Is YOGA Enough for Your Fitness?



The answer totally depends on how much you devote yourself to yoga. So if you need to turn and stay physically and mentally fit, make sure your yoga practice includes a balance of poses that build strength, endurance, stamina, and flexibility, along with breathwork and meditation to help acquire body awareness.

When it come to the fitness benefits of yoga, depending on the style you practice, it’s possible for yoga to provide a complete fitness regime. Many people think that yoga is only good for flexibility or relaxation and that you must combine it with other vigorous activities like running or weightlifting to be truly fit. Yoga provides benefits way beyond flexibility and relaxation and research has shown that a regular power yoga practice helps to increase strength, aerobic capacity and lung function.

People are always curious as to “what else I do” to “work out” other than yoga. The answer? Nothing! Yoga is everything body needs to function at it’s absolute best.

Here is a list of a few benefits that come from a orderly yoga practice.

It’s efficient

Why would I waste so much time at the gym working each part of my body separately when I can connect all of the dots and do it all at once with yoga? No amount of lifting weights is going to make my arms as strong as holding up my own body weight in yoga. Also, practically everything you do in yoga is engaging your core, from core-centric poses to moving from pose to pose, using your core to stabilize your body.

It will help you lose weight

Yoga is one of the safest, most effective forms of weight loss options available today. If your goal is weight loss, practicing yoga will increases your heart rate, metabolic rate and burn calories which are necessary components when trying to lose weight. Yoga is not a high intensity exercise, usually, but with power yoga, classes that run for 75 minutes of continual activity is a great way to lose weight because your muscles are working the whole time, as you strengthen, lengthen and tone all major muscle groups, perform core work and maintain balance postures. Not only will you will burn calories, but the weight bearing exercise is great for healthy bones and joints, too.
As a general guideline, a woman who weighs 140 pounds will burn roughly 400 calories during 45 minutes of one of my power yoga workouts. For effective weight loss, power yoga must be practiced at least 3 times a week, mainly for beginners. Each session of power yoga for weight loss should ideally be at least 45 minutes long. For maximum benefit, power yoga practiced for 75 minutes is encouraged.

You’ll be able to sleep through the night

If you have a hard time sleeping at night, incorporating yoga into your life can help, especially if your insomnia is stress-related. Yoga has been proven to be a great stress-reliever for both the body and mind through its breathing and relaxation techniques. Stretching the body regularly helps release muscle tension which can hinder sleep.It only takes about 10 to 20 minutes to do a good stretch-and-breath routine. And many yoga poses along with its slow, deep and rhythmic breathing can be beneficial in helping your body to significantly relax.

You’ll have better focus, better moods, and better thoughts

Yoga improves brain functioning in a number of different ways. Most people don’t realize how important the endocrine (system of glands which produce hormones to regulate many of our bodies functions) is. The endocrine system is responsible for our moods and when you practice yoga, the endocrine system is balanced, toned, and stimulated, so that the correct levels of specific hormones are produced. Ultimately this helps to dissipate stress and induce relaxation. During intense activity, you release serotonin in the brain which elevates your mood. A major component of yoga is working on meditation and breathing which calms the nervous system. It’s like a meditation in motion that will help you clear your mind from the stresses of everyday life. It will also improve your confidence because you’ll be in better shape. As the practitioner gains skill, a sense of physical, psychological and emotional realities often shift, becoming less influenced by the external forces of modern culture and more anchored in an internal value system.

No injuries

Due to the patterns of our daily habits, the repetitive overuse of certain muscle groups will cause imbalances in strength and mobility. These muscle imbalances are one of the top causes of pain and injury, because tighter muscles pull at ligaments and joints and if by chance you slip and fall, the restriction of movement caused by muscle tightness puts you at a greater risk of tearing. A regular power yoga practice will give your muscles more pliability, flexibility and functional strength which can largely impact the prevention of injuries.Yoga postures are also well known for the wonderful external massage that they give, Stretching.

By actively stretching the muscles properly, the muscular skeletal system is rebalanced completely, which is the main reason why yoga is known to be one of the best remedies for a bad back.

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