By CRT NYC guide, Angie Knudson
Greetings, Runners!
We’ve all heard that yoga is a great compliment to running, but what poses are best for all the miles we put on our feet?
With so many styles of yoga, it’s difficult to choose “the best”, as that could be different for every body. As a marathoner and yoga instructor, there’s so many sequences I love to do after a run that it’s hard to pick only a few. The order in which you do the poses may be more important, depending on whether you tend to hold tightness in the front of the hips or in the hamstrings. Here’s a post-run sequence covering all bases.
Warrior 1
Pyramid pose
Lizard (knee down)
Cat pulling its tail
Seated Pigeon
Warrior 1 (upper body, back hip flexors/quads, front leg glutes, back calf)
Runner Tip: We’re tight! Keep your stance shorter in this pose and bend the back knee slightly.
Pose Tips:
Hips stay square with shoulders. Try to keep the hip of the back leg pulled forward, and smear the hip of the front leg back to stay aligned.
The back foot’s heel is down and those toes back there are at a 45 degree angle (or close) in Warrior 1, unlike in High Lunge with the heel up and back toes facing forward (different poses, easily mistaken for each other). Stay in Warrior 1 and enjoy the support of pressing the pinky toe edge of the back foot into the ground, as well as that sweet calf stretch.
Pyramid pose: (piriformis, low back, back calf)
Runner Tip: Same stance as Warrior 1, only the front leg straightens. Once again, because we’re tight, it’s good to keep the front knee soft in order to protect extremely tight hamstrings. Don’t lock the front knee or straighten it all the way.
Pose Tips:
Keeping the hips square here is critical for that deep piriformis stretch.
Props are great here--placing your hand on a park bench, ottoman, or blocks help to keep you supported in the pose.
Lizard: (opens up chest, rear leg’s hip flexors/quads, hip rotation)
Runner Tip: There’s so much you can do in lizard. Peeling the big toe edge of the front foot off the floor and exploring the stretch deep in the inner hips is so delicious after a hard run. Twisting, reaching for that back foot, and even rocking the hips side-to-side, forward and back, all help relieve tightness.
Pose Tips:
Set your back knee down. If you need to grab a pillow for underneath your knee, do that. It’s worth having the knee down for a few minutes exploring the above (if you want to strengthen the legs, pick that knee up and be my guest!).
Bring the floor to you. Again--slide that ottoman over and rest your upper body on top. Or use blocks.
Cat Pulling Its Tail: (torso/ribcage, quads and hip flexors)
Runner’s Tip: This yin pose is my favorite for tight quads, but the real magic happens when you remember to twist back to face the ceiling after grabbing the bottom leg. The entire front line of the body gets lots of love here. A few reclined twists with the knees pulled into the chest can help you move into this pose after.
Pose Tips:
Lie on your side and grab bottom foot (top knee is bent and anchors over)
Now that your top knee is anchored, turn your heart to face the ceiling, or towards your back foot as you pull it away from the top leg.
Seated Pigeon (hips galore)!
Runner’s Tip: My favorite pigeon of all the varieties, aka “seated figure 4”. Palms are on the floor behind your back, and since we’re all runner’s fighting “turtle posture”, we’re pressing into our palms and trying to sit up nice and tall in this pose.
Pose Tips:
Start with heels further away from the hips in your figure 4, and gently walk them in closer to deepen the stretch.
Remember to lengthen the spine, with your palms supporting you! The weight of your upper body lengthened and close to your hips (as opposed to supine figure-4 lying down on your back) will put gentle pressure on your hips to help open them up.
Angie Knudson is one of our running tour guides in Queens! Her favorite place to run is Van Cortland Park in the Bronx—because the carrot cake there can’t be beat!
