FITNESS YOGA: A SET OF EXERCISES FOR BEGINNERS, HEALTH BENEFITS AND WEIGHT LOSS

Posted: 04. 02. 2023 | Author: Ola Thomas | Category: Yoga

On the street, you can immediately distinguish people who are engaged in physical exercises. They are slimmer, more smiling, full of inner energy, look younger than their peers. A certain cult of a combination of high spirituality and a beautiful, strong body is being formed. Therefore, interest in systems of physical improvement has sharply increased.

As a result of the merger of the two of them, fitness yoga arose. This style is suitable for people who are sincerely inspired by oriental practices, but are afraid of difficult asanas. Here, the balance of active positions from fitness and static stretching is perfectly observed. These exercises can be performed by people of all ages and fitness levels. Let’s take a look at why fitness yoga is the perfect workout for beginners, and what its health and weight loss benefits are.

How fitness yoga differs from other areas

Yoga is an ancient Indian religious teaching about the physical and spiritual perfection of a person. One of the directions practices development through a system of static body positions – the so-called asanas. There are more than 50 of them.

Each asana is the result of centuries of careful observation of the capabilities of the human body. Many of the yoga positions require extreme flexibility and are inaccessible to the average person without hard, regular practice.

But there are simple asanas that help develop all aspects of the human body. Such positions are included in the direction of fitness yoga.

The name fitness comes from the English word fit, which means to improve, to be in good shape. This is a system of gymnastic and strength exercises with which you can maintain a high tone. It allows for a fast pace, speed training, even some sports, competitive element. Due to this, a relatively rapid weight loss is achieved at the initial stage. But this training regimen is not suitable for everyone.

Fitness yoga is aimed at the general improvement of the body without setting any records, sporting achievements. The harmonious development of all muscles, the stabilization of the optimal weight for each person – this is the main task of this direction, its niche in numerous physical practices. Fitness yoga does not allow any violence against your body, exhaustion, work to a heavy sweat.

This system takes the following main qualities from fitness:

• rhythm;
• variety of movements;
• wide tempo range from slowest to medium;
• the ability to adjust the load.

Yoga also contributes:

• uniform tension on those muscles that need to be strengthened in the first place;
• focus on your body, understanding its capabilities and shortcomings;
• development of muscle feeling, the ability to relax when necessary.

Thus, fitness yoga differs from both fitness and yoga in that it takes the best qualities from them, and at the same time eliminates the shortcomings of both practices. In fitness, it is a fast pace, a high load on all muscles. In yoga – the complexity of performing asanas, excessive stretching of individual muscle groups, ligaments. In addition, Eastern practice requires more ascetic nutrition, daily hygiene procedures, without which an ordinary person is quite capable of doing. Fitness yoga refuses such emergency measures.

Fitness yoga and pregnancy

Many women, having learned about the upcoming birth of a baby, sharply reduce their physical activity, thinking about the safety of the fetus. But nature has already taken care of such reliability by creating many mechanisms that protect the child from injury and damage.

Physical exercise must be present in the life of a future mother. Otherwise, we will talk about stagnation in all organs and systems. In this case, the resulting toxins are not removed in time, which harms the baby.

A pregnant woman is shown physical training, and fitness yoga is the best suited for this. The only condition is that you cannot do asanas in which you need to lie down with your stomach down.

Core workouts

The heart is an organ that limits our physical capabilities. While the brain is still coping with the load, the liver, kidneys, lungs, digestive system are still working at full capacity – the heart can no longer withstand, it hurts – this situation is not uncommon in people over 50-60 years old. But complete rest is also harmful to health.

It is difficult for a person who has lain in bed for more than 10 days to get up on his own. Even with a stroke, a heart attack, doctors prescribe slow, light exercise. Fitness yoga, with its cult of gentle workouts, is great for this purpose.

About weight loss

There are two pieces of news here. One “bad” one: those who expect to lose 20 or more kilograms of weight in a few months of fitness yoga will be disappointed. This system is not designed for such a sharp and rapid weight loss, it is impossible to get such an effect from fitness yoga.

And now the news is good. One lesson reduces weight by 50 grams, at least. 13 workouts are performed per month, that is, weight loss will be 650 grams. For a year – up to 8 kg. And this is without sagging cheeks, wrinkles, sunken eye sockets. The next year, the same number. The figures are minimal. But the main thing is that over time, the weight stabilizes at the optimal level for the body, and will no longer decrease, but also grow.

Rapid weight loss is mainly due to a decrease in water and muscle mass. When you stop training, kilograms quickly return due to the restoration of departed resources. Muscle mass returns to normal much more slowly. That is, a person even increases his weight after stopping training or taking medication.

Using the same set of exercises for weight loss, a person achieves harmony precisely by reducing fat. Even after stopping training, the weight remains stable for a long time. On one condition: if the amount of additional calories received from food does not exceed what is burned during training. And for this you do not need to starve yourself – just give up a large number of bakery, confectionery, sweet drinks. If you ate a piece of cake – cut the calorie content of the next meal by half.

Practice contraindications

There are few contraindications for fitness yoga. And, nevertheless, they are, so before starting classes, you must definitely familiarize yourself with the list:

• exacerbation of diseases;
• injuries of various nature;
• elevated temperature;
• pain of any nature;
• recent heart pathologies: strokes, heart attacks, tachycardia, severe hypertension;
• obesity of a high degree;
• mental disorders.

However, this list does not mean the need for a complete rejection of training. But it requires mandatory consultation with the attending physician. The doctor must tell the patient about the prohibited movements, the desired rhythm, the limits of the pulse. The doctor will recommend coming to him to monitor the condition, correct training. For example, if you have kidney stones, you can not make sharp turns to the right or left, other movements are allowed.

The entire workout consists of three stages: warm-up, main part and end.

The purpose of the warm-up is to warm up the muscles, ligaments, prepare them for sprains, help the cardiovascular system enter the working rhythm. A set of exercises for beginners may include:

• slow running;
• slopes;
• squats, can be shallow;
• jumping rope;
• lunges;
• sports walking;

The warm-up should last from 15 to 20% of the entire session.

The main part consists mainly of asanas and fitball exercises. Different studios practice their complex. Let’s get acquainted with the main positions:

1. Warrior pose. Standing position, legs are shifted close, hands are located along the body. A long lunge is made with the right foot. Hands are thrown out in parallel, then rise and join above the head. In this position, a pause is made for a few seconds. Next, the muscles of the extended leg are stretched. It returns to the starting position. You need to do the same with the other leg.
2. Chair. The position is quiet. The legs are moved together. Slowly bend your knees, then squat, imitating landing on a chair. We stretch our hands up. We keep the lower back straight. We fix this position for 3-5 seconds. We sway on bent legs. We return to the starting position. We do this several times.
3. Boat. Lying position, arms along the body. Raise the legs and upper body together to an attainable angle. We hold our hands in front of us. We remain in this position for a comfortable time. We slowly return to the starting position.
4. Dog posture. From a standing position, slowly bend down, put your palms on the mat. We step back a little and raise the pelvis. A triangle is formed. The head is below the elbows. It is necessary that the weight is evenly distributed between the upper and lower parts of the body – then you will feel the comfort of the pose. This relieves tension from the shoulders, back, but loads the legs, which will become slimmer.
5. Savasana. With this position, the training ends. It helps to completely relax, relieve the tension of individual muscles that have become enslaved. Lie on your back on the mat, spread your arms helplessly, spread your legs to a comfortable distance. Close your eyes, feel the sweet languor. Sharply activate all the muscles, then relax.

Is it possible to practice fitness yoga on your own

You can do exercises at home. To do this, there are studios working online, a lot of special literature, videos. And yet, doing it yourself is recommended only to people who are already familiar with sports and gymnastics. There are many nuances in the performance of asanas, correct breathing, the pace of individual movements. Therefore, the presence of a coach helps to effectively use the time of the lesson, eliminates many mistakes that can be harmful to health.

Fitness yoga is one of the youngest directions in the system of physical improvement practices. It has its own audience: people who want to lose weight without complications, people who need long-term rehabilitation after serious illnesses, pregnant women, everyone who wants to slow down the withering process. 

Graduality, moderation, pleasure are the basic principles that guide the fitness yoga studios at the La Salute club. Here, experienced trainers suggest where to start classes, individually choose the appropriate pace of exercises, and monitor the correct execution of asanas.