Group: General Fitness & Exercise

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 382, Messages: 54581

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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YOGA

SINCITY
SINCITY
Posts: 9
Joined: 2003/09/25
Canada
2003/09/30, 02:51 PM
Hello!

I've started doing yoga twice a week.. Known as "power yoga" at the gym.. Does anybody know the effects of it, and if it has any type of benefit to muscle building or cardio?

I've noticed a great deal of stress relief but wonder about the other benefits!

thanks!
asimmer
asimmer
Posts: 8,201
Joined: 2003/01/07
United States
2003/10/01, 11:25 AM
Yoga is excellent for flexibility, an often overlooked component of fitness. It is also, as you have noticed, excellent for stress relief. Since the stress hormone, cortisol, contributes to abdominal fat and reduces the amount of muscle building that will occur in your body, anything that reduces stress will enhance the other areas of your fitness routine.
Power yoga is a good calorie burn, but probably doesn't get your heart rate up and keep it up continuously to count as cardio.
Stress relief and flexibility are just as important as cardio and weight lifting - so continue it for that raeson. Find out from your instructor if they know approximately how many calories you burn during one session, and you can subtract that from the number of calories you need to burn for your fitness goals.
Oh, and fill out your profile, it lets us know more about you and your goals.