How to combine yoga and strength training

Posted: 31. 07. 2023 | Author: Ola Thomas | Category: Fitness, Yoga

Combining yoga and strength training or not depends on what goal you set for yourself. The additional load of training to increase muscle mass will slow down recovery and adversely affect growth. If your goal is to keep your body in good shape, then yoga will perfectly complement your classes.

Is it possible to combine them?

A competent and careful approach to yoga effectively develops the flexibility of the body, which is necessary when training in other sports. Where flexibility is so important, spiritual practice will relieve the accumulated muscular and emotional tension. In sports where the development of great flexibility is not required, yoga exercises can help to cope with the accumulated muscle and emotional tension. This stimulates a quick recovery.  

To avoid injury, it is important to correctly schedule training. In yoga, the basis of classes is the performance of asanas using the static stretching method. For effective development of flexibility, it is important to be able to relax and relieve tension after training.

With a deep entry into the asana, having reached maximum relaxation, the muscle tone drops and remains low for a certain time, and the ligaments remain stretched. If during this period you begin to perform exercises that require maximum effort, then the risk of injury increases significantly.

Against the background of a strong warm-up during a warm-up, microtrauma is possible, which will manifest itself later, as this effect accumulates. With the wrong combination of training, it can occur for several months. As a result, the range of motion will be limited, pain may appear, and the recovery period will increase.

It is important to note that sports such as calisthenics, artistic gymnastics, wushu, taikwondo and other physical activities require excellent flexibility combined with speed.

So, the effective combination of yoga with strength training depends on the correct mode and schedule of classes. It is compiled taking into account age, gender, health status, physical fitness and the type of load with which the practice of asanas is combined.

Recommendations

Experienced instructors know how important it is to properly distribute the load without forcing the body to work to the limit. If your plans include combining yoga and strength training, follow these guidelines:

• Complete rest.  Muscle recovery takes time. The duration of strength training is on average 1 hour, yoga classes take the same amount of time. Between them there should be a break of at least 6 hours. Ideally, attend classes on different days. For example, devote three days a week to yoga, two to strength training, and two more to rest.
• Consultation with a trainer. Training in the gym can be of varying degrees of intensity, some are engaged in to keep fit, others in order to achieve certain results. Yoga classes have their own characteristics, taking into account the program and type. The best solution would be to get advice from a yoga trainer on how to properly include strength training in your schedule.
• Sequence of lessons . If it is not possible to allocate separate days for yoga and strength training, then you should pay attention to the state of health after training. As a rule, after yoga, they feel energized and relaxed, and after strength training, physical fatigue. If this is the case, then it is better to visit yoga classes in the morning, and the gym in the evening. If after a workout a person feels cheerful, and after yoga – as relaxed as possible, then training is attended in the morning, and yoga in the evening.
• How to combine correctly. If you, having come to the club, nevertheless decide to combine spiritual practices with strength exercises on the same day, then start training after yoga. Weight-bearing exercises require more physical work than asanas. In the gym, it is often necessary to make an effort to finish the desired number of repetitions. Coming to yoga after strength training, it will be extremely difficult for you to achieve the desired static state – not too energetic, but not relaxed either. It’s somewhere between strength and calmness. There are people who prefer strength training before yoga. However, in this case, it should be understood that such a combination will only allow you to stretch, and the practice itself will not give the expected result.

If you fully relax and follow the sequence of classes, you can combine yoga and strength training without harming your health, and at best you can achieve certain results in each of them.