Yoga versus lifting for strength training?

Buttercupmcgee

Is it possible to see the same strength training benefits from an athletic yoga class as one might from lifting?

The yoga class I take on Mondays is very rigorous, it leaves me shaking afterward and I'm always sore for 2 days--core, arms, legs, everything.

Last week I strength trained with weights for the first time. I took a body sculpting class, using 10 lb weights at the instructor's recommendation. It was definitely challenging. I was also shaking and exhausted afterward...

But I wasn't sore at all the next day.

I wonder why this is, and if yoga can be used as a substitute for lifting when it comes to fat burning and developing tone and strength.

rml_16

Well, with yoga you're always going to be using your body weight, so you don't have the advantage of upping the amount you're "lifting."

I think it's a good idea to incorporate both.

d2footballJRC

Yoga instructor:



strength trainer:



Yoga has it's great benefits but strength training isn't it's strong suit. Yoga will get you fit and greatly help with flexibility but your strength training is going to taper off fast and early on vs lifting if you are looking for strength gains.

rml_16

D2, I agree with you to a point, but do you really think something like this doesn't take great strength:



Or some of these:

http://tinyurl.com/7855dwk

d2footballJRC

D2, I agree with you to a point, but do you really think something like this doesn't take great strength:



Or some of these:

http://tinyurl.com/7855dwk

They can take great strength but it's balance and core more than strength training. Not to mention with yoga you aren't doing reps of said exercise or even doing those that often. Having gone to yoga classes, unless you are training with pink 2.5lb dumb bells for your strength training you aren't going to get anywhere close to the strength gains as you would from lifting.

ArroganceInStep

If you want the "most effective" means of increasing raw strength, you should lift weights (preferably of the heavy variety).

If you really hate lifting and want to focus on yoga and not be a complete weakling, as long as you accept that your strength gains won't be as fast or go as high as with heavy lifting, you should be fine.

If you don't mind weight lifting and want the best of both worlds, do both. I abhor yoga (mostly because I'm terribad at it), but if I didn't I would probably try to do one of the restorative types of yoga between my lifting days.

BAMFMeredith

I do a combo of both, personally, and I love it. I feel like the benefits and results are different, but I won't lie, after a 90 minute hot yoga class, I need to take a shower and lay down! It's exhausting!

I know plenty of people who use yoga and pilates as their only form of strength training (in conjunction with a moderate cardio routine) and are in great shape, with optimal body fat percentages. My yoga instructor runs and does yoga, and that's it...homegirl is in amazing shape and I would venture to say she's somewhere around 19-20% body fat. She looks great.

It depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to increase muscle and strength, add in some weights. But if you are more interested in maintaining lean muscle mass and not major strength gains, yoga is great. There are some really intense yoga classes out there, and although you can't increase body weight (well, you can, but you know what I mean), I've found that there is always a way to challenge yourself further in yoga classes, whether it be a more intense version of a pose, adding resistance, etc.

darrensurrey

Last week I strength trained with weights for the first time. I took a body sculpting class, using 10 lb weights at the instructor's recommendation. It was definitely challenging. I was also shaking and exhausted afterward...

It's a good question.

The problem with your experience is that you probably attended a fitness class that made you carry light weights so you can't really compare that to a serious weights session (even for a beginner) where you'd be moving challenging loads.

Whilst yoga will probably work you well once you start doing the advanced asanas, the problem is progression. You would probably see very minor improvements compared to lifting heavy. Naturally, your balance would be vastly improved by doing yoga but with regard to strength, it's not an optimal way of building it.

I speak from experience as I've primarily done bodyweight exercises in the past eg rock climbing (kinda like yoga at height if you're doing it properly - it's all about balance, strength and flowing movement) before lifting heavy and have never had the body I have now.

Buttercupmcgee

Thanks everyone--interesting to learn about the strength vs. lean muscle differentiation.

I am just *so* sore after this class, I figured it was the same as lifting weights.

I may do zumba and weights instead now, since I pretty much hate yoga, yet it's the only thing that makes me that sore.

Buttercupmcgee

Yoga instructor:



strength trainer:



Yoga has it's great benefits but strength training isn't it's strong suit. Yoga will get you fit and greatly help with flexibility but your strength training is going to taper off fast and early on vs lifting if you are looking for strength gains.

Haha! This made me laugh.

I dunno, though....this is more what my teacher looks like:

http://www.yogacentercarmel.org/instructors/katie.jpg

Rawr...I'd be okay with these results.

Dedicatediva

I do both! I switch it up I do yoga and pilates for abs 4 days a week and strength train 3 days a week and I do Zumba rush maybe 3 days a week also! Just do what is more comfortable to you.

d2footballJRC

Yoga instructor:



strength trainer:



Yoga has it's great benefits but strength training isn't it's strong suit. Yoga will get you fit and greatly help with flexibility but your strength training is going to taper off fast and early on vs lifting if you are looking for strength gains.

Haha! This made me laugh.

I dunno, though....this is more what my teacher looks like:

http://www.yogacentercarmel.org/instructors/katie.jpg

Rawr...I'd be okay with these results.

It was exaggerated results, also depends on your end goal. Yoga will tone and get you in shape, you just aren't going to be built like a brick sh** house. ;-)

mandylooo

D2, I agree with you to a point, but do you really think something like this doesn't take great strength:



Or some of these:

http://tinyurl.com/7855dwk

They can take great strength but it's balance and core more than strength training. Not to mention with yoga you aren't doing reps of said exercise or even doing those that often. Having gone to yoga classes, unless you are training with pink 2.5lb dumb bells for your strength training you aren't going to get anywhere close to the strength gains as you would from lifting.

"Core" *is* strength training. And the bit about reps and frequency doesn't really add up in what you're saying either.

That said, of course if you lift heavy weights you are going to get more muscular than if you just do yoga. It depends what type of physique you want - the yoga guy looks muscular enough to me.

So in summary, yoga gives you some muscularity and lots of flexibility and weight training gives you more muscularity, but can restrict movement.

d2footballJRC

D2, I agree with you to a point, but do you really think something like this doesn't take great strength:



Or some of these:

http://tinyurl.com/7855dwk

They can take great strength but it's balance and core more than strength training. Not to mention with yoga you aren't doing reps of said exercise or even doing those that often. Having gone to yoga classes, unless you are training with pink 2.5lb dumb bells for your strength training you aren't going to get anywhere close to the strength gains as you would from lifting.

"Core" *is* strength training. And the bit about reps and frequency doesn't really add up in what you're saying either.

That said, of course if you lift heavy weights you are going to get more muscular than if you just do yoga. It depends what type of physique you want - the yoga guy looks muscular enough to me.

So in summary, yoga gives you some muscularity and lots of flexibility and weight training gives you more muscularity, but can restrict movement.

*core* is not all there is to strength training. The part about reps is a valid point. You aren't stressing the same muscle over and over and over in multiple sets in yoga. It's not designed that way. Both my points are still valid with those reasoning.

As for the restricting of movement that isn't always true. Some lift programs use a stretching method called extreme stretching which counters this some. Like DC/DS programs.

rml_16

Thanks everyone--interesting to learn about the strength vs. lean muscle differentiation.

I am just *so* sore after this class, I figured it was the same as lifting weights.

I may do zumba and weights instead now, since I pretty much hate yoga, yet it's the only thing that makes me that sore.

If you hate yoga, don't do it! You can achieve your goals without it.

raiderrodney

I'm in the "do both" camp on this as well. I've lifted on and off for years but I do plan on trying some yoga classes in the near future

DixiedoesMFP

Soreness =/= good workout

darrensurrey

I dunno, though....this is more what my teacher looks like:

http://www.yogacentercarmel.org/instructors/katie.jpg

Rawr...I'd be okay with these results.

She's an ex-gymnast... her body has been well-conditioned and yoga is just keeping it in good condition. Plus she probably runs classes all day. Are you prepared to do 8 hours of yoga a day?

But it is interesting. Once I've achieved my first goal, I was planning on going back to bodyweight exercises and training like a gymnast to see what can be achieved.

Buttercupmcgee

I dunno, though....this is more what my teacher looks like:

http://www.yogacentercarmel.org/instructors/katie.jpg

Rawr...I'd be okay with these results.

She's an ex-gymnast... her body has been well-conditioned and yoga is just keeping it in good condition. Plus she probably runs classes all day. Are you prepared to do 8 hours of yoga a day?

But it is interesting. Once I've achieved my first goal, I was planning on going back to bodyweight exercises and training like a gymnast to see what can be achieved.

That's not my actual instructor. It's a picture from the internet to show what she looks like.

Man, that guy has some serious washboard action going!

aklitten

bump!

Eleisabelle

I would say both also. With weights, you can increase the amount of weight you lift, whereas yoga will always just be body weight. So that should be taken into consideration if you want to lift more than just your own weight.

However, for many people body weight can be enough, and you still get the same benefits as other forms of strength training, plus flexibility. And yes, if you're curious, yoga has been shown to help increase bone density; weight training isn't the only thing that helps with that.

I'm in my best shape now doing running, weight, and yoga. Cardio, strength, and flexibility. They work together well!

mandylooo

*core* is not all there is to strength training.

Of course not. It's just part of it.

The part about reps is a valid point. You aren't stressing the same muscle over and over and over in multiple sets in yoga. It's not designed that way. Both my points are still valid with those reasoning.

not necessarily. I can really only speak for Ashtanga where there is a lot of repetition, both of the same postures and also using the same muscle groups in different postures in sequences which build.

As for the restricting of movement that isn't always true. Some lift programs use a stretching method called extreme stretching which counters this some. Like DC/DS programs.

I'll accept that - that's why I said "*can* restrict movement" rather than "does". You need to take care in weight training that you don't end up with restricted movement -incorporating strecthing is always going to help.

darrensurrey

That's not my actual instructor. It's a picture from the internet to show what she looks like.

Man, that guy has some serious washboard action going!

My apologies. I suspect your instructor still practices a lot more than you'd expect. My students (kung fu) often ask why I move more fluidly than them. Practice!

As for that guy, well, at least his abs distract you from his unusually sculpted peepee. :bigsmile:

luztrella

If you only are going to do one or the other I think yoga is by far a better choice for total body conditioning. Some of the people who only lift weights can't even touch their toes! But I think using the weights is a good supplement, particularly because it allows you to target specific muscles which ultimately can facilitate a better yoga practice. I had an instructor years ago who was in her eighties, she looked thin and maybe a bit frail but she was in better shape and stronger than I was by a long shot and I was very young and athletic at the time.

d2footballJRC

I dunno, though....this is more what my teacher looks like:

http://www.yogacentercarmel.org/instructors/katie.jpg

Rawr...I'd be okay with these results.

She's an ex-gymnast... her body has been well-conditioned and yoga is just keeping it in good condition. Plus she probably runs classes all day. Are you prepared to do 8 hours of yoga a day?

But it is interesting. Once I've achieved my first goal, I was planning on going back to bodyweight exercises and training like a gymnast to see what can be achieved.

That's not my actual instructor. It's a picture from the internet to show what she looks like.

Man, that guy has some serious washboard action going!

I'd place a large bet that he hits the weights as well as trains in gymnastics. It's all about balance and to be the best you have to be well rounded.

kirstyrae81

I have seen the most transformation in my body from barre3 (combination of yoga, pilates and ballet barre - probably any of the barre based workouts are quite similar, but that is the only one I have experienced). I'm not looking for the strength gains that everyone on here raves about though. I like the long, lean muscle tone that I get from barre3 and have zero interest in anything like crossfit or other heavy lifting programs. It's a total body workout in each class and my body has absolutely never looked better (well, maybe when I was about 19, but certainly not since). I'm sure it just depends on your ultimate goals, but (and I know I'm likely to get criticized for saying this) I greatly prefer body weight exercise like yoga or pilates and/or light weight circuit training and I have experienced results that I'm thrilled with. Again, it's all about what you want though.

d2footballJRC

I have seen the most transformation in my body from barre3 (combination of yoga, pilates and ballet barre - probably any of the barre based workouts are quite similar, but that is the only one I have experienced). I'm not looking for the strength gains that everyone on here raves about though. I like the long, lean muscle tone that I get from barre3 and have zero interest in anything like crossfit or other heavy lifting programs. It's a total body workout in each class and my body has absolutely never looked better (well, maybe when I was about 19, but certainly not since). I'm sure it just depends on your ultimate goals, but (and I know I'm likely to get criticized for saying this) I greatly prefer body weight exercise like yoga or pilates and/or light weight circuit training and I have experienced results that I'm thrilled with. Again, it's all about what you want though.

Exactly but at the same time, women especially need to realize that you aren't going to get big and bulky by lifting heavy at the same time. That is such a myth.

darrensurrey

I'd place a large bet that he hits the weights as well as trains in gymnastics. It's all about balance and to be the best you have to be well rounded.

What you say makes sense. Be interested to find out the truth.

mandylooo

I dunno, though....this is more what my teacher looks like:

http://www.yogacentercarmel.org/instructors/katie.jpg

Rawr...I'd be okay with these results.

She's an ex-gymnast... her body has been well-conditioned and yoga is just keeping it in good condition. Plus she probably runs classes all day. Are you prepared to do 8 hours of yoga a day?

But it is interesting. Once I've achieved my first goal, I was planning on going back to bodyweight exercises and training like a gymnast to see what can be achieved.

That's not my actual instructor. It's a picture from the internet to show what she looks like.

Man, that guy has some serious washboard action going!

I'd place a large bet that he hits the weights as well as trains in gymnastics. It's all about balance and to be the best you have to be well rounded.

Yup, strength training will be part of his regimen.

melodymist

I do both! I switch it up I do yoga and pilates for abs 4 days a week and strength train 3 days a week and I do Zumba rush maybe 3 days a week also! Just do what is more comfortable to you.

Do you do the Zumba rush as cardio? that's the 20 min one right?

kirstyrae81

I have seen the most transformation in my body from barre3 (combination of yoga, pilates and ballet barre - probably any of the barre based workouts are quite similar, but that is the only one I have experienced). I'm not looking for the strength gains that everyone on here raves about though. I like the long, lean muscle tone that I get from barre3 and have zero interest in anything like crossfit or other heavy lifting programs. It's a total body workout in each class and my body has absolutely never looked better (well, maybe when I was about 19, but certainly not since). I'm sure it just depends on your ultimate goals, but (and I know I'm likely to get criticized for saying this) I greatly prefer body weight exercise like yoga or pilates and/or light weight circuit training and I have experienced results that I'm thrilled with. Again, it's all about what you want though.

Exactly but at the same time, women especially need to realize that you aren't going to get big and bulky by lifting heavy at the same time. That is such a myth.

I hear what you're saying and certainly will not say you're incorrect. I know a lot of women who look amazing from doing many different forms of exercise, some lifting heavy, some not. However my (female) cousin is a crossfit instructor and, trust me, she has built bulk. A lot of it (at 5'6, she's about 165lbs and VERY low body fat %). And, while that works for her and she loves the strength in her body, it is not a goal I share. I won't say it's unattractive because of course that is all relative, but I definitely don't want my body to look like hers. And, admittedly, she does far more heavy lifting than any other person I know, not just females.