Is Yoga Superior to Strength Training?

Pretty bold statement, isn’t it? If you are a regular subscriber of FITNESS INSIDER you’ll know that I have never discussed yogaas an option for dealing with stabilization or movement dysfunction. And while I do not think yoga is superior to resistance training for improving function, there are several components of yoga that can make it potentially superior to resistance training.

While its actual place of origin may be open to discussion, it appears that yoga began several hundred years before the birth of Christ (B.C.). The word Yoga seems to have several origins however it seems ‘connecting’ or ‘uniting’ oneself with the consciousness or spirit is the most universally accepted description of the word. It was originally intended to be a lifestyle rather than just a series of poses that it has become known as here in the West.

There are several components of yoga that make it far superior to resistance training in terms of improving stabilization and movement.

1. Awareness: Yoga focuses on bringing awareness to one’s body and how they are moving and living within it. Bringing a practitioners awareness from their head and external environment and getting him/her in touch with their body is one of the greatest benefits of yoga.
2. Self-mastery: Yoga is all about self-mastery, that is being better than you were the session before, the week before, more connected to oneself than when you first walked into the class. It is not about competing with others in the class, with your prior accomplishments, or a preordained goal but rather being inside yourself and becoming more entranced in your own self-discipline and practice.
3. Down-regulation: In our crazy, hectic world full of deadlines, appointments, and obligations, our nervous system is constantly ‘ON’. Add to that super-sized caffeinated beverages, high sugar foods, and un-restful sleep and we are left with a nervous system that is running on over-drive 24-7-365. Having a sympathetic-dominant nervous system has been linked to accelerating the aging process, inhibiting the immune system, and perpetuation of poor sleep patterns further breaking down our body. Yoga can be a great way to calm the nervous system down and restore balance to the entire body.

While these are just 3 of the benefits of yoga (there are many others), unfortunately yoga has largely gone the way of most forms of exercise here in the West – if some is good, more must be better. I have treated an increasing number of yogapractitioners (and instructors) for everything from neck and upper back pain to low back and hip problems. If yoga was superior to other forms of exercises than why are there so many clients being hurt during yoga class?

I believe there are 3 main reasons for these increases in the injury rate among yoga practitioners:

1. Competition: Rather than being about being the best one can be, the group yoga class has fostered a culture of ‘keeping up with the Jones’ mentality. In fact, while I was attending a basic level yoga class, I was the only person in the class doing the remedial form of one pose because I knew I was not stable enough to do the higher-level pose. Out of a class of beginning practitioners I find it hard to believe I was the only one in the class that was unstable. However, I think I was the only one that was aware of my own instability.
2. 1. 1. 1. Harder is better: There is a philosophy that is predominant in our current exercise culture that if I can do an exercise, then I must be able to progress the exercise and make it more challenging. There is nothing wrong with that philosophy…except when it is inappropriately applied. We now have yoga classes in hot rooms (in excess of 100º), advanced poses, and even yoga performed with weights (yes, with hand weights) because traditional yoga must be too easy for the majority of practitioners.

3. Instructors: A group exercise class, as well as one-on-one training, is only as effective as the instructor. Too often, instructors want and expect their clients to be able to perform high level exercise without ever developing the fundamental ability within their clients to be able to perform those exercises.

CONCLUSION

So what’s the point of this discussion? This newsletter is not a knock on yoga.  And do I feel it is superior to resistance training? Absolutely not. Yoga is just a method, not a principle. The method is only as good as the instructor. Resistance training, applied appropriately by adhering to the principles (respiration, centration, and integration) can be equally as effective at bringing awareness, self-mastery, and balance to the nervous system if the fitness professional has the self-discipline and desire to help their clients learn proper movement.

Quite simply:

ü     There is no one best way to improving clients.Rather, the focus should be on teaching your clients how to perform fundamental patterns with adherence to the principles (respiration, centration, and, integration) rather than focusing solely on the methods that are utilized;

ü Everyone should be treated as an individual even if working in a group exercise class. Some clients can perform high level patterns, others simply can not.

ü Teach clients to connect with their body and encourage movement awareness. If clients are made aware of how they currently move and then are progressed appropriately, they will achieve personal goals whether they be weight loss, decrease pain, or function better in sport or life.

Watch the video below for an example of these concepts using the modified single leg deadlift.

COMING NEXT EDITION OF FITNESS INSIDER:

Simple Solutions to Psoas Syndromes – Part I

Dedicated to keeping you thinking bigger about your role as a fitness professional,

Evan Osar

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