Stretching their horizons

On a Friday afternoon in February, eleven members of the Penn football team file into a room. They don the appropriate attire and, when prompted, assume their positions.

But no whistle comes, and the players never break off the line. And they aren’t dressed in helmets and pads, but in t-shirts and shorts.

That’s because this is not coach Al Bagnoli’s offseason regimen, but rather a yoga workout at Pottruck Fitness Center. Recently the optional class has become increasingly popular among many Quakers football players.

“The rap is that the typical yoga participant isn’t necessarily this stiff football player,” junior offensive lineman Chris Fortunato said. “At least the stiffness part is what we’re trying to change.”

According to instructor Natalie Huguet, the weekly class teaches yin yoga, a style which uses participants’ body weight to enhance stretches.

She spends the class instructing the players to assume different yoga positions, or asanas, which they generally maintain for a number of minutes before moving on to the next posture.

“The class is more of a stretching class,” Huguet says. “Because they do so much weight lifting and training otherwise, they don’t need to build strength or anything from me.”

Former All-Ivy offensive lineman Chris Kovalcik started the program in the spring of 2008. Back then, only 10 to 15 players came, according to Fortunato. But since then, he says, participation has grown to include up to “45, 50 kids” throughout the offseason.

And those who do show up run the spectrum of age and experience, from junior varsity offensive linemen to all-Ivy senior cornerback Chris Wynn. He’s an outlier as far as position goes, however, as most players there are offensive and defensive linemen.

Participation has grown as word has spread through the team that the program is both fun and physically beneficial.

And according to Huguet, the players are all as focused on their yoga positions as they are on their Saturday performances in the fall.

“They are so into it, I can’t believe it,” she says. “And they’re a whole lot more flexible than I had expected. I thought they’d be kind of tight, and that’s absolutely not the case.”

Their focus is reflected in the room’s silence, which is broken only by the meditation music Huguet occasionally plays over the speakers and her quiet suggestions. She walks the room, aiding the participants with their postures and noting adjustments when it appears that a position is overly straining a particular muscle.

Nearly an hour into the yoga session, Huguet calls for the heart bench, a crowd favorite judging by the players’ cheers. They lie on their backs, with a vertical block raising and supporting their backs. The players relax with their eyes closed and an eye pillow blocking out the light. The room is a bit chilly, so some cover their legs with blankets.

While a room full of half-asleep football players may not be a typical workout, but the players know that the benefits of yoga certainly translate to the gridiron.

“It’s important to stay flexible, stay limber,” Fortunado said. “It’s part of being an athlete. It’s something that’s really important for our sport. It’s not all about being big and strong.”

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