Yoga vs. Strength Training

[LaurenK]

Hi Cathe,
I've been working out for about 5 years, and have been using your tapes for about a year. I have all your cardio tapes and all your strength tapes and I love them all. I usually love strength training and have spent the last year bugging all my friends and family to do it. But for some reason, for the last two months, I can't seem to make myself strength train anymore. I would do MIS once or twice a week, or all three of the PS Series once a week and cardio tapes three to four times a week. I have been doing yoga for about four months to reduce stress, and I've found that some of the yoga routines I do are very strenuous and my muscles are sore from the exertion for days. I am wondering if there are any strength benefits from doing this kind of yoga as a temporary replacement of weight training. Or am I doing myself a disservice by ignoring weights. Thanks you in advance!
LaurenK

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Lauren!

There are many forms of yoga out there so it is hard for me to answer you exactly, but yes, if your muscles are sore days after holding these poses, you are most definitely gaining strength and endurance benefits from these workouts.

But I am a big believer of crosstraining. I encourage crosstraining for the very reasons that you have mentioned: 1) to help prevent boredom or burnout from one particular activity and 2) to work the muscles in different ways therefore, recruiting new(and old) muscle fibers to become stimulated in different ways. While it is important to continue with various activities, (in your case, weight training in addition to your yoga), for now, I would say to stick with yoga if you are truly enjoying it and are exceptionally motivated by it. However, be aware that as your body becomes more and more acclimated to yoga, your results from this workout will eventually slow down(just as they would if you were to do any one activity continuously and exclusively). So it is important to recognize this and add in other activities before your muscles experience this "slump".

I would say the ultimate thing to do would be to do both yoga and weight training. Since you seem more into yoga now, you can do more yoga than weights but I would hate to see you stop weight training altogether. Perhaps do MIS just once a week or once every other week in addition to your weekly yoga sessions. Good Luck!

 

[LaurenK]

Thanks!

Hi Cathe,
Thank you for responding so quickly! Motivation is definitely the problem. I think that after a while I will start to miss strength training and will be able to enjoy it again. Your tapes really helped me gain strength like no others! For now I will follow your advice and do MIS once a week, or every other week, in addition to daily yoga.
Thank you again,
Lauren

 

[skl]

Lauren-Which Yoga

Lauren, Do you use a yoga tape? If so, which one? Thanks, Sharon

 

[LaurenK]

Yoga

Hi Sharon, I use a book most of the time, "How to Use Yoga" by Mira Mehta that has a ten week yoga course, but I recently got a tape "Yoga Sculpt" by Karen Voight and that kicked by butt! And I do Cathe's strength tapes! (I feel guilty mentioning another fitness instructor on this forum ). The Yoga Zone tapes are also good. I like to use books because they focus more on the breathing techniques and stress reduction benefits, and that's why I got into yoga in the first place. I hope that's helpful!
Lauren

 

[sfrost]

Yoga weights

I think strength work and yoga are great complements. One of my favorite combos is warm up, followed by the upper body and abdominal sections of BodyMax and the first routine from Rodney Yee's Yoga for Strength.

 

[Amualim]

Power Yoga

I agree that strength work and yoga are great complements. Try Bryan Kest's power yoga tapes!

 

[kimyenchu]

Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

Hello Cathe,

I have been debating with myself over this question for a while (I wanted to invest in a proper set of dumbbells and wondered if it would be worth the money) because I have been doing yoga on and off for a few years. Last year I stopped it completely and got into weight training using your videos. I went back to yoga recently and I noticed that my yoga teacher was rather dismissive of weight lifting and cross training - she prefers her students to do just yoga.

I would like to take yoga to the next level and I know that yoga is very challenging and intense. Therefore, I wondered if it would be beneficial to continue with weight lifting. Having read your post, I think I would like to combine the two.

I did noticed that when I was doing weights only, I gained upper body strenght which helped me with some of the yoga poses.

Thanks

Yen

 

[Jennifit]

RE: Power Yoga

Try Baron Baptiste!! He is great for power yoga. He is not creepy, like some yoga instuctors can be on these videos.

 

[dsmiller]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

One of the posters recommended Baron Baptiste for yoga--I already have the Bryan Kest Power Yoga series. Which of Baron's tapes (DVDs) are the best? I get tired of too many sun salutations. Are there any good yoga tapes (DVDs) that are advanced and don't focus mainly on sun salutations.

 

[vbk2146s]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

Hi, I'm new to posting, but not new to Cathe tapes. I've been using
Cathe workouts exclusivly for several years ( on and off). Recently I've gone through a few sessions of physical therapy for lower back pain and the PT recomended Yoga. I've never done yoga before and need help finding a good beginner tape. The ones with the balance ball look interesting. Any suggestions from the educated crowd?

 

[gelfling]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

Hi Yen

I find yoga helps me more with strength training than the other way around but strength training definitely helps me with yoga. I wouldn't give up either!
ATB,
- Lisa

 

[dmlys]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

I'd definitely recommend the Yoga Zone for Beginners series to anybody just starting yoga. I think the careful explanations of each move are pretty close to what you would get in an actual yoga class. Yoga Journal's beginner videos are also very good. I found that the Gaiam series (AM/PM Yoga, etc.) to be very frustrating when I was first starting out because they just slam you through a series of poses in 20 minutes without the explanations that a beginning yoga student requires. Good luck!

 

[vbk2146s]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

Thanks for the help! Do you know anything about yoga with the balance ball? Val

 

[Soosan]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

I think they complement each other very well. When I was on vacation and didn't have access to weights, I did about 2 wks of power yoga (using Bryan Kest) and walking. I feel like my yoga improved, but when I got back to my Cathe strength tapes, I found I did lose some strength. (Although I regained it quickly.)

I use yoga mainly for flexibility but I think it's also good for balance, stress release and upper body (including core) strength. I'm always trying to figure out ways to include more yoga in my rotations!

Yoga videos that I like are:

Bryan Kest: 1995 Series, Vols. 1, 2, 3 (VHS)
Baron Baptiste: Power & Precision (VHS), Soul of Strength (DVD)
David Swenson: Short Forms (DVD)
Body Wisdom: Yoga for Every Body (DVD)

These are all reviewed on Video Fitness. I'd love to get more Baron but I need to wait until I finish my Cathe collection.

 

[gelfling]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

>I think they complement each other very well. When I was on
>vacation and didn't have access to weights, I did about 2 wks
>of power yoga (using Bryan Kest) and walking. I feel like my
>yoga improved, but when I got back to my Cathe strength tapes,
>I found I did lose some strength. (Although I regained it
>quickly.)

I didn't find that, I came back feeling stronger. Maybe it is due to difference in body types? Usually I do a mix of yoga, strength, edurance and cardio in the same week (up to two weeks) I try to do at least a little yoga every day. Rodney Yee's Yoga for energy is excellent for getting you in to workout mode and out of it when you're done.

 

[Soosan]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

It very well may be a difference in body types. I'm an ecto with a fairly weak core and I can barely eek out 5 big girl pushups. I feel like all the sun salutations I do has helped me to achieve even these measly five.

I also usually do a mix of yoga, strength, endurance and cardio in the same week but I don't do yoga every day. More like 3-4 times, with one of them being a full yoga workout.

I'm going to try another all-yoga rotation for a week or two again after my next rotation, though. Maybe I won't lose any strength this time (the loss was so minimal and short-lived anyway). The improvement in the asanas is worth it, though.

 

[gelfling]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

>It very well may be a difference in body types. I'm an ecto
>with a fairly weak core and I can barely eek out 5 big girl
>pushups. I feel like all the sun salutations I do has helped
>me to achieve even these measly five.
>

I'm an ecto-meso but I can identify exactly with all you said here Without yoga, I don't think I could have ever managed even a bent knee pushup so I'm really happy to be able to do big girl pushups. I can do 5 but that 5th one is hard work and I have a weak back (getting stronger thanks to Cathe and Yoga) due to injuries. I'm do Yoga more often because it helps to alleviate the stiffness that goes with a bad back and lets me get more out of my cardio and strength workouts.
ATB,
- Lisa

 

[ccitrin]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

Try Baron Baptiste Live - its a DVD with 3 of Baron's workouts - Unlocking Athletic Power is super!

Caryn

 

[kimyenchu]

RE: Cathe. You have solved my dilemma

I have been doing just running and yoga these past few months and I found that when I went back to my weights this month, although I haven't lost any strength, I haven't made any gains either and my body was sore all after doing MIS.

I could lift as much as I was lifting before and finised the whole work out but it definitely worked my upper body a lot more.

I do think that if yoga is more beneficial for your internal organs like liver, spleen, bowels, lungs, brain whereas physical exercise works on the muscle mass and heart more.

I have seen so many different body types with yoga that it is difficult to know what to do. I like to have tight muscles that comes with weight lifting and weight control with cardio, but some people who do yoga don't look slim while others are very toned (like Madonna).

Yen