Boston College Athletics
Connecting the Mind to the Body in Recovery
August 02, 2018 | Men's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
Boston College men's basketball is incorporating yoga into its training and is yielding the benefits
Training the body to perform at the highest stage is the primary goal of every athlete. The ability to build and maintain an elite level of fitness has evolved into a comprehensive science designed to keep muscles, joints, bones, and mental acuity ever-ready for peak performance.
The Boston College men's basketball program continues to be innovative in how it sustains its student-athletes' success. Soon after the 2017-18 season ended and the offseason training regimen began, the Eagles instituted a new approach and began practicing yoga.
"(BC strength and conditioning coach) Jordan Stanley and I were looking for new ways to prevent injuries, strengthen bodies and improve hip and core strength," Eagles athletic trainer Nick Gallotto said. "It's something we've been preaching to this group for a while, and we thought that yoga would be helpful. We tried to bring it forward in the fall (of last year), but the schedule didn't work out. So we started in April with about six sessions until the school calendar year ended."
In a sport based on quick agility and pinpoint cutting movements, yoga checks all the boxes for basketball players. And with NBA megastars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant publicly proclaiming its benefits, yoga got a boost with a new level of credibility it needed.
"I thought it was kind of funny at first, but at the end of the day, all of the research is there," rising sophomore Steffon Mitchell said. "All of the professional athletes do it to help. I find it very interesting."
Head coach Jim Christian has bought in to the new age form of training for his Eagles' squad.
"Yoga is something that has been so beneficial for our guys and it has been great seeing how much everyone has embraced doing it," said head coach Jim Christian. "Our program places such a high emphasis on player development and this summer, the time we are allowed in a practice setting per week doubled. Having our team participate in yoga that is tailored to their size and to basketball-specific movements has made an impact on what we have been able to do on the court."
"I've been doing it every summer since I was in California during the summer after my freshman year,"Â said Ky Bowman. "So for me, it helps to get the whole team into a room, making sure everyone's stretched out. Yoga is helping us more become flexible, which is helping us treat our bodies the right way."
With immediate buy-in from the players, Gallotto began to introduce yoga in April. His wife, Michelle, taught the one-hour sessions, helping acclimate the athletes with different poses designed to help them as athletes.
"Probably half of the group had done yoga in one fashion or another," Gallotto said. "What made it useful was being able to spread the guys who had done it throughout the groups. So Michelle was able to use terms like tree pose and downward dog, and the new guys would be able to learn from the older guys. She was able to then break that down to help them understand."
Luka Kraljevic is one of the biggest fans of the team's yoga program. "I was familiar with yoga from several years ago back home in Slovenia," he said. "I tried hot yoga with a friend and I loved it. I use it to stretch out a lot, so when I found out we had yoga over here (at BC), I was excited. I'm still excited every time we have it. Recovery is part of your overall training to get better. If you don't recover, you can't get better. We use (yoga) after practice to get our bodies relaxed and connected to our minds. That helps us overall become better athletes."
From April into August, the yoga training has shown evident gains. The workouts themselves are tailored to help increase flexibility, focusing on strength in the hip region.
"We wanted to cater to the basketball players, and that's what I talked to Michelle about when we got started," Gallotto said. "Basketball players need to focus on being strong and flexible in the hip region, so we worked on a lot of hip openings. Most competitive athletes can give yoga a shot and do most of the poses. But that might not be a good thing. You want these guys to be doing it safely. We give them the opportunity to try things, but we do it in a safe manner."
"It helps with lateral quickness," Ervins Meznieks said. "When you're on defense, you have to slide and change directions when you're running. Those are the little things that yoga is very helpful for with stretching. It translates to be very helpful on the court."
"It's rehab for the muscles to get them back together," Bowman said. "It calms them down after we've been dialing it up in practice or a game. It's a lot different than being out in regular practice. You can think about whatever you want to think about and relax. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your muscles become."
The program is ingraining itself in the fabric of the program. It remains a laid back and relaxing atmosphere that contrasts with the intense workouts on the court or in the weight room and it connects the Eagles with their bodies.Other teams have taken note, and the women's basketball program began yoga sessions this summer.
"Strength and conditioning has changed so much in the last decade, especially in the last three to five years," Gallotto said. "It used to be that summers were about squatting the world or benching 400 pounds, doing repetitive running drills. The biggest thing now is recovery. If the athletes' bodies can recover from the previous workout, then you can push their bodies a little further.
"Whenever Jordan and I try something, we don't always put all the eggs in one basket," he continued. "Yoga has helped these guys, but I don't attribute everything to just that. Jordan's done a great job of pushing the team in the weight room, to get into the warm tub or the cold tub before or after practice, and this is just another tool in the toolbox. It helps them perform on the court."
Namaste.
The Boston College men's basketball program continues to be innovative in how it sustains its student-athletes' success. Soon after the 2017-18 season ended and the offseason training regimen began, the Eagles instituted a new approach and began practicing yoga.
"(BC strength and conditioning coach) Jordan Stanley and I were looking for new ways to prevent injuries, strengthen bodies and improve hip and core strength," Eagles athletic trainer Nick Gallotto said. "It's something we've been preaching to this group for a while, and we thought that yoga would be helpful. We tried to bring it forward in the fall (of last year), but the schedule didn't work out. So we started in April with about six sessions until the school calendar year ended."
In a sport based on quick agility and pinpoint cutting movements, yoga checks all the boxes for basketball players. And with NBA megastars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant publicly proclaiming its benefits, yoga got a boost with a new level of credibility it needed.
"I thought it was kind of funny at first, but at the end of the day, all of the research is there," rising sophomore Steffon Mitchell said. "All of the professional athletes do it to help. I find it very interesting."
Head coach Jim Christian has bought in to the new age form of training for his Eagles' squad.
"Yoga is something that has been so beneficial for our guys and it has been great seeing how much everyone has embraced doing it," said head coach Jim Christian. "Our program places such a high emphasis on player development and this summer, the time we are allowed in a practice setting per week doubled. Having our team participate in yoga that is tailored to their size and to basketball-specific movements has made an impact on what we have been able to do on the court."
"I've been doing it every summer since I was in California during the summer after my freshman year,"Â said Ky Bowman. "So for me, it helps to get the whole team into a room, making sure everyone's stretched out. Yoga is helping us more become flexible, which is helping us treat our bodies the right way."
With immediate buy-in from the players, Gallotto began to introduce yoga in April. His wife, Michelle, taught the one-hour sessions, helping acclimate the athletes with different poses designed to help them as athletes.
"Probably half of the group had done yoga in one fashion or another," Gallotto said. "What made it useful was being able to spread the guys who had done it throughout the groups. So Michelle was able to use terms like tree pose and downward dog, and the new guys would be able to learn from the older guys. She was able to then break that down to help them understand."
Luka Kraljevic is one of the biggest fans of the team's yoga program. "I was familiar with yoga from several years ago back home in Slovenia," he said. "I tried hot yoga with a friend and I loved it. I use it to stretch out a lot, so when I found out we had yoga over here (at BC), I was excited. I'm still excited every time we have it. Recovery is part of your overall training to get better. If you don't recover, you can't get better. We use (yoga) after practice to get our bodies relaxed and connected to our minds. That helps us overall become better athletes."
From April into August, the yoga training has shown evident gains. The workouts themselves are tailored to help increase flexibility, focusing on strength in the hip region.
"We wanted to cater to the basketball players, and that's what I talked to Michelle about when we got started," Gallotto said. "Basketball players need to focus on being strong and flexible in the hip region, so we worked on a lot of hip openings. Most competitive athletes can give yoga a shot and do most of the poses. But that might not be a good thing. You want these guys to be doing it safely. We give them the opportunity to try things, but we do it in a safe manner."
"It helps with lateral quickness," Ervins Meznieks said. "When you're on defense, you have to slide and change directions when you're running. Those are the little things that yoga is very helpful for with stretching. It translates to be very helpful on the court."
"It's rehab for the muscles to get them back together," Bowman said. "It calms them down after we've been dialing it up in practice or a game. It's a lot different than being out in regular practice. You can think about whatever you want to think about and relax. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your muscles become."
The program is ingraining itself in the fabric of the program. It remains a laid back and relaxing atmosphere that contrasts with the intense workouts on the court or in the weight room and it connects the Eagles with their bodies.Other teams have taken note, and the women's basketball program began yoga sessions this summer.
"Strength and conditioning has changed so much in the last decade, especially in the last three to five years," Gallotto said. "It used to be that summers were about squatting the world or benching 400 pounds, doing repetitive running drills. The biggest thing now is recovery. If the athletes' bodies can recover from the previous workout, then you can push their bodies a little further.
"Whenever Jordan and I try something, we don't always put all the eggs in one basket," he continued. "Yoga has helped these guys, but I don't attribute everything to just that. Jordan's done a great job of pushing the team in the weight room, to get into the warm tub or the cold tub before or after practice, and this is just another tool in the toolbox. It helps them perform on the court."
Namaste.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball#24 Baseball Defeats UConn (April 15, 2026)
Wednesday, April 15
#24 Baseball Defeats Northeastern in Beanpot Championship (April 14, 2026)
Wednesday, April 15
#23 Baseball Defeats Virginia Tech (April 12, 2026)
Tuesday, April 14
#23 Baseball Defeats Virginia Tech (April 11,2026
Saturday, April 11
