Whether you’re looking for an aerobic workout or want to get your body flexible and strong, yoga is an excellent addition to your fitness routine.
Unlike high-intensity workouts, which often involve strength training, yoga is focused on stretching and being mindful of your body, which can be relaxing and beneficial to your health.
Stretching
Stretching is an important part of any workout. It can help improve range of motion, increase circulation, and calm your mind.
Aside from helping you feel less stiff after a fitness session, stretching can also help prevent injuries and illnesses. It’s also a great way to unwind after a long day.
This stretch, favoured by runners and used in many disciplines, relieves tightness in the hip flexors and hamstrings. It also increases ankle mobility.
It’s easy to incorporate this move into your routine as a part of a cardio or strength-training workout, or after a yoga class. If you’re new to yoga, do it once or twice a week and gradually increase the frequency.
Strengthening
During a yoga workout, yogis can improve strength by holding poses for longer periods of time. This can strengthen muscles in multiple areas, such as the thighs, hips and core.
The length of the pose also increases blood flow to these muscles, which in turn helps them recover more quickly. This also reduces inflammation and reduces risk of injury.
Another important factor in achieving these benefits is stretching. When muscles are stretched, they realign and become flexible. Stretching is especially beneficial after exercise, as it helps restore the muscle’s original shape and prevents damage to the surrounding tissue.
While some yogis think that they can build muscle by incorporating weights into their routine, this isn’t necessarily true. Instead, a yoga practice that includes isometric poses, such as planks and pushups, can increase muscle strength over time.
Flexibility
The good news is that a regular yoga workout will help you increase your flexibility. This is because the stretches that are included in a yoga workout work to strengthen muscles and increase range of motion (ROM).
Flexibility is defined as the ability to move freely and smoothly. Research shows that people who have a better range of movement are less likely to get injured.
Practicing yoga regularly is the best way to stretch your muscles and improve your flexibility. It also helps to reduce tension and stress in your body, which can lead to a healthier mind.
Yoga is different from “just” stretching because it focuses on proper form, safety, and variety of stretches that address both major muscle groups and deeper-seated stealth muscles like the psoas and piriformis. It also emphasizes attention and awareness.
Relaxation
Relaxation is an essential aspect of any yoga workout. It allows you to de-stress, calm your mind and release physical tension.
The most important part of relaxation is taking time to focus on your breath. Take slow, conscious, deep inhale and long exhale.
Whenever you feel yourself beginning to stress out, try to let go of that thought and bring your attention back to your breathing.
A simple pose like Child’s Pose can help you focus on your breath and release some tension.
Another relaxing posture is Savasana (Savasana, which means resting). Usually performed at the end of a yoga class, this position can put your body into a deep state of relaxation.
When practicing a yoga routine to relax, make sure you warm up your body before you begin. Avoid lying on a cold floor, which can be dangerous for your kidneys.