Yoga for Muscle Recovery: 5 Best Poses to Feel Better Fast

Please welcome Dean Pohlman, the founder of Man Flow Yoga, creator of the bestselling Body by Yoga DVD Series, and author of the #1 New Release Yoga Fitness for Men, to the Go Beyond Blog! His mission is to make yoga more accessible by focusing on the fitness and performance aspects of yoga. For more tips on integrating yoga into your workout routines, technique pointers, workouts, and more, be sure to check out Dean's website ManFlowYoga.com and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!

Most of us know that we should be spending more time on muscle recovery, but we don’t want to skip out on our more intense workouts, either because we enjoy them more, or because we don’t want to miss out on potential gains.

But the fact is dedicating more time to recovery is exactly what we need if we want to accomplish our fitness goals more quickly and more completely. Using yoga is one of the easiest ways to do this.

Spending just a few minutes per day on this can:

• Increase strength more quickly
• Decrease risk of injury from overtraining or muscle tightness
• Improve mobility and range of motion for decreased joint pain

Not to mention much more! The great thing about these recovery exercises is you don’t wait long to notice the benefits - you’ll be able to tell the difference immediately after you finish.

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5 Yoga Poses for Muscle Recovery

1. Pigeon

This one is essential for hip health. It targets your glutes, hips, and even your outer quadricep head to release soreness in your lower body and lower back. Make sure to focus on the external rotation of the hip for best results.

Image courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Publishers and Dennis Burnett

2. Reclined Strap Stretches

This is a very passive stretch that takes a lot of focus. Simply lie on your back, extend one leg, and wind a strap around your lifted foot. Pull it straight back, to the outside, and to the inside to effectively target your inner and outer thighs, and hamstrings.

Images courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Publishers and Dennis Burnett

3. Thread the Needle

This one is incredible for your shoulders. From a child’s pose, slide one arm through the opposite knee and shoulder to target the muscles surrounding your shoulder blade. This prevents injury in your shoulder and helps to strengthen your rotator cuff.

Image courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Publishers and Dennis Burnett

4. Reclined Twist

This basic twist is essential to a healthy spine, but if you want to make it a little more effective than you should pay attention to technique. Try pulling your exposed ribs down toward the ground and tightening your belly button to spine to really get a nice stretch in the lower-back and outer hip.

Image courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Publishers and Dennis Burnett

5. Happy Baby

Our inner thighs and hamstrings and get tight from running, any athletic movement involving a change of direction, and most weighted lower-body exercises. Use this stretch to gently release tension in the backs and inner thighs to get back to what you enjoy doing with less soreness.

Image courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Publishers and Dennis Burnett

Take Your Yoga Practice (and Gains!) to the Next Level

Want to learn more about these poses and start doing yoga on a regular basis? Get step-by-step technique walkthroughs, target areas, benefits, and modifications for over 50 postures, 25 routines, 3 programs, and MUCH more from Dean’s new book, Yoga Fitness for Men. Don’t let the title fool you - this book is equally useful for women.

Message from Dean: Once you purchase the book, send your order confirmation to help@manflowyoga.com. My team and I will hook you up with 6 video routines from the book (over 3 hours of content!) to complement your yoga training.

Dean Pohlman is the founder of Man Flow Yoga, creator of the bestselling Body by Yoga DVD Series, and author of the #1 New Release Yoga Fitness for Men. Within just a month of its release, Dean's book Yoga Fitness for Men has already received over 50 Five-Star reviews on Amazon and has claimed the #1 New Release in 3 categories including Men’s Health, Yoga, and Stretching (as of June 25). His mission is to make yoga more accessible by focusing on the fitness and performance aspects of yoga. A former college lacrosse player, Dean stumbled into a yoga studio on accident and has been going back ever since. Dean lives in Austin, TX with his fiancee, Marisa, and 2 dogs, Kaya and Tron.

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