Total Gym Yoga for Athletes: Strength, Presence & Performance
Maria Sollon, MS, CSCS, PES
Yoga isn’t just for rest days or flexibility fanatics. For athletes, it’s a secret training tool that sharpens movement, deepens control and builds long-term strength.
This practice is not about nailing a stand or folding into a pretzel. It’s about moving better, feeling stronger and staying in the game longer. Whether your “game” is on the field, in the gym, or navigating life with purpose, yoga offers the edge to recover faster, stay resilient, and perform at your peak.
Why Total Gym Yoga works
Combining yoga-inspired moves with your Total Gym incline, you get a total-body workout that builds strength, flexibility, and mobility all at once. These sequences can fit anywhere in your routine as a warm-up, cool-down, or stand-alone flow.
This athlete-led flow stretches what’s tight, strengthens what’s weak, and restores balance where your body needs it most. Plus, you’ll get all the restorative benefits of yoga, with the added benefit of breath-focused core activation.
Total Gym Athletic Yoga Flow
Regulation: Low to moderate slope
Format: 1–2 rounds, moving with your breath. Aim for control, not power, and let your breath guide the transitions.
Mentality: Focus on the feel of each movement, allowing the glide board to aid flexibility and challenge stability.
GB = Sliding Table
Warm-Up: Sun Salutation Flow
Wake up your muscles and synchronize your breath with movement using a Total Gym-friendly Sun Salutation.
- Upward facing dog
- Downward facing dog
- Child‘s Pose
(Need an image? Check out the Sun Salutation tutorial here.)
Position 1: Runner‘s Lunge + Hamstring Rocks
Focus: Hips, hamstrings, core stability
Benefits: Opens hip flexors, lengthens hamstrings, activates deep core for stride power
Why it Levels You Up: It improves running mechanics and lower body mobility while testing balance and mental ability.
At Total Gym:
- Face the vertical column in a runner’s stance (one foot on the floor, the other extended on the platform.)
- Swing into the runners lunge stretch, hitting different trigger points that may be tight.
- Exhale and gently rock the hips back to stretch the hamstrings, then lunge forward to hit tight trigger points.
- Move slowly between positions for 6-8 controlled reps per side.
Position 2: Forearm Board Saws + Child‘s Reset position
Focus: Shoulders, core, spine decompression
Benefits: Builds solid shoulders and abs while releasing back tension.
Why it Levels You Up: It combines high tension core endurance with calming recovery in one seamless sequence.
At Total Gym:
- Start with a forearm plank facing the vertical column.
- Open and close the GB in a saw-like motion while maintaining plank stability 8–10 reps.
- Next, sit the hips back into child’s pose, reaching the arms forward and out to the sides to release tension in the lower back.
Amount 3: Bridge + Flip
Focus: Glutes, hamstrings, lats, spinal mobility
Benefits: Strengthens the posterior chain, opens the chest and hip flexors, strengthens posture and breathing mechanics.
Why it Levels You Up: It activates the glutes and core while mobilizing the spine for rotational sports.
At Total Gym:
- Lie supine on the glide board, head on top, feet flat.
- Push through the heels to lift the hips into a bridge, pause, then roll the spine down.
- Roll to a seated position, rotate to each side, then return to a supine position with control.
- Repeat for 10 slow reps.
Pose 4: Boat Pose (Navasana)
Focus: Core activation, hip flexor strength
Benefits: Strengthens deep abdominals, improves balance, sharpens focus, supports spinal alignment.
Why it Levels You Up: Builds strong abs while challenging concentration and breath control.
At Total Gym:
- Sit tall on the glide board facing away from the tower, knees bent, feet flat.
- The hands can rest behind the knees or reach towards the feet.
- Roll into a V-sit and lift the legs to balance on the sit bones.
- To move forward: stretch the legs straight and stretch the arms forward.
- Hold for 20–30 seconds, breathing steadily.
Cool-Down Flow
Reset and reset in a static sequence to lengthen the muscles and calm the nervous system:
- Forward Fold + Rotate
- Pigeon pose
- Child‘s Pose
Repeat on opposite side.
The Takeaway
Total Gym Sports Yoga Blends strength, mobility and awareness in a powerful package that helps you perform at your best. Train with intention, breathe with purpose and let every movement remind you that flexibility isn’t just physical – it’s a mindset.
Stay fluid. Stay strong. Stay in the game.
Mary
@GROOVYSWEAT
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