Combine Yoga with Weight Training for a Younger You!

The ultimate pursuit of all those exercising regularly, is to take off years off their body and face. I would like to point out that an exercise combination is indeed one of least explored, yet so effective that once you give it a try, you will be wondering why you have not done it before. I’m talking about including weight training and yoga, as a combination in your fitness routine.

I guess you may have read a lot about the benefits of these exercises by themselves, so let’s examine why the combination can be a very potent one indeed. The prescription from the trainer’s desk – 3 to 4 days of strength training along with 2 to 3 days of yoga both routines lasting 45 minutes to an hour.

1. I think that the most beneficial effect of this combo is to reverse the ageing process. This combination of training can take years off not only your face, but also your body. Our most important ageing concerns are loss of muscle and bone mass, losing agility as well as flexibility. Strength training helps prevents loss of lean body mass (bones and muscles) and even helps you build up your muscle-bone mass since it is based on training with resistance. Yoga enhances body flexibility, being a practice that is essentially focused on stretching and thus prevents you from losing your agility as you age. So you can stay nimble, agile and strong through the years.
2. Weight training and yoga are practiced in a controlled and focused manner with no sudden jerks or movements, which makes them the most effective and safest forms of training (with the correct guidance of course), and can be started at any age, by either gender. Practicing yoga asanas stretch the body, which actually speeds muscle recovery by enabling the quick transit of lactic acid built up after a heavy weight workout.  As you work in the weight room, your ability and capacity to hold a balancing yoga pose is enhanced, due to greater strength of course. Simply put, they complement each other beautifully.
3. Weight training was originally developed as a means of rehabilitating injuries (by strengthening muscles and building muscle and bone mass) and as a tool of preventing injuries too, that people experienced as they engaged in various other activities (competitive sports). Today, it continues to be one of the major contributors to not only preventing and rehabilitating injuries, but also to enhance sports performance by developing strength and power.
4. Yoga too was developed by our ancestors, centuries ago as a means of enhancing wellness at the mind-body level (read stress management) and to deal with chronic ailments like those of breathing (through the practice of focused and deep breathing techniques), the digestive tract and the heart. Yoga proves to be one of the most effective stress-busters by providing a sort of dynamic meditation technique. While practicing yoga postures your mind is forced to be still and focus only on the task at hand. By additionally enhancing the body flexibility, yoga also helps to prevent muscle injuries that come with sudden movements or sudden stretching that occurs with any activity. So you can now see how this combination can keep you virtually disease-free and injury-free.
5. At a cosmetic level, strength training helps build and retain muscle mass, giving you that much sought-after toned body (by building up muscle mass) and yoga helps to enhance this toned look by giving your body a leaner and more athletic appearance (what with all those asanas that stretch those muscles helping lengthen them). Both work to correct and enhance your posture, by creating perfect balance between equal and opposing muscle groups, preventing you from slouching and drooping and a good posture speaks volumes not only for your physique, but your personality and confidence levels as well. Whatever your height, they help you carry your frame with grace.
6. A toned abdomen and sleek waistline is “the objective” of anyone who ever considers a fitness programme. A good strength training routine helps you target your abdominal region by direct training and also indirectly while recruiting these muscles during most of your compound body moments. Yoga too recruits all of your core muscle groups during practice and done right can result in a sleeker tighter waistline. The additional payoff in both these forms of training is also a stronger and pain-free back (a common complaint among the young and old).
7. Ever checked out your face in the mirror when stressed out? Practising yoga can help peel off years from your face as it reduces stress levels and also enhances blood flow to the facial muscles. A good strength training programme can prevent sagging skin along with an adequate intake of dietary protein. The muscles built through this mode of training, help hold the skin taut.
8. Done with adequate intensity and consistency, both these forms of training can help you drop down your body fat percentage, slim you down and burn off excess calories, while  simultaneously increasing overall well-being. So if you are looking for a single point solution to skin problems, ageing, disease and injury prevention and management, fat loss and a goodbye to that potbelly, adopt this combination of training with a good dietary regime of course.

Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

More On >> Fitness for Women