Should I Do Yoga Before or After Cardio (Running & Cycling)

Yoga Before or After Cardio

If you are reading this article, it means you want to include both Yoga and Cardio in your daily routine.

Wow! That’s great; it will definitely help you maintain your fitness. If you are a sportsperson or an athlete, incorporating yoga into your daily routine will definitely help enhance your performance.

No doubt there are immense benefits of yoga in life which is why it is increasing in popularity among all groups of people.

However, it may be counterproductive if you don’t schedule it properly.

So now you are trapped in a dilemma, is it better to do yoga before or after cardio so that it will be more beneficial!

You should always do yoga after a cardio session. It would be best if you start with cardio first; as the body gets heat-ups & sweats, then you should move on to yoga which will give your muscles a good stretch and helps to calm & cool down your body. 

Should I Do Yoga Before or After Cardio?

A dilemma we’ve all had, haven’t we?

Long answer short, Yoga before or After Cardio: After!

Yoga has a plethora of benefits, but it is popularly known for static stretching. Regular stretching is a crucial component of flexibility and physical fitness.

Even though it is highly beneficial contrary to popular belief, it is not healthful to do intensive yoga before cardio.

Firstly, endurance exercise like cardio requires a good amount of muscle strength, but after an intense yoga session, you will experience a temporary loss of muscle power as yoga mainly involves sustained poses and deep stretches. 

So due to weakened body tissues, your ability to give 100% will get significantly reduced, which will hamper your performance and growth.

Also, according to a study, pre-exercise static stretching represses maximal muscular performance, and usage of stretching as the sole activity during warmup routine should generally be avoided.

Secondly, doing intense static stretching before cardio also raises your chances of injury during your practice.

Now a question will appear in most of us mind that, it is always said that we must stretch before doing any intense workout & you are saying we should avoid doing it.

Indeed you must stretch before cardio, but a gentle one; you should avoid doing strenuous yoga or static stretching.

However, performing purely light dynamic stretches as a warmup before cardio can be beneficial.

As our muscles are cold so that they are more prone to injury and can also cause soreness.

Hence we need to prepare them for an intense cardio session.

So doing very light yoga poses, which should primarily involve dynamic stretching, before cardio help to loosen up the muscles and joints.

Also, it slightly increases the body’s temperature & improves blood circulation, ensuring that your muscles are well supplied with oxygen.

So it will gently prepare the body for cardio by gradually increasing the heart rate and circulation.

Which indirectly helps to reduce chances of muscle injury during a workout and drastically enhances the performance quality.

There are more benefits of practicing yoga after a cardio session, and it’s always important to practice it regularly.

Perhaps as proper stretching and cooling down after an excellent cardio session is essential for injury prevention and muscle recovery, so you must include yoga in your routine and should never be skipped.

Benefits of Yoga after Cardio

As I had told you earlier, doing yoga after your cardio session offers hell lots of benefits.

I think it is entirely safe to say that there really isn’t a reason not to include yoga in your everyday life, whether it be before or after cardio or as an addition to your regular workout.

So the best benefit that we get by doing yoga after cardio is that our body gets stretched deeper while performing yoga asanas which drastically improves flexibility and helps perform other advanced yoga asanas!

Also, according to the United Kingdom National Health Service, the best time to perform the stretches typical of yoga practice is when your muscles are warm and pliable.

After cardio, our body is warmed because of that body gets stretched deeper during yoga practices and helps bring more benefits from it.

It also helps to improve flexibility.

Doing yoga after cardio allows you to stretch out your muscles completely. So regularly stretching your muscles will definitely make them flexible over a period of time.

Doing yoga after cardio also helps to lower heart rate.

After performing a cardio exercise, our heart rate is very high, and we must bring it down to its natural rhythm.

So deep breathing and resting yoga pose eventually bring down our heart rate spontaneously. 

And also, it helps to prevent muscle soreness and promotes muscle recovery.

Yoga stretches the muscles and improves blood circulation, which in turn delivers vital nutrients and aids in faster healing of the muscle.

It also helps to prevent muscle soreness. 

We must stretch our sore muscles after a workout. If not done, the lactic acid can settle in and cause them to ache for days!

So as we all know, yoga involves stretching, so doing it after cardio keeps away muscle soreness and ache.

Generally, most forms of yoga are meant to bring your entire body to a state of calm, so yoga helps cool and calm your body after a rigorous cardio session.

Should You Do Yoga Before or After Running?

You should do yoga after running. Running is a type of cardio exercise, so it will be more helpful if you practice yoga after doing cardio.

As the body gets warmed up while running, it will help you perform yoga stretches deeper and adequately. 

Eventually, it will help you to perform advanced yoga asanas and also develops your running capacity.

So runners who practice yoga regularly after running have overall better fitness and see a drastic improvement in stamina & lesser injuries.

Is it Ok to Run and Do Yoga on the Same Day?

Yes, it is ok to run and do yoga on the same day; there is no problem in doing that.

As I had told you earlier, you must run first, and then after taking some rest, you can practice yoga.

If you are talking about doing it separately on the same day, it is also completely fine. You can plan yoga and cardio according to your preference. 

Can I Do Cardio and Yoga Together?

Yes, you can do cardio and yoga together. But you have to schedule cardio first, and then after optimum rest, you can practice yoga without any problem. 

Make sure that while switching from cardio to yoga, don’t forget to take a rest in-between!

If I Divide my Time, Can I do Yoga and Cardio separately?

Yes, you can do yoga and cardio separately. Besides, it is the best way to do it; if your schedule allows you, then you can perform yoga in the morning and work out in the late afternoon or evening as our body has optimum energy at this time, which increases our workout performance and quality.

Should You Do Yoga Before or After Cycling?

You should do yoga after cycling. Also, cycling is a type of cardio exercise, so it is always best to practice yoga after doing cardio.

But before cycling, you can do light dynamic yoga stretches as you need to get your body and legs ready for cycling. 

This will help to lose leg joints and improve blood circulation to tissues and muscles. 

Should I Do Yoga Before or After Swimming?

You should do yoga before swimming.

In this case, you have to perform yoga before swimming.

Even though swimming is a kind of cardio exercise, it is not advised to do yoga after swimming. 

As our body gets cool because of water, it is not suitable for the body to do rigorous training. 

But suppose you are training for any purpose (other than regular fitness). In that case, you must keep your yoga session light and should ultimately focus on improving your performance.

But also, you should try to include an intensive yoga session in between whenever possible, as maintaining flexibility is the biggest key to swimming fast.

Conclusion

Yoga Before or After Cardio?

There is nothing black and white in this; at the end of the day, deciding to do cardio or yoga first is solely up to you. 

But various research & studies show that practicing yoga after cardio is the best option, and it is more beneficial.

So whether you are busy with everyday life, an athlete, or a fitness freak, it’s super important to include yoga in your routine; it not only helps you with flexibility and fitness but also helps to keep your memory sharp and calm mind.

So if you have been wondering, “Should I Do Yoga Before or After Cardio” I hope you found your answer in this article.

If you have any doubts or queries, then do let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to share it with your friends and family and help them come out of the dilemma of before & after!

Thanks For Visiting Vedic Yoga Ayurveda
Namaste! Jai Hind!

Sharing is caring ❤️

Leave a Comment