Know anything about yoga?

S

Shann

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Sep 2, 2004
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I am seriously out of shape and so tight that have trouble putting my coat on! I was watching some Diamond Dallas Page Yoga for Real Guys testimonials and was wondering if his program would be something I could do. I have friends who have done things like Insanity and P90X and they all work but they are pretty high intensity.
 
Intensity is for power.

Yoga will help you. I use it to stretch, but you will never see me in a class. Try looking for Rodney Yee's book "Moving toward balance, 8 weeks of yoga". It is an excellent yoga book that breaks down individual yoga poses and teaches you how to use props to help you work into a pose, for people who may not otherwise be ready for a yoga session.

Be ready to hurt in ways football and wrestling never did to you in your youth.
 
if you are super tight take a little jog to get blood flowing then stretch for 20 minutes. Do this for at least a week. Don't do any crazy stretches just sort of explore your body. Then start looking into yoga information online, after you have established baseline familiarity with stretching, and yoga will be more comprehensible based on that experience. Yoga creates flexibility as well as strength in the way that pilates does, in contrast to calesthenics
 
If you are pretty out of shape, all P90X is going to do is hurt you. Yoga by itself probably isn't enough to get you back in shape, but it help you focus and center and go a long way towards loosening up for other exercises. Back in my younger days when I practiced martial arts, I used yoga techniques before starting my regular warmup.

Yoga is great to add to almost ANY exercise regime. Just be careful not to do too much at first. Done improperly, yoga can cause strained muscles, hyper-extended tendons, and even dislocated joints.
 
Remember, pain is simply weakness leaving the body. ;)

Dedicate some time every day or every other day to stretch. It's best not to stretch too profoundly in the morning after waking up. Fluid can and does collect in the joints, so a sports medicine doctor told me once and it's best to wait a few hours. You might also want to revisit your diet. All the exercise in the world won't make you feel better unless you fuel your body wisely. The old saying is true, garbage in, garbage out. Also, make sure you get enough sleep.
 
Find a routine that works for you. I work out 3 days a week for about 30-45 min right before bed. I perform a combination of pushup and pull ups of different types, squats and lunges, and finish with burpees. I eat as healthy as possible, mostly stick with salmon, quinoa, avocado, yogurt, kashi granola bars, and whatever my wife cooks for dinner.

I'm 6'1" and I went from 230lbs to around 185lbs in about 6 months. Not only that but I am in the best shape of my life. I don't weigh myself because I only care about what I feel like and how I look.

It's a routine I can stick with because it doesn't require me to go to a gym or spend an hour every single day. I've tried p90x and I always end up quitting. I created my own workout routine and diet and it has worked better than anything else. Of course, do your research on what to eat and what exercises to do.
 
There are a few different types of yoga, so do some investigation. Some will focus on stretching, but others are really just isometric strength training. Any one you pick will probably make you very, very sore the first several weeks of doing it. Just be sure to incorporate cardio into your workout, as I don't know any yoga that provides that.
 
Have a look a this old thread; a beginner's POV taking her first class and impressions. I've already put my own thoughts there -

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/814106-Yoga-The-Beginning?highlight=YOGA


Just a note though with Bikram or other "Hot yoga" variants: because of the high temps, there have been reported cases of people having palpitations and other kinds of body conditions. This isn't a knock on the style itself but best to check first with your physician and have a feel for it gently at first.
 
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Yoga as granola as it is is pretty intense! There are going to be moves that most people can't do and stamina that needs to be built before attempting as its dependent on holding up your body weight for lengths of time.

If you need to...which parts of your body are tight? There are some very solid sports medicine stretches that are based in yoga that will stretch out your quad and hamstrings which in turn will help relieve lower back pain as well as your ilio tibial band which are all connected to overall tightness in the lower body. I'm only suggesting those parts as from what I have seen it gives a great majority of people issues. I.E. my mother in law complains that she has hip joint pain and thinks her joint is damaged. There's no evidence that there was ever trauma to the joint. However she can't cross her legs. Because she has never stretched out in her life. Stretching will tear the muscle and lengthen the muscle so that it isn't so tight as to lock the particular joint into a "stiff" position and cause pain and inflammation.

If you have limited movement and strength my best advice is to find an indoor pool and go swimming. The swimming will build up your strength and mobility, reduce inflammation in your body! Then when you can increase your movement go to other exercises.
 
If you're in a lot of pain from tightness, first go to a physical therapist so they can analyze you and recommend a stretching routine. Never place a lot of stress on a body that isn't limber and moving properly. Do isometrics until your loose enough to move onto more intense exercise. This is where yoga can help. It's slow and stresses balance.

I learned about the Feldenkrais Method about 8 years ago. Look into it. It's a technique designed to restore balance and precise movement back to muscles and nerve signals after long term stasis and degeneration, usually do to improper rehabilitation after an injury.

Good luck with your recovery.
 
How about walking fast for 20-25 minutes twice a day and reducing meal portions? I doubt you'll see that in infomercials as nobody can make money off that.
 
It's hard, real hard. I've been a lifter all my life.. wife took me to one of her classes and I couldn't move for a week.
 
Hawk45 said:
It's hard, real hard. I've been a lifter all my life.. wife took me to one of her classes and I couldn't move for a week.
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to try it. I have been strength training for a while, took a year off, went back and now I got a hernia in the lower area. Not good. Don't want surgery. Got to do something to help. There are yoga position from what I read that can fix hernias. My wife has been doing yoga about a year.
 
It helped my back, and yes it's harder than it looks. I only did it for a few months every other day, but in the first week or two I could tell the difference in the way my back felt.
Give it a try, worst case you get more exercise and find out you don't like it and move on to something else, best case, hot chicks in yoga pants.

I think I'm gonna go check out a yoga class.
Good luck
 
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