So we’ve all heard that many pros practice yoga for sports training. But who exactly does yoga benefit the most? Does it work better for some sports rather than others? I was quite curious to find out, so I did a little bit of research and found a very impressive (and diverse) list of famous professional athletes who practice yoga to improve their game performance. In no particular order:
- Le Bron James. Perhaps the most well-known player in the NBA, Le Bron attributes his good health to his regular yoga practice.
- Maria Sharapova. Famous for her grace and performance in tennis, she says:” When I travel to tournaments I put the disk in my computer three or four times a week and do yoga for about an hour. It helps my flexibility and gets me more relaxed, especially after a good workout. I enjoy it, and it helps my game tremendously.”
- The entire Philadelphia Eagles NFL team. The famous Baron Baptiste yoga guru led the team through their yoga for sports training for four years!
- Tim Thomas. The Boston Bruins and US Olympic goaltender says he “had no idea what [he] was getting [himself] into” and he was sweating within 5 minutes.“My whole career has been about proving to people that I can play in the NHL and that I can be very successful in the NHL so yoga’s part of that journey.”
- Ex-Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabar. He has been quoted saying “There is no way I could have played as long as I did without yoga.”
- Daylan Childress, Cincinnati Reds Pitcher. This baseball player uses yoga to relieve stresses in his body and cure back pain.
- The Ottawa Senators NHL team. They reported that the fewer injuries in the 2006-07 season were the fruit of their yoga training.
- Shaquille O’Neal.
Wow! What a diverse group of well-known professional athletes! In this list, we have got basketball, tennis, football, hockey, and baseball players who all use yoga for sports training. I think it is safe to say that no matter what sport you are playing, you will benefit from practicing yoga.
