Yoga Before or After a Workout? When is it Better to Do

The age old question: should you do yoga before or after your workout? This is a question that many athletes and fitness enthusiasts have asked.

Yoga can be a fantastic addition to your workout routine. But it’s important to know that timing is crucial to maximizing the impact of adding yoga to your workout. 

Should You Do Yoga Before or After Your Workout?

You should do yoga after your workout to get the most out of it. Your intention for your pre-workout routine is different from your intention for your post-workout routine, making it important to acknowledge the pros vs. cons of doing yoga before or after your workout.

Whereas doing yoga before a workout helps with things like increasing blood flow and warming up the muscles, doing yoga after a workout provides a completely different range of benefits. 

Benefits of Doing Yoga After a Workout

Doing yoga after your workout can provide a myriad of benefits that can help you with short-term gains and long-term goals. 

Increased Flexibility

Tight muscles can be devastating to your workout, so it’s important to incorporate a post-workout stretching routine that includes yoga. The many yoga postures are more well-suited for increased flexibility, as they challenge your muscles in a variety of 3-dimensional positions and angles to get better results.

Traditional stretching may not provide enough force  to be effective at increasing flexibility

Hasten Muscle Recovery

Tough workouts can cause sore muscles that can make it difficult to recover for your next workout. Including yoga after your workout can assist in inhibiting DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness.

This will hasten muscle recover and allow your body to recuperate faster and stronger for your next session. 

Slow Your Heartbeat

When your lungs and heart rate are high from a cardiovascular workout, supplementing your workout with yoga can help slow your heartbeat and calm your nervous system.

This process may include deep stretching and breathing techniques to allow your body to move from a sympathetic nervous system state (increased heart rate) to a parasympathetic nervous system state (reduced heart rate). 

Reduce Blood Sugar Levels

Complementing your workout, yoga can also help reduce blood sugar levels. Yoga’s unique ability to combine physical and psychological benefits can assist you in achieving full body wellness by reducing stress, balancing your qi, and boosting overall health.

As a result, your blood sugar levels can normalize to healthy levels.

Can You Do Yoga Before a Workout? 

Yes, you can do yoga before a workout, but it is generally not accepted. Some yoga poses involve a lot of static stretching, and that may cause a brief reduction of muscular strength and power.

It is much more beneficial to include dynamic exercises before a workout to increase your heart and active the muscles needed to perform.

Doing Yoga as a Workout

Yoga can also be a great workout on its own, especially in between days of intense activity. Whether you like lifting weights, playing sports, or running in your neighborhood, doing yoga as a cross-training workout can enhance your performance, reduce injury risk, and accelerate your recovery.

You can even do yoga warmup poses to prepare you for your yoga workout. Combined with the benefits towards your mental acuity and wellness, yoga should be part of everyone’s workout routine!