Yoga question

I have been doing 4-5 days of cardio, and 2 days of strength training. I want to start yoga, but didn't know if I should do them on strength days or non-strength days. Any suggestions?

Thu. Sep 20, 2:07pm

Do it on the days that you feel stronger - if cardio wears you out more than weights, do it on weight days. If weights make you more worn out than cardio, then do it on cardio day.

Thursday, September 20, 2007, 3:43 PM

Agree with pp - do it when you feel strongest. A lot will depend upon what type of yoga you're doing and how vigorous your workouts are. Gentle classes you can probably handle no matter what type of workout you had that day, if you take a more vigorous class that could actually be your workout for the day. I did strength training one morning and then took a vigorous abs/core yoga class that night - it was a killer and decided then that one workout was enough, but I also workout pretty hard with strength training so it maxes me out.

Thursday, September 20, 2007, 4:20 PM

Yoga is a form of strength training (flexibility is a benefit rather than the focus of yoga), using the weight and mechanics of your body rather than dumbbells or resistance bands. So work it into your rotation as a weight workout, following the usual rules of every-other-day.

Thursday, September 20, 2007, 6:32 PM

My yoga teachers have all said that if you hurt after a yoga class, you are doing it wrong. It is probably the only strengthening system that you never should walk away from aching anywhere.

The various versions of yoga do different things. If you are into a superb workout, you can go for a power yoga. Be careful though, there are a lot of power yoga teachers who will attempt to push you beyond your reasonable limit. Several of my friends got injured in our power yoga class. But it is a great workout. If you are just beginning in yoga or in exercise period, you might want to work up to this sort of class.

If you like the slow holding kind of yoga, go for vinyasa. You hold fewer poses but for longer periods.

Be very very careful about other varieties of yoga that are for more serious practitioners (that do different spiritual things) like kundalini.

Unless you want to get heavy into yogic thought, stay with a Bikhram-type or a more classic hatha yoga class. They are typically the basic movement classes.

A lot of instructors are throwing in yoga into their mix, which is okay. Its helpful to take a beginning yoga class for a period of time so you know some basic movements.

You can also do Pilates, which has some similarities between type of movements core strength and flexiblity without any of the spiritual stuff.

Namaste!

Thursday, September 20, 2007, 9:40 PM

Thank you so much for the input everyone. As for the 9:40 post, thanks for the breakdown of the types of yoga. I have been taping the yoga programs from FIT TV. That should be ok for beginners, right?

Friday, September 21, 2007, 6:28 AM

can you fit in a half-hour of yoga every morning?

Friday, September 21, 2007, 8:13 AM

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