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Do You Get The Same Benefits From Yoga As You Get From Strength Training?

Do We Get The Same Benefit From Yoga As We Get From Strength Training

Yoga is as effective as strength or weight training in terms of developing a strong impressive physique. However there are certain added advantages that one experiences from practice of yoga.

Yoga can be practiced any time any where even if you are traveling or you are out of town. For strength training, either you have to carry weights or find a gym where they allow non-members against hefty fee.

Yoga improves overall strength, core strength, posture, balance, flexibility, memory, power of concentration and equilibrium. By strength training, you are only making your body stronger by lifting weights to work on chest, biceps, abs and thighs only. Since yoga is all about using your natural body weight, your whole body is engaged. You work on all your muscles and stretch them at the same time. This improves your overall body posture and makes your body supple. However in strength training, there is always scope for injury. You may create muscular imbalance by distorting natural alignment of the spine. Lifting weights may cause sore muscles and stiffness making your workout difficult next day. Yoga teaches muscles to work properly and collectively. It helps abundant flow of blood and oxygen into your muscles which rejuvenates you. Yoga also improves muscular endurance while holding poses for long duration. There is hardly any disorder (Metabolic and psychic) that cannot be restored to normalcy by yoga.

Most strength training programs consist of light weight training for toning muscles. Regular practice of the following yoga poses will not only have physical effects on muscles and bones but will also have different effects on the organs of the body:

Surya Namaskar (The Sun Salutation Pose)

The Sun salutation pose is a general conditioning exercise. The entire body gets revitalized with the twelve movements in the Sun Salutation Pose. The different movements stimulate blood circulation, tone up the limbs and organs of the body, firm up the muscles of the neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, legs, hips and abdomen and rejuvenate the endocrinal system. The Sun Salutation Pose ventilates and tones up the lungs and glands and oxygenates the blood. By stretching the spinal column, it tones up the nervous system and removes palpitation and hypertension. It also increases resistive power to illness.

Trikonasana (The Triangle Pose)

The triangle pose and its variations stretches and strengthens the muscles of the calf, waist, thighs, legs, spinal column and adrenal glands.

Garudhasana (The Eagle Pose)

This yoga pose strengthens the muscles, tones the nerves and makes the body supple.

Virabhadrasana (Virabhadra Pose)

This yoga pose also makes the muscles of the calves, knees, thighs, hip joints, neck and shoulders supple. It corrects displacement of spinal disc and stiffness of the neck. It also tones up the tendons and ligaments.

Gomukhasana

This pose tones up the muscles of the shoulders, upper back and triceps. This yoga pose also checks formation of calcium deposits in the shoulder joints. It is very good for diabetes, kidney problem, sciatica, insomnia and rheumatism.

Dhanur Akarshana Asana (The Archer’s Pose)

This yoga pose also tones up the muscles of the legs, arms, thighs and abdomen and makes the spine supple. It also strengthens the biceps and ankles. It also cures respiratory and sexual problems.

Halasana (The Plough Pose)

This pose also makes the spine supple and strong and removes extremities from thighs. It improves functioning of the abdominal organs, kidney, liver and pancreas. This is a wholesome yoga pose for all the organs of the body.

Sarvangasana (The Shoulder-Stand Pose)

This is an inverted posture which is again for the whole body as the name ‘Sarvangasana’ implies. This yoga pose strengthens the joints of the upper extremities, reduces physical and mental fatigue. With this yoga pose, abundant blood flows to pituitary, pineal, thyroid and parathyroid glands. It also improves blood flow to all the sense organs as well as head, neck and brain. You also retain/regain your youthful vigor with practice of this yoga pose.

With regular practice of yoga you get a feeling of lightness and well-being which is both physical and mental.

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