Teaching Old Dogs new tricks...

"If we knew then what we know now, then things would be different" is a common claim by men of a certain age... who then go on to suggest they are too old to change.

We all know that we do not warm up well enough, stretch sufficiently or have proper posture. After all football is just about kicking a ball and being a man is about liking football (other sports are available) - right?

As we grow old, bones creak and muscles ache but it need not be like this. In the past 2 games, we have lost players to Hamstring Strains, Calf Pulls, Bad Backs and Tweaked Tendons - stymieing our early season successes. This January, White Roding 45s have committed to a course of Iyengar Yoga at the fabulous Saints Green Place under the tutelage of Sandra Hitchcock to help on a whole host of fronts.

Obviously there is the flexibility benefit. Lengthening the limbs will lead to fewer soft-tissue injuries and provides some ready-made moves to warm up with before the first whistle.

Alignment of the skeletal system enables less pressure placed on joints and makes sure that you move with greater efficiency.

We also have the focus on breathing, which helps you to switch off, in turn lowering stress levels (all the best moments come from cool heads)... critical in high pressure matchday moments. Cortisol is the stress hormone, which triggers our bodies to retain belly fat. So we have a body-weight activity, that improves your health, makes you better at the sport you love and helps you lose body weight.

What is there not to like about yoga? There's even an article in the Times today that says as much.

But there's more. There's lots of anecdotal evidence that yoga helps you be better in bed (and not because you can now complete the set of September’s sex positions in Cosmopolitan). Increased libido and a deeper spiritual connection with your chosen partner are traits in many yogis... as well as sorting out your sleep patterns when the inevitable post-coital kip comes calling.

When the weather is grim and the nights are dark, it is an ideal activity to "get the lads together" to work on all of the above and a bit more besides. If yoga is good enough for others that have graced the hallowed turf at CM6 - Ryan Giggs no less, then it is good enough for everyone. Look a little closer and you will find that every Premiership team practices yoga and almost every Championship club does too. Sport is full of lessons learned from other specialisms, practices and ideas - Matthew Syed's library of books from Black Box Thinking to Rebel Ideas and Sir David Brailsford Marginal Gains theory shows us this to be true. A 4 weeks introduction to yoga is the continuation of doing things differently and will hopefully be the start of something more permanent for us all.

We cannot wait for the New Year to start and these old dogs continue the upward-facing progression of a successful season (or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana as it’s known ;-) )