Yoga for Repetitive Stress (Muscle) Syndrome

With some precautions, yoga should ease repetitive muscle strain. Here's what you should know about the benefits of yoga for repetitive muscle strains.

Losing your ability to perform a favorite hobby, even an occupation, can be devastating. Office workers, musicians, knitters, cashiers, woodworkers, machinists — all may be at risk for repetitive muscle stress conditions over time.

Repetitive motion can take a toll on anyone. Science hasn’t yet pinpointed a conclusive cause for repetitive muscle injuries, but studies suggest women are more likely to have them than men. People most at risk may also have sedentary lifestyles.

When they happen, you should not ignore soreness, pain, and stiffness. Over time, they can lead to repetitive stress syndrome — an umbrella term that includes conditions like tendonitis (inflammation of tendons, such as your arms or wrists) and carpal tunnel syndrome, which may require surgery in its advanced form.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Benefits of Yoga for Better Posture

While you should practice it with precautions, yoga can help these conditions — and, some yogis report, even clear them up.

The following recommendations are meant for anyone experiencing repetitive stress in their wrists, arms, shoulders, and back. (People with tennis elbow or thoracic outlet syndrome — two other variations of repetitive stress — should seek recommendations specific to those conditions from qualified physical therapists or yoga instructors.)

Avoid placing weight on your hands

Poses like Downward-Facing Dog, Dolphin, Plank, and even Cat or Cow Pose — along with arm balances like Crow — can seem out of reach for people with tight wrist tendons or forearm pain. If you’re just starting a yoga practice and experiencing any pain in those poses, hold off and avoid them.

A modification can help. Rather than putting weight on your hands, try:

1. Using push-up stands (like these) instead of placing your hands directly on the floor
2. Placing a foam roller or folded blanket underneath your palms to take pressure off your wrists
3. Balling your hands up and resting weight on your fists

Watch for pain, numbness, or tingling in your wrists or arms. Ease back immediately if you feel any.

Focus on gentle lengthening

This pose will have a cascade effect throughout your body, while improving everyday posture. A pose like Warrior II can be highly fatiguing for people with repetitive stress issues in their arms, for example, but it is one of the quickest routes to regain range of motion in your arms and shoulders.

Stop when you can no longer hold the pose correctly (always keep proper alignment to avoid injury) or if you are in even slight pain. Try the sequence of stretches in Yoga for Back Pain for more ways to loosen tight wrists, arms, and shoulders.

Prioritize strength

People with repetitive stress injuries may over-rely on tendons, ligaments, and joints to do work your muscles should be performing. Strength building takes the pressure off those vulnerable spots.

As you strengthen your shoulders, back, and core, for example, your posture will improve, easing hunched shoulders that lead to arm tendon tightness and constriction. Build strength in your thighs, and your knee joints won’t need to work as hard.

Flexibility takes time to develop, so never push yourself while stretching, such as in a seated forward fold, which could put already stressed ligaments at risk. Instead, consider a slight stretch enough at each practice.

Try not to “sit in your joints” in poses. If you’re sagging at your hips in a lunge, for example, grab a block or drop a knee to the floor to ease up.

Patience is important

Take a few days off between each practice, or alternate active and restorative practices, to let your body incorporate changes. Expect some soreness as you build strength and recover range of motion. Fatigue is particularly important to avoid while practicing, again to avoid straining ligaments and tendons.

You’re likely to begin feeling the benefits of a gentle practice quickly. Still, a pose like Downward Dog can take six months to a year to work up to for someone with an advanced repetitive stress condition, even when you practice yoga up to three times a week.

The payoff, though, could be huge. Once you’re able to safely do Downward Dog, wrist and shoulder issues will dramatically improve.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Our Yoga section