Yoga Sports Science at Cambridge University Sports Centre

Hayley Winter and Kate Crouch in the Strength & Conditioning area at Cambridge University Sports Centre.

Written by Yoga Sports Coach™ Kate Crouch

On Thursday 20 February 2014, we held our first Yoga Sports Science® Clinic for 11 athlete members of the University of Cambridge Sports Centre.

We were lucky enough to have the session led by Hayley Winter, Founder of the Institute of Yoga Sports Science®, who came to the Centre and was amazed by the fantastic facilities we have here.

The session was also supported by the Centre's very own Yoga Sports Coach™: me!

Bringing Different Sports Together

We had a huge variety of sports represented among the athletes attending: running, heptathlon, triathlon, powerlifting, modern pentathlon, cycling, rowing, cricket, gymnastics and real tennis. Our Fitness, Strength and Conditioning Manager, Tristan, also joined us.

Hayley took the athletes through a range of techniques involving breathing, mobility, shoulder movement and muscle activation.

The session also included yoga poses tailored to the areas the athletes had identified as priorities, including shoulder flexibility, range of motion and recovery during intense training weeks.

The aim was to give each athlete techniques they could take away and incorporate into their own training, according to their sport and the areas in which they wanted to make improvements.

From the Clinic Into Training

All the feedback we received was really positive.

Some athletes had overcome their fear of yoga (!) and planned to join me in my weekly Yoga for Sport class on Thursdays.

Others found the 'take-home' techniques particularly useful and were looking forward to incorporating them into their training.

Some also reported psychological benefits from the session and found the techniques useful before the training session that followed.

Thank you to Hayley for leading the session, and thank you to all the athletes who attended!

I'm hoping to run more clinics in the future, including mixed sessions and perhaps some more sport-specific sessions for teams such as netball, cricket and rugby.

Interested in Bringing Yoga Into Sport?

If you're a yoga teacher, coach or movement professional interested in working with athletes, our Yoga for Athletes 40-Hour Online Course explores how traditional yoga and contemporary sports science can come together to support the physical and psychological demands of sport.

Discover how to adapt yoga practices to different sports and develop the knowledge and practical skills to work more confidently within athletic environments.

Explore our Yoga for Athletes 40-Hour Online Course