Yoga for Athletes

Do you plan to cross-country ski in Gatineau Park this winter? Are you a skier/snowboarder? Do you play competitive sports? Plan to return to the gym after a summer sabbatical?
If so, how much time do you allot in your training schedule (for real) for restorative activities such as prehab/dynamic warm-up exercises, stretching, rolling or recovery exercises? Be honest. If you’re like most athletes, you let these activities fall by the wayside in order to focus your full attention and energy on your training schedule.

Yoga for Athletes is an opportunity to schedule those activities into your training program (so you HAVE to do them!) for an hour a week to complement or balance out the more intense training activities that make up the rest of your weekly workouts.

Program Purpose:

Yoga for Athletes is designed to promote adaptability in the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, fascia…) so that they can better respond to demands placed on them during athletic tasks. Essentially, the goal is to foster muscles that have the ability to fire efficiently when required, yet also release easily. The goal of Yoga for Athletes is to perform dynamic restorative exercises (disguised in the form of yoga) between athletic training sessions in order to maximize sport performance outcomes.

Yoga for Athletes provides the space and professional guidance to safely and effectively integrate restorative activities into your training plan.  This evidence-based program also aims to help prevent future injuries and promote optimal mobility, health and wellness.

Session Specifics:

Yoga for Athletes is open to anyone who is looking to incorporate more restorative activities to balance an existing higher intensity training program/exercise regime. You do not have to be an elite athlete to be eligible for this program.

In a small group setting, Yoga for Athletes blends dynamic movements that emphasize power and strength with those that require soft, fluid motion. The goal is to maximize your athletic performance while promoting recovery and injury prevention during training. Yoga for Athletes at OC3 has the benefit of being professionally-led by physiotherapist and certified yoga instructor, Shelagh Haynes, who prioritizes proper alignment and biomechanics, as well as intelligent sequencing, to facilitate a balanced practice.

A typical class will incorporate a variety of dynamic standing strength and balance poses to create some heat, followed immediately by a pose to stretch or release the muscles that were just worked in the previous pose. You will also encounter some core stability exercises and and self-myofascial release techniques with the aim of restoring function to soft tissues that have been challenged or fatigued. No previous yoga experience is required.

Program Features:

• 60 minute functional assessment with Shelagh Haynes, registered physiotherapist
• 8 one-hour yoga-based exercise and education sessions at OC3, led by Shelagh Haynes, registered physiotherapist and certified yoga instructor
• physiotherapy extended health coverage may apply
• evidence-based: research suggests that yoga benefits athletes in the following ways:
  • reduced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) (Boyle et al., 2004)
  • accelerated recovery post-workout/post-competition or race (Torres et al., 2013)
  • reduced negative effects of overtraining (Sharma & Pritha, 2009)
  • enhanced flexibility and balance (Jeter et al., 2014)
  • injury prevention/reduction (Klauber et al., 2012)
  • improved focus/attention (Ganpat et al., 2013; Sheela et al., 2013)
  • stress reduction (Yoshihara et al., 2014; Shankarapillai et al., 2012)
    

Date/Time:

The weekly 60 min yoga classes take place at Ottawa Collaborative Care Centre over an 8 week session. The next session dates are TBD.
Please contact us for more information (613-230-7891 or [email protected])

How to Register:

You must complete an individual functional physiotherapy assessment prior to starting the yoga sessions. Your physiotherapist may then recommend Yoga for Athletes as part of your treatment or maintenance plan to rehabilitate a current injury and/or prevent re-occurrence. If you are currently an OC3 client (ie. you have already completed an assessment), please let your treating therapist know that you are interested in Yoga for Athletes.

If you would like to become an OC3 client, please call 613-230-7891 to schedule your assessment and register for the program.

Fees:

Initial Assessment                  $140
10 Yoga Sessions                    $300

Physiotherapy extended health coverage may apply to these fees.

* If after completing one session, you would like to continue with a subsequent session, you may be eligible to do so at the discretion of your physiotherapist.