Optimizing the body for the race

A runner friend has asked me to tell him something about the benefits of Yoga for the activity he performs. This post is the result of the answer to his query.

You are one of the runners who think that the more hours of training strengthening the muscles, the more km of the race, the greater the performance.

That the more you run, the faster you are, that the more muscle strength you achieve, the more capacity your muscles have to withstand long runs and the faster you can get…

Yes, do you think so?

Let us tell you that no, that is not the case. Not only is it not so, but it is even the opposite.

Running is a type of repetitive body effort, which occurs in a single plane: in a race we repeat the same joint movements thousands of times and in the same direction, they are always the same muscles that are active and doing the same activity and are also other same muscles that remain less active. This is something that the body ends up accusing : muscular exhaustion, which can even go unnoticed, injuries, joint wear and imbalance in the muscular tensions that keep the body in balance, are some of the consequences that, in the long run, the fact of run regularly.

This reality should not mislead us, because running also has many benefits for the body, the psyche and the general state of being.