WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The Houston County Sharks wheelchair basketball team are the defending state champs eight times running.
How are they preparing for championship run number nine? Staying fit with chair yoga.
Athletes everywhere are always looking for ways to stay sharp and keep their bodies in winning shape. The Houston County Sharks do it by finding their center.
"Yoga's a wonderful opportunity to breathe and calm your system down as well as getting those movements at all different levels so you have better body mechanics," said Rene Langlois.
Langlois is a Houston County Sharks sign language interpreter and a yoga instructor at Homegrown Yoga in Warner Robins. When the studio was looking for outreach opportunities, she thought chair yoga could be a great marriage between her two loves.
"It's an amazing way to learn about what your posture should be so that you're able to maximize and utilize all your muscles to be able to keep good posture," Langlois said.
Langlois recruited one of her fellow interpreters, instructor, and Shark Annabelle Putman, whose sister introduced her to yoga.
"It's something I kind of do on the side and when Rene asked me to do it in a chair I was like 'heck yea,'" Putman said. "We push so much and it strengthens our wrists and our arms and our back and our torso for practice."
On Tuesdays, Langlois and company go live on Homegrown Yoga's Facebook page, twisting and stretching. Putman said it's become a welcome practice by her teammates.
"At first we thought it was going to be silly, because like, 'What? in a chair? Come on, you're not getting a full workout in.' But you really are," Putman said.
Langlois said it's the perfect way to find your focus.
"It engages the mind. It gets the breathing going. It's just a wonderful practice," she said.
To check out the chair yoga videos visit to Homegrown Yoga's Facebook page.
STAY ALERT | Download our FREE app now to receive breaking news and weather alerts. You can find the app on the Apple Store and Google Play.
STAY UPDATED | Click here to subscribe to our Midday Minute newsletter and receive the latest headlines and information in your inbox every day.
Have a news tip? Email news@13wmaz.com, or visit our Facebook page.