There are hundreds of diet books out there. Some suggest certain types of food, others talk about the size of plates and portions. You can find weight loss plans in most daily newspapers and men’s and women’s magazines.
Let’s face it some are fads. There really is no magic bullet. You have to burn more calories than you eat. That’s it. The type of food and the size of portions can help, but for most people exercise is by far the best long-term.
Yoga isn’t as aerobically intense as some other types of exercise, like running, but it can help you lose weight especially if you combine it with a few lifestyle changes.
It has many physical benefits. Regular yoga can help keep your spine supple and your core strong. It will help you keep good balance and poise. It also tones and strengthens your muscles, helps boost your immune system and metabolism.
I find that Yoga makes you feel better about yourself and builds confidence. Like any exercise usingyoga to lose weight all depends on the style you do and how often.
Try an hour and a half of a more aerobic style of yoga 3 times per week. Or more. Something like Ashtanga, Power, or Bikram yoga
To lose weight by doing yoga you need to think about other changes to your lifestyle. This includes getting enough rest and relaxation, drinking plenty of water, eating a balanced diet, and looking after yourself emotionally. Yoga will help with the exercise and emotional elements.
So we’re talking good exercise, good breathing, good relaxation and good diet. Take breathing. Before I started doing yoga I didn’t realise how shallow my breathing was. Now it is deeper. Slower. You really notice the difference.
Along with your aerobic yoga 3 or more times per week, also try to mix it with a more gentle yoga style like Hatha yoga so that it is not all about intensity. Then the key is to stick with it and make a really consistent effort.
Over to you: I’d love to hear about how yoga has helped to change your life. Whether you have tried to lose weight by doing yoga or just got fitter. Leave a message and share your stories. And please tweet this article to your followers. Tweet
I love being a fitness and yoga teacher. What motivates me most is meeting so many people and seeing them make a difference to their lives. They get fitter. Most lose weight. They get stronger and more flexible. And by teaching regular classes I notice the changes and that makes it worthwhile.
Sometimes I cover other instructors classes when they are on holiday or sick. Walking into a class full of strangers is more daunting but it is just as satisfying.
The only slight problem when covering a yoga class is pitching it at the right level. With other per-choreographed exercise classes such as Body Balance and Body Combat you don’t have to worry about this because everyone is teaching the same moves. With yoga you might make it harder or easier than the usual teacher. Getting the balance right is key.
So I’ve just been out on the road covering yoga classes in Edinburgh. It’s been a week of great experiences.
First up was a hatha yoga class. This is usually the gentlest form of practice. But the instructor had tipped me off that the participants like a little more intensity. So I upped the number of sun salutations and introduced more flowing sequences. One lady was new to class and was pregnant and slightly concerned about exercising. With options she did extremely well. She said she’d be back. I hope she continues once the baby arrives.
Next is was power yoga. Due to last-minute problems at the club I had to teach the class in the bar of the functions suite. The room was very hot and everyone was dripping with sweat at the end. I guess we all found out what hot yoga is like.
As the sweat dried on my forehead, I drove quickly to the next venue for another hatha yoga class. For this one I knew I had to be more gentle. So I emphasised calmness, deep breath and long stretches. Yoga is so versatile. Tough and sweaty in one class and then calm and collected in another.
I saved the best class to cover for last. More hatha yoga . What was great about it? It was an hour and a half whereas the others were only for an hour. The extra 30 minutes makes a massive difference. You can spend more time at the beginning and at the end really exploring breath. You can hold the poses for longer and really feel the benefits.
One lady came up afterwards to say how much she enjoyed the pigeon and frog poses. These really open up the hips. We stayed in them for minutes and not seconds.
That long class was a great end to a wonderful week of covering yoga classes in Edinburgh.
Over to you: I’d love to hear your stories of covering yoga classes. Please leave a comment or share a link.
Many men have tight hamstrings. It’s common with athletes, particularly runners and footballers. But anyone who exercises regularly and works their legs with weights and machines can find that their hamstrings become shorter and tighter.
I was the same. Well into my 30s I couldn’t bend down and touch my toes. Then I took up yoga, initially as a participant, and then went to train as a teacher and I am now more flexible than I have ever been.
I have written on this blog before that more men should try yoga. Hitting tight hamstrings is one of the top reasons for giving yoga a go. It can stretch the hamstring muscles, release tightness and improve flexibility.
If you were like me then your hamstrings might feel like just one great big knot of tightness. There are in fact three distinct muscle groups. The technical names are the semitendinosus, biceps femoris, and semimembranosus, but to keep it simple just think of them as the central, inner, and outer hamstrings. There are standing and seated yoga poses that let you stretch and release each of these.
Go to a yoga website like Yoga Journal or download a yoga app; look up these exercises and given them a try.
To stretch and release the central hamstrings look for forward folds. You do each of these with your feet hip width apart – I’ve included the old style Sanskrit name of the pose just to make it easier to find the poses on the web. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana), Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), and Plow Pose (Halasana).
Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana): photo credit: myyogaonline via photopincc
To relieve the inner hamstring take your legs wider to bring the stretch into the inner edges of your legs. Poses that stretch the inner hamstrings include Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend (Upavista Konasana) and Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana – whilst I do not focus on the Sanskrit names unless my classes specifically ask me to I am very fond of this one. It just sounds great to say) .
Finally to work on the outer hamstrings take your legs closer to the mid-line in standing forward folds. Look for Revolved Triangle Pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana) and Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana) – I particularly love this one. It takes you to the fine line between pleasure and pain – in a good way.
If you introduce a little yoga alongside running, pumping weights and martial arts you can get a perfect balance of cardio, strength, flexibility and stretch.
Over to you: Are you a guy who has used yoga to improve your flexibility and in particular your hamstrings? Many men still see yoga as something that only ladies do. Help me to get more men to try it out. Yoga can stretch muscles and improve flexibility. Share your experiences and stories. Please leave a comment or post a link.
Is Body Balance getting too hard. Does Body Balance release 58 step too far over the line?
Before I try to answer that from an instructor’s point of view, let’s be honest. Some clubs incorrectly promote Body Balance as “the easy Les Mills programme”. And this means some newcomers are quite surprised how hard it seems even if you teach them low options. That’s because their expectations are to expect “easy”.
With release 58 I’ve had feedback from seasoned regulars that this one is “too hard”. On the other hand other have said that they are really enjoying the challenge and say, “It’s different,” and, “I like it.”
Body Balance 58 Poster
My first impression of this class was I didn’t find it as lethal as the last one. In fact I felt the conditioning tracks last time were among the toughest exercises I had ever done. Not in a Body Balance class, but ever. But no one told me they thought that one had crossed the line.
So why has Body Balance release 58 polarised participant opinion? I have a theory but first let’s have a look at the tracks.
Tai chi warm up (Feeling Good): A very short introduction with simple moves because there’s no time for complexity. A few forward arm swings followed by huge circular movements bring a focus breathe. It’s great that we go back to the tai chi moves later in track 8 however as this opener really is blink and its over.
Sun Salutations (Little Star): Musically this is the low point of the class and pose sequence that goes with it is very complex. Extra push ups. Added standing lunges. Three legged dogs. The first time I taught this I overran. So the music was over before I finished the moves. I had to practice even more than usual to nail it. Perhaps the issue is that the sequence doesn’t match the verse chorus structure of the song. So you start and finish the four salutations at a random point in the song and not at the beginning of each verse. It is also very hard to hear and feel the beat. Maybe a less complex sun salutation repeated 6 times might have fit the song structure better. It just feels awkward.
Standing Strength (Next To Me): I’ve listened to this song on the radio all year and have expected it to turn up in Balance. At six and a half minutes this is a challenge but the music breezes along so that you think it is over much quicker. Only at the end when your quad muscles are screaming do you realise the music carried you through a tough set of warrior, lunge and triangle poses.
Corey Baird and the team from BB58 video
Balance (Somebody I used to know): Another chart hit that’s amassed hours of radio play. It has a completely different feel to the music we usually get in balance tracks. But despite the unusually uptempo number the movements are quite slow and flow together well. Tree pose is always welcome and it’s good to see eagle and warrior 3 back after a break.
Hip openers (Every Little Thing she does is Magic): A lovely optimistic upbeat cover by Les Mills of a very old Police hit from the 1980s. Again a relatively simple sequence; half lotus, swan, and a quad stretch. I love the smiles on people’s faces when they try to lift their front arm during the quad stretch. Wobbles are good guys! We finish with frog pose which I always think takes us to the fine line between pleasure and pain. And there’s no dignified way to get out of it is there?
Core abs (Shake it Out): Well this is definitely hard. Cycle crunches, leg raises, and those seated abdominal leg pulls are obviously making a guest appearance from CXWORX. Is this track the reason some people say that this release is too hard?
Core back (Power): This is tough as well (but not as lethal as it’s equivalent of 3 months ago). There is so much bum squeezing in this section. Bridge pose with leg lifts, striking cobras, elbow walking planks around the world locust poses bring fire to the gluteals. A very busy track with no breaks and quick transitions I think it is very effective. But do we need bird pose at the end? Even for people who can do it there is so little time to set it up and perform it effectively.
Twists (Paradise):Coldplay’s anthem allows us to revisit the tai chi moves from the first track. Eagle pose twist feels awkward at first but if you keep both feet on the ground and not trying to balance on one you’ll get it quicker. The twisting lunges choreographed to the anthem chorus are powerful and strong. Again actually a simple set of moves driven on by a powerful song.
Twisting Pyramid Pose
Forward bends and hamstrings (Your Song): I think this is a cover of the Nicole Kidman version of Elton John’s classic from the film Moulin Rouge. A simple sequence again but “How wonderful life is” when you reach high for those baby back bends. I like the intensity the twist in the pyramid pose brings to the legs. An emotional conclusion.
Relaxation and Meditation (Contemplation and Softly Falling): A mystical and haunting piece of music with a subtle beat almost lulls the heart back to resting as you breath deeply. As the music changes to the last piano outro we can change our focus from breath to body and bring ourselves back into the real world.
I like Body Balance release 58. It is a good choice of well-known tunes and challenging exercise. But is it harder that what has gone before? I’m not sure it is. The core abs track is genuinely tough. So perhaps it is the more uptempo songs that makes the release feel harder than the simplicity of some of the moves suggest. Maybe it is the music that is harder?
I would love to know what you think about this.
Over to you: Do you agree with this review of Body Balance release 58. Are you a Body Balance instructor? Please let me know what you think of this class. Is it too hard or just right? Participants what do you think? Go on share your thoughts. Leave a comment below.
