The 4,000-year-old art and science of yoga improves your muscular stamina and can enhance your existing strength training regimen. Various asanas, or bodily postures, increase muscular endurance while promoting joint flexibility. Regular yoga sessions can alter hormone levels to speed up recovery time between workouts. In addition, the mind-body connection fostered by the practice of yoga improves focus and concentration. All of this translates into better athletic performance and, ultimately, better strength-training results.
Asanas for Lower Body Strength
Standing postures develop strength and endurance for the muscles of the lower body. Specifically, the squatting of the chair pose targets your buttocks and quadriceps, while the lunging in the warrior poses effectively work your entire lower body. Standing on one leg, as in the tree or eagle postures, challenges the muscles of that leg to carry twice their usual load.
Asanas for Upper Body Strength
Downward-facing dog, plank and other asanas where your body weight is distributed on all four limbs effectively develop upper body strength. Crow, crane and peacock are performed with the entire weight of the body supported on the palms of your hands. These more advanced asanas, which are collectively known as arm balances, demand high amounts of strength in the chest, shoulders and back.
Asanas for Core Strength
Your stomach and lower back muscles, also known as your core, are the link between your upper and lower body. Improvements in core strength and stamina enable you to safely lift more weight during your workouts. Asanas such as the boat pose, cobra and locust specifically and effectively target these muscle groups.
Improved Flexibility
While engaged in a regular strength-training program, maintaining flexibility for functional range of motion in your joints is recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine for reducing injury risk and improving performance. Yoga done after your lifting session provides a means of effectively stretching all of the major joints in your body.
Improved Recovery
Research published in the journal "Human Physiology" suggests that the asanas, deep breathing and relaxation of yoga decrease the level of stress hormones in your blood while boosting testosterone production. This creates an environment within your body favorable to building muscle tissue, also known as a positive anabolic state. As a result yoga can speed the recovery time between your workout sessions, accelerating your strength training gains.
Improved Focus
Dharana, or concentration, features prominently in yoga. Performing each asana correctly requires intense focus which in turn fosters a strong connection between the mind and body. This union of mind and body benefits you at the weight bench, as you are better able to pinpoint each muscle group and thereby maximize every lift every time.
Caution
Though many yoga poses and practices are safe for most people, consult your primary care physician before beginning or changing your existing fitness regimen.
References
- "The American College of Sports Medicine's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; ACSM; 2006
- "Human Physiology"; Postural Influences on the Hormone Level in Healthy Subjects: I. The Cobra Posture and Steroid Hormones; R.S. Minvaleev, A.D. Nozdrachev, V.V. Kir'yanova, A.I. Ivanov; July 2004
- "Perceptual and Motor Skills"; Body awareness and yoga training; Rani, N. Jhansi, and P. Khrishna Rao; December 1994
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