Tone Muscles With Yoga: How To Do It?
Yoga is a perfect discipline for toning the muscles of the body, because you perform a much more intense physical exercise than it may seem at first glance.
Thanks to this activity, we are able to harmonize the body and mind by working on our balance. The wonderful aspect of yoga is that it allows us to focus on the present moment and tone the muscles .
Doing yoga helps build strength
Thanks to yoga it is possible to tone the muscles because it helps us to develop strength. It must be said, however, that not all types of yoga allow us to achieve this goal. Some are more “fitness” or more “athletic” than others.
For example, ‘ ashtanga, the vinyasa or power yoga are considered the best styles to develop resistance. The question we can ask ourselves now is: how do they do it?
- Ashtanga : It consists in adopting different positions in a continuous, fluid and intense way. The movements are accelerated and there is no rest between one position and another.
- Vinyasa : Also known as yoga flow, it uses the asanas in a chained way creating a specific sequence and flowing gently.
- Power yog a: Includes fitness and pilates movements. Music can range from jazz to soul or hip hop. It is an innovative style
The various positions work the muscles
Some yoga poses pose a real challenge. For example, the position of the crane ( Bakasana ) is not suitable for beginners. In this position, balance is very important, as is the strength that the arms have to exert.
Each asana must be taken for a specific period of time. In addition, some are made using the weight of the body. This leads to muscle tension and strength.
Let’s see some more positions:
- Sun Position ( Purvottanasana ): Ideal for losing weight and toning the arms.
- Chair Position ( Utkatasana ): Works on balance and helps strengthen and tone the buttocks and legs.
- Bench Position ( Utthita Chaturanga Dandasana ): Tones the arms, legs and buttocks.
It is important not to strain the body when adopting these positions since if we are not flexible enough and have just started this discipline, we could suffer some injuries. While this practice doesn’t seem to involve many risks, we must be careful.
Train the whole body
Thanks to yoga we can tone the muscles because they all work together to allow us to assume a certain position.
For example, assuming the position of the eight angles (advanced yoga), we will work the arms (biceps and triceps), shoulders, legs, oblique abdominals … You don’t work on just one muscle, as happens when lifting weights, but on many at the same time.
The various muscles support each other in order to perform the position. If the parts of our body do not cooperate as if they were a unity, it would be impossible to realize them.
Doing yoga to gradually tone your muscles
It is clear that thanks to weightlifting we can increase muscle mass faster. However, the benefits that are obtained with yoga are many more than those of the apparatus exercises.
Thanks to yoga, the muscles are toned progressively, at the same time we improve balance and achieve greater inner peace.
Yoga can serve as a complement to weight training. If you just want to tone your body and gain more strength, this practice will be enough to achieve your goals.
The secret is to persevere and increase the difficulty of the positions over time. At first, you will not be able to adopt certain positions right away
Do you usually do yoga? Have you noticed any changes in your body after doing this discipline for a few months? It is recommended that you try this activity as it has a lot to offer.
