
(Photo: Greg Rosenke | Getty)
As a runner, you know that overtaxing already tight muscles can lead to soreness or injury, such as muscle strains or tears, which can potentially sideline you from running for (shudder) weeks.
But sometimes you don’t know you’ve pushed yourself too hard until it’s too late. So how do you reduce your chance of injury and stave off delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after your workout? Practicing a couple minutes of yoga for runners before and after your training runs can help with that.
Runners require both dynamic and static stretches. Dynamic stretches, as the name implies, move your joints through their range of motion. They contract and lengthen your muscles and connective tissues and act as a warm-up for your entire body. Dynamic stretching before a run warms up your legs and helps prevent injury.
Static stretches, on the other hand, take your muscles to their maximum range of motion and keep them there. Static stretching after a run reduces the accumulation of lactic acid in your muscles to minimize soreness.
Yoga is a mixture of both dynamic and static stretches—flowing through poses provides the dynamic aspect, and remaining steady in a posture offers the static element—which is what makes yoga for runners so effective.
The below sequence includes dynamic and static poses that stretch and strengthen the muscles runners use most including the hamstrings, calves, quads, and hip flexors. Practice one or a few of the dynamic poses before your run and the static poses after.
Experts recommend holding static stretches for 10 to 30 seconds each, although it’s not necessary to hit that target in one go. Three rounds of 10 seconds in a pose is just as effective for improving flexibility and range of motion. Patience is required, as static stretching won’t immediately release a stiff muscle. But, in time, consistently stretching in this manner will increase your range of motion.

This sequence of poses is a dynamic stretching session that engages muscles throughout your entire body. Standing Forward Bend targets your hamstrings. Lunges stretch your quadriceps and hip flexors. Plank and Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) work your shoulders. And Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) offers a full-body stretch that includes your oh-so-tight calves.
Throughout this practice, your spine flows through flexion (forward fold) and extension (backbend) to relieve tension in your back. Sun Salutation A will also get your blood pumping and increase your core temperature, readying your body for the distance ahead.
Repeatedly moving from bent knees to standing transforms this typically static posture into a dynamic warm-up. Your upper back, shoulders, and core remain engaged as you swing your arms alongside your head and keep them there. Your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves fire to propel you back to standing.
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This posture provides a stretch for the hip flexors, adductors, glutes, and quadriceps. You’ll experience this stretch mostly in your extended leg as your front leg acts as the lever to control the intensity.
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Runners need ankle mobility for proper foot placement mid-stride and to assist with injury prevention. Tight ankles can maladaptively disperse pressure into the knees, hips, and lower back. Balancing on one leg in Warrior 3 requires support from the ankle which helps increase your range of motion and strengthens the ligaments and tendons in the foot and ankle to better prepare you for running on uneven surfaces.
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We all know squatting is effective strength training, but it’s also a useful position for muscle recovery. Lingering in Squat can help release tension in your hips and low back and improve ankle mobility. Rocking from side to side in this position can also improve ankle dorsiflexion and increase the stretch in your inner thighs. (If you have low back or knee injuries, though, rocking may aggravate it and should be avoided.)
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Although most runners focus on stretching their legs, they often overlook tension in their back and shoulders, which can become stiff due to pumping your arms during a run and repeatedly absorbing the shock from every foot strike. Down Dog stretches all of these muscles.
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Your feet and shins can experience tremendous stress from the pounding of your feet on the ground. Stretching your toes and the soles of your feet can reduce the occurrence of plantar fasciitis, which in turn ensures your runs remain bearable. This pose also stretches the muscles and connective tissues along the tibia to help prevent and reduce the pain of shin splints.
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This article has been updated. Originally published August 13, 2021.