Chocolate is just as beneficial as yoga in terms of Holistic Fitness health benefits. Although we would desire to, one cannot survive solely on chocolate. Similarly, Getting fit just by doing yoga isn’t always a good idea.
Yoga-related injuries are currently plaguing a number of my acquaintances who were dedicated yoga practitioners. Years of overuse can result in these injuries, which include fractures, rips, and joint injuries. Osteoporosis and arthritis are becoming more prevalent in my personal group. What was before believed to be a “cure-all” may instead be a “cure-some.” Experts now advise adding other types of training, such weights, cardio, and Pilates, for optimum fitness and a physically healthy physique.
“Yoga is a great complement to weight training, and vice versa,” says Adrian Carvalho, MPT, owner of Golden Gate Physical Therapy, a well-known rehabilitation facility in San Francisco.
FitWell Chiropractic Sports Medicines owner Lisa Covey, DC, ART, concurs, saying, “In a perfect world, everyone should engage in daily Pilates and yoga.”
You definitely can benefit from changing up your routine. As yoga bolsters other types of Holistic Fitness exercise, experimenting with several modalities can elevate your yoga practice as well!
Four Crucial Upgrades to Your Yoga Practice:
1. Include Weight Training to Boost Your Stability and Strength
Stretching and strengthening are already included in a yoga practice, but the strength that is developed by yogis differs greatly from that of weightlifters. By statically holding a pose or applying one’s own body weight against an immovable object, such as the wall or floor, yoga poses develop isometric strength. You develop longer, leaner muscular tone as a result.
You can only get as strong as your own weight when practicing isometrically, as Carvalho points out, because “you’re limited by body weight and gravity for resistance.” Working with weights over its whole range of motion will help you advance your strength.
Complementing the isometric poses will be a gradual increase in weight burden. For instance, performing an overhead press with dumbbells will help you become more stable in a handstand than just practicing the handstand on its own.
There’s a misperception that lifting weights will increase muscular mass. It doesn’t, however research suggests that it might boost bone density! Avoid bulking up by using lower pound weights and doing more repetitions. It’s a fantastic method to build strength from the inside out!
2. Continue Your Cardio Exercise to Maintain Your Heart Rate
Undoubtedly, having a robust heart is essential for leading a long and healthy life. However, there is disagreement over whether yoga qualifies as cardiovascular exercise.
Though not nearly as much as more conventional cardio exercises like jogging, faster yoga styles like Power yoga and Vinyasa Flow do raise heart rate and strengthen the lungs.
Yogis must move swiftly in order to receive the aerobic advantages, which raises the risk of injury. Those who have hypermobile bodies—those who move more from their joints than from their muscles—may find this particularly harmful. Overstretched ligaments and tendons do not revert to their previous shape, in contrast to muscle fibres that do so. Osteoarthritis and even dislocated bones, such as the shoulder or hip, can result from repetitive instability.
Regular yoga practice improves breathing during cardiovascular exercise, and aerobic exercises like jogging and cycling are more sustainable ways to raise heart rate over an extended length of time.
3. Use Low-impact Exercise to Strengthen Your Core and Lungs
Yoga isn’t a workout that works for everyone. The bodies of yogis change along with their lifetimes.
Senior yoga instructor Jeanne Heileman, who conducts trainings all over the world, says, “As I get older, I am learning to work less ‘hard’ to prevent tearing muscles and harming joints, as I have seen in many students and a few teachers.”
Heileman swims at her neighbourhood gym and combines other low-impact exercises with her yoga. Heileman also suggests breathing techniques to “work the inner muscles and increase [one’s] capacity for breathing,” such as the Pranayama yoga practice.
Pilates is a great low-impact addition to any kind of exercise. The solitary movements work the body’s core considerably more efficiently than yoga alone, where practitioners sometimes “cheat” by using their highly mobile lower back instead of their centre of gravity. Your yoga practice can be greatly enhanced by learning how to engage the core properly, which will make poses more unified and powerful.
4. Train Your Body and Mind with CrossFit or Boot Camp
Any repetitive action runs the potential of becoming habitual, and if it is done carelessly, overuse injuries will inevitably result. Keeping your exercise routine fresh is beneficial for both your body and mind.
Multiple exercises are performed in a single workout time to train the body, as seen in CrossFit and other boot camp-style workouts. People alternate between isometric exercise, weight training, and Holistic Fitness aerobic exercises; each time they switch modalities, their muscles and brains must re-calibrate.
The brain can be exercised in novel ways by merely switching the hand used for a task. As the pinnacle of mental training, yoga also helps athletes remain focused and attentive when attempting other forms of exercise.
We learn how to balance through yoga. Both literally and more broadly, like not doing too much of any one thing, like standing on one foot. Thus, adding in different training techniques will help not just your body but also your entire life!
Including these components in your exercise regimen can greatly improve your general Holistic Fitness health and wellbeing. You can develop a more robust and balanced physical condition by combining yoga with different workouts like CrossFit or boot camps, weight training, cardio, and nonimpact sports. Keep in mind that the goal is to enhance yoga with additional practices that enhance both your physical and mental well-being, rather than substituting it.
yoga instructor, teacher training, motivator, and writer based in San Francisco. After difficult events, she found solace in yoga during college. She’s adamant about its benefits beyond the studio. Her adventure can be followed on Instagram.
