Yoga and Weight Loss
Posted: Oct 02 in Lifestyle and Activity by Staff
Despite the calming aura that surrounds yoga, it’s still challenging, and it can increase flexibility and strength. It is a great activity to include in your weight loss workout regimen; however, it shouldn’t be your only exercise.
Most disciplines of Yoga do not increase your heart rate enough to have an aerobic benefit. Aerobic exercise burns more calories than stretching or strength training and is therefore extremely important in your battle for weight loss.
Yoga does burn calories, with some disciplines burning more than others (a 30-minute Yoga session can burn anywhere from 85 to 330 calories). Because the practice of Yoga requires good control over your muscles, it can be a great toning exercise. If you use Yoga to help build muscle, then your resting metabolism may increase along with your muscle mass.
The two most important benefits of Yoga are relaxation and flexibility. Yoga helps you focus on breathing and movement, which helps free your mind of stress and calm you. The more Yoga you do, the more flexible you become, and the easier everyday movement becomes.
I agree that you need to participate in different exercise than just yoga. It is a great exercise, but doing the same thing over and over will not give you the best benefits. Your muscles need confusion. To “confuse” your muscles you need to introduce different exercises. This will help you have a more well rounded work out routine, and accomplish your goals faster.
I think yoga can be a great way to relieve stress and increase flexibility. However, I agree with Michelle that it needs to be used in conjuction with other exercises to get the most benefit and see results faster. Leslie