Yoga guide
Yoga can give lifters something lifting doesn't: controlled range at the ends of the positions the squat, hinge and overhead press need, single-leg balance and a calm rest day. It won't make you stronger or more powerful, and in the one trial in Olympic weightlifters it didn't make them less powerful either. Timing is what matters: long holds just before heavy sets cost a little force, so do yoga after lifting or on rest days.
This guide is for gym-goers, powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, bodybuilders and CrossFit-style trainers. It covers what each lift asks of your ankles, hips, upper back and shoulders, whether yoga makes you weaker, how lifting builds range on its own, recovery, loose joints and shoulders, the warning signs, and a 25-minute class with 3D demos.
Squat depth went with how far your ankle bends with the knee bent, and with hip bend; stiff ankles went with more forward lean and lower-back rounding. Raising both arms overhead used about 10 to 13 degrees of upper-back extension.
In 18 Olympic weightlifters, 10 one-hour hatha yoga classes over 7 weeks changed neither flexibility nor power against a control group. It's small, short and published as a conference paper: yoga neither helped nor hurt.
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Stretching over weeks nudged strength up a little, but stretching done right before lifting sessions blunted strength gains. Do yoga after lifting or on other days.
Holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle just before testing cut performance by about 4.6%, shorter holds by about 1.1%, and moving afterwards removed most of the loss. Before lifting: a short dynamic warm-up and ramp-up sets (our warm-up guide).
Strength training improved range of motion as much as stretching, and full-range lifting built more strength and muscle than partial range. Yoga adds range you can control in positions your training doesn't reach.
Lifting injuries are uncommon: about 1 to 4 per 1,000 training hours. Across 25 trials, stretching didn't prevent sports injuries, while strength training cut them to about a third.
A deep squat needs ankles that bend forward with the knee bent, hips that bend fully and a braced trunk. Squat depth went with ankle bend measured standing in 20 people, and with ankle and hip bend together in 101 adults. Limited ankle bend went with more forward lean and lower-back movement, and with knees caving in when ankle bend was restricted in the lab.
The deadlift and Romanian deadlift need hamstrings that let your pelvis tip forward; stiffer hamstrings went with more lower-back rounding (our hip hinge guide). Hamstring holds and slow hinges practise the position.
Arms fully overhead need shoulders that reach and an upper back that extends: raising both arms took the upper back into about 10 to 13 degrees more extension in 21 men, varying between people. Overhead squat scores agreed poorly with measured joint ranges and haven't predicted injuries (our overhead squat guide).
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Weightlifting shoes or wedges reduced forward lean in a review of 14 articles. In 14 recreational lifters at 80% of their maximum they changed nothing, and they reduced lower-back loading in novices but only a little in regular trainers. They can help some lifters reach depth while mobility improves.
Most yoga is light to moderate activity: about 2.3 METs (metabolic equivalents, multiples of resting effort) for hatha, 2.7 for vinyasa and 4.0 for power yoga, against 5.0 for squats or deadlifts (our strength guide). Yoga presses but barely pulls and can't keep adding load, so it doesn't replace lifting. It can add balance, controlled range at the ends of your positions, and a calm rest day.
One small trial in lifters, a few in other athletes, and nothing on squat depth or the press. Treat yoga as a supplement, not a performance tool.
Eighteen weightlifters (10 men, 8 women, about 4 years of training) did ten 1-hour hatha yoga classes over 7 weeks, or meditation and weightlifting videos instead; 17 finished. Both groups changed over time, but there was no difference between them in sit-and-reach, overhead squat joint angles, the jump or snatch force, and all the differences were trivial or small. It's small, short and published as a conference paper.
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In 26 male college athletes who also lifted weights, twice-weekly yoga for 10 weeks improved sit-and-reach, shoulder flexibility and one-leg balance, in a study that wasn't randomised. In 21 untrained young adults, 8 weeks of Bikram yoga raised a static deadlift pull and back and hamstring flexibility.
Ujjayi, bhastrika and kapalbhati breathing before or during leg presses didn't change power in 32 adults.
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No trial shows a yoga or mobility programme deepens a loaded squat or improves the press. An 8-week ankle programme improved ankle bend in 30 young female athletes with stiff ankles, without measuring a lift.
Static stretching just before testing cut performance by 3.7% on average: 4.6% with holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle and 1.1% with shorter holds, and when moving followed, no clear loss remained. Holds under 30 seconds had no clear effect across 106 studies, and across 104 studies strength fell 5.4%, least with holds of 45 seconds or less.
An international expert consensus (95% agreement) advises against holds over 60 seconds per muscle before maximal or explosive efforts. Short static stretches inside a dynamic warm-up are fine.
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Across 7 studies, stretching just before resistance sessions blunted strength gains by a small to moderate amount, more so over 8 weeks. The authors suggest stretching in sessions away from lifting.
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The American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM) 2026 position stand found strength improved more when resistance exercise came first in a session.
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Before lifting: a short dynamic warm-up and ramp-up sets, with any yoga as 2 to 5 minutes of flow and holds under 30 seconds. Longer holds after lifting or on rest days, as in our yoga for athletes guide.
Long-term static stretching raised strength a little across 41 studies, more in inactive people, and raised strength and muscle size slightly across 42 trials (1,318 people).
The expert consensus doesn't recommend stretching as a main way to build strength. The ACSM bases strength on heavier loads (80% of your maximum or more), a full range of motion, 2 to 3 sets and at least 2 sessions a week.
In the one trial, 7 weeks of yoga didn't change jump or snatch power in Olympic weightlifters.
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Strength training improved range of motion as much as stretching in 11 trials (452 people). Across 55 studies, resistance training improved range against no training, though not with body weight alone, and a 2025 review of 36 studies agreed.
Full-range training built more strength and leg muscle than partial range across 16 studies, and the ACSM advises a complete range of motion.
Range gained by stretching faded a little within 2 to 6 weeks of stopping.
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Add yoga or mobility work for the specific positions you can't reach, such as a deep squat or arms overhead, and practise those positions with light weights so the range carries over (our mobility guide).
Stretching before or after exercise reduced soreness by about 1 point on a 100-point scale across 12 studies.
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Stretching after exercise didn't speed the return of strength or ease soreness (11 trials, very low certainty), and the expert consensus doesn't recommend stretching as a recovery routine.
Fifteen minutes of yoga after 30 minutes of hard intervals slowed breathing and raised heart rate variability more than static stretching, over 10 to 15 minutes, in 20 male athletes. That's a short-term calming effect.
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Long-term yoga practitioners had higher heart rate variability after a step test than strength trainers in one snapshot study, but a published letter notes that slow breathing alone raises that measure, and breathing wasn't measured.
Use yoga on recovery days because it feels good and calms you down, not to flush soreness.
In athletes, joint hypermobility (very flexible joints) went with about 3 times the odds of shoulder injury (6 studies, 2,335 athletes, low quality) and more knee injuries in contact sport.
Weight trainers had more looseness at the front of the shoulder than people who didn't lift, linked with behind-the-neck pulldowns and presses, and with weaker muscles that turn the arm out.
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The NHS's main advice for joint hypermobility syndrome is to improve strength and fitness, and "do not overextend your joints just because you can". If you're very flexible or a shoulder has slipped, keep yoga to strength and control in the middle of your range, skip deep binds and end-range shoulder stretches, and see our hypermobility guide.
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Weightlifting has about 2.4 to 3.3 injuries per 1,000 training hours (knees, lower back, shoulders, hands) and powerlifting 1.0 to 4.4 (lower back and pelvis, shoulders, elbows), low next to team sports. About half of women lifters reported pelvic floor symptoms such as leaking, against 9.3% of men.
Shoulder (26%), spine (24%) and knee (18%) injuries led across 25 studies, with lack of coach supervision among the risk factors.
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Across 25 trials (26,610 people), stretching didn't reduce sports injuries, while strength training cut them to about a third. No study has tested a warm-up, mobility or stretching routine for preventing lifting injuries.
Keep lifting 2 to 4 days a week as you do now. Add yoga once or twice a week, 20 to 30 minutes after training or on a rest day, and use flowing moves inside your warm-up rather than long holds (our editorial starting point).
For adults in general, the ACSM advises flexibility exercises for each major muscle group, a total of 60 seconds per exercise, on at least 2 days a week.
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Ankle rocks for heels that lift in the squat, hamstring holds for a rounding hinge, thread the needle and wall angels for arms that drift forward overhead (our suggestion, as in our overhead squat progression).
Knee-to-wall rocks: 10 slow rocks each side, heel down (the move's page). Ankle circles: 5 each way with each ankle (the move's page). Low lunge: 45 seconds each side, back knee padded, and lizard: 30 to 45 seconds each side (our yoga for footballers class). 90/90 switch: 10 slow switches (the move's page). 90/90 hip lift-off: 3 holds of 5 seconds each way, each side (our yoga for mobility class). Deep squat hold: 60 seconds holding a door frame (our yoga for mobility class). Goddess pose: 3 holds of 3 breaths, shallow (our yoga for footballers class). Pigeon preparation: 45 to 60 seconds each side (our yoga for athletes guide), or reclined figure four, 45 seconds each side (our yoga for runners class), if the front knee hurts.
3D demoKnee-to-wall ankle rockBeginner · A wall
3D demoAnkle CARs (controlled articular rotations)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoLow lunge (Anjaneyasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoLizard pose (Utthan Pristhasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demo90/90 switchIntermediate · No equipment
3D demo90/90 hip lift-offIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoDeep squat holdIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoGoddess pose (Utkata Konasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoPigeon preparation (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana prep)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoReclined figure four (eye of the needle, Sucirandhrasana)Beginner · No equipmentHip hinge fold: 5 slow folds, 3 breaths at the bottom (the move's page). Strap hamstring stretch: 45 seconds each side, stopping at a mild pull, about 3 out of 10 (our yoga for footballers class). Pyramid pose: 30 seconds each side, hands on blocks (our yoga for runners guide). Warrior III: 3 breaths each side, twice, hands on a chair at hip height (our yoga for footballers class).
Cat-cow: 8 slow waves (the move's page). Thread the needle: 30 seconds each side (our yoga for mobility class). Thoracic rotation: 6 each side with your breath (our overhead squat progression). Extended puppy: 2 holds of 45 seconds (our yoga for athletes guide). Wall angel: 8 slow slides; overhead lat stretch: 2 holds of 30 to 45 seconds; foam roller upper-back extension: 5 to 8 slow breaths at 3 or 4 spots (our overhead squat progression). Downward dog: 5 breaths, knees bent generously (our yoga for mobility class).
3D demoCat-cowBeginner · No equipment
3D demoThread the needle (Parivrtta Balasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoThoracic rotationBeginner · No equipment
3D demoExtended puppy pose (Uttana Shishosana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWall angelBeginner · A wall
3D demoOverhead lat stretch at a bench (elbows on the bench)Intermediate · A bench or box
3D demoFoam roller thoracic extensionBeginner · A foam roller
3D demoDownward-facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)Beginner · No equipmentOne-leg stand: 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg. Side plank: 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side (both from our yoga for footballers class).
Slow breathing: 2 minutes after training, in about 4 and out about 6 (our yoga for athletes guide). Child's pose: 50 seconds; legs up the wall: 2 minutes, optional; corpse pose: 3 minutes (our yoga for runners class).
Holds over 60 seconds per muscle cost a few per cent of force, and stretching just before resistance sessions blunted strength gains over weeks. Save them for after.
Cow face arms, eagle arms and full wheel: with a shoulder that has slipped or feels loose, skip end-range shoulder work. Our overhead press guide drops behind-the-neck pressing for loose shoulders.
Front splits and deep pigeon: build control, not more range.
Kapalbhati and bhastrika raised blood pressure during practice in a lab study, and yoga breathing didn't add power.
It can leave you dehydrated: our yoga for athletes guide suggests no hot class in the 24 hours before a long event.
US health advice is for beginners to avoid them, and your neck doesn't need the load. Skip head-down poses with glaucoma or blood pressure that isn't controlled.
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Our 25-minute class works ankles and hips, the hinge, and the upper back and overhead position, for after lifting or a rest day. The squat technique workout and overhead squat progression practise the positions with the bar; the dynamic warm-up goes before lifting.
A 25-minute yoga class for people who lift: ankles and hips for the squat, the hinge, and the upper back and shoulders for overhead, after training or on a rest day.
25 minBeginner16 movesA wallTwenty minutes of joint circles, a standing flow and end-of-range strength: yoga for range you can reach and control, for desk days, rest days or older joints.
20 minBeginner16 movesA step, A wallA 25-minute practice session for the squat: find your depth on a chair, groove the bodyweight squat with pauses, then load it with a slow goblet squat.
25 minBeginner8 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 25-minute session for the overhead squat: check your ankles and reach, loosen what the check shows, then climb from the goblet squat to a dowel and an empty bar.
25 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallA 25-minute band routine for healthy shoulders: move the shoulder and upper back through their range, then strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder blades.
25 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bandA 10-minute warm-up for any workout: raise your heart rate, move each joint through its range, rehearse the main movements, then ramp up to your first lift.
10 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bandA 10-minute cool-down for after a run, a class or a gym session: a few minutes of easy movement, stretches for the muscles you used, then slow breathing.
10 minBeginner9 movesCardio machine, A wallA 25-minute easy session for rest days and sore muscles: easy cardio, a gentle mobility flow, optional rolling for sore spots, and slow breathing to finish.
25 minBeginner11 movesCardio machine, A wallThese follow our weightlifting, pain when lifting, neck, hand, elbow, knee, foot, hamstring and mobility guides word for word. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 where this page says 999.
Call 999 if someone faints while exercising, or has chest pain that doesn't go away, spreads to the arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness.
Call 999 or go to A&E: after a fall or injury, or after the bar came down on you or the shoulder slipped during a press, your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape, or you cannot move your arm. Do not drive yourself, and do not try to put it back in yourself.
See a doctor or physiotherapist if your shoulder has partly or fully come out of joint, or you worry it might, including a clunk or a feeling it will slip with the arm low and back at the bottom of a press.
If a shoulder feels as if it slips during circles or hangs, leave out end-range shoulder work and see a physiotherapist. Our shoulder dislocation guide has the strengthening plan.
Same day (urgent GP appointment or NHS 111): severe neck pain that starts suddenly or gets worse quickly; heaviness or weakness in the arms or legs; pins and needles in an arm along with neck or arm pain; or pain between the shoulder blades.
Same day: clumsiness in your hands, or numbness, pins and needles or weakness in one or both arms, that is getting worse; problems with balance or walking since the neck pain started; or neck pain with a severe headache.
Same day: you have lost the feeling in part or all of your hand.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Same day: leg weakness that is getting worse.
Same day (urgent GP appointment or NHS 111): new difficulty lifting the front of your foot or toes (foot drop), or a foot that slaps down or catches as you walk, especially if it is getting worse. Weakness in both legs, or with numbness around the genitals or bottom or bladder or bowel changes, is the 999 emergency above.
Pain, tingling or numbness spreading below the knee that isn't settling after a few weeks, is getting worse or stops your normal activities: see a GP.
Each tendon's own guide gives its own advice:
If you're hypermobile, don't use mobility work to push further: the NHS says "do not overextend your joints just because you can". See a GP if you think you have joint hypermobility syndrome: for example, your joints keep dislocating, or you keep getting sprains, strains, pain or stiffness.
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A pinch at the front of the hip or ankle is the joint, not a stretch: stay just short of it, and see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (our suggestion).
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.
Long-term stretching raised strength slightly, and 7 weeks of yoga didn't change power in Olympic weightlifters. The catch is timing: stretching just before resistance sessions blunted gains.
Stretching didn't prevent injuries in 25 trials, while strength training did, and long holds before maximal lifts cost a few per cent.
Resistance training improved range as much as stretching, especially through a full range.
Very flexible athletes had more shoulder injuries, and loose shoulders went with behind-the-neck lifts. The NHS: "do not overextend your joints just because you can".
Stretching cut soreness by about 1 point out of 100 and didn't speed strength recovery, and experts don't recommend it as recovery. Yoga's calming effect is real but short.
Ujjayi, bhastrika and kapalbhati didn't change leg press power.
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Coaches shorten the range while mobility improves, and raised heels help some lifters reach depth now (our overhead squat guide).
No trial shows it: strength and size come from progressive loading (our strength guide).
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It can add controlled range in the positions your lifts need, balance, and a calm rest-day session. In the one trial in Olympic weightlifters, 7 weeks of yoga changed neither flexibility nor power, so treat it as a supplement, not a performance tool.
Not if you time it. Long-term stretching nudged strength up slightly, but long holds just before heavy lifts cost a few per cent of force, and stretching right before resistance sessions blunted strength gains over weeks.
After, or on another day. Before lifting, use a short dynamic warm-up and lighter sets, with any yoga as a few minutes of flow and holds under 30 seconds.
Yes. If strength is the priority, lift first: the ACSM's 2026 review found strength improved more when resistance exercise came at the start of a session. Do yoga afterwards, or later in the day.
Ankle rocks against a wall, low lunge, lizard, the 90/90 switch and a supported deep squat, because squat depth goes with ankle and hip bend. Practise the squat itself with light weight so the range carries over.
Thread the needle, puppy pose and wall angels work the upper back and the reach overhead. If a shoulder feels loose or has slipped, skip end-range shoulder stretches and see a physiotherapist.
Not necessarily: lifting improved range as much as stretching across 55 studies. Add yoga for positions you still can't reach, or because you enjoy it.
Not much for soreness: stretching cut it by about 1 point out of 100. A short yoga cool-down calmed breathing faster than stretching after hard intervals, and a rest-day class can feel good.
Once or twice a week, 20 to 30 minutes after training or on rest days, is a reasonable start (our suggestion). Keep your lifting sessions as they are.
The same rules apply: no long holds before maximal attempts, yoga after or on other days, and control rather than extra range if you're already very flexible. Powerlifting injury rates are low, about 1 to 4 per 1,000 training hours.
Long passive holds are fine on rest days if they feel good, but they won't speed recovery. Very flexible lifters should skip end-range holds (our hypermobility guide).
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
