When regular stretching exercises are neglected, the strenuous activity strains the muscles, joints, and tendons, and has actually forced many active people to give up their favorite sport or activity. It can also lead to permanent muscle damage. Athletes, dancers, weight lifters, and body sculptors who incorporate yoga techniques into their activities discover that the benefits go beyond the effects of simple muscle stretching. Those preparing for any type of sporting event can help increase the torque, or rotating power, of their joints through yoga. For example, yoga might help a baseball pitcher improve his pitching speed.
Yoga can also help with overall muscle balance.
In fencing, for example, athletes tend to develop their muscles unevenly because the front arm and leg work harder than the others. Yoga can help even out and balance the muscle development. People who are involved in yoga assert that yoga has not only given them extra muscle conditioning and development beyond what their regular activities had provided them, but that it has also prevented the recurrence of old injuries. Peruse past editions . Inc. All rights reserved.