Though a larger proportion of women enjoy yoga, the number of men taking up the practice is growing fast!
And when you look at all the reasons to become a yogi, it is really no surprise. Improved posture, better digestion, relief from back pain, the list seems endless.
However there are a number of benefits, particularly for men, and below sports and exercise medicine physician Dr. Adrian Rotunno shares some of them.
Yoga isn’t just for a select group of yogis
More and more everyday men are grabbing their mats and incorporating yoga into their strength and weight training programmes in an effort to level up overall strengths and gains, increase their endurance, push their muscles in more compound and complex movements to build core strength and further develop mobility and flexibility.
A solid core is crucial to supercharged bench presses, weighted squats, deadlifts, push-ups, and swings – all key exercises in any weight training programme. Yoga is – in fact – for everyone.
Yoga isn’t all about the ‘ohms’, chanting, and meditation
Yoga is about mindfulness, breathing, and stretching which boosts levels of brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, all of which make you feel good and are responsible for relaxation and contentedness.
Deep breathing improves blood flow to the brain and stretching allows blood flow to circulate through tight muscles, surrounding tendons, and ligaments while removing toxins from the body.
Stretching restores muscle flexibility and reduces inflammation from acute injury and chronic overuse. It also activates the lymphatic system, helping your immune system function more effectively and efficiently.
Yoga isn’t only for the ultra-fit and flexible
Fitness and flexibility isn't a prerequisite. In fact, regular yoga practice will actually help increase fitness and flexibility over time as it involves functional movement in ways that align more naturally with your body, such as twisting, arching, and bending.
It can be the perfect way to complement your current programme because you use all your muscles in more compound and complex movements. Yoga also develops the slow-twitch muscle fibres which boost endurance in the gym as you are required to hold any given pose for a period of time and repeat it several times during a yoga workout.
Regular yoga gives you the strength to do more, lift more and essentially get the most from your body.
Yoga isn’t going to be enough of a challenge
Yoga may not be conventionally tough, but it's a lot more challenging than many people think. Poses involve muscles that aren't frequently used or aren't typically held in a static or isometric contraction which can be incredibly challenging. It also puts your body in less-than-familiar positions which means that muscles you don’t often use start to feel the burn.
Some forms of yoga give cardiovascular fitness a serious boost too, so it’s not only about muscle strength, but also highly impactful for endurance training. Yoga movement patterns are also completely modifiable, so if certain poses or sequences seem less challenging they can be modified to fit your body, ability, and needs with advanced poses.
Yoga isn’t something you need different workout gear or accessories for.
Weight training involves using weights such as barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, or machines to apply resistance to your muscles.
Yoga simply uses the weight of your own body which is essentially the most effective tool for the job as you’re challenged to move out of your comfort zone and directly into positions and movements that naturally cause weight resistance. You can wear anything you want as long as you can move in it and all you need with you is your water bottle, mat, and towel.
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