“Strength lies in stillness” - we often link this saying with mental strength, when stressful situations challenge us to keep calm. When it comes to your workouts, calm movements like those you do in yoga can also activate and challenge your physical strength. We'll show you how to use yoga as strength training too.
What is yoga and what is it good for?
Yoga is an Indian philosophical teaching introduced more than 7,000 years ago to improve people's health and well-being. By practising exercises for strength, flexibility and mobility as well as meditation, the two components of body and mind are meant to be united. Optimal breathing during the exercises, alternating tension and relaxation of the muscles, plays a big role here. Beyond the yoga sessions themselves, regular practice is meant to lead to more mindfulness, awareness and balance on an emotional level. Physically, the strength exercises strengthen your muscles, whether standing poses or dynamic sequences of several poses (also called flows). It's important to stress that there is no such thing as "the one yoga"! The word "yoga" comes from Sanskrit and simply means the union of body and mind - how that is ultimately achieved is left open: there are many different yoga styles with different loads and focus areas.
Does yoga build muscle?
Even though most people associate yoga with stretching and sitting still, it's far more than that! Thanks to the numerous poses and movements, yoga demands a lot of body tension and a sense of balance. For exactly this reason, yoga exercises don't just work isolated muscle groups, they challenge your whole body. The tensed muscles get more blood flow, and energy is mobilised and trained. That's why yoga is also deliberately built into sports programmes whose overall aim is muscle building. Do you know the "plank" exercise, where you hold your body in a push-up position for a minute or two? You have to tense every muscle group to hold your core in the air. And the plank just happens to be a traditional yoga exercise! Besides the right posture and execution of the flows, you should pay attention to your breathing. That leaves no capacity in your brain free for other thoughts! You live in the here and now and do your yoga exercises - nothing more.
What are the benefits of yoga?
Is your daily life stressful? Do you have lots of tasks every day that you're supposed to tick off as fast as possible? Do you constantly have to switch between work and free time? Have the two worlds blurred even more for you during the pandemic? Yoga can help you find calm and switch off better, even beyond the workout. During the exercises you focus on your body, and only your body tension and your breathing count. Thoughts about other topics are off limits! Conscious, slow breathing can calm your entire nervous system and relax your body. Yoga exercises also specifically loosen back and neck tension, which may help ease headaches and back pain. After a session you're usually more relaxed, calmer and in a better mood. That way you can carry on with your day with more clarity and focus. On top of that, thanks to the movement, yoga can help support your digestion and your entire cardiovascular system.
Why you should build yoga into your fitness routine
Regardless of whether you now decide to use yoga as part of your muscle-building training in future, there are still good reasons why yoga should be part of your workout. As mentioned, yoga boosts your concentration, mindfulness and body tension. So with regular sessions you can increase your strength endurance and also reduce your muscle soreness and your risk of injury in sport in general, because your muscles are more flexible and mobile. Not to forget: yoga can also be a nice change from your standard training and simply bring more movement into your everyday life!
Conclusion
So yoga is more than stretching and boring breathing exercises! With different intensities, yoga can also be properly exhausting and challenging for body and mind. But you don't have to become a classic yogi. Even adding one yoga session a week to your fitness routine can bring variety and create balance between the different kinds of strain on the body. Real yogis are also especially mindful about their diet. Anti-inflammatory foods like ginger and turmeric are high on their menu. Speaking of ginger and turmeric - have you tried all our shots yet? Hemp, raspberry and activated charcoal are unusual additions that give our shots something really special. Besides superfoods like these, yogis rely on plant-based food. To support your daily protein needs despite skipping meat and fish, using a high-quality, preferably natural protein powder can also make sense. That's why we've recently started offering our Frank Protein too. Want to know more? Then head straight to the following post: “Protein shakes: only suitable for building muscle? + 3 recipe ideas”
“Strength lies in stillness” - we often link this saying with mental strength, when stressful situations really challenge us to keep calm. When it comes to your workouts, you can also activate and challenge your physical strength with calm movements like the ones you do in yoga. We'll show you how to use yoga as strength training too.
What is yoga and what is it good for?
Yoga is an Indian philosophical tradition introduced more than 7,000 years ago to improve people's health and wellbeing. By practising exercises for strength, flexibility or mobility, plus meditation, the two components of body and mind are meant to be united. Optimal breathing during the exercises, alternating between tensing and relaxing the muscles, plays a big part here. Beyond the yoga sessions themselves, regular practice is meant to lead to more mindfulness, awareness and balance on a mental level. From a physical point of view, the strength exercises build up your muscles, whether they are standing poses or dynamic sequences of several poses (also called flows). It's important to stress that there is no such thing as “the one yoga”! The word “yoga” comes from Sanskrit and simply means the union of body and mind - how that is ultimately achieved is left open: there are many different yoga styles with different demands and focuses.
Does yoga build muscle?
Even though most people link yoga with stretching and sitting still, it's far more than that! Thanks to the many poses and movements, yoga demands a lot of body tension and sense of balance. For exactly this reason, yoga exercises don't only work isolated muscle groups, they challenge the whole body. Tensed muscles get more blood flow, and energy is mobilised and trained. That's why yoga is also deliberately built into fitness programmes whose overall aim is to build muscle. Do you know the exercise “plank”, where you hold your body in a press-up position for a minute or two? You have to tense every muscle group to keep your midsection up in the air. And the plank just happens to be a traditional yoga exercise! Besides the right posture and execution of the flows, you should pay attention to your breathing. That leaves no brain capacity free for other thoughts! You live in the here and now and simply do your yoga exercises - nothing more..
What are the benefits of yoga?
Is your day-to-day life stressful? Do you have lots of tasks to tick off as fast as possible every day? Do you constantly have to switch between work and free time? Did the two worlds blur even more for you during the pandemic? Yoga can help you find calm and switch off better, even beyond the workout. During the exercises you focus on your body, and all that counts is your body tension and your breathing. Thoughts about other things are off limits! Conscious, slow breathing can calm your entire nervous system and relax your body. Yoga exercises also deliberately release tension in the back and neck, which may help prevent headaches and back pain. After a session you are usually more upbeat, relaxed and calm. That way you can carry on with your day with more clarity and focus. On top of that, thanks to the movement, yoga can help support your digestion and your whole cardiovascular system.
Why you should add yoga to your fitness routine
Whether or not you decide to use yoga as part of your muscle-building training in future, there are still good reasons why yoga should be part of your workout. As mentioned, yoga boosts your concentration, mindfulness and body tension. So with regular sessions you can increase your strength endurance and also reduce your sore muscles and your risk of injury in sport in general, because your muscles are more flexible and mobile. Not to forget: yoga can also be a nice change from your standard training and simply bring more movement into your day! Yoga is also a great exercise programme during your juice cleanse!
Conclusion
So yoga is more than stretching and boring breathing exercises! With different intensities, yoga can also be properly tough and demanding for body and mind. But you don't have to become a classic yogi! Even adding one yoga session a week to your fitness routine can bring variety and create balance between the different ways your body is challenged. True yogis are also especially mindful about their diet. Anti-inflammatory foods like ginger and turmeric are right at the top of their menu. Speaking of ginger and turmeric - have you tried all of our shots yet? Hemp, raspberry and activated charcoal are unusual additions that make our shots something really special. Besides superfoods like these, yogis rely on plant-based food. To support your daily protein needs despite skipping meat and fish, a high-quality, as natural as possible protein powder can also make sense. That's why we've recently started offering our Frank Protein. Want to know more? Then pop straight over to this post: “Protein shakes: only good for building muscle? + 3 recipe ideas”
