Yoga for Fitness
From LoveToKnow Yoga
The growing popularity of yoga for fitness means that you can find it available at many local yoga studios and fitness centers. But is it really effective? How is it different from “normal” yoga? What can yoga do to help with fitness? Read on to find the answers to these questions and more.
What is It?
Yoga for fitness is simply yoga with some minor modifications to make it more fitness-based. The classes normally do not include any philosophy, religion, chanting, or meditation, although some will use meditation during a cool-down period. The focus you will find within the classes will be on stretching, cardiovascular exercise, and deep breathing.
Reasons to Do Yoga for Fitness
Yoga can actually be better than other exercise regimens. This is because yoga can be used by all ages and all levels of fitness. It can be easily adapted for people with disabilities and special needs. Yoga improves more than just physical fitness: it also helps with stress control, mental clarity, blood pressure, and heart performance. While normal exercise and stretching can help the body, yoga can work with both the mind and the body.
Yoga can be compared to other weight-lighting exercises. The difference is that the body of the practioner is the resistance. While the muscles will never develop to the extent of body builders, yoga will still increase the muscle strength and stamina. Unlike weight-lifting, however, the poses are held for extended periods of time, not just repeated quickly.
Like weight training, yoga isolates a specific muscle to work on. But unlike weight training, it’s more than just stretching the muscles -- it’s actually elongating them and working smaller muscle groups at the same time. Yoga works the entire body, yet will not overwork any muscle groups, and so it’s less likely to cause any injuries.
Yoga for Fitness for Athletes
Athletes can benefit from yoga as well. Yoga can help athletes with flexibility, range of motion, concentration, stress, tension, and cardiovascular health. Many of these things aren’t covered in “normal” athletic workouts, yet all of them will improve the athlete’s overall performance.
Proof of the Benefits of Yoga
The University of California at Davis asked ten students to participate in yoga two-to-four times a week. They spent ten minutes per class in breathing exercises, 15 minutes warming up, 50 minutes doing yoga, then ten minutes meditating.
After eight weeks of yoga, the students were tested and compared to their original ratings:
- Cardio-Respiratory Fitness: Up to a seven percent increase
- Flexibility: Up to a 188 percent increase
- Muscular Endurance: Up to a 57 percent increase
- Muscular Strength: Up to a 31 percent increase
Online Resources
Women Fitness provides two different resources for those interested in participating in yoga for fitness. The first is a yoga workout for Flat Abs, and the second is a yoga workout for Reducing Abdominal Fat. Both sections contain directions and pictures of the workouts.
If you’re interesting in finding a yoga for fitness class, check your local studio or online to find a studio that offers it.
This page has been accessed 672 times. This page was last modified 21:05, 27 November 2006.
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