YOGA IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU
By Noelle Walker at New Fitness Personal Training
Lots of people do Yoga but mostly you just hear about “older ladies” doing yoga or hard core Yogis. Ya know, where they meditate and stuff and you’re thinking is there any actual exercise with this? Is this going to benefit me at all? Is this going to help me get in shape fast and lose fat or excess pounds?
YOGA HAS BENEFITS
Well it’s a two part answer so I’m here to tell you as a hardcore gym goer and Bootcamp/HIIT enthusiast and trainer that yes it is very beneficial ESPECIALLY for those who lift heavy and go hard in the gym. People who lift heavy and go go go in the gym and in bootcamps, etc need Yoga the most because they happen to be the most inflexible. Their muscles are constantly being contracted and their muscles get super tight. If they neglect this and don’t stretch properly it actually can lead to more injuries. Yoga for one hour a week for these particular exercisers helps them a) stretch properly and allow for more flexibility in their muscles and joints and b) it helps them wind down and be calm and in the moment.
YOGA AND CHILL
You see these types of exercisers and I will include myself in that group are go-getters. We are action oriented and are constantly thinking about our workout and whether we have improved and how we are going to get even better for the next workout. We are constantly thinking about how to increase our lifts and how much harder we can go with our HIIT workouts. Yoga calms us down and lets us just chill while at the same time increasing flexibility and mobility so that we actually will be able to lift more and do more.
PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF YOGA
But yoga does other beneficial things as well. If you are someone going through a hard time and you are not one to “talk about your feelings” gah then Yoga can be a life saver. I remember when I was going through treatment for Cancer, I attended a yoga series for six weeks. I never talked about how the Cancer made me feel or anything. I was always trying to be strong and telling people I was fine. I was not fine. So when I did Yoga it all came out. The fear and the sadness. I cried a lot during Yoga just because it has this way of releasing any feelings that are being stuffed down or hidden away. So emotionally Yoga is most definitely beneficial.
MIND BODY SPIRIT
Yoga is a mind, body, spirit type of fitness . It has many benefits is what I’m saying so if you haven’t done Yoga go do it. They have free classes on YouTube or you can also join a local yoga practice like I did.
WILL I GET IN SHAPE AND LOSE FAT FAST
Ok now to the second question. Is it going to help me get in shape fast and lose fat? The quick answer is no. I know what you are thinking. You have heard of classes that promote fat loss and why are yogis so skinny then? Well it’s mostly because they don’t eat as much as we do. They mostly eat vegetarian diets full of fruits and well vegetables. What I’m saying and probably not all that well is that their diet allows them to be slim, not their yoga workout. Your heart rate doesn’t get up high enough to burn calories and yoga classes won’t help you increase muscle mass which is a main ingredient for burning fat. So if you are looking to burn fat and lose weight you will need cardio and resistance training combined with a decent meal plan.
