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Add to FavoritesYoga's advantage in granting flexibility and strength is not questioned by many. But cardio fitness? "Go elsewhere," say the spandex-clad majority of the physically fit. "Yoga may be great for sitting on the floor and gazing into your navel, but it's not much use for cardio."
Oh, the spandex-clad majority are very, very wrong.
Vinyasa yoga is the practice of moving swiftly from one pose to another in a flowing motion. Vinyasa, performed correctly, can leave you out of breath, your heart rate satisfactorily elevated and kept there for as long as you've got the will to sustain it. Cardio, with benefits: you'll both stretch and strengthen your muscles at the same time you get your cardio in.
Yoga, like its practitioners, is very flexible. When you begin, it doesn't matter that you can't tuck your head between your legs far enough to inspect your own back pockets. The famous yoga maxim is that you start where you are.
What that means is that you assume each pose as best you can; if your best is not what the yoga books show, you attempt to flex farther, stretching a little more each time you assume the pose . You are not expected to get there in a single day.
Safety is built into the correct practice of yoga. You learn to extend a stretch only on an in-breath, to "breathe in" to a greater stretch. You also learn to back off if it is physically painful to assume a more correct position, knowing that your flexibility will come in time.
Once you have learned a set of poses, you can assemble them into a sequence. The most famous of these is the Sun Salutation, of which there are several versions. Try several and choose the Salutation or other sequence you like to do best. Once you have the series down, and can assume each position more or less correctly, you can begin to repeat the entire sequence.
Most Sun Salutations have twelve poses. If you can move into and hold a position for a total of ten seconds, you can complete a Salutation in two minutes. Does ten seconds sound like a long time? Remember that at first you must teach your body how it feels to assume a position correctly.
Remember also to "flow" between poses. This is the heart of vinyasa. Do two to five cycles of the Sun Salutation, and see where your heart rate is. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Once that's comfortable , try to halve the time it takes to get in and out of each pose. It's usual to hold a pose for multiple breath cycles. For optimum cardio benefit, you won't do this, but you must continue to observe the breath patterns for moving into and out of any pose.
Once the greater speed is comfortable, increase your reps, just as you would with any exercise.
There are practitioners who can move through a Sun Salutation in twelve seconds. Think about that. In twenty minutes, they've done a hundred repetitions. Yoga at this speed provides as much cardio training as running.
Remember also that yoga has a built-in cool-down period. If you are going all-out for its cardio benefits, finish your practice with some twists, bends, and stretches. To finish, never omit a minimum of seven minutes in Corpse Pose. This resting period allows your mind to relax, and lets your body assimilate the changes yoga asks of it.
If you choose not to join a class, you can find instructions at yogajournal.com, Santosha.com, or yogasite.com/posture s.
Can yoga get and keepyou fit? Give it thirty minutes a day for three months, and you'll see it can.
Learn more about this author, Lin Barrett.
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No
Yoga is a fabulous addition to any workout regimen, but a weak leg to stand on by itself. To stay physically fit, especially with today's typical food choices, you must incorporate cardiovascular and resistance training into your life.
Yoga is outstanding for flexibility, toning, and self-awareness. It is a great "starter" program for anyone new at fitness, especially if they join a beginner's class. Joining a class provides the peer pressure you need to keep coming back, even when you don't feel like it. Beginner yoga is neither strenuous nor overly complicated, allowing a new exerciser to get used to their bodyweight and build some tone while gaining flexibility.
Advanced yoga provides an excellent toning workout that can stretch your body and muscles to the limit. You will find yourself in poses you thought only Chinese acrobats could perform, and supporting your bodyweight in difficult positions, all of which will get you into better shape. Advanced yoga, however, does not provide a strong cardiovascular workout, and should not be the sole staple of anyone's workout plan, lest they relish being winded every time they take the stairs.
Yoga provides an excellent way to get your body working in harmony to accomplish a task, creates excellent self-awareness, is very calming, and improves flexibility. However, yoga is not the discipline you need if you are looking to lose 40 pounds or are trying to compensate for a fast-food addiction. In those cases, yoga should take the back seat, while you focus on cardiovascular training and resistance exercises.
You need to work up a sweat for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week to maintain fitness, so to lose weight and improve fitness, plan on spending even more time working out. While yoga can be an excellent part of that fitness plan, it can only play a small supporting role on a day you need a break from harder workouts. Running, swimming, bicycling, and using an elliptical machine or rower are all excellent ways to blast fat, burn calories, and get your heart, lungs, and blood-flow system in great shape.
Once you can handle at least 30 minutes of any of these exercises, try adding resistance exercise. You can start with your bodyweight, such as pushups or bench dips. If you feel comfortable, try using bands or weights to increase your strength. Muscle weighs more than fat, but it also burns calories like a furnace (which is why it takes so much work to build and maintain). If you are concerned about bulking up, just use low weights with high repetitions (15-20).
Yoga has many benefits, but it is hardly the silver bullet of fitness. Anyone looking to get or stay fit should make yoga a part of a well-balanced fitness portfolio.
Learn more about this author, C. M. Erickson.
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