When we talk about a workout session, we usually picture a weight training to either put on some muscle mass or to practice performance endurance, in order to strengthen your muscles further. While yoga coins an image of our body and soul practicing peace and mental harmony. Both these executions may sound dissimilar, rather poles apart, but surprisingly they serve you the best when implemented simultaneously. Yoga can easily be incorporated in your workout regime.
The next section will guide you upon ways to assimilate yoga with your daily physical workout.
- Warming Up: When you hit the gym, do not just directly begin with weight training. At this point, your body is too stiff to workout, therefore let it ease out with the help of yoga. Indulge in a quick warm up session that includes deep breathing, which makes extra room in the lungs to absorb large amount of oxygen as you breathe in. This will consequently enhance the quality of your workout by lowering the blood pressure and maintaining an adequate blood flow.
- Recovery Time: A workout is all about breaking down your body and bearing the constructive pain. At the same time, you also give your body a break to recover between the sets. Over burdening your system with physical stress, that too in a single stretch, is not really a good idea. When you have built pain endurance to a certain level, stop and lie down in shava aasan, one of the restorative yoga stances to relax your body and mind. Feel your breath as you inhale and exhale, to open up mentally and for physical restoration. Trainees, after their final set, go in for a quick bath in order to rejuvenate, which is a wrong practise. You may instead make use of defense body wipes to absorb the sweat, or otherwise may choose any body wipes of your choice. Post your concluding set, it is equally important to relax and recollect before taking a bath, as it gradually balances your body.
- The Right Type of Yoga: Identify your goal behind a certain workout that you indulge in, and then choose the type of yoga that matches its intensity. For instance, if your focus is muscle building, you must introduce power yoga in your regime. Power yoga is quite vigorous and it strengthens your muscles by breaking them. Likewise, align a simple weight training workout with restorative yoga, which aids body muscles after training them hard. It is comparably less intense yoga, which helps in muscle recovery.
Following are some basic yoga postures to practise with your workout routine, preferably post training sessions.
- Triangle: Stand with your feet wide apart and bend onto one side, with that side’s hand touching the ground, while the other forming a 180 degree angle. It provides the muscular and skeletal benefits, with the help of hip hinge movement. It can be directly applied with a kettlebell swing or a deadlift.
- Lunge Variation: Sitting in a lunge position, stretch both your arms upwards, one after another. It helps in lengthening side waists and is also a good practice for people who sit for long hours each day.
- Shoelace: This posture stretches your butt muscles and helps in muscle recovery after a hip hinge movement. Sit up straight, while your legs placed one above the other, closely packed up against each other.
- Half Lift: Inhale and drop your hands down to the floor, in front of you. Look forward and breathe. This posture engages your core and stretches your spine.
- Four Limbed Staff Pose: performed just like a push up, this pose engages your abdomen and maintains a neutral spine.
- Crescent Lunge: Get down in a lunging position and extend your arms overhead. The core is engaged in this pose and leg muscles obtain a full stretch.
- Chair Pose: Stand on your heels and concentrate your entire body weight on your knees, by slightly bending them, just as you are about to sit on a chair. Extend your arms overhead. This posture challenges you to create and maintain body balance. Regular practice will help you master the technique, thus making your workouts less hectic.
- Standing at Attention: This yoga posture or the aasan is usually performed at the beginning of your drill. It needs you to stand straight with your feet close enough to touch each other. Allow your body weight to fall equally on both of them. Keep your spine in an unbiased position by lifting your chest and placing your chin parallel to the ground. Fold your hands in prayer and as you breathe, cleanse your body, mind and soul.
These elementary yoga positions are not only simple in nature, but they also subside your physical routine, once you consolidate them in your daily drill. They do so by training your body to control its breathing and making it more flexible and enduring. Therefore, it goes without saying, yoga makes your workout prolific, so I hope now you would not consider yoga and exercising as different practices.