The third piece in my series of yoga to do before, during, and after your run—all excerpts from the second edition of The Runner’s Guide to Yoga—is up at Yoga Journal.
When your run has been easy, or even moderate, you can move right into a quick practice, and, you’ll enjoy the benefit of warm and relatively loose muscles. (After a hard run, focus on recovery with gentle moves like Cat/Cow and Legs Up the Wall.) If you need to slot your routine a little later in the day, include some warm-up poses, like the Arrow Lunge Sequence, before moving into these balance poses, which challenge your strength and flexibility.
Practicing standing balance poses taxes your hips and legs to stabilize you. You’ll build strength in your standing-leg hip and lower leg while receiving a stretch for the raised or back-placed leg. Doing these three poses in sequence on one side before repeating on the other side increases the challenge. Together, these poses will stretch the main muscle groups of your hips, thighs, and lower legs, making them efficient and easy to include before you hit the shower.
