Yoga in Your Training: A Season Plan for Athletes

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Monday after a weekend game. Instead of another lift, a college team rolls out mats in the auxiliary gym: forty minutes of lunges, long holds, single-leg balances and slow breathing, with a few groans from the guys who can’t reach their shins. Across sports, from high school programs to pros and adult runners and pickleball players, yoga has become a normal part of the week. Done well, it’s a mobility, balance and breathing session that happens to have its own vocabulary. Done badly, it’s one more hard workout on a tired body. This page is about fitting it into a season so it helps your sport.

General information, not medical or coaching advice. If you’re injured or managing a condition, check with your doctor, physical therapist or athletic trainer first. Back to the yoga for athletes hub.

What yoga can and can’t do for an athlete

The research on athletes is encouraging but small. In a 10-week study of male college athletes, the group that added two yoga sessions a week improved on flexibility (sit-and-reach and shoulder tests) and a balance test, while the athletes who didn’t add yoga did not change. A 2025 review of yoga in track and field athletes found gains in flexibility and balance, moderate strength gains in some studies, and support for mental health, with mixed results on stress and on performance itself; programs ran 2 to 4 sessions a week for 8 to 15 weeks. NCCIH reports that most studies of balance in healthy people (11 of 15) found yoga improved it.

Two honest caveats. First, yoga isn’t the only way to gain range of motion: a 2021 meta-analysis found strength training through a full range improved flexibility about as much as stretching did. Second, there’s little evidence that yoga by itself prevents sports injuries. Treat it as a useful tool for mobility, balance, body awareness and calm, alongside strength work and your sport’s proven prevention programs, not a replacement for them.

How much: the basic dose

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends flexibility work for each major muscle-tendon group on at least 2 days a week, about 60 seconds in total per exercise (for example, two holds of 30 seconds), plus balance, agility and coordination work on 2 to 3 days a week. Two yoga sessions a week cover most of that in one go, which is also what the athlete studies above used.

Yoga across the season

Phase	How much	What kind
Off-season	2–3 sessions a week, 45–60 min	The time to learn: classes with a good teacher, work on your stiffest areas, build balance and control.
Preseason	1–2 sessions a week, 30–45 min	Mobility-focused flow on lighter days. Not right before speed, plyometric or heavy lifting sessions.
In-season	1 short session plus 10-minute add-ons	Gentle flow on the day after games or the lightest training day; 10 minutes of floor poses after practice; no new advanced poses.
Post-season	As you like	Restorative or yin, walking, sleep. Let the body come down; see yoga for recovery.

These are practical starting points, not rules from a study. Two principles carry most of the weight: keep long, deep stretching away from the hour before explosive work (see yoga before and after games for why), and count hard yoga (power, hot, long arm-balance sessions) as training load, not as rest.

Sample routines by sport type

Each is about 15–20 minutes. Hold most poses for 5–8 slow breaths, do both sides, and stay at a strong-but-comfortable stretch. Swap out anything that hurts.

Runners, cyclists and endurance athletes

Calves, hip flexors, glutes and the upper back that rounds over handlebars and long runs. Downward dog with alternating heel presses; low lunge (back knee down) for the hip flexors; half splits with bent knee as needed; figure-4 or reclined pigeon for the glutes; bridge; sphinx or gentle cobra to open the front of the body; finish with legs up the wall. More for runners on our running training page.

Field and court sports (soccer, basketball, football, lacrosse, tennis, pickleball)

Cutting and landing sports need hips that move in every direction and ankles and knees that stay stable on one leg. Warrior II into reverse warrior; side lunge (skandasana) with hands on a block; low lunge with a twist; tree pose and warrior III for single-leg balance; chair pose for the quads; happy baby for the groin. Balance poses fit well with the neuromuscular work in programs like FIFA 11+ (see soccer training).

Overhead and throwing athletes (baseball, softball, volleyball, swimming, tennis)

Upper-back rotation and side-body length, with care for the shoulder. Thread the needle; cat-cow; open book on the side; puppy pose with elbows on a block; extended side angle; child’s pose with arms walked to each side. Keep shoulder stretches gentle and avoid forcing the arm behind you: many overhead athletes already have plenty of shoulder range, and a PT can tell you whether you need more mobility or more control.

Strength, power and contact athletes (lifters, football linemen, wrestlers, rugby)

Hips, ankles and the thoracic spine for better squat and hinge positions. Deep squat (malasana) holding a block or a post; low lunge with the back foot raised on a block for the quads; pigeon or figure-4; thread the needle; supported fish over a block for the upper back; child’s pose. Leave out headstands and shoulder stands, which load the neck (see yoga injuries).

Mobility and balance work that carries over

• Own the range, don’t just visit it. Hold the end of a lunge or side lunge with muscles working, then move out slowly. That control is what sport uses.
• Balance on one leg with your eyes up, then with a slow head turn, then on a folded mat. Tree, warrior III and half moon are the classics.
• Use props generously. Blocks bring the floor closer; a strap lets you stretch hamstrings without rounding your back.
• Combine with strength. Given that strength training through a full range also builds flexibility, many athletes pair a short yoga session with their resistance-band or lifting work; see our resistance bands guide.

Breathing: the part athletes skip

Slow breathing is the piece of yoga with the clearest research behind it. A review of slow-breathing studies (under 10 breaths a minute) in healthy people linked it with higher heart rate variability (HRV) and with feeling calmer and more alert. A 2022 meta-analysis of 223 studies found voluntary slow breathing raised the vagally mediated part of HRV during practice, right after a session and after multi-week programs. NCCIH says slow, deep breathing may modestly lower blood pressure and help manage stress. None of that makes breathing a treatment, but it’s a free, quick way to settle down.

• Try it: breathe in through the nose for about 5 seconds and out for about 5 seconds, roughly 6 breaths a minute, for 3–5 minutes. Belly and lower ribs move; shoulders stay quiet.
• When: at the end of a yoga session, before bed, or before a game if you get over-amped (keep it short so you don’t get sleepy).
• Skip forceful breathing (rapid, powerful breaths) when you’re new; NCCIH lists it with headstand and lotus as things to avoid early on.

If you like numbers, a chest strap or recovery tracker can show your heart rate and HRV during and after breathing sessions; see best wearables for yoga and our explainer on HRV for athletes.

What to have at home

You can do all of the above on a towel, but most athletes who stick with it have a mat that doesn’t slide, like the Manduka PRO, two blocks and a strap like the Gaiam Block & Strap Combo, and a foam roller like the TriggerPoint GRID to use before stretching. Our foam roller guide compares more.

Yoga in your training: FAQs

How many times a week should athletes do yoga?

Two sessions a week is a good target. That’s what a 10-week college-athlete study used, and it covers ACSM’s advice of flexibility work at least 2 days a week. In-season, one short session plus a few minutes after practice is plenty.

Does yoga improve athletic performance?

Studies show gains in flexibility and balance, and some show strength and mental-health benefits, but direct effects on performance are mixed and the studies are small. Think of yoga as support for your sport, not a shortcut.

Can yoga replace strength training?

No. Some yoga studies in athletes show moderate strength gains, but yoga doesn’t load muscles the way progressive lifting does. Strength training through a full range also improves flexibility, so most athletes do both.

Is hot yoga good training for athletes?

A 2025 review found claims that hot yoga beats other yoga or exercise are not proven yet, and the heat adds risk. If you do it, count it as a hard session, hydrate well and skip it before key games. See yoga injuries.

What kind of yoga is best for athletes?

For most athletes: a slower hatha or gentle vinyasa class for mobility and balance, restorative or yin on recovery days, and short breathing practice. Choose a teacher who asks about your sport and injuries.