To relieve the grind of the season, WSU players have a new weekly tradition: hot yoga

PULLMAN – Zevi Eckhaus felt the humidity around him, the sizzling temperatures hit his face, the zen music exuding from speakers. It was Sunday afternoon, and he had joined some 30 Washington State teammates in hot yoga, which has quickly become a weekly tradition for the team.

Early in the roughly 40-minute session, Eckhaus could not get his mind off one thing.

“I was thinking about the Patriots game because they were on Sunday Night Football,” Eckhaus laughed. “Huge Patriots fan.”

Later that night, New England went on to secure a narrow victory, but that was hardly the highlight for Eckhaus and the Cougars. After each session of hot yoga, a mandatory exercise handed down by head coach Jimmy Rogers, players have begun to feel more relaxed, more loose, like they can feel the benefits going into the new week.

“I think there’s a lot of translations with the body movements and being a football player,” Eckhaus said, “just being able to stay mobile, being able to stay loose. I mean, that’s longevity. The best ability is availability in the game of football. So I think it’s really good for us. It’s a way to team bond, and it’s a way to stay sharp.”

“You feel a lot better going into that following week after a game, because you do some movement, you get a good sweat,” added veteran safety Cale Reeder, who was first introduced to hot yoga at South Dakota State, where Rogers was head coach the previous two seasons. “So your body’s kinda a little more loose going into that Monday, rather than just sitting around on a couch on a Sunday and watching football.”

The Cougars use a yoga studio called Sanctuary: Yoga, Barre, and Dance, where they go in groups of between 30 and 40. For some 30 minutes at a time, they enter a room where the temperatures hover around 90 degrees and hold different poses for set amounts of time. The heat helps warm up and loosen muscles, allowing participants to achieve deeper stretches, and it also causes increased heart rates and sweat, strengthening the cardiovascular system.

People around the world swear by the practice, which also includes benefits in muscle strengthening, reduced stress and anxiety and alleviating various types of nagging pains. It is all endorsed by Rogers, who started having players take part when he became the Jackrabbits’ head coach.

“I thought it was a huge benefit,” Rogers said. “It’s a way to get the guys to sweat without it being really taxing on their body and try to get their body back underneath of them. I’m really big into movement and fluidity and being loose in their hips. And I think the best way to do that is to make sure that guys are stretching.”

Among the players themselves, there seems to be a consensus: It is a beneficial, new practice. The Cougars likely need it after a grueling five-game stretch to open the season, which they have played to the tune of a 3-2 record. Off last week on one of two bye weeks, WSU has a tougher road ahead: At No. 4 Ole Miss this weekend, then at No. 19 Virginia the weekend after.

In truth, the Cougs’ travel schedule does not often let up the rest of the season. Later this season, WSU will head back east to visit James Madison – a full 2,500 miles from Pullman – and the team will also take on Oregon State on the road.

The snap counts are beginning to pile up, too. Five WSU defenders have played more than 200 snaps, led by linebackers Caleb Francl and Parker McKenna, who have logged 259 and 264 snaps, respectively. On offense, all five Cougar offensive linemen have more than 300 snaps, followed by wide receiver Josh Meredith, who has played 195.

Those numbers are about average for most teams nationwide. What might not be as average is the way the Cougs are spending Sundays. To hear them tell it, they are not just seeing the way it is helping them – they are also feeling it.

“I would say it depends on certain days,” Reeder said. “There’s definitely some days that you’re probably in there and you’re like, oh man, like, how am I gonna survive this? There’s other days that you feel amazing working through all of it. So it just kinda depends on the day.”