Any yoga experts out there?

StrongLife

My main form of workouts have been Kettlebell circuit training and yoga sculpt. I love to golf and feel that these workouts are starting restrict my flexibility. I have to say it will be hard to completely stop them so I was looking for something I could work in on some days ... maybe a type of yoga. Anyone have any opinions on something I can work in to elongate the muscles and spine? If you have any specific DVDs to recommend that would be awesome. Thanks.

XavierNusum

You really only need to make sure you are stretching after your strength training workouts. If you commit to stretching for 10-15 minutes after every workout you will see changes. I also am questioning any "yoga" program that's making you "less" flexible. What exactly is in those yoga sculpt workouts?

StrongLife

Core Power Yoga has something called sculpt. Very little actual yoga in it imo but I like it.

Cherimoose

Try these golf stretches. Sorry that they aren't yoga. Repeat a few times daily for maximum benefit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmJwXz6gvBk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73QmiLNF0m0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CguoTuIpj2o

oh_happy_day

I'm kind of surprised that kettlebells and yoga are restricting your flexibility. Both of those exercises generally enhance flexibility. I just googled the Sculpt Yoga - doesn't look like any yoga I've ever done but if you enjoy it then that's important.

I practice yoga in a studio mostly, so I can't recommend any DVDs. However there are some great youtube channels with yoga - search for beginners, back opening. It could be worth going to a studio for a few beginners classes to ensure that you're learning the poses correctly - you can actually hurt yourself doing yoga, so make sure you're doing it properly! I think considering that the Sculpt class you're doing probably isn't 'real' yoga, it could be worth seeking out some yoga classes. That alone will probably be sufficient to help your back. It's also possible that tightness in your back is referred from your hamstrings, which often get a real workout when you're using kettlebells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b2oeZCD_nY - this is a sequence for back flexibility.
http://www.yogajournal.com/category/poses/anatomy/upper-back/ - list of poses which are helpful for the upper back. There's a mix of beginners to advanced here. To stretch my back I usually do the following - cat/cow pose, sphinx pose, cobra pose, locust pose, revolved triangle, and standing forward bends (also nice for the hamstrings!).

DoogCampbell

I have attended Ashtanga Yoga classes for a number of years. Its quite energetic and follows a set series of postures. We always start with the sun salutation, 2 sets of basic postures connected together which give a great warm-up and general stretch. If you want something quick and not too involved then look this up. Otherwise I would really recommend a formal yoga class as its more than exercise and stretching and benefits to health and mental well-being are excellent. To give you an idea my primary exercise is a strength program and I consider myself to be an intermediate lifter now, I find that the yoga compliments this fantastically as it provides stretches and stability gains which compliment my constant attempts to shorten my muscles with weights :P

As mentioned above, take some classes if you are new to it as you can injury yourself or try too much too quickly. Good posture in yoga is much, much more important than duration or complexity.

StrongLife

Thanks all for the great comments and suggestions.

slimzandra

Hi,
I started a group on MFP called 30 Day Yoga Accountable in August starting Aug. 1st 2015. I'm going to follow along the 30 Day Yoga with Adriene. She's on Youtube and has some really good videos for beginners. I'm a decent golfer and also looking to strengthen my core and get more flexibility. Nothing ventured... Feel free to join my group and/or check out the videos on youtube.