Athletes, this is what you’ve been missing.
Back view of female athlete jogging on the street during sports training. Copy space. (Photo: skynesher | Getty)
Published December 29, 2025 08:08AM
There’s a common misconception among athletes—whether hard-core competitors, casual runners, or occasional gym goers—that practicing yoga means needing to sacrifice an hour of critical training time for a studio class. But that couldn’t be further from reality. You can experience the benefits of yoga on your performance in as little as 10 minutes with yoga for athletes. And those benefits extend beyond what you might assume.
Even occasionally practicing yoga enhances flexibility by releasing chronically tight muscles, improving core strength, and addressing muscle imbalances that tend to result from training. Best of all, the physical and mental benefits of adding even a little yoga to your training routine are invaluable.
So no, you don’t need an extended yoga workout to experience almost immediate improvements in your performance. You simply need the right poses. Even if you only have 10 minutes once or twice a week, you’ll still experience the benefits of yoga for athletes. No sacrifice required.
10-Minute Yoga for Athletes Routine
The following 10-minute yoga for athletes sequence of poses is designed to be the end of your workout when your muscles are already warm. You can also practice individual poses those days when you can’t spare the full 10 minutes.
Stay in each pose for 30 to 45 seconds before transitioning to the next. When you’re in each pose, don’t think so much about holding the shape. Focus instead on just breathing through it.
1. Mountain Pose
When you don’t rush through it, this deceptively simple pose is essentially training for your focus and body awareness.
How to: Stand with your feet together or hip-distance apart in Mountain Pose. Focus on feeling the balance of your weight distributed equally across your entire feet. Spread your toes and lift your arches to strengthen your foot muscles. Feel the symmetry and balance throughout your legs with your ankles, knees, and hips in line with one another.
Scan your body as you stand here, checking in to see if you experience tightness or soreness anywhere. Engage your quads to lift your kneecaps and squeeze your glutes to work on supporting a level pelvis. Check that your spine is straight and your gaze is straight ahead. Begin drawing your navel toward your spine and focusing on your breath. Let your inhalations and exhalations be slow and steady. Take this ability to check in with your body with you into every training session, recovery, and competition.
2. Extended Triangle Pose
This pose helps you move your body in a direction that many workouts overlook by lengthening your side body. Focus on expanding across your chest and connecting with your breath.
How to: From Mountain Pose, step your left leg back about 3 feet and turn your chest to the left, opening your hips and stretching your inner thighs. Lean to your right in Triangle Pose, reaching your right hand toward your shin or resting it on a block and extending your left arm toward the ceiling, stacking your shoulders. Don’t forget to switch sides.
3. Warrior 3
The exercise most commonly associated with quad and glute strengthening is the lunge. But Warrior 3 works the quads and glutes in a similar way. The single-leg balancing pose also strengthens the smaller, easily overlooked stabilizing muscles in the ankles and hips. And, as with all balancing poses, it enhances mental focus.
How to: Ground your feet. Shift your weight onto one foot, spreading your toes and grounding your foot into your mat. Allow a slight bend in your standing leg and hinge forward so your chest and hips are parallel to the floor. Touch your fingertips to the floor or reach your arms straight ahead alongside your head as you draw your belly button toward your spine. Stay here for several breaths. Then switch sides.
4. Downward-Facing Dog
Most runners and endurance athletes struggle with chronically tight hamstrings. This is one of the best yoga poses to stretch these overworked muscles. Bonus: It also stretches your entire posterior chain (back of the body).
How to: Bring your hands to the mat and step your feet back as you lift your hips up into Downward-Facing Dog. Think of creating a triangle with the points at your hands, heels, and tailbone. Press your heels toward the mat to stretch the muscles along the backs of your legs and your lower back. If your hamstrings are too tight for your heels to touch the floor, keep a slight bend in your knees or consider taking yoga blocks under your hands. Feel your muscles elongate along your back and side body.
5. Cobra
If you practice a lot of core-strengthening exercises or find yourself in a chronically slouched position most of the day, you probably notice that your abs, chest, and shoulders often feel constricted. Cobra Pose is an efficient way to stretch these muscles.
How to: Come onto your belly on the mat with your legs hip-distance apart or wider. Bring your hands beneath your shoulders and press your palms and tops of your feet into the floor and lift your chest any amount in Cobra Pose. Keep your gaze forward and slightly downward. Pull your shoulder blades together and breathe here. Slowly lower yourself to the mat. Repeat if desired.
6. Child’s Pose
The finish to your 10-minute yoga for athletes routine is a continued stretch throughout your glutes, back, shoulders, and quads. As you focus on your breath and quiet your thoughts, maybe you take some time to visualize your body performing the way you want in your next training session.
How to: Come to hands and knees. Sink your hips toward your heels and release your upper body to the mat into Child’s Pose. Reach your arms forward and let them relax. Take a long, slow exhalation out of your mouth and rest here for as long as you can.
