Yoga?

[lollywolls]

Evening all, admittedly I am a lurker but love reading everyone’s running stories! I have never done any type of running in my life, in fact the only thing I have ever run is a bath!!! I’m training alone as I set myself a challenge in February to run the great south run in October! I live in Portsmouth and have watched it for so many years and this year I will be a participant 😬

I’m currently on W7R2 and have felt my lower back starting to ache now the longer runs are kicking in, to the point I feel like i have been stood up at a Take That concert for 5 hours and I need to bend over and touch my toes!!! So tomorrow night I am taking on another challenge and going to a yoga class!! Does anyone else do yoga along side running? Do they feel it helps in anyway to strengthen anything from head to toe? Any experiences greatly received 😬

[trogdelight Graduate]

No experience myself, but I've got exactly the same thing with my back. Let me know how the yoga goes.

[lollywolls Graduate in reply to trogdelight]

Just an update! Yoga was good, harder than I expected and certainly made muscles I didn’t even know I had ache!!! The last 15 minutes was lights off and under a blanket to completely rest the joints and the body! So relaxed to the point that an old dear was snoring 5 minutes in 🙈 I’m going back next week as I think it will make my back and core that much stronger 😬

[Fishypieface Graduate in reply to lollywolls]

Snoring and farting are standard in the relaxation part of any yoga class ... I've managed to avoid both so far, but I feel it's only a matter of time before it's my turn!! Yoga is great for general health & wellbeing amongst all the other stuff. There are some great back stretches you can do, maybe ask your teacher and they might incorporate some in the class for you.

[Grannyruns Graduate in reply to lollywolls]

Yoga is brilliant to strengthen and stretch everything. Also good for your breathing as that's central to it all. Good luck

[JennyH10 Graduate]

I love yoga, I don’t do it as often as I should though. I find it good for flexibility but I’m not sure about strength. Pilates is amazing for your core strength though, get planking 😎

[lollywolls Graduate in reply to JennyH10]

Planking 😮😮😮 Lordy one step at a time 😂

[JennyH10 Graduate in reply to lollywolls]

😂😂😂

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

I do a bit of yoga, i find it great for flexibility. The right poses will help to strengthen. I use poses to stretch the hamstrings and hips mainly as well as loosening the back. 👍

[lollywolls Graduate in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Ooooo thank you for the info it’s all the unknown to me, I have no idea what to expect but really looking forward to something to do on rest days 😆

[Millsie-J Graduate]

I do yoga and Pilates alongside running. I enjoy both. Pilates is particularly good for improving core strength.

Enjoy!

[Sarakc Graduate]

Hi! Let us know how you get on!

I have a sore back at the moment and I was thinking of Yoga! I’ve looked at a few videos online and I’m so un flexible that I can’t even sit cross legged on floor in the so called “easy” pose!!!! 😀

[Nannalyn53 Graduate]

Hi I only started running in January thanks to C25k, but have done yoga for over 40 years. It has helped me immeasurably, particularly when I injured my back carrying a clingy toddler around about 35 years ago. As others say, great for strengthening back muscles and core, and for its psychological/ spiritual benefits. A lot of the mindfulness that’s now recognised as being so useful for mental stress is very similar to yoga breathing and relaxation. My only proviso is to look around for experienced teachers. Sadly too many people now claim to be yoga teachers with very minimal experience and a lot of the fashionable classes are not very yogic at all, being more about pushing and straining! It’s surprisingly easy to get hurt in these classes so do your research and maybe try different teachers. The one I now go to takes a very gentle, kind to the body approach (Scaravelli yoga) which has nevertheless enabled me to have more flexibility in my back and hips than I’ve ever had, even in my 20s. Apologies for the ramble and good luck.

[51firstrun Graduate]

I have done yoga for 15 years . Would say it is great for bad back but go to a class and tell teacher first . Really helps for stiffness of whole body .