I was at work the other day and a co-worker of mine who takes Yoga classes suddenly started pumping a 20 pound dumbbell he had nestled in his cubicle.
Being that he does this rather frequently, I asked why and his response was
, my yoga classes don’t do anything for my arms.?
I looked at him puzzled and luckily for me, I had a draft of a book with photos of some yoga balancing poses and asked him if he had tried or even knew of them. Surprisingly, he said no and was now eager for me to demonstrate them to him.
This made me wonder, just how many other yoga enthusiasts are of the mindset that Yoga may be inadequate for building arm strength.
If you are such a person, nothing could be further from the truth.
Yoga is fantastic for building strength in the arms and although you may never see your biceps bulge through your T-shirt sleeves, I will say you will see an increase in arm strength and endurance that may not occur in perhaps other forms of exercise.
Moreover, some basic Calisthenics like Push-ups, the Plank and the Dive-bombers do borrow heavily from Yoga. Read more…
Yoga has simple and effective body movements that strengthen one’s back, firm the stomach, and redistribute body weight. Yoga exercises stretch and tone the body muscles. They increase endurance and improve flexibility.
Yoga Asanas or positions are the best among all exercises for toning muscles, lubricating joints and massaging the body. Yoga postures bring physical as well as mental stability, health and vigor. These Asanas were developed thousands of years ago and have evolved over centuries. They work wonders in keeping the body healthy and the mind peaceful. Asanas exercise the nerves, glands, ligaments, and muscles. In other words, yoga exercises are the most comprehensive method of self care
Although asanas are very powerful, the effect becomes dramatic when they are done the right way. The mind must be in harmony with the body movements. For this it is essential to equip yourself with the other tools of Integral Yoga.
The aspect of Yoga that most people are aware of is “Hatha Yoga” or the Yoga of Postures. Developing a strong, healthy and flexible body is but one aspect of this ancient science. Yogis revere the body. However, they do this because they realize that a weak and tired body is a hindrance towards spiritual progress. By being mindful of their breathing while they practice the various postures, they train themselves to discipline their minds. By disciplining their minds, they are able to abide by the principles which Yoga stands for. First amongst these principles is “Ahimsa”, or peacefulness in thought, deed, and action not only to other human beings, but also to all living creatures, and most importantly to our own selves. Remember this when you tend to push yourself into a forward bend! You will be able to do it over a period of time, just be easy on yourself. Read more…
Most people think that in order to get that V shaped upper body like comic book super heroes, they only have to develop big broad back muscles and lats. Well, by having broad back muscles and well developed lats is only part of the equation to get a V shape upper body. For complete V shape upper body development, you will also need to build a powerful chest, big strong shoulder muscles or commonly called deltoids or delts for short and a slim waist.
We shall discuss how to build big shoulder muscles in this article. You see, you may have a wonderful six pack abs or well defined chest muscles, but when you are in your street clothes, no one can see them. But if you have that massive V shape with bulging shoulder muscles, your body frame will tell the world that under those clothes is a well defined body of a gym warrior. Read more…
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