As much as I love my long, 10-mile runs, they put my body through the ringer. Yoga — and especially this 17-move sequence — has become my absolute savior for releasing and rejuvenating all the muscles that tighten up on long runs: hips, hamstrings, back, and calves. Even on my rushed weekday morning runs when I have approximately 20 minutes to stretch, shower, and get out the door, I fit in a couple of these moves to ensure that my hips aren't aching all day. I also like to foam roll my quads, IT band, and calves. (Here are a few foam-rolling moves for runners that feel amazing.)
Directions: I do each of these poses in a sequence, but you're also free to pick and choose based on whatever muscles feel tightest. Hold each pose for as long as it feels good; I usually go for 20-30 seconds or more.
You'll do all the lower-body poses with one leg. Once you hit Seated Spinal Twist, go back into Downward-Facing Dog and repeat it all with the other leg before moving on. (I'll tell you exactly when to go back and repeat.)
Breathe into areas of tension, move gently from pose to pose, and remember to modify or skip any stretches that don't feel good. You should leave this yoga sequence feeling loose, relaxed, and renewed.
I like to start off with the ultimate relaxing yoga posture, Child's Pose. It releases some of the tension in my hips and upper body from the long run.
Slowly lift out of Child's Pose onto your hands and knees. Cat-Cow warms up your spine and upper body, which relieves tension from the run and prepares you from the upcoming spinal postures.
From your neutral hands and knees posture, tuck your back toes and lift into Downward-Facing Dog to stretch your calves and hamstrings. I like to shift my weight back and forth between feet to increase the stretch and introduce some gentle motion.
This is a quick hip release that moves you smoothly from Downward-Facing Dog into the next few lunge postures.
This intense hip stretch engages your back and core for a twisting release.
One of my favorite hip flexor stretches, you'll feel this all along the front of your hips. Sink into it and savor it.
This incredible hamstring stretch flows so perfectly from Low Crescent Lunge, I like to move back and forth between the two a few times, loosening my hips and hamstrings from the movement and stretching.
You'll feel this stretch in the outside of your bent hip and even a little bit in your back hip. This one can be tough at first: Breathe slowly into the tension and focus on releasing your hip bit by bit.
Dropping into Pigeon opens up your hips and groin even more.
Release your cramped back muscles with this gentle twist. Once you complete this pose, unwind and return to Downward-Facing Dog. From there, go on to Three-Legged Dog and repeat the sequence until you've done everything on the opposite leg.
I like to gently rock side to side in this pose for an amazing hip and back release.
This gentle pose massages and stretches the stressed muscles in your back.
This is basically Knees-to-Chest but just with one leg, giving one last stretch to your glutes and hips.
One of my all-time favorite poses, this incredibly relaxing twist stretches every muscle in your back. Once you complete this spinal twist, return to Knee-to-Chest and repeat with your other leg.
Supported Fish Pose is a glorious stretch for the muscles all along the sides of your back. It also opens up your chest and shoulders, which can get tight and tense after hours of running.
This pose stretches your back in the opposite way of the Supported Fish Pose to help you feel completely loose and balanced as we come to the end of this sequence. This pose is more advanced, so don't worry if you can't touch your feet to the ground right now (I definitely can't).
After a long run and these intense postures, Savasana Pose helps me recenter and return to my breath. After the full sequence and this last restorative pose, I feel loose, relaxed, and completely rejuvenated.