You’re probably well aware of the ability of yoga to lower your stress levels, improve your flexibility and tone your muscles. However, it’s not so well known for its contributions to weight loss. Most people don’t think of yoga first when they want to burn calories. So it can be surprising to discover that it can actually be an effective way to boost your weight loss efforts.
Conventional yoga isn’t a vigorous type of exercise. Even though your muscles are being toned, most people don’t experience an increased heart rate during yoga. However, the fact that your muscles are being given a workout means your body is utilizing calories more effectively. Therefore, you’ll get more benefit from your aerobic workouts if you include yoga in your fitness routine.
An important component of yoga is discipline of mind and body, which will help you stay committed to your exercise program and healthy eating habits. A core tenet of yoga is to develop the relationship between your mind and body. Therefore you feel more motivated to care for your body. This is great if you want to lose some weight but have difficulty motivating yourself.
Conventional forms of yoga have been supplemented with some new techniques that can help you lose weight more easily. You get the benefits of cardio and yoga all in the same workout. And to make it easy, there’s a huge variety of yoga DVDs that you can buy that will give you an effective workout.
Here’s a look at some of the more common kinds of yoga.
Vinyasa Yoga: This particular form of yoga involves moving from one pose to another, all the while paying attention to your breathing. There are lots of different poses that you might recognize the name of, including the Sun Salutation. This style of yoga is typically performed in an overheated room so that you sweat profusely.
Ashtanga Yoga: This is an intricate approach to yoga, integrating six series of individual poses, or asanas. The moves become progressively more difficult, so you have to learn them in the correct sequence so you can slowly develop the skills necessary to handle the more complex positions.
Power Yoga: This is 21st century yoga, a combination of breathing techniques mixed with fast paced yoga moves.
These kinds of yoga provide more benefit to your heart than the more traditional forms of yoga. They won’t quite give you the workout of a cardio class. However, you still get the dual advantages of aerobic fitness along with the muscle toning and flexibility of yoga. Your weight loss program will surely benefit. As well, these yoga routines are ideal if you’re too time pressed to handle more than one kind of workout.
Yoga and aerobics don’t appear to have much in common. Regardless, adding some yoga training to your regular workout can enhance its effects. And the newer styles of this ancient practice can be a great replacement for your usual aerobics. If you’re dissatisfied with the results you’re seeing from your normal exercise program, why not give yoga a try.
Tags: yoga, exercise, Weight loss, Weight loss
