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will yoga help my training?

actiontime26

Hey everyone,
I had a question toward yoga. I've been doing strength and cardio training for a few weeks now. I'm doind pretty good. However, I notice that I had difficulty doing some stretching moves or sometimes my balance is off. So I decided to start yoga. I wanted to confirm with you guys if that a good idea to help with my training problems?

Replies

yoginimary

Couldn't hurt. Try it out and see if you like it. You can always add balance and stretching without yoga if you end up not liking it.

quackmunch

I do yoga 2-3 times a week, cardio 2 times a week and have started stronglifts twice a week. I find that yoga has really helped my training throughout anything I've been doing up until now.

I would do one of my yoga sessions to focus on stretching out the muscles that get tight during my lifting, for example quads, glutes, forearm and find it's really helping me.

DavPul

Yes.

rml_16

Yes, yoga will help your training -- whatever your training is. It's actually known for that.

However, DO NOT try to learn yoga any way but from a qaulified instructor in a class. Once you've been doing it a while and you know what you're doing, it's OK to do on your own. But it's a lot more complicated and difficult than it looks and you can injure yourself or simply not get the benefits if you don't learn it properly with guidance.

unknown

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89nunu

Yoga is brilliant! Just don't overdo it right from the start.... I know it sounds weird (overdoing the stretchy kind of yoga) but I managed to get bursitis cause I was kneeling so much

lporter229

Yes! I believe that if there's one type of exercise that everyone can benefit from, it's yoga.

DavPul

I'm relatively certain that yoga isn't that complicated and scary. Let's not manufacture more barriers to entry than are needed

rml_16

Then I'm relatively certain you aren't doing it correctly.

knitapeace

My balance is improving as I get stronger, so you don't have to do yoga for that. But if you want to, and you enjoy it, go for it. It can be really really tough (I just finished a fitnessblender yoga routine this morning and I was shaking after) or really relaxing, or both. And it feels good mentally too.

Amestris

I'd have to say that certain yoga poses are best learned in a classroom setting. A couple of weeks ago in my yoga class we started learning shoulder stands and inversions. Not something I think a novice may want to try out on their lonesome.

rml_16

Even the less complex ones need guidance. It's extremely difficult to "feel" your way into correct form, especially when you're new. So while you think you're doing it right, you're not and so you're not getting the benefits. And even something as simple as bridge or modified fish pose can cause injury if you do it wrong.

It isn't scary, but it also isn't as easy as people think it is. And if you are doing it and think it's easy and simple, you aren't doing it correctly.

DavPul

I'm relatively certain that you're correct. But also relatively certain that I got huge benefits from it, especially since my main reason to take it up was to increase flexibility. If I wanted something far beyond that, or wanted to try the cool *kitten* complex balancing positions, sure it would help to have an instructor.

But most beginners aren't looking for something that advanced. The OP certainly didn't indicate it. Many people don't have time or money or confidence to start a basic practice in a class setting. Telling them that NO WAY NO HOW should they start a simple routine is borderline criminal, imo. Fitness is for everyone of every budget and capability, and there's usually a low barrier to entry.

SunofaBeach14

QFT

unknown

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Phaedra2014

Yes it most definitely will. Along with cardio and strength, you need mobility and flexibility or you're bound to run into injuries.

jimmmer

Yes. Yoga will help your training.

No. You don't have to suck at the left teat of I.B.S. Iyengar in an ashram to learn it.

doyogawithme.com. They've got lots of beginners classes (all free) from a variety of instructors with differing styles. I'm sure there a plenty of other, good, free yoga resources online too.

GRUNO

I love yoga and I think it can be good for anyone no matter your fitness goals. I tend to agree that the best way to start is in a class setting if possible. The purpose of each pose is to engage certain muscles. If you're just mimicking a person on a video you may not really be engaging the right muscles or getting the maximum benefit. I disagree that proper yoga practice is just anything goes. Sure, there is room for variation person to person with every pose but you still want to get the basic form right. It helps to have a pro correcting your form. Just like with weight lifting--form really matters.

But, I wouldn't discourage someone from getting a beginner video and trying it out to see if you want to pay the cost of taking a class. If you start slow and stop doing anything that is painful, you're not very likely to hurt yourself.

likitisplit

I'm pretty sure I was playing around with shoulder stands all by myself in my bedroom when I was 10.

Classes are great and a good instructor is worth their weight in gold, but getting a DVD and trying it out has benefits too. I doubt that any of them would show the more complicated things.

Achrya

I learned to weight lift without a pro correcting my form, ftr. All books and videos for me.

I don't Yoga though. I'm not into things I can't learn at home.

lporter229

With everything that has been said in this thread, I have to agree that there is no real substitute for practicing yoga with a certified instructor in a studio. However, if you can not afford it or it doesn't fit your schedule, there is no reason why you can't practice at home with videos. A couple of bits of advice if you are new to yoga and are using videos for instruction:

1. If it hurts or doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Some poses may be uncomfortable, but don't push yourself too far into a pose if it really hurts because you may not be doing it correctly.

2. Use a variety of different videos. After years of doing yoga with many different instructors, I can tell you that each one has his or her own way of describing how a pose should be done. There are some poses I had been doing for years and a new instructor said something that gave me that "aha" moment that just made it click. You will probably learn something new from each different video you do.

jimmmer

Why can't you learn it at home?

Cranquistador

I love yoga and IMO it helps.
You get get some books out of the library and there are classes on demand and online if you want to try it out.

Achrya

It wasn't a serious comment, but rather a sarcastic jab at the insistence that even basic Yoga reacquires an instructor.

I'm actually familiar with the DoYogaWithMe site and have been using their strength stretches after my strength workout for the past two weeks. At home. Unsupervised.

GRUNO

Okay and . . .

I never said anyone couldn't learn it at home. I said I think it's beneficial to have an instructor because form is important.

Oscarinmiami

YOGA is the best for everything....I know people that are in great shape and all they do is yoga...nothing else, so go for it

odusgolp

You can lift at home, given the right equipment, as well as you can do yoga, pilates, or whatever you want at home. If you're a novice, most instructors will definitely have good advice on form regardless of what type of exercise you're doing... but it doesn't mean you must have an instructor to exercise.

SHHitsKaty

I go through phases of incorporating yoga into my workout routine, right now I've been slacking off because of lack of time due to everything else going on in my life. I do hot yoga, which is just yoga in a room heated to 95-104 degrees, it doesn't generate any harder of a work out (per my HRM I wore the other night) you just sweat more. But I would say that along with others, I believe there is a right and wrong way to do yoga, I witness my instructors correcting people in the most simple pose (downward dog) all the time because they aren't doing it right and putting too much stress on their shoulders.

It does work wonders for stretching and flexibility. When I was going 3-4 times a week, I was SUPER flexible.

jimmmer

Ah, sarcasm....

they really need to invent that font...

SunofaBeach14

This is why I sometimes find myself lumping yoga in with Chiropractic and holistic medicine. When it's stretching and a bit of fitness, I'm completely on board, but when its adherents turn it into some mystical thing that can only be properly handed down yogi to student, I have to chuckle.