Six-month total body tune-up: Yo, guys, yo, girls, Yoga is for everyone

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2015 (3896 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Until I attempted my first yoga class, I was a skeptic. But after leaving that first (hot) class feeling as flexible, fatigued and yet relaxed as ever — I was hooked.

It remedies most of the back pain I experience, makes me a better golfer and helps me deal with stress. While everyone will glean something different from their yoga practice, there is much to be learned from this 2,000-year-old art. Now, yoga is arguably one of the fastest-growing forms of exercise in the world, and rightfully so; with its low-impact design and minimal equipment and space requirements, there should be a form of yoga that meets everyone’s needs.

Meaning to yolk the mind, spirit and body, research has affirmed ancient claims yoga can provide physiological benefits such as reduced blood pressure, improved strength, flexibility, balance and body awareness, along with certain psychological changes, including enhanced focus and feelings of relaxation and stress reduction. The American College of Sports Medicine believes yoga can perfectly compliment other forms of cardiovascular exercise and strength training.

Unfortunately, this is where some professionals and participants have strayed from recommendations and basic logic; many people do ONLY yoga. While yoga does help you achieve many health and wellness goals, it also fails to stress the body in certain ways that are requirements of certain sports, activities and daily life in general. If you had to choose one form of training and stick with only that for the rest of your life, yoga would undoubtedly be a great choice — but you don’t. Incorporate regular yoga into your well-balanced fitness routine, along with the interval training and outdoor exercise we have discussed in previous columns in this series and reap the benefits of one of the oldest forms of mind-body exercise.

TWO-week (plus) challenge:

Do two 45- to 60-minute workouts per week of any type of yoga. Many fitness facilities and studios offer numerous forms of yoga, and while attending a studio class is often the best way to escape the rigours of life and achieve both physiological and psychological benefits, it’s not the only way. Creating a calming space at home and following your own routine or video class can provide your yoga fix, without the time commitment and cost of classes.

Another element to consider is the type of yoga that would be best-suited for your goals and current fitness level. Some types, such as Bikram, Ashtanga and Vinyasa, provide a higher intensity of workout through increased pace, more challenging poses or increased room temperature. Others, such as Hatha and Iyengar, are slower and provide more focus on breathing and proper body alignment. You may also decide to transition to yoga in the form of Kundalini or Jivamukti, which incorporate more meditation, chanting and spiritual focus. Many yoga studios and online yoga resources integrate several of these ingredients into their yoga casserole as they cater to a variety of clients.

When you walk into a studio and put down your mat, or turn on a soothing nature soundtrack in your candlelit office at home, you do so with the intention of achieving certain goals. Those goals will undoubtedly be different from the person on the mat next to you. Thankfully, yoga offers many components that can help lead you to a better state of health and wellness — as long as you remind yourself it is but one spoke on the fitness wheel that keeps you moving.

Exercise tune-up

The chin-up

 

Most people stand underneath the chin-up bar and dream of the day they are able to muscle themselves upwards so they can stare it at eye-level. Daunting — yes. Impossible — no. There are many progressions and regressions that can help you work toward your ultimate goal. Instead of starting with the “high” bar, choose an apparatus from which you can do pull-ups with your feet still grounded. From there, you can change your position to provide more resistance, or move to the high bar to perform only the negative (eccentric) part of the movement. In the case of a chin-up, that is the descending motion. Once you are able to perform one or multiple pull-ups from a narrow (easier) position, move you hands wider to increase the difficulty. If you choose an option that is appropriate for you, the pull-up is a great exercise to do until you can’t do any more repetitions with proper form. There are numerous, small intricacies you can adjust within these main progressions, and consulting your personal trainer is the best way to find progressions that will help build your back muscles — you’ll be able to fly with those wings!

 

(For demonstration, see attached video at wfp.to/pullups.)

 

Tim Shantz is a certified athletic therapist and personal trainer. He can be reached at tim@mordenphysiotherapy.ca. His next instalment in the six-month total body tune-up is March 21.