If you enjoy weightlifting and practicing yoga, you may wonder: “Should I do yoga before or after workout?”
This is a common question for people who want to reach their fitness goals while also seeking peace, flexibility, and mindfulness.
There’s no one right answer, but when you do your yoga can really impact how you perform, recover, and just feel overall.
In this article, we will look at the benefits and downsides of doing yoga before and after a workout.
We will also explore how a deeper experience with yoga, like a retreat at Samma Karuna, can help you connect all the dots.
Why Combine Yoga With Workout?
Traditional workouts like lifting weights or high-intensity interval training are great for making your muscles tighter, but yoga does a fantastic job of stretching them out and relieving tension.
This helps you feel less stiff and can boost your range of motion, making your performance in other workouts even better.
Yoga (from Kundalini to Somatic yoga) also focuses on stabilizing muscles, keeping your joints in check, and improving body awareness, which helps lower the chances of getting strains or injuries when you’re pushing hard.
On the other hand, doing some yoga before or after workout can help you cut down on lactic acid, ease muscle soreness, and let your body calm down faster (It’s like active recovery with some extra perks).
In our community, we see it like this: workouts pump up your body, while yoga calms down your mind.
If you’re just starting with yoga, you should definitely read our guide, Yoga 101.
Yoga Before Workout
Yoga before your workout is a great way to warm up your body and mind.
It gets you ready to move and can really help reduce the risk of injuries.
Let’s see the good and bad sides to see how doing yoga before working out might be beneficial for you.
Pros
1. Increased flexibility & mobility
Doing some yoga before hitting the gym can really help with flexibility and mobility.
It’s great for getting your muscles ready and warming up your joints, especially if you’re gearing up for weightlifting or cardio.
Yoga styles like Vinyasa and Hatha are great for improving your blood circulation.
2. Mental clarity
Yoga is great for getting you to pay attention to your breath and your body. (You might also try Tantra Yoga if you want to focus on your breathing)
This clearer mindset can help you improve your form, reduce distractions, and make your workout feel more purposeful and enjoyable.
3. Injury prevention
A yoga session can help get your stabilizer muscles going and warm up your body for any activity, which might lower the chances of getting strains or sprains.
Cons
Yoga is great for boosting flexibility and mobility, but some poses can really wear you out if you hold them too long or push too hard.
If you push yourself too hard in yoga, it can actually hurt your performance.
So, if you’re aiming for heavy lifting or high-intensity workouts, it’s smarter to keep it light or save yoga after workout.
Also, try not to overdo the yoga right before a run, as it might leave you feeling drained.
Yoga After Workout
Doing yoga after your workout is a great way to cool down and aid your body’s recovery.
In fact, Yoga teachers at Samma Karuna tell their students that after doing some cardio, like running, yoga can really boost your flexibility and set you up for success down the road.
Of course, there are both upsides and downsides to this approach.
Pros
1. Relieves muscle tension
After a tough workout, yoga is perfect for winding down.
It gently stretches out your sore muscles, helps get rid of lactic acid, and over time, it really boosts your flexibility.
2. Reduces cortisol and stress
Exercise can raise cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone.
A calming yoga session afterward, especially with breathwork or meditation, can lower cortisol levels and help your body rest and recover.
3. Accelerates recovery
Yoga improves blood flow, lymphatic flow, and oxygen delivery to muscles, all of which help you recover faster.
Cons
After a tough workout, you might feel too tired to get the most out of yoga.
In this case, doing a short, gentle routine or some guided breathing could be better than a full session.
What Do Experts Recommend: Yoga Before or After Workout?
So, yoga before or after workout?
According to experts:
- If you’re looking to boost your mobility and improve your posture, hit the yoga mat first.
- If you need to unwind, relax, and recover, save yoga after workout.
You can also do yoga on your rest days or combine it with Pilates.
However, keep in mind that yoga is way more than just a workout.
At Samma Karuna, we see yoga as a journey toward awakening and healing.
Our Yoga, Tantra, and Breathwork Retreats offer something a gym just can’t provide: real transformation from the inside out.
In Summary
From our point of view, the best approach isn’t yoga before or after your workout, it’s yoga integrated as a regular part of your life.
So, when you stretch after doing squats or warm up before a run, pay attention to what your body needs.
If you want to go deeper into your practice and explore your physical, emotional, and spiritual side, Samma Karuna is here for you.
