9 Yoga Moves Your Kids Need to Improve Flexibility and Avoid Injury

Fall sports will soon be in full swing, most high school athletes have already returned to practice and many of your kids are playing a sport year round. When our kids take the field for practice and games, stretching and cooling down seems to either be an after thought or non-existent. This increases the risk of injury when they are playing sports especially highly competitive sports. There is a balance between indulging their love of sports and keeping them safe and injury free. One of the best ways to avoid injury is to build flexibility. Yoga is a great way to build flexibility and help keep kids injury free. Aaron Hewitt PA-C with OrthoCarolina is on a mission to protect student athletes from injury and preventing long term problems in active children. Yoga is one of the preventative measures he recommends not just for the physical but also the mental aspect of yoga.

Why do young athletes have such a hard time with flexibility?

Especially for those children going through their growth spurt, I tell my patients/parents that as they become “longer”, the skeleton (the bones, especially the long ones like the humerus, femur, and tibia) are the first structures to grow. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments are often “along for the ride.” These soft tissues cross joints, and joints are where two bones meet. So as two attachment points become farther away from one another, that soft tissue comes under tension. And tension equals lack of flexibility.

What are some problems that can arise from lack of flexibility?

There are probably two common things that can arise from decreased flexibility: pain and injury.

Adolescents going through their growth spurt will often have front of the kneecap pain (what we call patellofemoral pain), hip pain, or foot/heel pain (Sever’s Disease, not really a “disease”.) While these are not serious conditions, it’s important that we are cognizant of them as parents, coaches, and health care professionals.

Injuries will often occur with overuse of joint that cannot gain full range of motion. In athletes that are throwers, jumpers, or runners we’ll see injuries that are directly related to their lack of skeletal maturity. It’s often a frustrating to an elite athlete or parent.

How can yoga play a part in building flexibility for young athletes?

I love yoga for the inflexible young athlete. Obviously, it helps gently gain length in these soft tissues that are constraining the joint. The soft, slow, static stretching is a hallmark of physical therapy treatment since the beginning of time.

Also, an added benefit is that it will also help develop strength in a low impact fashion. The athlete can develop improved balance and proprioception (understanding where your body is relative to space and time.)

And as a bonus, it helps calm the mind. Frequently, we have our young athletes in an ultra-aggressive, competitive atmosphere. This calmness is often the “ying-yang” athletes need to perform at peak performance.

How often do you suggest some sort of flexibility training for young athletes?

In terms of stretching on one’s own, I recommend light ballistic stretching for 10-15 minutes after a good warmup before athletics. Then some slow static stretching for an additional 10-15 minutes following sports. In terms of yoga for adolescents, 1-2 times a week would be a good starting off point.

Here are some yoga poses that can help build flexibility in your children (all Images provided by OrthoCarolina).

Downward Facing Dog –for posterior shoulder, hamstring, calves