Gophers football team adds yoga, pilates, meditation to blocking, tackling

per Greder:

Gophers strength and conditioning coach Dan Nichol scowls often as he stalks the sideline during a preseason football practice. When two players were kicked out of a practice last weekend, the authoritative assistant was called on to escort them to the locker room.

But afterward, Nichol, the muscular son of a Marine-turned-cop, brought his thick Boston accent down to a near whisper when describing the program’s use of yoga, pilates and meditation to aid recovery and boost on-field performance. For the Gophers, Nichol is the intersection of where encouraging shouts in the weight room meets the calming salutation “namaste” on the yoga mat.

“Breathing is where you are gonna grow,” Nichol explained to the Pioneer Press in hushed tones. “Let the body relax and stretch out and mobilize.”

The players also slip into a dark room to meditate with soothing music playing in the background. They don’t utter mantras.

“You get to really focus on yourself and your body,” junior running back Rodney Smith said.

http://www.twincities.com/2017/08/1...yoga-pilates-meditation-to-blocking-tackling/

Go Gophers!!

And you guys thought I was jokin' about the dark room and the pirate movies.