This Pro Soccer Team Has Used Yoga for 8 Years — Here’s What Athletes Can Learn

Elite athletes are always looking for ways to gain a competitive edge—better training, optimized nutrition, advanced recovery techniques. But one professional soccer team has found that one of their most effective performance tools doesn’t involve a gym or supplements at all. For the past 8 years, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC has integrated yoga into their training regimen, and their players credit it with keeping them at peak performance. What started as an experiment in flexibility and recovery has become a core part of how professional athletes approach their sport.

What Happened: Colorado Springs Switchbacks’ 8-Year Yoga Journey

In 2018, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC made an unconventional decision for a professional soccer team: they brought in Kitten Dupreez of D1 Training to lead players through structured yoga sessions. Starting with just 20 minutes after training, the practice has become a cornerstone of the team’s recovery and performance strategy. For eight years, Dupreez has guided the team through flow stretching and yoga-based movement work.

Players like Brennan Creek and Aidan Rocha have become vocal advocates for the practice, sharing that yoga has fundamentally changed how they play. According to reporting from KRDO news (March 26, 2026), these athletes say yoga has allowed them to stay in tune with both body and mind—a critical component of performing at the highest levels of professional soccer.

Why Professional Athletes Are Turning to Yoga

The Switchbacks aren’t alone in recognizing yoga’s benefits. More professional athletes across sports are discovering what yoga practitioners have long known: the mind-body connection isn’t just philosophical—it’s practical performance medicine.

Athletes face unique physical demands: explosive movements, repetitive strain, mental pressure, and the constant need for recovery. Yoga’s ability to regulate the nervous system helps athletes transition from high-stress training into genuine recovery. This isn’t just about relaxation—it’s about activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is essential for tissue repair, hormone balance, and mental resilience.

Additionally, yoga has become increasingly popular among male athletes, breaking stereotypes about who practices yoga. For soccer players specifically, yoga addresses common issues: tight hip flexors from explosive running, shoulder tension from throwing and striking, and lower back tightness from rapid directional changes.

What the Switchbacks’ Yoga Practice Looks Like

The Switchbacks’ approach is refreshingly straightforward: 20 minutes of structured yoga immediately following training. This timing is strategic. After intense physical exertion, athletes’ muscles are warm, their nervous systems are activated, and they’re primed for deeper stretching and body awareness work. The sessions focus on flow stretching—dynamic movement combined with static holds—rather than advanced yoga poses.

Kitten Dupreez’s program emphasizes functional movement patterns relevant to soccer: hip mobility, spinal rotation, lateral stability, and shoulder flexibility. By keeping sessions post-training, the team ensures 100% participation and creates a shared recovery ritual that builds team cohesion.

Players report that this consistent practice has made a measurable difference in their ability to stay healthy, recover between matches, and maintain the body awareness necessary for peak performance. For professional athletes where small percentages matter, this represents a significant advantage.

What This Means for You: Practical Yoga for Athletes

You don’t need to be a professional soccer player to benefit from the Switchbacks’ approach. Whether you’re a weekend runner, CrossFitter, or recreational team sport player, you can apply these principles:

Start With 15-20 Minutes Post-Workout

You don’t need hours of yoga to see results. Even a 10-minute yoga routine focused on areas tight from your sport can improve recovery and body awareness. The key is consistency—daily or at least 3-4 times per week.

Focus on Your Sport-Specific Needs

A soccer player needs different mobility work than a swimmer. Identify which areas of your body get tight, sore, or problematic. Then dedicate your yoga practice to those zones. Hip openers, spinal rotations, and shoulder stretches are universally valuable for athletes, but customize beyond that.

Combine With Other Recovery Tools

Yoga works synergistically with other recovery practices. Research shows yoga can ease pain and improve brain function—benefits that compound when combined with proper sleep, nutrition, and stress management. The Switchbacks treat yoga as one component of a holistic recovery system.

Use Yoga for Mental Performance

Professional athletes know that performance is 90% mental. By using yoga to develop body awareness and regulate your nervous system, you’re training the mental resilience that separates good athletes from great ones. This mind-body connection directly improves focus, decision-making, and composure under pressure.

Key Takeaways

• Consistency matters more than duration: The Switchbacks’ 20-minute daily practice has been more valuable than sporadic longer sessions would be.
• Yoga is a performance tool, not just relaxation: It directly improves mobility, injury prevention, and mental resilience in ways that benefit athletic performance.
• Timing is strategic: Post-training yoga maximizes muscle temperature and nervous system readiness for deeper work.
• Professional athletes of all types benefit: From soccer to running to CrossFit, yoga addresses common athletic challenges.
• You can start today: You don’t need special equipment or hours per week—just 15-20 minutes and a commitment to consistency.

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks didn’t become an elite professional soccer team by accident. Eight years of consistent yoga practice shows they understand something many athletes overlook: peak performance requires integration of body, mind, and recovery. The question isn’t whether yoga can help your athletic performance—the question is when you’ll start.