Yoga?

arkrow wrote: »

Is this as good to do as everyone says?

It's very good. But not always to the reasons that people suggest imo.
I'm a big fan of the physical aspect, not so much the metaphysically.

DDP Yoga (kinda beginnery so for me i guess though I fairly fit as I can get through pure cardio insanity vid without a break)

If you are stiff and inflexible, then you want a beginner one imo.
Yoga ability has nothing to do with cardio fitness tbh. It's more about mobility, flexibility, balance and core strength.
Besides an insanity DVD is a fairly useless measure as it's only as hard as you push it. There's no co-relation between that and a 5km run time for example

slavedave wrote: »

Started yoga to prevent injuries whilst trying to get stronger. It can be physically demanding isometrically, but the benefit has been that I have not had the shoulder pain that I used to get when training. My flexibility is poor but it is getting better. And it is definitely humbling to see people decades older than myself holding poses that I cant even get into.
Been doing it for 6 months and really look forward to each session. IF you wanted to add end point aims then think of extending your flexibility to levels that you would like to achieve. I managed to touch my toes with straight legs for the first time in over thirty years after 4 months of it

having good mobility isnt important until you realise how much you actually need it

Yeah, I'm with the others on this - the movement is fine and definitely help with back troubles I was having, but the spiritual side of it is pure nonsense. All "stretch like you're holding a big ball of light". I moved to Pilates after about 6 months which was more on the movement side, and very little on the other side.

I've returned to Yoga following a very, very long time away from it ( I won't say how long for fear of giving my age away), but I'm finding it helpful - Though to be honest, I don't have one tenth of the flexibility I once had. I'm a regular lap swimmer, and also recently returned to weightlifting ( a glutton for punishment I am). The yoga is definitely a boon and I recommend whichever form of it a person decides to follow. I don't get religious about it, and merely see it as a good exercise to complement and balance the other ones that I do.

Mindfulness + stretching = yoga. Mindfulness and stretching have massive massive proven benefits. if the teacher goes beyond that into chakras my head explodes and I don't come back. Most Yoga poses nowadays have been taken directly from physiotherapy. Avoid the ones that involve squishing your head into the floor, I don't know where they are from but they aren't physio and they aren't "ancient yogic wisdom" either.

I'm a bit suspicious of hot yoga because I think it encourages people to over stretch and injure themselves, i worry if it is suitable for beginners, because beginners are more inclined to think "no pain no gain" and stretch too far and hurt themselves. Muscle pain / "feel the burn" is ok when you are exercising, but when you are stretching it is to be avoided.Also, it is often done in these large venues where you don't get a lot of input into whether or not you are doing the poses safely

"Loren Fishman, assistant clinical professor at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University, tells me that 50 percent of participants in hot yoga classes were found to be dehydrated. Dehydration may seem like no big deal, but the truth is that it can be very dangerous. " That's from a Vice / Tonic article.

Loren Fishman is great, qualified doctor AND yoga enthusiast, he knows where it's at