Just try to take a breath in and the breath out. Do you feel your body relax? Yoga is an old method that has been used for over 5,000 years and is known to offer several benefits for the body. Yoga is known to relieve stress, offer health benefits, and improve your strength and flexibility in all its diverse forms.
Well, yes, there are multiple benefits of bringing yoga into your daily routine, but the question is, should yoga be done before or after a workout? In this guide, we’ll take through this comprehensive guide about scheduling your yoga practice the right way.
Should I Do Yoga Before Or After A Workout?
The question is should you be doing yoga before or after a workout? As per the recommendation, it is suggested that you do yoga after doing a workout. Yoga after the workout is more beneficial because in this way you will be exercising a lot of those muscles that you will later be stretching in the yoga. Moreover, performing yoga after a workout session lets you recover quicker and better while bringing your heart rate back to the normal range. While this tends to be a very short answer to the question, there are other things that you should know about it.
Benefits of Yoga
Whether you decide to do yoga before or after your exercise, you will get the benefits in both cases. Several studies have shown that bringing yoga into your daily routine helps you get physical benefits like trunk extension, better joint flexion, and better oxygen uptake. Other than that, yoga also helps you reduce weight and achieve your weight goals.
Since some yoga positions also include full body rotations, these can help improve the body’s versatility and reduce the risk of muscle spasms or cramps in exercising or weight training. Another thing that yoga can significantly help you with is your body’s detoxification. Yoga is a combination of different postures, breathing, and purification techniques, that help the body detoxify by removing toxins from the body. Finally, yoga improves the flow of blood to the body’s essential organs, removing toxins via the breath and cleaning the respiratory system, nasal passage, and even so the digestive tract. So, here are some of the benefits of bringing yoga into your daily life.
- Improving balance
- Improving strength
- Helping reduce back pain
- Easing arthritis
- Improving flexibility
- Reducing inflammation
- Improving your sleep
- Improving the health of the heart
- Helping relieve stress and relax
- Improving your mood and fitness
- Promoting better self-care and connecting you to the community
Why You Should Not Do Yoga Before Exercise?
While you have a little insight into why you should do yoga after a workout, you still may be wondering why you shouldn’t do it before exercising. Here are a few reasons you should avoid yoga before a workout.
Many studies have concluded that pre-workout yoga or stretches do not offer much help because this normally includes stretching. Contrary to what is often believed to be true, yoga before a workout will not help you prevent injury, reduce soreness of muscles after the workout, or improve performance. Alternatively, stretching before the workout can actually weaken your performance. If you’re doing a yoga session before that includes static stretching, it can temporarily reduce your muscle strength, which can, in turn, affect your muscles in the actual workout. Even holding the static stretch for 45 seconds before the workout can affect the muscles.
Why You Should Do Yoga After Exercise?
After a workout, the idea behind yoga is that it helps your body get the time needed to recover. Stopping your workout abruptly and going ahead with the day won’t give you the mental and physical time to process the work. Here are a few benefits of yoga after exercise.
1. Your Muscles Get the Stretch They Need
Regardless of the type of workout you’re doing, your muscles will be going through a lot of stress. Since it takes time for them to stretch, you may wake up with sore muscles in the morning. With yoga, you easily stretch those stressed muscles and bring them the relief they need.
2. Your Heart Rate Slows Naturally
One other benefit of doing yoga post-workout is that it brings your heart rate down naturally, which offers greater health benefits in the long run.
3. Relieves Symptoms of Arthritis
Many people around the world suffer from arthritis, but it doesn’t stop them from working out. While specific exercises may worsen some arthritis symptoms, yoga is a great way to relieve swollen and tender joints after a vigorous workout. The right yoga exercises can therefore help relieve symptoms of arthritis.
4. Helps the Back Get Some Relief
Many people who work out regularly often complain about back pain. Yoga can be a great way to relieve this by being the end tail end of your workout routine. Many physicians recommend yoga as an effective method to relieve mild and even severe back pain.
5. Gives More Balance and Strength
Workouts can be tiring and may also raise your blood pressure resulting in dizziness at some points. This may result in a sudden loss of balance. Yoga after a workout will help you maintain your balance by improving the blood flow to your body and reducing the overall time of recovery.
6. Helps with Better Sleep
Since a workout can be tiring for your body, it often doesn’t lead to a good night’s sleep. This is mainly because you need to bring your blood pressure and heart rate back to normal to get a good sleep. Yoga can help you achieve this by centering your mind, calming you down, and preparing you for a good and relaxed night’s sleep.
7. Sets Your Mood
It comes as no surprise that a workout can be draining for your body and wear it out. It can therefore drain your energy. Yoga post-workout will help you regain energy and set up your mood. Yoga at the end of the workout will give you the boost you need to go ahead with your day.
What’s the Best; Yoga Before or After a Workout?
While it is believed that the best time to do yoga is after a workout, it tends to have some benefits when done before. Sometimes it is often used as a warm-up routine before a workout session. Yoga before or after? Here’s what you should know.
Yoga Before A Workout
While yoga is often practiced as a stand-alone exercise, it is also used as a pre-workout activity. Yoga is sometimes used as a warm-up before the actual workout to get your blood flowing. Try a gentle vinyasa flow or some rounds of sun salutations if you want to get the best out of yoga before a workout. Before a workout, dynamic stretches in yoga can help warm up your muscles and prepare them for the workout you’re planning.
Benefits of Pre-workout Yoga
So, yes, yoga before a workout can be beneficial in preparing you for the workout ahead. Sometimes, it can also be useful before certain training or sports sessions that require greater flexibility. So, it’s completely okay to do yoga before if you need more flexibility or if you want to prepare your muscles for a workout.
Yoga as a Warm-up for Some Exercises
Some exercises require a good warm-up exercise session before starting. Many people use yoga to prepare the muscles to run for the workout to follow. Pre-yoga workouts in such a case can help the body be warm and balanced before starting. Not only will your exercise be pleasant, but you’re also less likely to get an injury.
What Is The Best Type Of Yoga For Me?
There are multiple yoga styles, so you have multiple options to choose from. What will be the best yoga for you? Here are several different types of yoga.
For Starters
As a starter for yoga, you may want to look for level 1 or introductory yoga classes either in a studio or on YouTube.
For Those Who Suffer from Injuries
If you suffer from injury, try Lyengar yoga which focuses on aligning the body’s muscles and bones. This can also help you in achieving the correct yoga postures while reducing the risk of injury.
If You Like to Go Relaxed and Slow
Restorative yoga or Yin is a great option if you like relaxed and slow yoga. These practices include holding relaxing postures for around 30 seconds to 3 minutes and giving you relaxation and peace.
One That Fits Every Level
Hatha Yoga is a great choice if you want a “one size that fits all yoga.” This covers most yoga postures, hence is a little more active than the basic yoga class.
For those Preferring an Athletic Approach
If you like challenging yourself, the Vinyasa class is great for you. This often includes sun salutations A and B as the main ones.
For Those Who Want to Get Sweaty
Bikram studio yoga includes 26 postures performed in a room that is usually heated up to 105 degrees. This has strength, cardio, and flexibility, and so is quite intense, hence suitable for those who like sweat.
Sweat without Bikram Yoga’s Bootcamp Style
For this, the best option will be a “hot yoga” class. This takes place in a heated room. Again, this is pretty athletic and allows flexibility and flow to adjust the difficulty level.
If Your Focus is Mantra and Meditation
If your yoga focuses on mantra and meditation, you should opt for Kundalini, which includes singing, chanting, meditation, and verbal mantra.
Verdict
What’s important is whatever makes you feel better and suits you best. The purpose of exercise and yoga is to relax your mind and body, so whatever helps you achieve that, it’s the best for you, regardless of what science says. The key to achieving the best out of your yoga is to do them in the appropriate order. In most cases, that would mean a yoga session after a workout!.
FAQ
Should I do Yoga or Exercise?
Well, yes. You should be doing both exercise and yoga. Bringing these activities into your daily routine will help you in muscle building, get lean, and boost your mental and physical health.
Is it okay to do yoga before a workout?
While yoga is often performed as a stand-alone method to relax and stretch the muscles after intense training, a few yoga stretches before a workout can get your blood flowing and warm up your body.
Can I do yoga and work out together?
Yes, you can do workouts and yoga together but yoga should always be after the workout and never before. If you plan to do yoga before, you should have a gap of a few hours between the sessions.
What is the best time to do yoga and exercise?
It is recommended that the best time for yoga and exercise is in the early morning hours. You should be doing yoga as you start your day, or in the early evening.
Should I do yoga before or after jogging?
A yoga stretch is best when it is done after you’re done with your workout. In this way, you can target every area you’ve just used and stretch those muscles you just exercised.
Are 20 minutes of yoga a day enough?
Yes, 20 minutes of yoga is more than enough to reap all the benefits of good yoga. A study has shown that 700 people had found as little as only 12 minutes of yoga daily to be beneficial in improving bone health. Another study had shown that 20 minutes yoga session can improve working memory and focus.
Can yoga change your body shape?
Yes. Yoga can change your body shape by making it look lean. This is because yoga can help increase the body’s fat loss, develop muscle tone, and help build flexibility.
John Davis is a passionate content writer with a knack for crafting engaging narratives across various subjects. With a keen eye for detail and a love for storytelling, John brings ideas to life through the power of words. His dedication to delivering high-quality and informative content has made him a trusted voice in the digital realm. When he’s not at his desk, you’ll find John exploring new hobbies and seeking inspiration in the world around him.
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