November 8, 2022 / By
Yoga before or after a workout

Should You Do Yoga Before or After a Workout?

Are you wanting to know how to add yoga to your workouts? How to gain it’s incredible benefits without compromising the results you’re getting from your current exercise regime?

Then this read is for you.

Table of Contents

So you want to experience the best of both worlds, but don’t want to experience setbacks in your current workouts. Plus, adding yoga on top of an already intense or time-consuming workout may feel like a lot to do in one session. You may be asking yourself:

  • How long should the yoga practice be?
  • Should I do it before or after exercise?
  • What type of yoga should I do?
  • How is it going to impact the results and performance of my other workout?

And like every hot topic in the fitness industry, you may have come across rampant conflicting information. Some fitness professionals or articles say stretching is bad before a workout, then others say it’s essential. One source may say to do static stretches, while another recommends dynamic. Do it before the workout, or only do it after, or not even on the same day as your workouts. How are you supposed to know what to believe?!

Take a breath. The answers are here for you.

In this article, you’ll find explanations for all of your burning questions based on the latest research evidence and from the mind of a Physio. This piece is here to guide you on how to use the benefits of yoga to enhance your performance and recovery, reduce injury risk and increase your mind-body connection.

Get ready to experience the blissful integration of traditional workouts with the sacred practice of yoga.

Should You Do Yoga Before or After a Workout?

The short answer is: you can do either, or even both!

Yoga can be used before a workout to improve performance, enhance the mind-body connection and reduce injury risk, but you can’t just do any old yoga flow and static stretches (long holds) are a no-no. Flows need to be short and poses need to be dynamic (always moving) as the goal is to get the muscles warmed up.

It can be done after a workout to aid in reducing breathing rate, heart rate and cortisol levels. It can also be used as a post-workout meditation, or as an opportunity to work on flexibility and more challenging poses whilst the body is warm. The type and intensity of your practice will depend on how you’re feeling.

So that’s a basic rundown of how yoga can be integrated into your current exercise routine. Now let’s dive into the answers to some more specific questions like: How do I use yoga to warm up for weightlifting or running? Or: Can I do a full class near my workouts?

Let’s get to it.

Woman doing forward fold yoga pose after a workout

What Yoga Gives You That Other Workouts Can’t

You’ve already gotten this far so I’m fairly confident you know what the benefits of yoga are, but let’s have a look at them anyway.

Here are some of the unique ways that yoga can enhance your current exercise routine:

  • More focus on the mind-body connection
  • Meditation with movement 
  • Flexibility and mobility work
  • Relaxation of the body and mind
  • Breathwork, both in a flow and on its own

So many benefits. Who’s feeling better just thinking about all of this juicy goodness? I know I am! 

How to Do Yoga Before a Workout

Flows and poses are delicious additions to your current warm up routine for a few unique reasons:

  • Enhances your mind-body connection
  • Syncs your breathing with movement
  • Can open up joint mobility for your workout

Yoga as a General Warm-Up

To use yoga as a part of a general, full-body warm-up, opt for short, dynamic, full-body flows. Even something as simple as a few rounds of Sun Salutation A, B or C mixed in with your regular warm-up can be great.

Remember that the goal of a warm up is to generate heat in the body without generating fatigue. This means static stretches are a no-no (long holds, such as pigeon pose). Despite what many fitness professionals may tell you, static stretches can hinder your performance in your workout!

Can I do a full yoga practice before a workout?

Of course, you can, but let’s touch on a few key points you need to know before choosing to book that class.

After a flow class such as Vinyasa or Ashtanga, you are likely to be tired going into your workout. This means that yes, you’ll be warm, but your muscle strength and endurance will be lessened. It’s not the time to do be doing an intense session with explosive movements or moderate to heavy weightlifting as you may increase your risk of injury, or just be fatiguing yourself unnecessarily.

As mentioned before, you want to avoid static stretches so that means also steering clear of Yin and Restorative Yoga classes before exercise as they’ll hinder your performance.

If you’re wanting to do a class before a workout, I’d advise to take it easy by opting for easier variations of poses and taking rests so that you still have energy for your workout. Ideally, a high-energy flow class should be done at a different time on that same day, or on a different day all together since the class is a workout itself.

Person lifting barbell in a workout

Specific Yoga Warm-Ups

To take your yoga warm-up a step further, you can opt for a flow or poses that open up specific body areas if your workout is also focussed. Remember that your want to warm the body up so keep those poses moving. Here are some examples for you:

For lower body weightlifting you’d opt for predominantly lower body poses such as Warrior 2, simple twist or the yogi squat (malasana).

Before a run you’d choose lower body poses that also bring in some single leg work such as Warrior 3, tree pose or half moon.

To warm up for an arm and shoulders workout, you’d go for poses such as downward dog, chaturanga or thread the needle.

TOP TIPS

Choose dynamic (moving) poses to ensure you’re warming up the body

Keep yoga practices short in duration as the goal is to warm-up the body without generating fatigue

Avoid static (long-hold) stretches as they can reduce muscle strength and overall performance

Choose flows or poses that focus on a specific body area if you’re workout is also focussed

High-intensity yoga classes, such as Vinyasa, are best done at a different time of the day to your workouts, or on a different day all together if you’re wanting to get the full benefits of the practice as well as your workouts by avoiding excessive fatigue and injury risk.

How to Do Yoga After a Workout

Yoga after a workout can be approached in two different ways, depending on how you’re feeling.

If you’re ready for a wind down it can:

  • Lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels
  • Lower breathing and heart rate
  • Be a meditation

Alternatively, if you’ve got energy you can use this time to work on yoga poses that need a body that’s warmed up, such as:

  • Poses working on flexibility (such as forward folds or hip openers)
  • Inversions or handstands (if they’re in your practice)
  • Leg or arm balances (if they’re in your practice)

You can also choose to do a bit of both, or hang out somewhere in between.

Yoga as a Cool Down

If your workout was intense and you’re feeling fatigued, your post-workout yoga flow should be slow and include more restorative, ‘feel good’ poses. This can include ones that you hold for a longer period of time such as pigeon pose after lower body weight training or running, or static thread the needle after an upper body session. This is as opposed to movements that feel challenging or are getting your heart rate up.

Can I do a full yoga class as a cool down?

You absolutely can! Opt for a class that is gentle and restorative with goals of winding down the body and mind, not generating heat and fatigue (such as Vinyasa classes). Classes like these are often called Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga or Gentle Yoga. Meditation and Yoga Nidra classes are also a wonderful way to do a post-workout meditation, giving you the opportunity to really sit with and feel into the body with your mind’s eye over doing physical poses.

Woman doing yoga in child's pose after a workout

Challenging Poses and Yoga Classes

If after your workout you still feel like you have a fair bit of energy left in the body, this can be an awesome time to work on your flexibility and those more challenging yoga poses such as arm balances or inversions. This is because your muscles are already warm and activated so you don’t need to do a full practice. I love playing with handstands after a full-body strength workout as they’re so much easier to get into and hold.

Just make sure that the part of body the poses focus on is actually warmed up. If you’ve done an upper body session at the gym, poses you could do for flexibility are gentle to moderate chest openers, for example, but not hip openers. You could also play around with arm balances as the arms and shoulders will be ready to go, but perhaps stay away from challenging lower body poses such as dancers pose.

In general, after a workout, you want to avoid any poses that demand a lot of specific yoga strength and/or flexibility that a regular workout couldn’t warm you up for, like wheel pose or compass pose.

Can I do an intense yoga class after my workout?

Of course you can, but there are just a few things to be mindful of.

Firstly, my best advice would be to do high-intensity yoga classes, such as Vinyasa, at a different time of the day to your workouts (workout in the morning, class in the evening) or on a different day all together. This is because high-energy flow classes are a workout in themselves so if you’re wanting to get the full benefits of the practice as well as your workouts, you’ll want to keep them separate.

In saying that, life happens and doing a flow class after your workout may just be easier for you. In that case, keep in mind that your body will be fatigued from your workout. You’ll likely want to opt for easier variations of poses to be able to keep your energy up the whole class.

When it comes to going into poses that work on your flexibility, you want be careful when going to deep into poses since you’re already so warm. You may take your body deeper than it wants to go without realising. This is fine for a pose here and there but if you’re doing a full class it can definitely increase your chance of injury. This is one reason why injuries are more common in hot yoga classes (please don’t do hot yoga class after a workout!).

Man playing in yoga crow pose after a workout

TOP TIPS

If you’re wanting to wind down the body and mind after a workout, use gentle flows, restorative poses and meditation. Static stretches (long holds) are welcome in a cool down, but aren’t a must.

If you have still have energy in the tank after a workout this can be a great time to work on flexibility and more challenging yoga poses while the body is warm, without having to do a full practice.

The duration of your practice after a workout will depend on how much energy have and how your body is feeling.

If you’re wanting to do a full class after a workout, be mindful that your body will be fatigued.

High-intensity yoga classes, such as Vinyasa, are best done at a different time of the day to your workouts, or on a different day all together if you’re wanting to get the full benefits of the practice as well as your workouts by avoiding excessive fatigue and injury risk.

Summing Up

You should now have a decent understanding of how to approach yoga before or after a workout. No matter what you’re looking to achieve, there is a yoga practice that you can turn to, without a doubt.

Those short, dynamic flows are there to help in improving your performance in a session, enhance your mind-body connection, and generally warm up the body. Slower, more restorative and meditative flows can be used to calm the body and mind down after a session. And playful post-workout flows can be called on to work on your flexibility or those more challenging poses, both of which benefit from the body already being warm.

Now all that’s left for you to do is to begin exploring how all of this feels for you, and how it feels in your body. You’ll soon discover if, for you, yoga fits better before or after your workouts, or you may even want to do a bit of both!

FAQs

Should you do yoga before or after a workout?

You can do either. Before a workout you can do short, dynamic flows to warm-up the body. After a workout you do gentle poses and meditation to wind down, or you can work on flexibility or more challenging poses since the body is warm.

What type of yoga should I do before a workout?

Short, dynamic flows with poses that focus on the body areas you want to warm up.

What type of yoga should I do after a workout?

You can do gentle, restorative poses and meditation to cool down the body, or you can do more challenging poses and work on flexibility since the body is warm.

Should you do yoga before or after running?

You can use yoga as a part of your warm up by choosing poses that focus on the lower body. You can use yoga after your run to relax the body and mind.

Sources

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