Improve your performance with yoga sports coaching – the missing link in strength and conditioning

All sports
All levels

I am qualified with Yoga Sports Science® (YSS) as one of only a few Advanced Yoga Sports Coaches®. YSS programmes are led by the sport and not by the yoga, and work at all levels in all disciplines.  Yoga Sports Coaching is rapidly becoming recognised as the missing link in traditional strength and conditioning programmes in many disciplines.  In combination with my knowledge and experience of postural and structural fitness, I deliver a highly specialised approach to supporting the body through the rigours of training and helping to find the edge in performance, comprising:

• Mobility work in the specific areas required for the sport
• Balance, strength and stability for both static and fast-moving sports
• Core strength
• Power and endurance
• Injury prevention
• Performance breathing techniques
• Mental focus and control of nerves

Yoga Sports Coaching can be delivered to individuals, small groups or whole teams, as part of existing training programmes or in the lead up to an event. A typical 1:1 programme begins with an assessment, including body posture, structure, strength and mobility, breathing capacity and any history of injury, and leads to a tailored plan to be integrated into training and the individual’s lifestyle.  For groups and teams, sessions focus on maintaining good overall shape and on common issues for the discipline.  For all athletes, I work closely with coaches, physiotherapists and other practitioners to ensure that movement and breathing work both assists and enhances all elements of training and rehabilitation programmes.

Yoga Sports Coaching techniques do not required any previous experience of yoga and are suitable for all athletes who are looking to improve their performance, from those simply keen on fitness through to the elite levels. Many athletes are now benefiting from these techniques, from football to marathon running and golf, and YSS research is demonstrating the considerable benefits in a range of sports and disciplines.

I am also Head of Faculty for The Institute of Yoga Sports Science®, tutoring our next generation of Yoga Sports Coaches.

Contact me to book your session, or for a free, no-obligation chat about how this innovative approach to strength and conditioning could help you or your team achieve their goals.

Prices are based on £65 per hour, with retainer and block booking discounts available.  For 1:1 coaching, this includes home a home programme for training outside contact hours to ensure maximum value from your sessions, and telephone support when a further session is booked.

Contact Yoga Sports Science to find out more about Yoga Sports Science® and its research studies.

Case study April 2011: To establish whether a sport-specific yoga programme could help improve endurance in a marathon runner preparing for an event.

As part of the Yoga Sports ScienceTM (YSS) research programme, I undertook a 10-week case study in early 2011 with a marathon runner preparing for the Reading Half Marathon.  The intervention included weekly sessions and work to incorporate into the athlete’s training programmes, based on YSS running-specific techniques and approaches.  Results were measured both quantitatively and qualitatively, and showed improvements in endurance, race times and post-race recovery in addition to reduced levels of fatigue and a greater sense of overall well-being:

• An improvement of 5 minutes on the half-marathon race time
• Aches and pains were reduced to almost nothing the day after the race
• The athlete found the training schedule was achievable for the first time in 13 years of race running, can now train on more days consecutively and finds running “much more comfortable”

A full research report is available. To request a copy contact me.

Here’s what the athletes say about yoga sports coaching:

“The yoga coaching has made a real difference to my training.  I undertook the 60-mile London-Cambridge Bike Ride just two weeks after I started working with Anthea, and found it easier than I had expected.  The breathing techniques were key, particularly when fatigue set in, and the next day I had not a single ache.  Previous problems with my knees and hips have now abated, running is easier with more settled breathing, and I feel that I am avoiding injuries before they occur.  I used to think that yoga’s not for blokes – how wrong I was.  I would recommend this programme to any athlete.”

Steve, runner and cyclist, 48

“Anthea gave me intense yoga coaching specifically for runners for three months which led up to improving my half-marathon personal best by 5 minutes.  I felt more relaxed, comfortable, co-ordinated and focused, with more spring in my feet, than in any previous race.  Aches and pains in the days following the race were almost non-existent for the first time in 13 years of running, and in training I found myself able to run on more days consecutively than ever before.  Anthea is highly professional, knowledgeable and motivating, builds great rapport and genuinely has the needs of her clients at the forefront of her mind.”

Bob, runner, 42

Yoga For Dance

“Since Anthea has been teaching our postgraduate musical theatre students as part of their dance programme, injuries have been fewer. We have also encouraged a language and vocabulary that can house all aspects of their training, from considering breath control in their dance and singing to employing muscles effectively to support their dance yet sustain a sense of release thus not infringing on vocal quality.”
Lainie Baird, Head of Dance, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London

Mountview takes an enlightened approach to movement work, with an understanding that all three aspects of Musical Theatre performance – dance, acting and singing – can benefit from training in intelligent and appropriate use of the body, breath and mind. Yoga fits perfectly with this approach and the work with Musical Theatre students focuses on the use of yoga to support the physical, mental and lifestyle demands of students and professionals:

• a whole-body approach to strength, mobility, flexibility and injury prevention, including spinal health and the management of traditionally challenging areas such as hamstrings, shoulders, feet/ankles and lower backs
• development of breath awareness and breathing capacity
• working with individual differences in posture and movement
• using the natural resource of the breath and the mind to calm nerves and manage stress
• the adoption of yoga to manage the demanding nature of a competitive performance career

In addition to teaching groups of students, I have coached 1:1 dancers and other movement specialists in using yoga to enhance their work, their training and/or their lifestyle.

Contact me to find out more about yoga sports coaching or yoga for dance