Yoga guidance needed

singletrackmtbr

OK, yogis. I mixed it up yesterday and did a workout that made me realize just how inflexible I am right now, so I'm planning on incorporating a bit of yoga into my routine. I've done yoga in the past, but not with any direction. So here's my question: Is it more beneficial to focus on muscle groups I just used (for example a short session after a workout), or muscle groups I'll use soon (for example doing a session focusing on a group I'll workout with the next day), OR does it just not matter? I don't want to do long sessions, as I already work out every day and don't want to give anything else up. In other words, I'm trying to get the best benefit/time ratio here. Thanks for any help.

robininfl

I would say it doesn't matter. Your overall flexibility over time will increase, and flexibility is not something you can rush without causing injury.

Stretching of any sort after working out is great, that doesn't have to be yoga. Dynamic stretching is OK before working out, static stretching is not.

So I vote for stretching the muscles you use after using them AND doing yoga, separately, for overall flexibility.

And I would also say to add one night a week of Yin yoga, that is cold stretching, holding just a few poses but in a relaxed manner for a longer time.

lorrpb

Could you focus on different muscle groups on different days, so that you cover everything in a week? Of course, some yoga moves are total body too.
I'm a big fan of dynamic stretching/warmup before a workout.

middlehaitch

I would just do stretching after my work out and find a good yoga class to attend once or twice a week.
I do Iyengar yoga and it focuses on alignment and flexibility.

I would recommend a class over a video as a lot of the moves are far more complex than they look, and hands on correction is so benificial.

Cheers, h.

denversillygoose

Yoga with Adriene on youtube. I was able to touch my toes after a couple of months of her videos. It may not sound like much, but I've never touched my toes in 39 years. She has a wide variety of videos and most are roughly 30 mins.

If I have particular tightness or aches, I try to focus on those areas.

Trish1c

I took a yoga class over the weekend. True yoga is about breathing. If you don't get the breathing right it's still exercise but it's not breathing. This teacher also suggested that if you are in a class where the teacher is more focused on showing off how flexible he/she is you may be in the wrong class because a good teacher will meet you where you are & help you improve not make you feel bad because you don't have the flexibility or balance that the teacher has mastered.

yesimpson

denversillygoose wrote: »

Yoga with Adriene on youtube. I was able to touch my toes after a couple of months of her videos. It may not sound like much, but I've never touched my toes in 39 years. She has a wide variety of videos and most are roughly 30 mins.

If I have particular tightness or aches, I try to focus on those areas.

I also like Adriene. I'm probably the least flexible person imaginable, with little patience, and I'm working through her 30 Days series at the moment and really enjoying it.

singletrackmtbr

Thanks for all the advice everyone. My plan at this point is to keep it simple. I'm going to add a general routine 3x per week. I'm a home gym guy so classes aren't in the cards.

At this point anything is better than what I've been doing. I generally hate stretching and won't down it unless specifically instructed, which is why yoga will be a good addition to my plan.

Namaste☯️

queenliz99

I have taking taking yoga three days a week for a month now and have found it has helped my tight hip flexors caused by a lot of riding and never stretching. I have high hopes but I think it is working. Yay me!! Namaste

singletrackmtbr wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice everyone. My plan at this point is to keep it simple. I'm going to add a general routine 3x per week. I'm a home gym guy so classes aren't in the cards.

At this point anything is better than what I've been doing. I generally hate stretching and won't down it unless specifically instructed, which is why yoga will be a good addition to my plan.

Namaste☯️