Please argue benefits of lifting (v yoga) in my post :)

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  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    I do a daily Yoga practise, seven days a week and also a regular progressive bodyweight exercise workout every week.

    I find the bodyweight exercises, especially single arm and single leg movements are strength and balance builders that compliment my Yoga very well and - in my experience for me - are better than weight training, because bodyweight teaches you to handle your actual body weight and centre of gravity whereas weight lifting you learn to shift an external mass - the weights.

    Weight lifting is of course great for increasing strength and mass over time. In yoga and bodyweight exercises, the strength you gain is more to do with engaging more potential through the muscles you already have, through progressive stimulation of the body's nervous system. You are basically teaching and stimulating the body to more fully engage it's existing strength potential before any further mass is needed.

    It has often been said that the strength gains from Yoga and BW eventually level off as your body gets used to the movements and builds sufficient strength and possibly some extra muscle to perform them. I would suggest that there is open-ended scope for strength development in both Yoga and BW, providing that as soon as you can comfortably perform an exercise, you find a slightly harder way to work the muscles to keep increasing intensity to just beyond the body's capability.
  • ReinasWrath
    ReinasWrath Posts: 1,173 Member
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  • sozisraw
    sozisraw Posts: 418 Member
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    But why? Won't yoga make me stronger too? :-/

    Yoga will make you stronger. But in your OP you also seemed to be concerned about muscle mass. Yoga will not help with your muscle mass. In fact, after a certain point you will stop getting stronger from yoga because your body will have adapted to doing what is required. Unless you're going to start doing extreme poses it will be more efficient to just start weight training.

    Wise the limit is ones own body weight.
  • WeightHacker
    WeightHacker Posts: 260 Member
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    No. You do the research and figure it out. Stop asking to be spoon fed or convinced. That's a seriously weak approach.

    Edit: apologies if this seems harsh but there have been plenty of threads today arguing about lifting.

    gonna have to agree with this guy.
    just saying
  • sunglasses_and_ocean_waves
    sunglasses_and_ocean_waves Posts: 2,757 Member
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    The real problem is that you need the balls to tell your friend "mind your own business." If you want to do yoga for your strength training right now, so be it. You said you're incredibly out of shape, and this makes you happy, and it's giving you results. While I do think lifting is great, if that's not where you are right now, why can;\'t your friend just shut up? Why can't you tell him that? "Hey, I'm happy where I am right now. If I decide to start lifting, I'll ask your advice."
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    But why? Won't yoga make me stronger too? :-/

    Yoga will make you stronger. But in your OP you also seemed to be concerned about muscle mass. Yoga will not help with your muscle mass. In fact, after a certain point you will stop getting stronger from yoga because your body will have adapted to doing what is required. Unless you're going to start doing extreme poses it will be more efficient to just start weight training.

    Wise the limit is ones own body weight.

    Body weight is only a limit if you never progress, as is intended, and do harder exercises. For example, it's going to take most people a long time to work up to a handstand, especially raising into, and lowering out of, a handstand using the arms. However the philosophy is very different. You don't talk about pushing as hard as you can or working to failure in yoga. When people in weight training tell you to stop when your form starts to go, it's closer to the philosophy of yoga.
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    But why? Won't yoga make me stronger too? :-/

    Yoga will make you stronger. But in your OP you also seemed to be concerned about muscle mass. Yoga will not help with your muscle mass. In fact, after a certain point you will stop getting stronger from yoga because your body will have adapted to doing what is required. Unless you're going to start doing extreme poses it will be more efficient to just start weight training.

    Wise the limit is ones own body weight.

    ¿que?
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Yoga's pretty cool - it isn't just a strength exercise (although it can provide progressive overload and advanced practitioners can do some pretty funky stuff). It's good for your soft tissue and joint alignment and peace of mind. It's not for everyone - some people don't take to it at all, but if you have taken to it and do enjoy it and are getting something out of it, then what's the problem?

    It's not really an either-or choice. You could do either, or you could do both or you could even do neither.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    No. You do the research and figure it out. Stop asking to be spoon fed or convinced. That's a seriously weak approach.

    Edit: apologies if this seems harsh but there have been plenty of threads today arguing about lifting.

    gonna have to agree with this guy.
    just saying

    I disagree. This thread is informative, and, for some people, the point of participating in group discussions is to learn from other people's perspectives.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    No. You do the research and figure it out. Stop asking to be spoon fed or convinced. That's a seriously weak approach.

    Edit: apologies if this seems harsh but there have been plenty of threads today arguing about lifting.

    gonna have to agree with this guy.
    just saying

    I disagree. This thread is informative, and, for some people, the point of participating in group discussions is to learn from other people's perspectives.

    I agree whole heartedly.
  • mattschwartz01
    mattschwartz01 Posts: 566 Member
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    I would say they compliment each other nicely. Yoga places an emphasis on breathing and proper weight lifting requires proper breathing technique.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    Lifting weights will reduce your risk of osteoporosis as you get older.(so say all the doctor type people anyway)
  • brownvs
    brownvs Posts: 40 Member
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    No. You do the research and figure it out. Stop asking to be spoon fed or convinced. That's a seriously weak approach.

    Edit: apologies if this seems harsh but there have been plenty of threads today arguing about lifting.

    gonna have to agree with this guy.
    just saying

    I disagree. This thread is informative, and, for some people, the point of participating in group discussions is to learn from other people's perspectives.

    Thank you guys :) I was hoping it would be informative - I only wrote the provocative title to get some responses because boring thread titles seem to elicit very few responses. :-p

    I appreciate everyone's thoughts on combining the two and what they can offer separately - that is exactly what I was hoping for.

    I definitely appreciate the point that maybe weight training can help me reach some of my yoga goals faster. But until I can get someone to really coach me through the correct motions of weight training I will stick to yoga right now - I know some people have said you can't gain muscle mass on a calorie deficit, but I think I've so completely deprived my body of strength training for so long it's really responding well to yoga and I am getting stronger - I can SEE visible flexing changes.

    I have a healthy respect for large heavy objects and will try to integrate them in the future. :)
  • brownvs
    brownvs Posts: 40 Member
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    I really wish I could quote some of the helpful responses, too; hopefully MFP will get on that...just know that I'm listening to you :-p
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I know some people have said you can't gain muscle mass on a calorie deficit, but I think I've so completely deprived my body of strength training for so long it's really responding well to yoga....

    That might be true enough for bodybuilders, in practical terms, but it's certainly not an absolute rule. Eating more protein is one of the general tips for gaining muscle on a calorie deficit.
    ... and I am getting stronger - I can SEE visible flexing changes.

    Of course, you will SEE muscle definition more clearly, when you've lost body fat, so your actual improving ability in performing asanas may be a better way to judge your progress.

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