11 Fantastic Yoga For Runners To Maintain Your Body’s Health

If you’re a runner, you may have wondered about the benefits of practicing both.

Yoga is a great way to improve your mental health and running abilities, as you can focus on your breath, body, and mental awareness. Not only will you balance your body and mind, but you’ll also be more in control when running for long periods.

We’ll help you find the best poses to get the best of both worlds in yoga and running. So, let’s find the right balance to maintain your body’s health.

1. Bow Pose

The bow pose is a great technique when you want to release all of your tension. This works a lot like a bowstring being released. All you need to do is lie on your belly, extend your feet straight back, and curl your body so you take the shape of a bow.

Hold onto your feet, and lift your body as high as possible. 

Using this technique, you’ll strengthen your back and open the entirety of your front body. It not only helps your flexibility but strengthens your glutes too. So, it’s the best technique to improve your mobility. 

2. Camel Pose

The camel pose will help you if you find that your posture is more hunched over. Kneel on your yoga mat with your feet pointing straight behind you. Pull yourself back and stretch your back and neck while reaching for your heels with your hands. 

You shouldn’t have any issues learning this technique; it will greatly help your posture. Like the bow pose, it is perfect for improving the flexibility of your upper body. 

3. Chair Pose

If you want a pose that will help you stabilize your legs, ankles, feet, and upper body, we recommend the chair pose. It is exactly as you would imagine it.

Start in the mountain pose and bend your knees, moving your hips back like you’re about to sit in a chair. Raise your arms in the air and keep reaching higher while your knees are still bent in a sitting position.

This is a simple technique, but it can be challenging for some. To try and make it easier for yourself, consider beginning your position while using a wall as support. 

4. Child’s Pose

The child’s pose is one of yoga’s essential positions. It’s a great way to stretch your body while resting. You simply take the same position as a resting newborn.

Go to your hands and knees on your yoga mat, bringing your knees to your stomach while keeping them wide.

Ensure that your big toes are touching, and rest your head on the floor, on a block, or on your hands.

While it may not seem like an intense technique, a child’s pose is perfect for stretching your upper body and back while stretching your thighs, neck, and ankles. It’s a peaceful pose, so you’ll find that you’ll feel relaxed afterward. 

5. Crescent Lunge

The crescent lunge is a technique where you put one leg forward and lunge while sweeping your arms out and upwards to the sky. You need to keep your back straight and focus on extending through your back leg. 

Although it can be difficult initially, you’ll soon find that the crescent lunge will help you improve your balance and regain stability. If you need to strengthen your legs, then this is the perfect movement to do so.

Runners can benefit a lot from practicing the crescent lunge. 

6. Dolphin Pose

In a Dolphin pose, you hold yourself on your hands and knees, with your forearms directly on the floor.

Then, raise your hips so that your back and legs are straight and look like you’re holding yourself in an upside-down V-shape. If you can’t keep your back and legs straight, then you can keep your knees bent.

It is a difficult pose, but you can get it right with enough practice.

We find that this is a great pose to strengthen several parts of your body, such as your arms, legs, shoulders, and upper body. It will also activate the arches of your feet. 

7. Downward-Facing Dog

The downward-facing dog is somewhat more challenging than the dolphin pose. If you’re struggling with the downward-facing dog, we recommend using the dolphin pose instead. You’ll need to go to your hands and knees, and in fact, it’s very similar to the dolphin pose.

The only difference is that you hold yourself up more with your wrists, so it’s more challenging if you have weak wrists.

Using the downward-facing dog, you’ll find that your hamstrings and calves will be more stretched, and your arms and legs will go stronger. In fact, if you do it regularly, you might be able to relieve chronic back pain. 

8. Lizard Pose

While it might look challenging, the lizard pose is one of the best positions for any runner. It’s one of the best moves to increase your flexibility. All you need to do is start on your hands and knees.

Align your knees with your hips, and then push your left leg out behind you and place your weight on it. Then, move your right foot so your knee should be next to your shoulder and your right foot stacked beneath your knee.

Hold your weight on your forearms, and then repeat to your other side.

The lizard pose is difficult, so don’t push yourself if you don’t get it right the first time. The most important factor is that you engage your inner thighs.

If you do this correctly, you’ll find that you’ll strengthen and stretch your glutes, hamstring, and spine and open your hips to increase your mobility. 

9. Pigeon Pose

While the pigeon pose can be a challenge for beginners, it is a good pose for helping you increase the mobility of your hips. If you’re struggling with lizard pose, this could be a slightly easier adjustment.

With your back up straight, your right knee should bend so your foot is facing inwards, while your left leg should be pointed straight behind you.

If you want to increase hip mobility, this can be a great method to do so. It will also calm your mind and allow you to focus on improving your core strength to ensure your hips remain level. 

10. Reverse Warrior

The reverse warrior poses will help open your chest and side body, allowing you to breathe deeper and releasing any tension in your sides. However, that’s not all.

By doing this pose, you’ll find that you’ll be able to strengthen your legs and help increase your mobility. If you’re struggling to balance it, don’t force it, and focus on your back foot instead of your hand in the air. 

To do this position, you’ll need to hold your left arm in the air with your right arm pulled back so your fingers are touching your right leg. Stretch your right leg behind you while keeping your left leg bent at your knee in front of you.

Ensure your back is straight, and if you want more of a shoulder stretch, sweep your left arm behind you to reach for your right thigh. 

11. Runner’s Lunge

We shouldn’t have to explain this pose too much, as it looks exactly as it sounds. This will look like your starter position if you’ve ever run in a race. Put your best foot forward and slide your other leg back until you feel a stretch in your hips.

Rest your fingertips on the floor, and press down firmly with your front heel. Instead of racing, you should focus on keeping your balance and improving your core.

This is a perfect technique for runners, targeting your hips, glutes, thighs, and core. It can help relieve pressure on your knees and improve your mobility and endurance. 

Final Thoughts

You may benefit from practicing any of these poses if you’re a runner. Not only is yoga great for your health, but you may also find that activating your muscles will improve your skills.

Whether you want to increase your mobility and move faster or just find new ways to stretch and strengthen your limbs, these poses will help your body energize.

Has this article helped you in any way, and now you’re looking for more poses? Feel free to check out our other articles to learn more about new positions to energize your body after running. 

Frequently Asked Questions

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