Power Yoga

Try telling NCAA Champ Jesse Jantzen that yoga is for wimps.  Photo from suffolktimes.timesreview.com

You may not think that it sounds very "tough" for a wrestler to do yoga, but that's exactly what NCAA Champ Jesse Jantzen from Harvard did during his career, and that's exactly what I did today after practice.  I was wrestling at John Carroll University tonight, and their assistant coach told me about a Power Yoga class that goes on every Tuesday in the basement of the building.  He went for the first time last week, and suggested that I come today.

Yoga's benefits include flexibility, balance, relaxation, strength, and more, but I felt it was even better following a wrestling practice.  My muscles were warm, which made stretching easier, and the relaxation was much needed.  If your training sessions on the mat and in the gym are intense, you need something to balance it out and to prevent injuries.  If you're serious about wrestling, I suggest you man up and do some power yoga.

The class I went to tonight was free, but unfortunately that is often not the case.  Even if you don't have the cash to attend an instructor led class, there are countless videos and instructionals on basic yoga movements on the internet.  If even that seems like to much effort, you can always continue with your normal post workout stretching routine, but incorporate the deep breathing that is an essential part of yoga.

Namaste,
Jeff


P.S. After being out of town for a week for work and then on vacation for nearly two weeks, I need to get back on the saddle, so stay tuned for more blogs in the near future.  There's a lot for me to write about - wrestling's back in the Olympics, the international weights are going to change, my lungs got a boost from the elevation out west, and I've got less than four weeks until the biggest tournament of my life!

P.S.S. By the way, "namaste" is what most yoga instructors have everyone say at the closing of the session.