Last week, I spoke virtually to rowers in Petaluma, California, and across the country on why and how to incorporate yoga into their training. We started with some slides and a brief lecture on yoga for athletes, then I presented a standing sequence—no props or mat required—that can be practiced both as a dynamic warmup before getting in the boat and as a post-workout stretch off the water. My host was my Teaching Yoga to Athletes student Jessica McCready, who works with rowers and runners in the north Bay Area. You’ll find other useful chats for rowers here.
You can see the whole presentation here.
If you’re interested in the led movement portion, scrub ahead to 29:00 to see the sequence in list form, then demonstrated in a follow-along style.
This sequence is a modified version of one that appears in Everyday Yoga. (Here’s an example of how I tweaked it for winter sports in a piece for Yoga Journal.) It’s adaptable for various sports and works especially well when you don’t have much room or time. Try it and let me know what you think!