Hockey Yoga Stretches

Yoga Stretches for Hockey

One of the best Yoga stretches you can use for Hockey is the Triangle pose.

This Yoga pose is great for hockey players because it focuses on the spine, lower back, flexibility, lateral muscles, and hamstrings. This stretch also increases your flexibility and strength.

In this exercise, you build up strength in the lower back and upper legs while you remove tension from the lower and upper back, the hips and the hamstrings through both the twist and the stretching. The yoga stretch is good for your sense of coordination and sense of balance which is critical in hockey.





Step by Step Stretch

Stand in Tadasana. With an exhalation, step or lightly jump your feet 3 1/2 to 4 feet apart. Raise your arms parallel to the floor and stretch them actively out to the sides, shoulder blades wide, palms down.

Turn your left foot in slightly to the right and your right foot out to the right 90 degrees. Align the right heel with the left heel. Firm your thighs and turn your right thigh outward, so that the center of the right knee cap is in line with the center of the right ankle.

Exhale and extend your torso to the right directly over the plane of the right leg, bending from the hip joint, not the waist. Anchor this yoga stretch by strengthening the left leg and pressing the outer heel firmly to the floor. Rotate the torso to the left, keeping the two sides equally long. Let the left hip come slightly forward and lengthen the tailbone toward the back heel.

Rest your right hand on your shin, ankle, or the floor outside your right foot, whatever is possible without distorting the sides of the torso. Stretch your left arm toward the ceiling, in line with the tops of your shoulders. Keep your head in a neutral yoga position or turn it to the left, eyes gazing softly at the left thumb.

Stay in this yoga pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Inhale to come up, strongly pressing the back heel into the floor and reaching the top arm toward the ceiling. Reverse the feet and repeat for the stretch for thesame length of time to the left.

Remember to listen to your body and stop if you feel ANY pain. Keep an open mind and you'll find Yoga stretches can really help you in hockey.