Yoga for Dummies

February 2, 2009 7:17 AM

Is ashtanga yoga enough on its own?

Apologies for the dumb yoga question from a non-yoga person. My New Year's Resolution was to take yoga seriously for a while, so I found a studio and am taking classes along with doing an ashtanga dvd at home. Both my teacher and everything I've read/seen/heard on ashtanga yoga say that it is important to do every day. It is no problem for me to find 30-45 minutes a day to do it, but it IS a problem for me to find time to do that on top of my usual exercise routine (running 3-4 times a week, weight workout 2 times a week). For the month of January I feel like I did nothing but exercise and I was fatigued instead of energized. A friend also told me that all of this might be counter-productive, that I might be negating the physical effects of yoga with weight training and running because they're sort of on the opposite end of the spectrum of what yoga is supposed to do (lengthen and stretch vs. pound and exhaust).

Yoga people I know only do yoga but, given my competitive tendencies and fear of osteoporosis, it feels like it wouldn't be enough. But an ashtanga practice + everything else feels like too much. If I were further into yoga perhaps I could find my own balance, but for now I'm just wondering: is ashtanga yoga enough as a stand-alone exercise program?

posted by fiery.hogue to health & fitness (13 comments total)

In high school, yoga was one of our sports options. I went from a season of cross country to a season of near-daily ashtanga yoga.

Although I was incredibly relaxed and limber, I definitely lost muscle tone and got out of aerobic shape, making the beginning of the spring track season kind of painful. Granted, there were confounding factors- a winter diet, the holidays, etc. But I definitely did not find ashtanga yoga to be "enough." There just isn't enough aerobic involvement.
posted by charmcityblues at 7:44 AM on February 2

In order to give the yoga a fair shot, you really need to make room for it in your exercise schedule. Why not just cut down on the other things? Run twice a week and strength train once? It will feel lazy to you, but just remind yourself that you're exercising seven days a week, TWICE a day on three of those days. It should be enough to keep you toned, and won't leave you feeling pounded. And that way you'll never have to wonder whether you really gave the yoga a chance.
posted by hermitosis at 7:51 AM on February 2

Mix it up within the studio.

Some classes are better suited for cardio (Vinyassa, Hot), some for strength (ashtanga), and some for relaxation/flexibility (hatha, forest). Also, if you aren't getting enough strength training in yoga, try pilates. My teacher had to give up weights due to the pressure it put on his joints, and swears the resistance training in pilates does the same job.

And don't be afraid to try out different teachers. Each will push you in a different direction due to their own biases and quirks.
posted by politikitty at 8:20 AM on February 2

It might depend on the person, but I didn't find yoga enough for me. Like Charmcityblues, I lost some of my fitness I had before. My previous exercise had been playing tennis 4 times a week. This past year, I quit the tennis club and started to doing yoga 6 times a week. I was a total beginner, so maybe that was part of it. I'm not sure if more advanced moves keep you in better shape. I did feel good physically and was impressed by my muscle strength and flexibility which I had been wanting to improve, but I think I wasn't in as good cardiovascular shape. Now I run on alternate days, and do a stretch and strengthen class in between. That seems a good compromise for me.
posted by bluefly at 8:24 AM on February 2

I'm not sure where the "must do every day" yoga admonition came from, but personally, I was getting a lot out of a 3-day yoga regimen.
posted by salvia at 8:25 AM on February 2

The yoga instructor I had for a number of years would answer 'yes', but to get aerobic, you'll be doing lots of sun salutations. Lots of sun salutations.
posted by plinth at 8:28 AM on February 2

So I think something weird happened when I posted, but I meant to preface the comment with, "posted from my co-worker:"
posted by bluefly at 8:39 AM on February 2

A varied exercise routine is good and keeps things challenging, however if you're feeling exhausted then it might be you're doing too much for too long.
Perhaps you could cut down on weight training as ashtanga yoga would help with building core strength and muscle. Depending on how far you run, you could try alternating between different distances. I aim to run one long distance and two short ones each week, oh and the breathing techniques in yoga really do help regulate breathing when running.
posted by tokidoki at 9:53 AM on February 2

As others are saying, it depends; I took up yoga and running at the same time (about 6 months ago), and I find a great balance is yoga 3-4 times a week and running 3 times a week). I do my running early in the morning and yoga classes in the evening and weekend mornings. I do not think yoga on its own would be enough for me, because even when I do break a sweat during the sun salutations or later into the practice, my heart rate is never going too fast and I just don't feel very aerobically worked out.

There are practitioners at my studio who have much more aerobic-looking routines; however, I'd venture to say it took them quite a while to get to that level. Unless your goal is to be super duper serious about yoga, I don't see any reason you actually do have to practice for half an hour every day. I think the "Every day" prescription is more about learning the poses and the breathing than necessarily going through the whole routine; my teacher says sometimes all she has time for is a set of sun salutations each day, not a whole series.
posted by DuckGirl at 10:06 AM on February 2

For the month of January I feel like I did nothing but exercise and I was fatigued instead of energized.

Is it possible you weren't sleeping or eating enough? Those are crucial for recovery in a strenuous exercise program.

A friend also told me that all of this might be counter-productive, that I might be negating the physical effects of yoga with weight training and running because they're sort of on the opposite end of the spectrum of what yoga is supposed to do (lengthen and stretch vs. pound and exhaust).

I could be wrong, but I don't think that makes any sense.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:18 AM on February 2

What kind of weight-training program are you on? Yoga won't hold a candle to a decent weight-training program that involves compound movements, barbells, and low reps, but if you're doing the normal biceps-and-pecs-and-machine isolation movement circuits that most people do replacing it with a challenging yoga program will not cause much detriment.
posted by schroedinger at 10:46 AM on February 2

It may not be enough for you.

But to give It a fair shake: if you're not feeling much from Ashtanga, tell your instructor you want them to make you "climb the mountain." I tried that Sunday and it was pretty intense from the stamina end (background - I kickbox 2x a week, strength 2x, cardio circuits/aerobics 2x and yoga 3x).

Also pay attention to your breath. If you lose the ujia (can't spell in Sanskrit) breath, you're going too far. The breath is perhaps the most important part.
posted by subbes at 5:07 AM on February 3

i love ashtanga yoga. it helps my levels of stress, improved my strength and flexibility, and generally makes me feel good all over. the place i go here in seattle (samarya center, which i highly recommend if you're ever in the neighborhood) also periodically teaches special classes specifically designed for athletes (cyclists, distance runners, etc.)

that said, for me personally, yoga alone is not enough for my personal goals (losing weight and increasing muscle mass.) of course it's worlds better than doing nothing at all! i looked much better when i did yoga regularly. however, i didn't begin to lose any significant amount of weight until i started doing cardio-related activities/sports.

i feel that when it comes to any type of exercise you should listen to what works for you and what helps you achieve your goals vs. what somebody else tells you that you should be doing.
(actually, i hold that philosophy about most everything in life if you want to get technical ;)

i've never had a yoga instructor tell me that i "should" be practicing x number of days a week - that seems like a very non-yoga statement. i can see why you're worn out. your exercise regimen wears me out just reading about it! heh.

it's hard to give specific advice without knowing why you exercise so much. but despite my love for yoga, if it were me, i would cut back on the yoga. i assume that you're weightlifting 2 times a week and running 3 times a week because you've found that you can still get benefits out of those activities even if you don't do them every single day. similarly, i feel that you can benefit from yoga without doing it every day.

my classes lasted between 1-2 hours. i don't have time to do that every day, so i only went 3 times a week. i still felt like i got many benefits out of it and that it was worthwhile.

i feel like i'd put yoga more in the category of weightlifting. it helped me with muscle mass and flexibility and frequently my muscles would ache for a day afterward (in a good way, of course, but it was still often painful). assuming it's having a similar impact on you, i'd argue that it's not necessarily even beneficial to do it daily. muscles do take time to recover. my strategy would be to do weights one day, run the next, do yoga the next, run the next, do weights the next, and so on... thus giving the same muscles time to recover before their next adventure.

my efforts to combine a regular exercise routine with workaholic tendencies and a very busy schedule have often meant me sacrificing sleep. but that leaves me tired, grumpy, and performing under my capacity in sports and at the gym. if you're a similar personality, as tough as it might be, i would suggest that you focus on 8 hours of sleep and eating well first and foremost and have all your athletic activities follow.
posted by groovinkim at 7:43 PM on February 4