NBA team, San Antonio Spurs do yoga
by Ongai

I have one question for guys out there who are still ashamed or hesitant to practice yoga. Why don’t you give yoga a try? I’ll give you one one great reason why you should try it: The Champion San Antonio Spurs have given yoga a try! Yes and this means that basketball superstars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are into it. Even resident funny guy Matt Bonner gave it a try but cracked jokes about Coach Greg Popovich’s new idea for the Spurs’ regular training regimen. According to Pop:

Concentrating on flexibility, relaxation, lowering of anxiety — that sort of concept is what we’re looking at. It’s something new for us this year. We’re going to do it for a while and see what we think.

Still not convinced even if the Spurs are trying out yoga? Let me share with you other players who are giving yoga a try to further increase their flexibility and strengthen their core muscles. The Bobcats’ Emeka Okafor is one and he has been practicing yoga since his 2nd year in the league. According to him:

I didn’t know it was that beneficial until I actually tried it. After the first session, I felt pretty good. After the first two weeks, you just feel great. Afterward, you just feel so relaxed.

All Star but injury prone Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards have tried everything in the gym to keep his core strong but so far nothing seemed to work to he tried yoga this summer at the request of his wife and he has been happy with the results so far.

Yoga,” Butler said. “Yoga got me through. Got me opening up my hips and I’m looser. Dropping pounds. My body feels great. Tough Juice and Yoga. How’s that sound? My wife has been asking me to go with here occassionally over the years so I went out there and did it and actually enjoyed it..

Still not convinced even with these players? So I get the point that their careers aren’t even finished yet and we still can’t see the results of yoga in prolonging their careers. However, ladies and gentlemen, this last player may give a bigger push for yoga as he been practicing yoga since 1976. He was drafted first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969. He was awarded the MVP six times. He has scored over 38,000 points in his 20 years in the league. He is none other than…

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He started doing yoga when he was traded to the LA Lakers. This was to help him build his strength and flexibility which eventually helped him prolong his career to 20 successful years.

After sharing with you these NBA players I hope that I have enlightened you in trying out yoga. Whether trying to build core strength or just to lose weight, yoga is definitely a great way to do that. Have fun doing yoga guys and hopefully this prevents you from getting injured and somehow helps you to prolong your playing years in whatever sports you’re in.

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