IS YOGA RESISTANT TRAINING?

The short and quick answer is yes, but what does that mean?

Cardio is great for your heart and lungs and to really get the blood pumping through your whole system. Exercises like, running and biking are great for your cardiovascular system. Resistant training though, is where you really tone and sculpt your body. Working directly on your muscles.

Lifting Weights

I remember growing up, we were told… men lift heavier weights to bulk up and women should do lighter weights, with more reps to lose weight. Well, that theory has been proven wrong so many times.

First off women don’t have it in their DNA to naturally bulk up. To do that, we need help with extra testosterone or highly specific diets geared towards just being crazy buff.

Lifting heavier weights and lower reps, not only builds muscle but helps you lose weight.

Losing Weight

When you do cardio you only burn fat cells during that duration of your workout. With weight training, it speeds up your metabolic system… which means even when you aren’t working out, your body is still losing weight cause your metabolism is revved up.

So how is this all tied into yoga? Well with yoga, you are using your own body weight as weights.

Toning With Yoga

If you don’t think yoga will help define your muscles or is not a hard extreme workout… try being in down dog for more than a few minutes or go from downward dog to plank and then back to downward dog… do that a few times and then you might agree with me. Plus, you get your heart rate up and start utilizing those muscles.

In yoga, you are less likely to get injured by pulling a muscle or tendon. Injuries are very common with weightlifting. It can happen if you choose weights that are too heavy or don’t know how many reps your body can actually do. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good weightlifting workout but yoga is safer and works your whole body at the same time.

All Over Workout

With yoga, you use your own body in poses like, down dog or plank, and even balancing poses like tree or crow. Many of the poses work on tightening your core and also focus on the shoulders, arms, and legs.

Yoga uses all of your body as a weight, (which is known as isometrics), at the same time clearing and relaxing your mind. The benefit then becomes a clear mind and a toned body.

Can’t get a better workout than that… huh?!