Yoga For Over-50s: The Risks Nobody Mentions

Will Harlow, the over-50s specialist physio, has two warnings:

Watch out for…

Yoga indeed improves flexibility, mobility, and wellbeing, but it may present specific risks for people over 50 if not balanced with strength training. This is because increasing flexibility without also improving strength can reduce joint control and increase injury risk, especially in people who are already flexible or hypermobile.

Which last part is important to understand, as it’s a little counterintuitive.

To this end, he does recommend some exercises:

• Romanian deadlift: strengthens hamstrings to counterbalance the frequent hamstring stretches in yoga.
• Eccentric goblet squat: targets quads, glutes, and back stability, protecting lower body joints.
• Curl, twist, and press: builds upper-body strength and shoulder stability, making dislocations and similar a lot less likely.

One other potential problem is that while some people start yoga to relieve pain, certain movements can aggravate conditions like labral tears or joint damage, ultimately worsening the pain rather than alleviating it.

Because of this, he advises that yoga genuinely is excellent for the health, if combined with strength training. He also advises that it’s not a cure-all, and that we should address underlying injuries first (such as: with a physio) and avoid pushing through pain.

For more on this plus visual demonstrations of the exercises, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Yoga Therapy for Arthritis – by Dr. Steffany Moonaz & Erin Byron ← the first-listed author’s PhD in public health was the result of 8 years of study developing an evidence-based yoga program for people with arthritis

Take care!