As part of a plan to make small but considered improvements to my lifestyle physically and mentally, both at home and work I’ve just finished the first of my 14 day trials – Yoga.
I’m often pushed for time so I’ve been using Wii Fit and picking up where I left off about 3 years ago and while I’d committed to doing 30 minutes of yoga daily, it’s ended up being more like 20 minutes a day. I must say I’ve been encouraged by this lifehack. Because I enjoy longer distance running and ultimately I’d like to test myself in 50 and 100 mile races I’m looking at improvements that would benefit long distance running and improve efficiency, yoga was a good place to start.
Using the Wii has been an interesting way to measure things like my centre of balance (actually not too bad) and guide me in the various poses.
The main benefit I’ve drawn from only 14 days of yoga is that I already feel a lot stronger than when I started. Noticeably stronger. Legs and arms in particular but it’s also been good to stretch out some of the muscles that running a lot of miles seem to have knotted up a bit.
I’ve also noticed that my balance has improved massively. Not that I was swaying around like Shane McGowan on the way home but using the Wii did highlight that posture and muscle strength wasn’t as good as I’d thought.
Longer term, I don’t think it’s possible to keep up yoga every day but I’m certainly going to continue making an effort to fit in a longer session twice a week. If I feel like this after 14 days, I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out over a few months and what improvement it has on my running.
Verdict: Success – yoga stays
Next up: 20-30 Sit ups a day