Can Yoga Help With Strength Training?

When you hear the term strength training, you probably think weight training — numerous reps of muscle contractions using weights as resistance. But if you’ve ever had sore muscles after a good yoga class, you’ve probably wondered: Does yoga count as strength training?

When doing yoga poses, you’re moving your body and putting it into positions where you have to support yourself and lift/hold your own body weight. Whilst it’s not quite the same as lifting heavy barbells, lifting your own body weight can create a tough workout.

The good news is, yoga can be practised pretty much anywhere. As long as you have a space to move a little, you’re good to go. Grab a computer, tablet or even your phone and head to youtube. You’ll find various different online teachers and videos to help you get started. My personal favourite is yogawithadriene.

I would also recommend trying a class if that is possible for you, as you will get a completely difference experience of yoga that way especially once you find ‘your’ teacher.

Yoga Helps To Release & Stretch Your Muscles

In one of the first yoga classes I ever tried, the first thing we did was lie on the floor and lift our upper body up like a crunch. The teacher asked us if we felt that shaky tension (try it – you’ll know what I mean) and if so to try to relax the abs at that point. It was because our abs were so used to being clenched, that they weren’t relaxed or loosened, and that’s what we were aiming to do. To let our tight muscles go.

It’s something you can really tell when you stretch one side out at a time. Focus on your right leg for a few moves and then lie back and think about how each sides of your body feels. It’s amazing how loose and relaxed that right side can feel compared to the un-stretched left.

Read more – Why You Should Start Stretching by MTB LM

It builds up more strength

You have to be present in your body for yoga, and this means knowing what it feels like and mindfully doing the movements in the poses. I think to those who have never done it, yoga just seems like something for those who are super flexible. It isn’t.

You’ll have to engage your core in a lot of poses, you have to hold poses for a certain amount of time, you have to be able to balance. This stuff all uses your muscles, and you are strengthening them by working on the fundamentals of yoga. Yoga can work as a relaxing and easy stretching routine but it can also be a tough workout too. The crow pose (the one I’m doing right at the top) needs a lot of arm strength, balance and a strong core. I’m happy to admit that I cannot do that pose nearly as well right now, but through practise and focus it’s possible.

Yoga Can Be Great for Active Recovery Days

If you’re wanting to work out but need something that doesn’t include heavy weights or long cardio, yoga is perfect. You can make it tough enough so that your muscles feel worked, yet soft enough that you also feel well stretched and relaxed afterwards. It’s all about finding that balance.

Also perfect for those who need a rest day, but really don’t like to stay still. Instead of doing strong postures, take an easy session. Focus on meditation and breathing.

It Improves Posture

Posture is huge in yoga practise. You are thinking about the way you’re breathing, the way you are standing and holding your shoulders or hips. Are you leaning to one side? More weight balanced on one foot compared to the other? Yoga practise makes you more aware of how you hold yourself, and with time it gets easier to stand up tall and proud more naturally – rather than being hunched.

Better posture of course can lessen the chance of you getting back pains (though I won’t even try to suggest it as a full on cure) and means that when you do exercise you’re more aware of the position you are in. This can be super helpful when lifting heavy weights!

Helps to increase muscle endurance

Throughout a yoga practise you will typically hold each pose for a period of time, and you will return to the same poses again and again as you move through a sequence. It means those muscles are constantly switched on and off, doing the same thing over and over.

Much like doing reps in the gym with a dumbbell, you are using that muscle in a similar way. Just holding your body weight rather than a physical weight.

Those movements, whilst they might not seem much in the moment, really help to build that muscle endurance and as you move further into your yoga journey you will find that poses become easier to hold. That’s why we keep going.

What is your yoga experience?