yoga instead of the gym?

heatho620
heatho620 Posts: 4 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello everyone,

I do hot power yoga about 6x per week. I used to only go about 2x a week and would weight train 2-3x a week. I am currently studying for the bar and am shorter on time and recently decided to freeze my gym membership (big deal as I used to live at the gym) and fully commit to hot power yoga. I have done a good amount of research and many testimonials explain power yoga is weight-training, just your own body weight (and my god look at some yoga instructors' bodies!) and if anyone has done 40 chatarungas per class they know what muscle soreness is.

Was just wondering if anyone else has done this and what their result was? Thx!
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Replies

  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
    I had very good luck with a regular yoga practice (3 to 5 times a week), and I really feel power or form and flow classes provide good strength training, using your own body as the weight. Unfortunately, my schedule and the classes at my gym don't coincide, so I only do yoga 1 or 2 times a week and do other things at the gym. I must say I had better core results with yoga than with any other exercise, though. I dropped an inch in my waist in about a week when I was doing 3 to 5 times a week.
  • drangonfly2323
    drangonfly2323 Posts: 197 Member
    I do yoga regularly as of right now (although I do want to add weight training in the future) and I can tell you that I really started to see a difference in my body and strength when I picked it up on a regular bases. I dont think you'll get the same results as you would weight training but I think it could be a great alternative while you are studying to take the bar and wanting to maintain your fitness. Good luck on the bar.

    Are you doing the 108 chatarungas this Saturday? I wish I could but I will be out of town at a ballgame.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
    a regular power yoga practice definitely bolsters my upper body strength. i think maybe it's a combination of slightly building muscle, and simply lowering BF% with the regular practice. This combination, i think, makes muscles more visible.

    In any case, a regular yoga practice is very unlikely to do any harm - so keep at it if you have the means :smile:
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
    One of my "beefs" with MFP is that it only has one type of yoga to calculate exercise calories for, and as you know, there is a wide range of yoga styles with different burn rates. A hatha yoga class won't burn the same number of calories as a vigorous vinyasa style class.
  • heatho620
    heatho620 Posts: 4 Member
    @dragonfly232 = yes I am doing 108 sun salutations by the Philadelphia Art Museum steps this saturday! Hope I can make it through!
  • heatho620
    heatho620 Posts: 4 Member
    I do yoga regularly as of right now (although I do want to add weight training in the future) and I can tell you that I really started to see a difference in my body and strength when I picked it up on a regular bases. I dont think you'll get the same results as you would weight training but I think it could be a great alternative while you are studying to take the bar and wanting to maintain your fitness. Good luck on the bar.

    Are you doing the 108 chatarungas this Saturday? I wish I could but I will be out of town at a ballgame.

    Yes I am doing 108 sun salutations by the Philadelphia Art Museum steps this saturday! Hope I can make it through!
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    I do 4 to 6 75 minute to 90 minute power yoga classes a week. It definitely burns serious calories and I don't feel like I *need* to go to the gym to supplement (although I do 2x 45 minute gym classes a week too, just to switch things up). I think depending on the intensity of your classes you would be fine giving up the gym too for a while

    Also good for you--I didn't even attempt to exercise when I was studying for the bar past June, lol. I probably gained a good extra 10-15 pounds from stress eating and lack of doing anything over that summer...
  • 212019156
    212019156 Posts: 341 Member
    Yoga is awesome but it is not progressive in terms of strength gains. So you get strong enough to do a particular movement or series of movements when you do yoga. With weight training you keep progressively getting stronger and stronger at the movements you practice because you are adding progressive resistance.

    Doing the yoga will get you strong enough for most things. If you need to get stronger you have to find a way to add resistance.
  • Anonycatgirl
    Anonycatgirl Posts: 502 Member
    I also think regular yoga will do a lot toward keeping you sane while you're studying for the bar. Any exercise can help with stress relief, of course, but yoga specifically and deliberately focuses on mental and emotional "fitness" as well as physical.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    if you enjoy it, do it.
  • cookiealbright
    cookiealbright Posts: 605 Member
    I love yoga!
  • Muddy_Yogi
    Muddy_Yogi Posts: 1,459 Member
    I do yoga on a regular basis. It is great for so many things. Body weight strength, flexibility and endurance. Keeps me calm when things around me feel like they are out of control. I agree with the statement that you won't continue to gain strength but only in the term that once you have mastered all the poses you can't go past that until you add some sort of resistance.

    Also, there are two forms of yoga on MFP....Yoga and Hatha Yoga. But like all the exercises they have available, using a heart rate monitor is far more accurate.
  • LovelyIvy466
    LovelyIvy466 Posts: 387 Member
    I hear what you're saying, but I think that doesn't take into account the fact that your strength, flexibility and endurance requirements advance as you advance in your practice. It's not like going to the same Hatha class 3 times a week and never progressing. For serious yogis, you start with something simple and gentle and progress to poses like inversions, back bends, bakasanas, etc that build more strength. When you've got that down you move to harder and more complex poses. When you get the harder poses you modify them to be even more advanced. The more you do, the greater your potential gains in strength, flexibility and endurance.
  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,010 Member
    The bulk of my exercise is yoga now which I do believe is increasing my strength. You may also want to consider the psychological benefits of yoga while studying for the bar. My law school offered free yoga classes which was really helpful during that super stressful season of life. Good luck on the bar and know that it's really a short time so just doing yoga should be fine for a while.
  • Vanessadolan007
    Vanessadolan007 Posts: 1
    Last year I did yoga about 4 times a week and cardio (combination of running and walking) twice a week. I looked and felt fantastic. Everyone commented on how my body had changed due to yoga. Yoga is so much more beneficial t one's mind, body and spirit than just going to the gym. I would keep it up but add in a few cardio sessions. And enjoy your yoga journey.
  • sshintaku
    sshintaku Posts: 228 Member
    What I like about yoga is that you are never really "done." Even though it IS body weight strength training, so technically at a point you should "plateau" so to speak, there are always harder poses to practice, so you never really DO plateau.
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
    gtfo Ms. hotttty pants ;b

    just do both - it will make you go from eh - to ahhh! ;D
  • chelle1loyola
    chelle1loyola Posts: 1
    Good luck on your upcoming Bar exam. As a (recently) former post-secondary student, I can relate to the time-crunch during exam week. Anyway, I had cut back on my exercise during finals and in retrospect, I realize that I probably shouldn't have done that...but that said, I wasn't doing yoga at the time to relieve my stress and I now realize that doing yoga would have really helped with my ability to focus, burn off some anxiety and sleep well at a time when it was imperative to do so.

    So, congratulations on sticking with the yoga - decreasing stress, burning some calories, and relaxing the mind is especially important during this hectic time. As for your buff yoga instructors...I do believe that yoga has major benefits, but perhaps your instructor(s) are genetically predisposed to lean muscle mass or perhaps they cross-train...you never know by looking and assuming. Personally, I don't believe that one type of exercise is the "end all and be all" or is a "one size fits all" for everyone as all of us are built differently so some types of exercise are more appropriate for some people than others, based on our interests and physical abilities. We all have different metabolisms too (I'm hypothyroid due to radiation treatment of my thyroid after a bout of cancer in my early 20's) so I need brisk, daily exercise for my body to function optimally and it is more difficult for me to burn calories and stay slim than it is for someone with a normal or high metabolism.

    Long story short - do what makes you happy. There's nothing wrong with changing things up. It's better for your body and provides a different type of mental stimulation than you're already getting in Law school. In fact, learning a new language or dance movement, has been shown to build neuroconnections in the brain and will delay dementia in later years, and will keep you sharper at any age. It's not "cheating" on your gym workout to incorporate other activities into your fitness regime. If the gym is your thing (it's mine too) then when things settle down for you and time allows, then return to the gym. There's no harm in pumping iron to build muscle - muscle burns more calories than fat - and if you're so inclined then mix things up by adding a spinning (cycling), wall climbing or zumba (dance) class in for some flavor and variation.

    Don't be afraid to try new things and to incorporate what you life. Don't be preoccupied with your yoga instructor's physique, just use that for motivation to do as well as you can in your yoga class and worry about you.
  • candyinmyheels
    candyinmyheels Posts: 34 Member
    Hello hello. yoga is amazing, isn't it? I think what people get out of classes can be very individualized depending on your body and your mindset. If you enjoy these classes and they fit with your schedule, go for it. And if you feel like you are in a plateau, you can switch up the teacher or the facility. As we know, this can have a huge impact on how you experience the class.
    Have fun and namaste!
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
    One of my "beefs" with MFP is that it only has one type of yoga to calculate exercise calories for, and as you know, there is a wide range of yoga styles with different burn rates. A hatha yoga class won't burn the same number of calories as a vigorous vinyasa style class.
    Add the exercise to the database, then they will have it.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'm no expert but I would assume that yoga is the sort of "weight training" that will help you maintain your muscle and strengthen it but it is NOT the kind of "weight training" that would make your muscles grow in size. Not knowing what your goals are exactly not sure how to answer the question of if yoga is a proper substitute for what you were doing.

    I do yoga, I like yoga...I think its great for flexibility, balance and core strength. I don't think its a muscle hypertrophy program that is going to allow me to increase my muscle mass but I think its an important part of my fitness.
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
    lol, I didn't even realize there was such a strenuous Yoga technique - the Yoga I do twice a day is just really really relaxing stretches to get my muscles loosened up for a real workout. - this is cool and gives me more things to research.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    lol, I didn't even realize there was such a strenuous Yoga technique - the Yoga I do twice a day is just really really relaxing stretches to get my muscles loosened up for a real workout. - this is cool and gives me more things to research.

    chaturanga man, just hold that pose and try to run by bringing your feet to the side and your knees up rapid fire. Or just go from downward dog to plank to chauranga to upward dog a bunch of times...mix in things like side-planks. or balance postures like half-moon. Will get those shoulders and legs burning pretty quick.

    Yoga I do has me dripping sweat after 30 minutes of it in a cool room. I'll admit I don't get the point of doing yoga in a hot room if you are going to do a bunch of power moves which are going to get you plenty hot as is. Unless I am missing something a sauna is a good place to take a nap or stretch not a good place for an intense workout.

    Clearly all bodyweight though so big-time muscle building it is not.
  • tanyamartha
    tanyamartha Posts: 10
    Well my vote goes to yoga..It's really very relaxing and extravagant by all means... In Yoga asan is merely very important they play vital role to regulate metabolism with ease..
  • p8liwag
    p8liwag Posts: 919 Member
    I just started doing yoga although it's relaxing but it's also stressful because I'm trying to preformed these difficult moves. Forgot to mention I'm not flexible at all :'(
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    Yoga is awesome but it is not progressive in terms of strength gains. So you get strong enough to do a particular movement or series of movements when you do yoga. With weight training you keep progressively getting stronger and stronger at the movements you practice because you are adding progressive resistance.

    Doing the yoga will get you strong enough for most things. If you need to get stronger you have to find a way to add resistance.

    Like progressive bodyweight exercises, once a particular movement or posture becomes comfortable, there is always a progression to work towards; so yoga is just as progressive strength-wise as calisthenics or weighted strength training; as well as many other aspects.
  • hellsbells3272
    hellsbells3272 Posts: 128 Member
    I love yoga!
    ^^^ this
  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
    yoga ftw!
  • Chrysalid2014
    Chrysalid2014 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Someone mentioned on here that yoga is not progressive. I think it is, because as you get better you hold the poses for longer. Surely holding a plank, to give juste one example, for 30 seconds instead of 10 is going to build more muscle?
  • ekat120
    ekat120 Posts: 407 Member
    I just started doing yoga although it's relaxing but it's also stressful because I'm trying to preformed these difficult moves. Forgot to mention I'm not flexible at all :'(

    Part of yoga for me is accepting where my body's at and not judging myself for my ability level. It's easy to get frustrated and want to push or force change, but it's acceptance is the way to improvement.

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