Yoga for athletes: what it adds to training, what the trials show, and how to fit it in

What yoga can add

Flexibility, one-leg balance, a calm way to recover and breathing practice. It doesn't build strength, speed or power on its own, so keep your strength and sport training.

Sources 1, 2, 3

The trials are small

A review of competitive athletes found 6 trials, all of poor quality. Most other studies were tiny or not randomised, and few blinded anyone.

Sources 4, 5

Flexibility and balance improve a little

College athletes gained about 4.6 cm on a sit-and-reach test and 4 seconds of one-leg balance in 10 weeks, and rugby players kept their hamstring flexibility through a season but didn't sprint faster.

Sources 1, 2

A calmer cool-down, not faster recovery

Fifteen minutes of yoga after interval training slowed breathing faster than stretching for 10 to 15 minutes. But 4 weeks of slow breathing after sprint sessions didn't improve recovery or performance, and stretching barely changes next-day soreness.

Sources 3, 6, 7

Flow before power work, hold after

Holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle just before explosive work cut performance by about 4.6% on average, while short holds inside a dynamic warm-up are fine.

Sources 8, 9

Injuries: untested

We found no trial that counted sports injuries after yoga. In trials, strength training cut sports injuries to under a third and balance training to about half, while stretching didn't.

Sources 10, 11

Four different jobs

Athletes use yoga for four things (our grouping): flexibility and mobility, since held poses are static stretches and flows move through your range like dynamic stretching; balance and body control, from one-leg poses and slow transitions; recovery and relaxation, from slow breathing and rest poses; and breathing and focus. Each has its own evidence, below.

Styles and load

Power yoga is rated 4.0 METs (multiples of the energy you use at rest), sun salutations 3.5, hot yoga 3.0, vinyasa 2.7 and hatha 2.3. A strong flow is training; a restorative or yin class is closer to rest. Hot yoga adds heat: in 10 elite hockey players, 6 days of hot classes first lowered and then expanded their blood plasma volume.

Sources 12, 13

Heart rate variability

Heart rate variability (HRV), the beat-to-beat variation in your heart rate, is used as a sign of how quickly your body's calming "rest and digest" system takes over after effort. Slow breathing raises it during and straight after practice.

Source 14

Few trials, mostly poor qualityMixed evidence

A review of studies up to December 2019 found 6 trials of yoga in healthy elite adult athletes, all of poor quality and lasting about 6 weeks on average: "encouraging but limited evidence" of less performance anxiety and better performance. A review of track and field athletes found moderate strength gains and better flexibility and balance, with mixed effects on stress and performance, in studies of fair quality.

Sources 4, 5

College athletesMixed evidence

In 26 male college athletes, a football (soccer) team that did two hour-long classes a week for 10 weeks gained 1.8 inches (about 4.6 cm) on the sit-and-reach test and 4 seconds on a one-leg stand, while a baseball team that didn't got slightly worse. The teams played different sports and weren't randomised.

Source 1

RugbyEmerging evidence

In 31 rugby union players, yoga twice a week for 8 weeks in season kept hamstring flexibility steady (down 1.2%), while the players who didn't do it lost 14.8%, with no clear change in sprint times.

Source 2

Cricket, volleyball, tennis and fencingEmerging evidence

In 82 first-class cricketers, yoga 5 days a week for 6 weeks improved core stability, flexibility, balance and ankle position sense against a waiting list, and they were still better at 6 months. In 26 volleyball players, 8 sessions improved flexibility, balance and serve accuracy more than strength exercises did. Junior tennis players improved with online yoga, though so did those who didn't do it, and 20 fencers improved a balance test about equally with yoga or Pilates.

Sources 15, 16, 17, 18

Movement screensEmerging evidence

In college athletes, 12 weeks of two 90-minute classes a week improved a movement screen (deep squat, shoulder mobility and push-up) and mindfulness more than in athletes who didn't do them, in a study that wasn't randomised. Whether this affects injuries "needs further evidence", the authors say.

Source 19

PerformanceMixed evidence

Rugby players who did yoga didn't sprint faster, and high school runners ran a mile about a second faster after 20 minutes of yoga, less than after a motivational routine. Over weeks, static stretching barely changes jumping and doesn't clearly change sprinting.

Sources 2, 20, 21

Stress and moodEmerging evidence

Yoga and mindfulness lowered stress in young athletes, but not clearly anxiety, in a review of 15 articles. In a 2026 trial of 88 teenage athletes, an hour of yoga 6 days a week for 8 weeks lowered depression, anxiety and stress scores by moderate amounts against a waiting list. Mindfulness training improved performance in precision sports such as shooting and darts in a review of 9 trials. Waiting lists and self-rated scores can make effects look bigger, so read these as promising.

Sources 22, 23, 24

Yoga after hard sessions: one small trialEmerging evidence

In 20 male athletes, in a crossover trial, 15 minutes of yoga after 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training slowed breathing more at 5, 10 and 15 minutes, and raised heart rate variability more at 5 and 10 minutes, than 15 minutes of static stretching. The yoga was 2 minutes of breathing; child's pose, downward dog, half-reclined hero, a side arch, warrior I and head-to-knee pose, each held for 50 seconds, twice; then 3 minutes of corpse pose.

It's a short-term effect: the trial didn't measure whether strength or performance came back faster. Our yoga for runners routine follows it, and suits any sport.

Source 3

Slow breathing raises HRV in the momentStrong evidence

Across 223 studies, slow breathing raised heart rate variability during the session and straight after it. In 15 young men, 10 minutes at 6 breaths a minute after cycling sped the return of the calming (parasympathetic) system on two measures, without changing heart rate.

Sources 14, 25

But it didn't add to trainingEmerging evidence

In a 2026 trial of 34 people doing 4 weeks of sprint interval training, 10 minutes of slow breathing after each session and at bedtime didn't improve performance, heart rate variability or sleep, and night-time heart rate rose slightly. Slow breathing between sets of back squats didn't change power in 18 trained men, and in 13 adolescent swimmers it went with better self-rated recovery but no change in heart rate measures.

Sources 6, 26, 27

Breathing with a heart rate monitorMixed evidence

Slow breathing paced with a heart rate monitor (HRV biofeedback) improved performance-related measures in small studies, and a review calls the link between breathing and sports performance "still unclear". Use slow breathing to settle and focus, not as a performance aid.

Sources 28, 29, 30

Stretching and sorenessStrong evidence

Stretching before or after exercise reduced soreness by about 1 point on a 100-point scale across 12 studies, and stretching researchers don't recommend stretching as a recovery routine, though they leave it to preference. Women who already did yoga had less soreness after a stepping task than women who didn't, in a small study that wasn't randomised.

Sources 7, 9, 31

Long holds just before power work cost a littleStrong evidence

Static stretches held for 60 seconds or more per muscle just before testing cut performance by 4.6% on average, against 1.1% for shorter holds, and dynamic stretching improved it slightly. When people moved again after stretching, there was no clear effect.

Source 8

What stretching researchers adviseStrong evidence

No prolonged static holds (over 60 seconds per muscle) before maximal or explosive efforts. Short static stretches inside a dynamic warm-up, and dynamic stretching, don't impair performance.

Source 9

Over weeksEmerging evidence

Long-term static stretching had a trivial effect on jumping and no clear effect on sprinting in 14 studies. Stretching training slightly increased strength across 35 studies, but stretching just before resistance training blunted strength gains.

Sources 21, 32

So: flow before, hold after

Two to five minutes of flowing yoga inside your warm-up, with holds under 30 seconds, then your usual warm-up; longer holds and slow breathing after training or on another day (our suggestion, as in our yoga for runners and yoga for men guides).

We found no trial that counted injuriesMixed evidence

We found no trial that counted sports injuries after yoga. Our search found 2 records: a volleyball trial that reported "injury risk" without counting injuries, and a cricket trial that measured muscle function.

Sources 10, 16, 15

What does prevent sports injuriesStrong evidence

Across 25 trials (26,610 people), stretching didn't prevent sports injuries, while strength training cut them to under a third, balance training to about half, and programmes with several parts by about a third. The 2025 stretching consensus doesn't recommend stretching to prevent injuries in general.

Sources 11, 9

Claims without injury countsMixed evidence

A 10-week study of 31 college footballers, with no comparison group, found lower self-rated injury-risk and fatigue scores after yoga, and a review recommends yoga for injury prevention on the basis of how it might work, not injury counts.

Sources 33, 34

Use your sport's tested warm-up

Our sports pages have the injury prevention warm-ups, several of them built on programmes with trials, such as FIFA 11+. Yoga's balance and control work is closest to what helps, so it can sit alongside them, not instead of them.

Count it in your training loadStrong evidence

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says poor management of load is a major cause of injury, including sudden changes in training and competition, crowded calendars, psychological stress and travel. A power yoga class is moderate exercise, at 4.0 METs, so count strong classes as sessions, and keep gentle and restorative yoga for easy days and tapers (our suggestion).

Sources 35, 12

Hot yogaMixed evidence

In 10 elite female field hockey players, 6 days of hot yoga first lowered blood plasma volume, then expanded it 72 hours later, with only trivial changes in maximal aerobic power and small gains at lower intensities; there was no comparison group. It adds heat and fluid loss, which our hot yoga guide covers.

Source 13

How much

One or two sessions a week of 20 to 60 minutes. The trials used classes of 60 to 90 minutes, twice a week.

Sources 1, 2, 19

When

A few minutes of flow inside your warm-up; longer holds and slow breathing after training or on rest days; gentle sessions only in competition weeks; and no hot class in the 24 hours before a long event, as our yoga for runners guide suggests.

Which style

Hold-based hatha or yin-style sessions suit flexibility, restorative yoga suits rest days and tapers, and power or vinyasa classes are training, so count them in your week.

Source 12

Young athletes

In 88 teenage athletes, daily yoga eased stress and low mood. The same timing rules apply, and the sport's own warm-up still comes first.

Source 23

Head injury: call 999 if someone has hit their head and

If you're told to go to A&E, don't drive yourself there after a head injury.

• has been knocked out and has not woken up, or can't stay awake or keep their eyes open
• has a fit (seizure)
• has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs
• has problems with their vision or hearing, or a black eye without hitting their eye
• has clear fluid coming from their ears or nose, or is bleeding from their ears or has bruising behind their ears
• has new numbness or weakness in any part of their body, or problems with walking, balance, understanding, speaking or writing
• hit their head at high speed, such as in a road accident
• has a head wound with something inside it, or a dent in their head
• has changed in behaviour, for example is more irritable or distracted, or has lost interest in things around them

Source 36

Get help from NHS 111

If, after a head injury, you:

• are being sick
• feel dizzy
• take medicine that thins your blood, or have a condition that does
• were drinking alcohol or taking drugs at the time
• have any other symptoms you're worried about

Source 36

Back to sport and yoga after a head injury

The NHS says don't play contact sports for at least 3 weeks, and see a GP if symptoms last more than 2 weeks or you're not sure it's safe to go back to sport. Come back to yoga through the graded steps in our concussion guide, with no head-down poses or inversions until you're cleared, and stop if symptoms come back (our suggestion, following that guide).

Source 36

Chest pain: call 999

Stop and call 999 for chest pain or discomfort that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away (it can feel like squeezing or pressure, burning or indigestion), pain that spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness.

Source 37

Injuries

Get help from NHS 111 if an injury is very painful or getting worse, badly swollen or bruised, you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps, or it feels very stiff. Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, it has changed shape or points at an odd angle, or it's numb, tingling, cold or a different colour.

Source 38

Stop and swap

A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.

"Yoga prevents sports injuries"Mixed evidence

We found no trial that counted sports injuries after yoga. Stretching didn't prevent sports injuries in trials, while strength training cut them to under a third and balance training to about half, and the stretching consensus doesn't recommend stretching for injury prevention.

Sources 10, 11, 9

"Yoga makes athletes less powerful"Strong evidence

Only long static holds (60 seconds or more per muscle) just before explosive work cost a little, about 4.6%; shorter holds and flowing movement don't. Over weeks, stretching hardly changes jumping or sprinting. Flow before training, hold afterwards.

Sources 8, 9, 21

"Yoga speeds up recovery"Emerging evidence

Fifteen minutes of yoga after interval training slowed breathing faster than stretching for 10 to 15 minutes, but 4 weeks of slow breathing after sprint training didn't improve recovery or performance, and stretching barely changes soreness. Enjoy it as a cool-down.

Sources 3, 6, 7

"Yoga makes you faster"Emerging evidence

Rugby players who did yoga didn't sprint faster, high school runners ran a mile about a second faster after 20 minutes of yoga, less than after a motivational routine, and long-term stretching barely changes sprinting or jumping.

Sources 2, 20, 21

"Elite teams do yoga, so it works"Mixed evidence

That's anecdote: we found no trial that counted injuries after yoga in any sport. Strength, balance and multi-part warm-up programmes did cut injuries in trials, and our sports pages have them.

Sources 10, 11

"Yin or restorative yoga repairs your muscles"Mixed evidence

No study we read shows it. Stretching researchers don't recommend stretching as a recovery routine, though they leave it to preference. Restful sessions can help you switch off, and they belong on easy days.

Sources 9, 35

"Hot yoga is good heat training"Mixed evidence

One study in 10 elite hockey players, with no comparison group, found plasma volume first fell and then rose 72 hours later, with only trivial change in maximal aerobic power. Hot yoga also adds load and fluid loss.

Source 13

"Breathing exercises boost performance"Mixed evidence

Slow breathing raises heart rate variability in the moment, but it didn't add to sprint-training gains over 4 weeks or change power between squat sets, and biofeedback studies are small. Use it to settle and focus.

Sources 14, 6, 26, 28