Yoga to Compliment…Strength Training.

When we think of building strength, most people automatically think of lifting weights, which is very effective but it’s not the only option. As a woman who loves strength and conditioning training, I know I’m strong however there is always room for improvement! A lot of the time in this sort of training we isolate specific muscles and this is great don’t get me wrong however it’s important that we don’t forget about the other areas in the body, hence why we have specific days for upper body, lower body etc.

When we practice yoga we involve the whole body and recruit other muscle groups to act as stabilisers, as well as the muscles where the main action takes places. Similar to S&C, each pose is aimed at targeting a specific group of muscles and even the simplest such as upward facing dog, can help tone muscles in the upper and lower body.

In essence we are using our own body weight to develop strength, increasing the length of time we hold poses is one of the most simple ways of building up strength quickly without equipment and allows us to see how we are progressing. These are examples of isometric exercises, also known as static strength training.

Yoga is unique in developing isometric strength, because many of the exercises found in strength-based yoga focus on holding challenging positions for a period of time. This leads to strengthening and developing deeper muscle fibres and smaller supporting muscles as larger muscles become fatigued. By developing isometric strength, it strengthens your joint stability, increase your ability to quickly recruit muscles and increase muscle endurance. This lets you train harder and perform better at other sports.

Poses such as warriors, planks, arm balances and inversions, we are in effect “weight training” as we support our own body weight in gravity.

Yoga and strength/weight training have a symbiotic relationship, they compliment and benefit each other, therefore the perfect combination for someone who want to lift heavy but also have the ability to move freely with good range of motion. The better you move, the heavier you’ll be able to lift. It’s all well and good if you can deadlift 200kg but if your mobility or range of motion is restricted this will impede on performance eventually and lead to injuries.