If you’ve never done yoga, you may have some preconceived notions about people who endorse the practice. You may feel that it requires some sort of spiritual enlightenment or the flexibility of a contortionist to perform. You might think that you have to be “new age” or a “hippie” to engage in yoga, or that it is a stand-alone exercise that has nothing to do with “real” workouts. In fact, none of these things are true. Yoga is for anyone and everyone, at all levels of fitness. It is an extremely malleable form of exercise that can be tailored to the individual’s needs and abilities, and as such, it is also an excellent supplement to other types of physical training. Yoga, in its many forms, can help you prepare for, or allow you to advance in, all other forms of exercise.
To begin with, yoga strengthens your body. Whether you’re working a flow or holding a static pose, your muscles are responding to your demands and becoming stronger through both dynamic movement and isometrics. The nice thing about yoga is that it requires no weights, instead using the weight of your own body to help you become stronger. Additionally, most of the exercises promote a strengthening of the core muscles (back and abs) that will help to improve toning, posture, and balance, making it easier to increase strength in other areas.
It’s also great for improving flexibility and range of motion. When we enter this world, our bodies seem almost infinitely flexible. Babies and small children can bend and flex in ways that adults marvel at. Well, the only reason you can’t do it anymore is that you’re out of practice! Since we don’t all spend our lives training like gymnasts or ballerinas, we lose the flexibility that we’re born with (standing and sitting at work all day don’t help in this arena). But yoga can facilitate gaining back what you’ve lost, through targeted stretching that not only elongates tight muscles, but also opens your body to enhance range of motion. This can spell benefits for any other type of exercise routine, such as running, swimming, martial arts, or even weight-training. Have you ever had to skip a day of exercise because muscles were too sore and tight, or felt a pinch in your shoulder blade after some heavy lifting? Yoga can help to reduce and, over time, eliminate these aches and pains through the release of muscle tension and the creation of space in areas that we tend to compress or tense up (shoulders, ribcage, hip flexors, etc.).
Finally, there are certain types of yoga that provide an excellent cardio exercise. If you are interested in losing weight or improving lung function and heart health, but think that slow motions and static poses are all wrong for you, then you are sadly mistaken. Once you get the basic movements and poses down, you can begin to move more quickly through a flowing series that will allow you to enjoy the benefits listed above, all the while increasing your heart rate and breathing, just like aerobic exercise.
In short, yoga is a great all-around exercise that can supplement any other workout routine or provide a foundation to begin conditioning. And in addition to all of the physical benefits, it also allows you to link your breath to movement, which provides for a mind-body experience that will leave you feeling relaxed and focused, something that anyone interested in health is sure to appreciate.
Martin Longreen is a fitness buff and writer for the popular self defense website Hertao.
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Thanks Martin for the post. Just finished a stretching article for my blog.