Improve Your Athletic Game the Green Way With Yoga: How Yoga Can Make You Better at Any Sport

Yoga is more than a body-bending, mind-calming green exercise practice for granola crunching yogis. Fact is: yoga can actually be a seriously sweat-drenching workout that has the ability to bring even the most muscle-wrought workout maniac to their knees. But more than providing a great green workout, with no machine, no equipment, no electricity required, yoga (especially when practiced on an eco yoga mat is the magic bullet green exercise program that has the ability to keep your body strong and improve your game?no matter what game that is.

Desi Bartlett M.S., CPT, who holds advanced certifications in Yoga, Personal Training, and Group Fitness, a degree in Kinesiology, a Master's degree in Corporate Fitness, and a continuing education provider through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the National Council for Personal Trainers, trains tons of athletes with yoga. "Outdoor athletes naturally incorporate many of the elements of yoga into their chosen sport. The connection to the body, breath and mental focus are all present in sports like running, rock climbing and cycling."

In order to maintain balance in the body, practicing a few basic yoga poses after your outdoor activity can help keep the body strong, flexible and healthy. How? Desi says that "Depending on your particular sport, there may be a need to stretch and lengthen a specific muscle group, or there may be a need to strengthen it. By practicing specific Yoga poses, you can keep your joints strong and healthy for many years, and help to ward off overuse injuries." Generally speaking, it is optimal to stretch the muscles that are being used over and over again, and to strengthen those which are constantly being stretched. Yoga can do both.