Is Yoga a complete workout to you?

Lucia A

Lucia A

Cathlete
I'm not knocking it. I love how I feel after...

but I can't imagine myself doing only yoga and skipping a weights wo or a cardio wo or a Cathe wo

It seems like something to do at the end of a workout or to supplement other things...

Opinions?
 
I love yoga and it is my rest day workout. But I started adding on short "warm up" cardio or barre workouts before I do my yoga and now my "warm ups" are getting longer than my yoga. I don't know why yoga rarely ever feels like "enough" to me, but it doesn't. And I love doing yoga!
 
I love Yoga as well!! I've just never approached yoga with this purpose or mindset (I tried practicing Ashtanga (power) in the 90's, but it is too exact for me), so I have to say no. I also dislike when yoga is 'fushioned' to act as a conventional workout. I just avoid those classes. I would say that it is a "workout" for my nervous system and fascial network though. I also use it secondarily for alignment & even balance (Classical Hatha or Iyengar or Yin or Integrative Therapy, some Kripalu).

I do know folks however who practice fusion & Vinyasa forms and they do not require any extra strength regimens. They look quite strong to me.
 
I have never gotten into Yoga. If I am going to spend my time working out, I want to know that I have worked very hard, done some good cardio and expended calories. I have never felt/thought that was yoga for me.
 
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I tried! About two years ago I purchased Ultimate Yogi 108 and completed the whole thing in almost exactly the specified time. Honestly, my back felt awesome and it did show me how hard yoga can be. However, after going through a rough period the last year I put on some weight. After messing with yoga and a bit of Cathe I decided it was time to kick it in hard. I just finished Meso 2 of STS this week and did Cathe cardio the other three days. It's been the magic bullet I needed and missed. For me yoga is an awesome compliment to whatever else you're doing (wish I'd done it during my running years). And at 44 I can see how important it is to maintain flexibility and balance. But yoga alone is not enough for me. I discovered Yoga Warrior with Rudy Mettia and he's an awesome, no nonsense instructor. And I love how he doesn't buy into yoga being IT for fitness.
 
I adore yoga but also consider it to a "rest day" workout. I typically focus on strength training but finally realized (duh!) that I need to work on balance and stretching as well. Yoga is worthwhile (I did Rodney Yee's Power Yoga for a long time and was so flexible I could compete with Gumby!) but I think it's better to tap into being mindful, which obviously is necessary and overlooked. After years of not doing yoga I'm making an effort to include it in my weekly routine because of how it makes me feel and how it gives my muscles a break. But to each their own! :)
 
I don't consider yoga a workout, but it is a necessity for me. Without yoga, I experience low back problems, and then I won't be able to handle the cardio & strength workouts. I try to get in two or three routines each week, usually Ultimate Yogi.
 
Great thread!

I do not love Yoga and I won't force myself to do it. The purest version of it would definitely bore me.
That said I like a fusion of yoga and plyometric for example.

My disinteredness to purest yoga is probably due to the fact that it does not provide me with an aerobic challenge.
Neither does it elevate my heart rate to anaerobic zone.

Some type of yoga do work endurance to some degree.

IMO as I stated in previous post, yoga for me is complementary to strength training
rather than substitutional.:);)

Here is the science bit

http://cathe.com/is-yoga-effective-for-building-strength
http://cathe.com/can-yoga-be-a-cardiovascular-workout
http://cathe.com/does-yoga-help-with-weight-loss

So to reply to the question asked, no it is not a complete workout 4me:);)
 
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Sometimes I put my player on one setting faster than normal, I go through more motions or stretches faster and do less down and up dogs and more and more stretches.
I might turn a one hour yoga into a half hour or less of stretches.

Yoga is more for the stretching for me.
 
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