Newbie question...

Wuffles70

Hello everyone!

I am very new to yoga (graduated from vaguely trying on the Wii fit to having my first class a couple of days ago) but I've been reading around on the subject and I hit across this forum. Someone said that when you start yoga, you gradually bulk up over the course of about 6 months and feel a lot bigger than before you started because your muscle is growing but it hasn't started to burn off the fat yet He said that after that period of about 6 months, you slim right down and by 9 months you end up a similar weight but with much smaller measurements than when you started. Has anyone found this to be true or is this just one guys experience?

I have a history of getting really uncomfortable with my body and if there is a good chance this will happen I'd find a heads up really helpful but I don't want to worry unnecessarily about it either. I realise that this is mostly an issue with me and I need to learn to accept my body and its capabilities but if anyone feels like sharing their experiences, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you for reading.

yoginimary

I haven't found that to be true.

However, some yoga poses can make you feel fat. Some will make you feel graceful and beautiful. Some will make you feel weak, others will make you feel strong. Dealing with what you body is like is a lesson to learn from yoga.

Recently, I was looking at a picture that someone took of me in headstand - from behind! - and I remember my first thought was a calm: "my hips are uneven" - not a crazy "agh! my butt!". I consider that progress. I'll upload the picture on my profile, if you want to see.

agdyl

I've NEVER heard anyone say that you bulk up from yoga, even temporarily. If I do a very challenging class, I might have sore muscles and retain water for a day or two, but that's about it. Power style yoga classes definitely keep my body strong and muscles looking toned, but I wouldn't say it's going to bulk anyone up unless you are very thin or have very little muscle to start with.

For the most part, I think yoga helps with weight loss because it teaches you to pay more attention to what your body really needs and deal with stress in more healthy ways than stress eating.

TGKvr

I would agree that I've never heard of bulk as a side effect of yoga. If anything, it's completely the opposite: it develops nice long and lean muscles.

Yogi_Carl

Hello!

I think what this guy has found is that in the first few months he maybe felt more muscular (if he hadn’t done any kind of strengthening exercise before) and maybe holding onto some water due to muscle repair and possibly hadn’t started to become more aware of what he was eating so the fat wasn’t coming off.

At around six months when he knew he was going to stick around in yoga for the long haul he maybe started to realise in order to progress he could possibly benefit from dropping some excess weight and became more aware of his body’s needs. Yoga can lead to a person becoming more aware of needs over wants if one learns to listen more acutely.

By nine months he may well have held onto muscular weight, maybe put on a little muscle mass and lost the fat – hence similar weight but it is now active weight.

This is what I am slowly finding but it is taking a little longer than nine months!

I would say to you train hard but be sensitive to your body’s need for repair time, eat well and in a slight deficit if you need to lose some and any bloating or bulking in the early stages of your yoga path will be temporary water retention while muscles repair.

Welcome to the Yoga community and look forward to your new strong and lithe physique.