Go higher when climbing: Here's how to do it

In today's edition of Yoga for Climbers, Petra Zink shows you an intensive stretch for your inner thighs so that you can climb nice and high in the future.

A variety of muscles pull over the hip joint, and their excessive tension can cause blockages and restricted movement in the pelvis, lower back and leg area.

The following exercise stretches the relevant muscles and gives the hip joints a deep massage. And if the hip joint can move freely, it is also possible to step high and spread wide when climbing.

Yoga exercises for mountain athletes focus primarily on stretching the hip flexor muscles, buttocks muscles and thigh muscles. Long holding times, such as those practiced in Yin Yoga, are particularly suitable here. 

Frog

This pose provides an intense stretch of the inner thighs and a deep massage of the hip joints. It is also a good mental exercise as one can easily feel irritated due to the intense stretching and stimulation of the liver meridian.

  • Starting position: child's pose
  • If necessary, place a blanket under your ankles and knees.
  • Slowly move your knees and lower legs outwards.
  • Never let your pelvis fall in front of the imaginary line of your knees!
  • If necessary, place a pad under the chest (milder version) or lie with your upper body completely on the floor (more intensive version).
  • At the end, push the floor away with your hands to lift your upper body again, close your knees and bring your feet together again.
  • Duration: 1-3 minutes.
  • Final position: prone position
  • Caution: For knee problems, especially meniscus problems.

Starting position: child's pose

End position child posture

1 position

Frog position 1

2 position

Frog position 2

Final position: prone position

Final position prone

Book with yoga exercises for climbers

In the book “Yoga for climbers and mountaineers” introduces the yoga teacher, sports scientist and enthusiastic alpinist Petra Zink 54 selected yoga exercises that are dedicated to the stressed parts of the body of mountain athletes: wrists, shoulders, back, hips.

Readers from Germany and Austria can order the book here.


All articles in the yoga series

You can find all articles in the yoga series at the following link.


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About Petra Zink

Petra Zinc is a yoga teacher and sports scientist. She was a competitive athlete herself and has trained young athletes to Olympic champions. She is currently developing exercise and health concepts for tourism and business with a focus on yoga, health and mindfulness.

She lives out her great passion for the mountains with her husband in her adopted home of Carinthia and on trips through Europe and North America. The combination of yoga and mountain sports has increasingly developed into an attitude to life, she passes on her enthusiasm and knowledge in numerous workshops and yoga retreats (www.petrazinc.com).

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Credits: Cover picture Stefan Koechel

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