Strength training doesn’t have to involve weights or machines. Yoga for strength classes and postures can improve overall body tone and strength, increase flexibility, and provide stress relief. Power yoga and yoga with weights are also effective options. Yoga uses weight-bearing movements and the resistance of your body weight to build strength, and even basic poses like plank can provide an excellent resistance exercise.
While some people see strength training as a necessary part of their workout, others look to strength-training machines and weights and see medieval torture devices. Fortunately, pumping iron is not the only way to gain strength. Yoga for strength classes and postures can help improve overall body tone and strength, while increasing flexibility and providing stress relief from high-impact workouts. There are many different types of yoga for strength, including power yoga classes and yoga with weights.
Yoga can improve strength through weight-bearing movements. Instead of relying on plate weights or free weights to provide muscle-building resistance, yoga relies on the resistance of your body weight. In addition to specific poses that help improve strength, many yoga practices also require a constant internal pull on the core abdominal muscles, which helps keep each pose working the muscles of the body. While any type of yoga class will likely include some poses for strength, many yoga studios will list strength-focused classes as “yoga for strength” or “power yoga.”
Power yoga is a hybrid between two traditional styles of yoga, called ashtanga and vinyasa. In this style, emphasis is placed on breathing, which helps provide a steady flow of oxygen as students move quickly from one pose to the next. Power yoga classes are typically very heavy in weight-bearing poses to build strength. Since yoga for strength focuses on improving full-body fitness, classes are usually carefully organized to ensure all muscle groups are easily hit.
Yoga with weights is a fun way to combine traditional strength training with yoga. Students follow a normal yoga routine, while holding on to a set of light to medium weight dumbbells. Controlled and careful movement is emphasized, as swinging the weights can lead to injury and rely on inertia rather than force. In some routines, students may pause during a pose and do several repetitions of a more traditional free weight movement, such as combining triceps pushdowns with yoga chair pose.
Some of the most basic yoga poses provide an excellent opportunity to use yoga to improve strength. In plank pose, students come to the top of a pushup position, with their arms held directly under their shoulders, their navels pulled in toward their spine, and their feet slightly apart. Simply holding the plank position provides an incredible resistance exercise that builds strength in your arms, core, and back. For an even greater arm-building move, students can move into a side plank by lifting one arm off the ground and twisting the body so that one leg is stacked on top of the other and the arms form a vertical line from the ground to the sky.
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