Summer Sports Guide

Maxine Bahns got hooked on the exhilaration of athletic competition in 2000, when she entered her first triathlon at age 30 and finished third in her age group. "It fired me up like nothing else," says the Los Angeles-based actress. But as she entered more and more races, she grew increasingly uncomfortable with their physical and mental toll. "I got terrible shin splints, and I practically lived at the chiropractor because my uneven hips were killing me," she says. On top of that, her nerves were getting the best of her: "I was so anxious, I threw up before every race."

Two years ago she realized she had to make a change. Seeking a way to make racing easier on her mind and body, Bahns intensified her commitment to yoga. Up until then she'd practiced only sporadically, dropping in on a Bikram class now and again. But the more she practiced, the more she liked it, and so she began attending 90-minute classes five days a week. Not wedded to any one style, she now varies her practice according to her mood and training schedule—power flows when prepping for a race and restoratives after the fact.

These days she loves triathlons more than ever, and her body does, too. "I don't get shin splints anymore even though I'm running more," she says. "I also have a lot less anxiety, so no more prerace puking." She's even been able to stop going to the chiropractor, since her hips have settled into a more even alignment.

As Bahns discovered, yoga has all sorts of benefits for athletes. For starters, it can help with muscular fitness and flexibility, says Ralph La Forge, a physiologist at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina: "Low-resistance hatha yoga is ideal for relaxing muscles that are tight from competition."

Indeed, Bahns credits yoga with helping her dodge the injuries that plague other triathletes. "After a big race, I do nothing but low-key yoga for three days to stretch and get the stiffness out of my legs." What's more, she adds, "since I've started doing yoga, I feel like I've truly learned how to nurture myself."

But the mental steadfastness that the practice bestows may be its biggest benefit, La Forge says. Researchers studying this area have found that, of all yoga's components, the one with the most influence on sports preparation and recovery is breathwork. It can help you become both relaxed and focused at the same time.

"Anytime you take large inhales and exhale slowly, it's followed by a period of relaxation," La Forge says. "The other thing that is going on cognitively is just taking time out from tension—you're distracted from the stress." (To learn more about yogic breathwork and how it can transform your performance and the experience of your favorite sport, see "Breath of Inspiration".)

"When I'm on the starting line and I'm really nervous and I'm shallow breathing, pranayama helps me find my happy place," Bahns says.

To get into a happy place with your favorite summertime sport, check out these yoga poses, where separate groupings focus on four popular summer sports: tennis, running, cycling, and golf

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