Does yoga fall under strength training?
Mydailytrack
Posts: 39 Member
Why can't I find yoga under strength training in MFP's exercise cataog? We are using our own body weight in yoga & helps with lean muscles, isn't it? Why is it listed under cardio? I do walking & zumba for cardio, and yoga for strength training? Please provide your honest feedback on whether I'm on the right track.
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Yoga is not strength training.0
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You can find strength training under the cardio section as well. The cardio section provides you with extra calories to eat. Logging things under strength training does not add to your calorie burn. If you don't want the calorie credit you can create your own exercise under strength training for yoga.0
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"Yoga is not strength training"...
Depends on what form of yoga you do. I think it falls into the same category as "Your Body is Your Gym", frankly. But as far as MFP logging is concerned, record it under cardio, and then make a note in your notes what you did that day.0 -
It's in there.
And yes, depending on what kind you're doing it's strength training. It can be a pretty impressive form of exercise, actually. I had a friend who I've lifted with off and on for 20 years go to Pilates with me. It kicked his butt. And he was sore.
And yes, I'd say record it under cardio.0 -
As far as whether you'll see a strength benefit doing yoga, it depends on where you start strength-wise and what you are doing in yoga. If the moves you think are strength for you are hard enough for you, then yes. If they don't feel difficult, it's just your regular old fitness routine, not strength. You'll have to ask your instructor how to advance the pose in that case.0
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The strength part of MFP doesn't record calorie burns, but really exists so you can keep track of reps and weights etc. So in that way, it's not of any use for yoga, because it's not like you progressively add weight/reps (though I appreciate you do advance). As a record keeping tool, you're better of putting it under cardio so you can keep a record of time done.0
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I do yoga on my rest days from lifting, for me it's definitely not strength training and more stretching. But I am just doing basic poses that focused more on centering, breathing, and stretch. Your mileage may very according to program.0
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If you're doing arm balances it sure is strength training! But yeah, you want to record it as cardio to get credit for the calories.0
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MsBuzzkillington wrote: »
I disagree. Yoga is yoga...it's not strength training. Can you get stronger doing it? Sure. Do some poses take strength? Absolutely. Does that make it strength training? No, not in my opinion.
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MsBuzzkillington wrote: »
I disagree. Yoga is yoga...it's not strength training. Can you get stronger doing it? Sure. Do some poses take strength? Absolutely. Does that make it strength training? No, not in my opinion.
What about You are Your Own Gym? Because that has a lot of yoga in it. Some of the asanas are built up to via strength progression is why I do think it can be strength training. There is an included flexibility element in most, but in many it's pure strength that limits who can do those things.0 -
I can't imagine yoga having the same type of progressive overload that body weight programs like You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning have.0
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arditarose wrote: »I can't imagine yoga having the same type of progressive overload that body weight programs like You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning have.
Because of the progressive part or the overload part? They tend to be held differently in yoga, so it's more of a time-under-tension thing than traditional reps, so that's true.
But of the pictures I've seen from them (and Mark Lauren in general), I mean literally that some of the more impressive asanas are used for overload. And some of the less impressive: even pushups and planks are in basic yoga classes as asanas or parts of them. That's all yoga, too. Those two are actually done in a kind of rep pattern most commonly in yoga as well, like in Salutation series (with lunges, etc, there, too).0 -
Here's a great yogi on progressing for one of those tough asanas (the press handstand). He mentions the poses you have to get good at/strong enough for first, and many of those are hard themselves. It progresses that way, so if a pose gets easy for you, you need to advance it (if that fits your goals).
http://www.theasanaacademy.com/the-press-handstand-strategy-that-works/
But if you read it you'll see that flexibility can also be a huge limiting factor, so yoga generally requires both parts (as does gymnastics).0 -
From someone who benches 300+ and does yoga.... trust me yoga CAN be strength training. It's just a different form, just as when using free weights some people do one or five rep max, some people do twenty or thirty rep max strength test. It just building strength at a different level.
Of course some parts of yoga is stretching or used for warm ups but so is some strength training assuming most people warm up with lighter weight while concentrating on form/ROM. Ever do RDLs as a accessory for deads for lengthening the hammies? A pike in handstand or headstand is doing that and even more.
I challenge anybody to go from a handstand to a forearm stand back and forth for reps and then tell me otherwise.0 -
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Thanks. I know I'm right
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itsfuntobenormal wrote: »I do yoga on my rest days from lifting, for me it's definitely not strength training and more stretching. But I am just doing basic poses that focused more on centering, breathing, and stretch. Your mileage may very according to program.
What class are you attending?0 -
Well it is to a point. Many poses are isometric and isometric exercise falls under strength training since it's traditionally used as a form strength training for rehab.Yoga is not strength training.
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Just because something is difficult does not make it strength training.
sorry. it's just not the case- yes you can ABSOLUTELY get stronger doing it- but it's not a progressive program.
And you have to understand yoga has in and of itself changed- hatha yoga never was about getting to a harder pose- or moving in and out of a harder pose. It's restorative.
LOL Rodney yee's power yoga- hard- it's definitely going to help get you strong in certain ways-( it will kick my booty)- but it's not a strength program and isn't the core intent of yoga. It serves a purpose.
That's like when people ask me if bellydancing is a good workout- it's a difficult question to answer- because while yes it CAN be a workout- it's not my workout and I never consider it a work out.0 -
CassidyScaglione wrote: »
This requires strength. It is not strength training. Yoga is not strength training. It is very beneficial, however, for those who do strength training. They are not one in the same though. I've done both for over a decade, and they are in fact different things.0 -
For me (coming from a background of skinny-fitness earned through aerobics, jazzercise and stuff, good aerobic capacity and healthy-for-female 20% bodyfat) yoga has absolutely been strength training. Before yoga I could not do pushups or pullups, and was shocked the other day when I tried a pull-up and could do one so smooth and easy. Impressed the boyfriend too. It's added almost 10 pounds of muscle to my body too, 2" in each leg, bigger arms, bigger butt, waist same size. This is after 2 years of average 3-4x/week, classes varying in difficulty, some easier, some challenging.
It's not progressive in terms of weight, it's bodyweight exercise, not weightlifting - you won't ever lift more than you weigh, but personally I don't feel like I need to lift more than I weigh, and yoga does build muscle and strength so I classify it, and other bodyweight strength exercises, as strength training.0 -
Strength training helped my yoga and got me to poses I'd never been able to reach by only doing yoga. Yoga is good for me in so many ways, but as a strength builder it is not very efficient.0
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Robininfl - you answered my question! Thanks much. Since I do zumba & walking, I was wondering if yoga can give me my quota of strength training (right, body weight & not the free weights).0
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Just because something is difficult does not make it strength training.
sorry. it's just not the case- yes you can ABSOLUTELY get stronger doing it- but it's not a progressive program.
And you have to understand yoga has in and of itself changed- hatha yoga never was about getting to a harder pose- or moving in and out of a harder pose. It's restorative.
LOL Rodney yee's power yoga- hard- it's definitely going to help get you strong in certain ways-( it will kick my booty)- but it's not a strength program and isn't the core intent of yoga. It serves a purpose.
That's like when people ask me if bellydancing is a good workout- it's a difficult question to answer- because while yes it CAN be a workout- it's not my workout and I never consider it a work out.
Why does strength training have to be progressive in order to be strength training? And what does progressive mean when it is not lifting?0 -
Mydailytrack wrote: »Robininfl - you answered my question! Thanks much. Since I do zumba & walking, I was wondering if yoga can give me my quota of strength training (right, body weight & not the free weights).
There is an element of resistance involved with yoga, and yoga does require strength and certainly you will gain some strength doing yoga, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it strength training. Strength training is done for the purpose of gaining strength...the purpose of yoga isn't to gain strength and thus I would hesitate to call it strength training. Cycling has given me strength gains as well...especially doing hills...but I wouldn't call it strength training.
All that said, yoga is a very beneficial exercise...my yoga has benefited from my strength training outside of yoga and my strength training has benefited from me doing yoga with increased mobility and balance. As I said before, there's an element of resistance, so it would probably be sufficient in helping to preserve lean mass while you're dieting but it will not garner the same results as strength training.
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Just because something is difficult does not make it strength training.
sorry. it's just not the case- yes you can ABSOLUTELY get stronger doing it- but it's not a progressive program.
And you have to understand yoga has in and of itself changed- hatha yoga never was about getting to a harder pose- or moving in and out of a harder pose. It's restorative.
LOL Rodney yee's power yoga- hard- it's definitely going to help get you strong in certain ways-( it will kick my booty)- but it's not a strength program and isn't the core intent of yoga. It serves a purpose.
That's like when people ask me if bellydancing is a good workout- it's a difficult question to answer- because while yes it CAN be a workout- it's not my workout and I never consider it a work out.
Why does strength training have to be progressive in order to be strength training? And what does progressive mean when it is not lifting?
I presume because it must be progressive in order for you to get stronger. That would be the difference between strength training and doing some other work during which you also can get strong to me.
For the former, getting stronger is the primary goal and focus. For the latter, it is a side benefit.
ETA: It'd be like me calling equestrian work strength training. Did I get ridiculously strong doing it (particularly in my legs and back)? Yes. But that wasn't the point. Neither was improving my overall balance though I certainly did, riding for hours bareback and spending time doing various tricks on horseback.0 -
I would agree traditional yoga is not progressive, though some of us do a progressive routine version of yoga. There are ways to add weight to it.
Just as there are ways to make hanging leg raises progressive the same can be done with pikes which take way more strength to do.0 -
For me (coming from a background of skinny-fitness earned through aerobics, jazzercise and stuff, good aerobic capacity and healthy-for-female 20% bodyfat) yoga has absolutely been strength training. Before yoga I could not do pushups or pullups, and was shocked the other day when I tried a pull-up and could do one so smooth and easy. Impressed the boyfriend too. It's added almost 10 pounds of muscle to my body too, 2" in each leg, bigger arms, bigger butt, waist same size. This is after 2 years of average 3-4x/week, classes varying in difficulty, some easier, some challenging.
It's not progressive in terms of weight, it's bodyweight exercise, not weightlifting - you won't ever lift more than you weigh, but personally I don't feel like I need to lift more than I weigh, and yoga does build muscle and strength so I classify it, and other bodyweight strength exercises, as strength training.
Yoga rocks! Good for you!0
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