By Claire Diab and Dennis Boyle
As firefighters begin their careers, passing a fitness test is required and almost always incorporates a running exercise. Running helps to not only stay healthy and fit but to save lives.
If you are an inexperienced runner, be cautious and listen to your body when first starting out. Otherwise, pain and injury to muscles, tendons, and ligaments can occur. Also, since the movement of running places pressure on hamstrings, knees, feet, groin, and hips, these areas are very susceptible to tightening up and becoming sore. To prevent injury and pain, runners should practice yoga before and after their run.
Yoga warms up the body before running by making the muscles more loose and flexible and stretches out the muscles post running, preventing injury. If firefighters do injure their body during a run, yoga is a very effective way to help during the recovery process as well.
Almost all yoga poses can be beneficial to runners. The Butterfly and the Spinal Rocking to Left and Right are two poses that can be practiced before or after a run to prevent injury.
BUTTERFLY POSE
Bring the bottoms of the feet together with the knees out to the sides. Interlace the fingers, clasp the hands around the sides of the feet, and begin to rock right and left. Close your eyes while you massage the muscles around the sit bones. After a few deep breaths (inhale, lengthening the spine/exhale, folding forward), bring your elbows toward the ground, in front of the lower legs. Keep shoulders pressed away from the ears; wiggle around, turn the head left and right, relax the jaw, and breathe deeply.
Benefits:
- Improves the flexibility of the knee and hip joints.
- Improves the function of the lower abdominal organs.
- Strengthens the inner thighs, groin, lower back, and hamstrings.
Contraindications:
Do not perform if you have the following:
- Sciatica
SPINAL ROCKING TO LEFT AND RIGHT POSE
While lying down, gently hug both knees into the chest. Begin to rock left and right about 6-12 times.
Benefits:
- Improves spinal flexibility.
- Massages and strengthens back.
- Stimulates thyroid function.
- Rejuvenates the entire body.
- Improves circulation.
- Brings heat into the body.
Contraindications:
Do not perform if you have the following:
- Spinal injury
- Rib injury
Claire Diab is an internationally recognized Yoga therapist. She is the director of the Yoga Program for the Chopra Center founded by Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon. She is an adjunct professor of Asian Studies at Seton Hall University. She is the author of several books and DVDs on Yoga including “Yoga For Firefighters.”
Dennis Boyle is a retired fire director and acting chief with the West Orange (NJ) Fire Department. He was the recipient of the 1999 New Jersey Deputy Fire Chiefs “Fire Officer of the Year” award.
