Once upon a time, yoga may not have seemed like the first choice of off ice training for hockey players. However, it has become increasingly popular as the years go by and it looks like it is only going to grow. Still, there are probably still some people out there who wonder just how useful …
“It’s by far the toughest training, and best training, I do. I could go on and on about what it’s done for me, but if you look at injury-wise, preventing injuries, it’s a huge thing.”
- Ryan O'Reilly -
“As a goalie I’m supposed to be a pretty flexible guy but I learned I’m not, so I need it. It helped me relax too, but I have to keep doing it if I want to improve.”
- Henrik Lundqvist -
“I love to do yoga for my body and trying to avoid injury, being in the right state of mind, to feel good."
- Ryan O'Reilly
“Controlling your breath is a huge benefit for me. When you do yoga classes, you’re so present in every little detail inside your body. And when I play hockey, I try to do the same thing — especially after a bad shift. I try to come back to my breath, inhale and exhale, and that brings you back into the moment. I’m like, ‘OK, I’m recovered. What am I going to do now?’ “
- Ryan O'Reilly -
“When you work on your flexibility it makes you less prone to injuries. Yoga iis really something that will help young athletes get stronger and improve their core. It can help them become better athletes.”
- Georges Laraque -
“I think it’s helped my flexibility in the butterfly, it’s opened my hips up a little bit. And it helped me mentally in the way that I knew I had prepared as much as I could [last] summer.”
- Tim Thomas -
“In yoga, it’s not like you’re lifting weights and just building muscle mass. You’re working all the fibers, all the tissue. A lot of times guys get hurt (playing hockey) because they’re extended and don’t have that strength and flexibility. Yoga is the teacher of strength and flexibility, and it activates everything.”
- Ryan O'Reilly -
"Before you go out there, in between whistles or when someone is coming down on you, just breathe out deep so your heart rate is not pumping. … It's kind of hard to explain but breathing techniques and calming your heart rate so you are a lot calmer with your reactions."
- Keith Kinkaid -
"You see a lot more yoga and core and mobility stuff."
- Brent Burns -
"In sports you need balance, strength and flexibility. Yoga helps so much in each of these areas. It has been a huge part of my success."
- Sean Burke -
"The foundational movements in yoga work through the range of motion you spend the entire season limiting."
- Ryan Miller -
“I actually didn’t know how much it was going to help, but it helps balance out your body. Your body is more balanced overall in terms of both flexibility and strength."
- Tim Thomas -
“It’s brought me to a different level with my flexibility, endurance and knowing how to breathe and relax after (allowing) a goal.”
- Jean-Sebastien Giguere -
"Yoga makes sense for goalies, I heard of a few goalies doing it, and as you get older and wiser, you have to change how you prepare, you have to do a little extra to maintain."
- Carey Price -
