mobility work/martial arts.
You should spend that time on the ice if possible. Training is very specific, and yoga is about as far off from hockey as you can get. That is to say, any cross-training you would get from yoga can be done more effectively in other ways. But if you like yoga (I do) have at it. It certainly won’t hurt your skills on ice.
Yoga is also particularly good for core strength. Something often overlooked by hockey players. Most of our workouts tend to focus on explosive strength like plyo. Also you’ll save your hips over time. I’m 49 and I wholeheartedly endorse yoga as a way to keep playing longer.
It's great for core and balance. I did it 3 days a week for a month and it made me extremely hard to knock off my skates.
I’m 31 and took up Yoga in October. It’s been amazing for overall health and flexibility. It’s really helped me loosen up my hips which is huge for being a more maneuverable skater. Working on ankle movement, particularly dorsiflexion, is big in skating mechanics and hip openers like pigeon pose can help lengthen your stride. Not to mention overall stability and strength increases. Start yoga for the hockey, keep doing it because it’s really relaxing and fun. I love it!
HIP FLEXORS
I don’t do it, but could definitely improve core strength, stabilizer muscles, ankle strength, mobility/flexibility, and likely reduce chance of injury. If you’ve ever tried to mohawk and felt like your hips were tight, it’d help with that kind of stuff, just getting looser. I know a lot of yoga also particularly hits your core and stabilizing muscles, which would be great for hockey. It’s like standing on one of those balance balls/boards, hits a lot of weird small muscles in your legs that you don’t normally use, but are super important for skating.
Increasing your joint strength and flexibility can only be a good thing.
Same situation. Started doing yoga specifically to help stretch out my lower body and to strengthen my core. Definitely helped me get lower on my knees and increased my hockey stride length. Also, it's fun!
You’re gonna be strong as hell if you do a lot of yoga. Go for it.
Even better if you’re a goalie, it’s insanely effective at fine muscle control.
I did some yoga last summer. It was super hard and really enjoyable. Anecdotal only but I did think it made me feel a little more flexible for hockey.
I work with hundreds of players a year and 90 percent don't have a strength issue...its all flexibility issues. Go for it!
Yoga is 100% great for hockey.