Yoga Before or After Workout: What Is Best for You?

Should you do yoga before or after your workout? Well, the answer depends on your fitness goals.

"Yoga is a great way to warm up before exercise and cool down afterward," says Khyati Gupta, a certified yoga coach at MyYogaTeacher. "It helps improve mobility, reduce injury risk, and support muscle recovery," she adds.

So, when should you include yoga in your routine? Let’s dive in!

Benefits of Yoga Before Workout

Incorporating yoga before a workout offers several benefits, such as:

1. Improves Flexibility for Smoother Movements: Gentle stretches open up the joints and improve the range of motion, allowing smoother movements during exercise. This is beneficial for activities that require agility and flexibility, such as running, dancing, and strength training.

2. Reduces Risk of Injury: Without a proper warm-up, muscles and ligaments are more vulnerable to strain. Khyati Gupta explains, “Gentle yoga stretches increase blood flow, generate heat, and activate the muscles, ensuring they’re ready for movement and less prone to injury.”

3. Enhances Balance and Coordination: Many yoga poses engage the core and stabilizing muscles, improving balance and coordination. This is crucial for strength training, running, and sports, where balance plays a major role in performance and injury prevention. Discover some great standing yoga poses for improved balance and coordination here!

4. Improves Breathing Efficiency: Deep breathing techniques practiced in yoga enhance lung capacity, improve oxygen intake, and regulate breath control. This helps during intense workouts by increasing endurance and preventing breathlessness.

Poses to Include Before a Workout

Incorporate these dynamic yoga poses to warm-up the body:

• Cat-Cow Pose: Warms up the spine and improves mobility.

• Ragdoll Pose: Loosens up the lower back and hamstrings.

• Hip Rotations: Loosens the hips, improves mobility, and reduces stiffness.

• Shoulder Rolls: Relieves tension, increases shoulder flexibility, and improves posture by opening up the chest and upper back.

• Forward and Backward Bends: Improves spinal flexibility and mobility.

• Jumping Jacks: A dynamic movement to raise body temperature and improve circulation.

Benefits of Yoga After Workout

Post-workout yoga helps the body transition into recovery mode, reduces soreness, and prevents stiffness. Here’s why yoga after a workout is beneficial:

1. Reduces Stiffness & Soreness: Intense workouts can lead to muscle tightness and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Yoga helps release tension, improve blood circulation, and flush out lactic acid buildup, speeding up muscle recovery.

2. Promotes Recovery & Relaxation: Holding gentle stretches after exercise allows the muscles to gradually relax and lengthen, preventing stiffness and ensuring they recover more efficiently. This helps in faster healing and less post-workout discomfort. Explore some restorative yoga poses that focus on deep stretches and long holds!

3. Prevents Injury: Cooling down with yoga ensures that the muscles and joints gradually return to their resting state instead of abruptly stopping exercise. This reduces the risk of cramps, joint pain, or post-exercise strains.

4. Regulates the Nervous System: Post-workout yoga helps slow down the heart rate and transition the body from an active state to a restful state, reducing cortisol levels and promoting relaxation.

5. Promotes Better Sleep & Stress Relief: A post-workout yoga session, especially one that includes deep breathing and relaxation techniques, helps calm the mind, lower stress hormones, and improve sleep quality, aiding in overall recovery and well-being.

Poses to Include After a Workout

These poses help cool down the body and aid recovery:

• Happy Baby Pose: Stretches the lower back and relaxes the hips.

• Puppy Pose: Releases tension from the shoulders and back.

• Reclined Butterfly Pose: Opens the hips and promotes relaxation.

• Reclining Pigeon Pose: Stretches the hip flexors and glutes.

• Child’s Pose: This is an ultimate relaxation pose that helps calm the body and the mind.

Don’t know how to start? Book a free 1-on-1 session and learn these yoga poses from a dedicated coach.

To Sum It Up: Yoga Before or After Workout?

Still wondering when you should include yoga to your exercise routine? There’s no single "best" time to do yoga—it all depends on your goals. 

• To improve flexibility, mobility, and prevent injuries, doing yoga before your workout can help. A short yoga warm-up helps awaken the muscles and improve range of motion, making movements feel smoother and reducing the risk of injury during your main workout.

• For recovery, relaxation, or reducing post-workout soreness, yoga after your workout is ideal. A post-workout yoga session helps the body cool down, prevents muscle tightness, and enhances recovery, allowing you to feel more relaxed and rejuvenated.

So instead of asking whether yoga is better before or after a workout, focus on what your body needs and incorporate yoga to your routine accordingly!

If you’re a beginner, consider working out under the guidance of a coach. Book a free 1-on-1 session today! 

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of yoga is best before a workout?

The best type of yoga before a workout is dynamic and mobility-focused. Gentle, active stretches help warm up the body, improve circulation, and activate muscles. Focus on movements like cat-cow, rotations, and shoulder rolls to open up joints and improve range of motion. Avoid long-held static stretches before intense workouts, as they may relax the muscles too much.

What type of yoga is best after a workout?

After a workout, restorative and deep stretching yoga is ideal. Yin yoga or Gentle yoga helps relax the muscles, improve recovery, and prevent stiffness. Poses like child’s pose, reclining twists, and pigeon pose release tension, improve flexibility, and aid in muscle recovery. This helps your body cool down and reduces post-workout soreness.