Most yoga teachers get this backwards—and it’s costing them athlete clients
I’ve spent over twenty years teaching athletes at every level, from weekend warriors to Division I football players. And the single most important concept I teach in my Teaching Yoga to Athletes online teacher training is one that most yoga teachers completely miss: the difference between yoga FOR athletes and athletic yoga.
These aren’t two names for the same thing. They’re fundamentally different approaches, and understanding which one athletes actually need is the difference between a one-time visitor and a client for life.
What athletic yoga looks like
Athletic yoga is conditioning disguised as yoga. Challenging sequences, intense holds, pushing to the edge. The focus is on building strength, increasing flexibility, developing stamina. Classes are heated, fast-paced, physically demanding.
You see it everywhere. “Power yoga for athletes.” “Yoga to enhance performance.” “Athletic flow for strength and flexibility.” The language sounds like a fitness class: engage your core, feel the burn, take it deeper, find your edge.
Athletic yoga has its place. For yoga practitioners who want a physical challenge, it works well. But for people who are already athletes? It misses the point entirely.
What athletes actually need
Athletes already get their workout at practice. They already know how to find their edgeâthey live there. They already understand discomfort. They don’t need yoga to provide more of what they already have.
What they need is the opposite.
Recovery. Mental training. Balance between effort and ease. Permission to not perform for once. Tools for managing stress and finding balance that no one else on their team provides.
The message in yoga FOR athletes is completely different: you don’t have to achieve anything here. You can rest. You can be present with your body without judgment or goals.
What this looks like in practice
When I work with the UNC football team, I could design an athletic yoga class for them. These are powerful, capable athletes who could physically handle any challenging sequence I throw at them.
But that’s not what they need. They’re doing intense physical training for hours every day. Their strength coaches push them. Their practices are demanding. Their games are brutal.
So I teach yoga FOR athletes. Simple breathing to shift gears. Gentle mobility work for recovery. Supported positions that allow actual rest. Savasana where they can completely let go.
What happens? These tough athletes thank me. They ask when I can come back. They tell their coaches that the yoga sessions are essential to their training. Not because I challenged them physicallyâbecause I gave them something they weren’t getting anywhere else.
Why this matters for your teaching career
Athletes will come back. When you offer the missing piece—balance, recovery, mental training—you become essential to their program. You’re not competing with their existing training. You’re complementing it.
Your positioning changes. You’re not “another challenging workout.” You’re the recovery and balance component of athletic training. You fill a gap that no one else fills.
Your pricing changes. Athletic yoga competes with other fitness classes at standard studio rates. Yoga FOR athletes is specialized athletic performance workâsimilar to sports massage, mental skills coaching, or specialized physical therapy. That commands premium pricing.
The bottom line
One approach adds intensity to their training. The other provides essential balance. One competes with their existing program. The other complements it.
Get this distinction right, and everything else about teaching athletes falls into place.
Want to learn the complete system? I created a free workshop where I walk you through exactly how to provide what athletes need, communicate your value, and charge professional rates for this specialized work.
