SPORTS MEDICINE
Top 5 yoga moves for volleyball players
Incorporating yoga into your regular routine can make you a better volleyball player and reduce your injury risk by Jill Wosmek
oga has all kinds of benefits for volleyball athletes, which is why so many players who have reached the highest level of the game work it into their routine, whether it’s in the morning after they wake up, before or after practice or as part of meditation in the evening.
Y Here are some of the areas where yoga will help you: INCREASE FLEXIBILITY Athletes tend to be flexible in some areas
and not in others. Look at our positioning when we’re playing back-row defense. Quite often, our posterior chain (hamstrings, low back) is lengthened and our anterior musculature (hip flexors, abs, chest) is shortened. So let’s coun- teract this with yoga moves.
INCREASE STRENGTH
As athletes, we’re always trying to find our body alignment, which leads to a solid founda- tion and allows our muscles to perform at an optimal level. Yoga can help.
IMPROVE BALANCE Volleyball offers a lot of challenges when it comes to single-leg and single-arm move- ments. It’s essential for an athlete to have excellent balance and overall body awareness, and those are two areas that yoga focuses on.
INJURY PREVENTION We can all agree that strength, flexibility and balance are key to injury prevention. So when you add yoga to your routine, you’re helping yourself stay healthy.
COMPLEMENT MENTAL TRAINING Greatly overlooked are an athlete’s ability to breathe, refocus and find clarity both on and off the court. I challenge you to spend five
1
minutes a day just working on
your breathing and clearing your mind. Yoga can provide a great platform for this. So let’s get to the moves. Here are the top five yoga poses for volleyball: 1. Dancer – Helps with hip mo- bility and single-leg balance. Volleyball and other life activities leave us with tight hip flexors and rounded shoulders. Time to stretch out! Muscles targeted: Deep stretch for hip flexors, chest and opposite hamstring. Reps: Once you feel comfortable in the stance, deepen your breath and complete 3 to 5 breaths, then change sides. Be careful not to hyperextend your knee or arch your lower back. 2. Threading-the-needle twist – Great for torso mobility and shoulder flexibility. In vol- leyball, we rotate one way a lot. With that said, our torso rotation can be limited in the opposite direction, which can lead to injury along the kinetic chain. Muscles targeted: Opens your shoulders, chest and upper back, reduces tension within the spine and increases hip flexibility. Reps: Hold for 10-30 seconds per side depending on your comfort level and stability. Complete 2 to 3 per side. 3. Wide-legged squatter – Pro- motes balance and flexibility. All volleyball players can relate to this one.
Muscles targeted: Works the back, calves and Achilles, adductors and hamstrings.
Reps: Deepen into the pose to a point 28 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
where you’re comfortable and balanced. Press your hands together to engage your core and lats. Hold pose for 20-30 seconds. 4. Reverse plank – Ideal for core strength and poste- rior chain activation (glutes, hamstrings, low back). This may be my favorite move! It’s a great challenge for our pos- terior chain (which helps us be powerful in our play) and it helps stretch the front of our body. Muscles targeted: Great stretch for the anterior side of your body while activating your posterior side.
Reps: Hold the pose for 20-30 seconds while breathing normally. Complete 2-3 sets. 5. Pigeon forward fold — Good for flexibility of the hip, back and lats. In the USA gym, we incor- porate this move into our post-practice cool-down and the athletes love it! Muscles targeted: Stretch for the hip, low back and lats. Reps: Deepen into the pose and hold for five deep breaths. Reaching to the right and to the left is recommended if you can comfortably hold the pelvis in position.
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