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If you’re an athlete but your workout routine doesn’t include stretching, you may want to rethink that. Whether you’re into running, cycling, skiing, swimming, hiking, weightlifting, CrossFit, or pretty much any athletic endeavor, stretching can minimize your muscle recovery time when practiced regularly.
“Practicing yoga directly after a workout alleviates overall tension, expands blood flow to your muscles and ensures oxygen and nutrients energize your tissues,” says yoga teacher Amanda Sacks, LMSW. That, in turn, accelerates your recovery.
But how you stretch also matters. Being purposeful with your breathing, namely by slowing and deepening your inhalations and exhalations as you do in yoga, oxygenates your blood to energize your body even as it quiets your mind. “The focus on breathing allows us to stretch and strengthen these muscles in a more mindful way rather than just repeating the same generic stretches,” “says yoga teacher Jillian McLaughlin Wirtz.
A combination of somewhat challenging as well as more restorative yoga poses can be an ideal pairing to relieve your muscles after training. Take just a few minutes after your workout and explore some stretches that you can deeply relax into, says Sacks.
7 Essential Yoga Poses for Muscle Recovery
Any or all of the following stretches work well as a cool down for most workouts. Practice these muscle recovery yoga stretches in the order listed as a sequence or select several individual poses if you prefer to target specific areas you find difficult to release.
1. Cat/Cow Pose
These warm-ups bring mobility to the spine and stretch your chest. To emphasize the stretch in your upper back, come onto your forearms rather than your hands.
How to: Begin on your hands and knees. Inhale as you arch your back, lift your chin, and draw your chest forward in Cow Pose.
Exhale as you round your back and tuck your chin into your chest. Repeat several rounds, syncing your movement with your breath in Cat Pose.
2. Downward-Facing Dog Pose
The iconic yoga pose typically known as Down Dog is a classic for a reason. It stretches you entire posterior body, from the back of your head to your heels.
How to: Starting on hands and knees, inhale as you lift both knees off the floor and lift your hips toward the ceiling. Exhale as you straighten both arms and sink your heels toward the floor. Keep as much bend in your knees as you need. Breathe here for at least 30 seconds.
3. Seated or Reclined Pigeon
Also known as a Figure-4, this seated or reclined version of Pigeon Pose targets the glutes and hips, especially the piriformis.
How to: Begin sitting or lying on your back. Inhale and cross your right ankle over your left knee. If you’re seated, adjust the intensity of the stretch by sliding your left heel closer to or farther away from you. If you’re reclined, draw your left thigh toward your chest with your hands but keep your head on the mat and your neck and shoulders relaxed. Breathe here for at least 30 seconds. Switch sides.
4. Bridge Pose
This reclined pose stretches the hip flexors, quads, and some of the abdominals even as it strengthens the muscles along the back body. You can also practice a completely restorative version of Bridge Pose with a block on its lowest level beneath your sacrum and linger there for a few minutes.
How to: Begin lying on your back with both knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Inhale and lift your hips up off the floor. Exhale and reach your fingertips toward your heels.
5. Happy Baby Pose
The reclined stretch, known as either Happy Baby or Dead Bug, targets your glutes, hips, and calves.
How to: Begin lying on your back with your feet on the mat. Inhale and draw both your knees into your chest. Exhale straighten your left leg on the floor and bend your right knee so your ankle is stacked over your knee. Reach your right hand to the outside of your right foot or shin in Half Happy Baby.
You can instead practice the slightly more intense full version of Happy Baby in which you bend both knees and bring one hand to each foot. Try to bring your shins perpendicular to the floor.
6. Reclined Twist
This cool-down yoga pose brings mobility to your side and a stretch to your side body, including the IT band along your outer hips, which tends to become tight in most runners, cyclists, and hikers.
How to: Begin lying on your back. Inhale as you bend your knees and draw them toward your chest. Exhale as you roll to your left, letting your knees stack but keep both shoulders on the floor. Reach both arms straight out from your body to help you stabilize as you breathe here, relaxing your legs, belly, and shoulders. Slowly come back to center and repeat on the other side.
7. Legs Up the Wall Pose
The restorative pose known as Legs Up the Wall allows you to experience a passive stretch along your calves and hamstrings as you rest.
How to: Lie down on your back with your right hip close to the wall. Take your hands behind you and slowly lower yourself to the floor as you swing both legs up the wall. Slide your feet hip-distance apart so your femurs can sink into your hips. Rest your heels against the wall and try to relax your legs for maximum muscle recovery. Take a long slow breath out and stay here for up to 15 minutes.
