Why Yoga Part 3 of 4: Intense Workout
July 9, 2009 by dr. lam · 12 Comments
I remember bringing a very fit friend of mine to yoga for the first time who is a self-proclaimed fitness fanatic. She said, “I hope this is real cardio.” I said, “Well, let’s see.” She finished the entire 1.5 hours (better than I did the first time) and said, “Wow, that was a workout.” Another friend that I brought (who is also intensely fit) declared, “This routine should be designed for only the military.” I brought another friend from Austin on Monday night who posted on her Facebook that she believes all other forms of yoga are for sissies after she tried the yoga I attend. Now, not all yoga is the same. I believe that some light stretching exercises can be good for some, but I crave intensity. I want it to tone my body, strengthen my muscles in ways that cardio and weights cannot accomplish, i.e., longer, leaner isometrically-toned body. I want a challenge for my cardio workout and also for testing me to advance in my poses.
The yoga that I attend is Suze Curtis’ Power Dynamic Yoga Plus (as if the word power was not enough she needed all the adjectives she could muster to differentiate this workout) in Addison, Texas. It is an hour and a half to 2 hours in 92 degree heated room. Trust me that this can be worse than Bikram because of the intensity of the constant flow of her movements and poses. It is intensely difficult. I love the challenge of trying to improve, a practice that I know will require years of effort to perfect.
Emina asked me if I was so fit why couldn’t I hold my poses so long, which after 4 months I am getting much better at it. I returned to her that if I took her to a spin class and had her go through 2 straight hours with me that it would not be easy for her. Our body gets used to certain prescribed movements and our heart gets lazy by focusing on the same redundant routines. What is great with yoga is that the routine constantly changes and there is such a huge room for advancing in your poses. I am at the bottom of the barrel for level 1 right now but love the idea that I can advance to level 2 someday and 3, etc. Given these constraints, I still believe very much that intense high-speed cardio (I do step and spin) are great ways to challenge your body in other ways like weights and swimming (both of which I do too). Whenever we get too comfortable in life, we should shake it up a bit. Yoga does that. Well, that is something I am concluding with as a subject tomorrow.