After a great run on your home treadmill, you’re sure to feel exhilarated and happy with yourself for completing a successful fitness session. When you’re on a runner’s high, the last thing you might want to do is take the time to cool down and stretch – but this is an underrated and important aspect of your total workout. Cooling down helps prevent injuries and sore muscles, and keeps you flexible and mobile.
If you find traditional stretching boring when you hop off of your home gym equipment, you might want to try a quick yoga sequence that’s excellent for a little bit of cross training.
As Ace Fitness explained, doing some post-run yoga poses helps you maintain your flexibility while recirculating built-up lactic acid. Additionally, yoga asanas are not static, isolated stretches, which means that they help with proper muscle balance.
What’s more, asanas are performed slowly and deliberately, incorporating deep, slow breathing, which will help return your body to its natural resting state after an intense run that got your heart beating quickly.
Here are six yoga poses Ace Fitness suggested for your post-run cool down:
1. Standing pigeon
This pose will open up the external rotators in your hip and stretch your piriformis muscle.
2. Diamond variation pose
The diamond helps to stretch the bottom of your feet – also known as the plantar fascia – which can get tight easily.
3. Pyramid pose
Pyramid loosens up the back of your legs, targeting your hamstrings as well as your glutes and calves.
4. Standing downward facing dog
The standing version of this asana opens your chest and stretches the backside of your body and lower extremities
5. Low lunge
This pose stretches out your quads and hips flexors, which is especially important for runners.
6. Chest opening Warrior 1
This asana will help stretch out your chest muscles as well as work your hips and obliques.