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Weight Lifting for Yoga

It’s always the other way around, right?

Yoga for weight lifting…

Yoga for CrossFit…

Yoga for this and that…

But what helps yoga?

Many would argue that yoga is a complete, full-body, strength-building workout. Just do yoga, they say, and you’ll be covered. No need to lift heavy things…you’ll mess up your back. No need to run…that’s bad for you anyways. No need to do pull-ups…you’ll mess up your shoulders. Just yoga. Work with your body weight. That’s enough. Get your cardio via Power Yoga or Vinyasa flow. That’s enough.

This mentality, in my opinion, kind of makes yoga sound stuck up, as it puts yoga above the rest. No doubt about it, yoga is an amazing physical journey! And also, it does take it a step further with all that mind and spirit stuff, which may or may not be of interest.

But to say that yoga is a complete workout is a bit inaccurate. Let me give one quick example. Can you think of any pulling movements in yoga? Think hard. Let me save you some time going through the asana archives and tell you: there’s not one pulling movement in yoga. As such, the lats and biceps are straight chillin’. It doesn’t matter how many yoga pushups you do. It doesn’t matter if you can walk on your hands. There’s some strength-building limitations of yoga. If you’re a yogi and only a yogi, go try a pull-up or a chin-up. You’ll see what I mean.

Oh and let’s consider strength. How do you build strength? Well, there’s 3 ways to boost your bulk.

First, you can increase time under tension. So in yoga, this would mean holding the pose longer. Okay, you can do that. But there’s going to be a point where holding that plank seems like a waste of time. Time under tension isn’t the optimal way to build strength. Let’s just put it that way.

Second, you can increase the load. In yoga, all you have to work with is your body weight. So, here again, yoga is limited in its strength-building abilities. You’ll reach a plateau.

Third, you can train your muscles by increasing the range of motion (ROM) under tension. You might be thinking that yoga increases range of motion. That is true. Yoga is good for flexibility. But again, it’s limited as a strength builder because you’re only working with your body weight. You have to continue adding additional weight on top of your body weight for more strength.

So, what’s the strength-building solution if you’re a yogi? If strength is truly your goal, I say incorporate some basic weight lifting into your Greenville gym routine: squats, dead lifts, overhead presses, bench press, and barbell rows. You’ll, for sure, see increased leg, glute and upper strength, all of which will support a stronger yoga practice. Upper body strength will upgrade your inversions and arm balances. More leg strength will upgrade your backbends. Weighted squats will increase your hip mobility for deep hip openers. And so on…

Want to start weightlifting at the Greenville health club? Enter our state of the art gym facility! Greenville athletic club has all the strength-building bells and whistles you could possibly need to start a weight lifting program, including trained experts to help you along the way. But if yoga is still your bottom line…we do offer lots of Greenville yoga classes to choose from, too! To each is own. You do you.

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5 Reasons to Take Advantage of Greenville Gym’s Ladies Only Area

For some women, the last place they want to be is a gym full of showy men pumping iron. If you don’t want testosterone distractions interrupting your flow, enjoy the privacy of our ladies only gym, a 4,000 square foot beautifully appointed and fully equipped facility.

Designed with women in mind, this space features a 1,500 square foot group fitness area, separate strength and cardio equipment and spaces, and all of the gym essentials you could possibly desire.

Here’s 5 advantages of working out in Greenville’s ladies gym:

  1. Relaxed Atmosphere. No pressure here. No need to impress. Just do you.
  2. Limited Distractions. Better achieve your health objectives. Minimize distractions. Maximize results.
  3. Increased Comfortability. Sometimes it can be daunting to work out in a male-dominated realm. Insecurities bubble to the surface and all you want to do is walk out the door. This fem-friendly space makes working out feel more comfortable and less intimidating.
  4. VIP Attention. This beautiful space comes complete with a separate ladies service staff. You will love all of the VIP attention.
  5. Connection. Make new female connections with like-minded women.

Greenville Gym offers only the best in terms of cardiovascular and strength training equipment. Enjoy state-of-the art cardio machines, including treadmills, ellipticals, arc trainers, recumbent and upright bikes, and much more! Take advantage of top-of-the line strength training equipment, including circuit training equipment, functional training equipment, and free weights. Our ladies only area has it all!

What’s more, Greenville health club also boasts a full schedule of Group Fitness Classes, including Pilates and yoga. Click here for more information about the Greenville sports club Group Fitness Classes.

Plus, Greenville athletic club offers personal training sessions designed specifically to align with your training needs or objectives. Click here to learn more about our personal training services. 

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