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15 Reasons to Do Greenville Yoga

If you haven’t tried yoga at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville sports club, maybe it’s time to get on that.

Here’s why:

  1. Feel the yoga high. Do yoga, and you’ll just feel better, lighter, and happier. It’s an awesome de-stressor and a great way to work through and purge all of the things that aren’t serving you.
  2. Boost your energy. Looking for a natural energy boost? Feeling sluggish? Many yoga poses – especially backbends – have the power to increase your energy levels.
  3. Insomnia no more. One of the benefits of yoga is better, deeper sleep. Many of the more restorative postures promote relaxation, allowing sleep to come with greater ease (for example, Legs-Up-the-Wall pose).
  4. Get in the zone. Trying to sharpen your concentration? Yoga is the ultimate practice to focus your mind and get ready for whatever is ahead.
  5. Stay regular. Yoga will keep you on track, especially if you have an inversion practice.
  6. Beat the blues. Yoga has the power to soften mild depression (inversions are especially effective).
  7. Strengthen + sculpt. Yoga is the way to strength! With a regular practice, you can expect to target and tone ALL of the muscles of your body. Plus, you’ll cultivate core strength like never before!
  8. Harmonize. Harmonize the physical body by addressing imbalances or asymmetries. Harmonize the mental body by letting go of bad thoughts/emotional baggage, making space to receive more lightness and joy.
  9. Tune out, drop in. We live in a world of heightened noise, distraction, and stimulation. Yoga is an opportunity to tune out all of that and drop into a place of more stillness and serenity.
  10. Keep sickness at bay. A Greenville gym yoga class a day helps keep the doctor away.
  11. Stay healthy. A daily yoga practice decreases blood pressure, lowers your pulse rate, and improves blood circulation.
  12. Breathe easy. With its emphasis on the breath, yoga helps you to breathe deeper and more consciously, bringing more vitality, energy, and health for the whole body. Plus, learning to breathe will help you in other physical endeavors at the Greenville athletic club. Steadiness of the breath = steadiness of the mind = steadiness of the body.
  13. Detox. A crazy, sweaty Greenville yoga class is a sure way to burn off toxic build-ups in the physical body (and mental body!). Twists are especially detoxifying.
  14. Loosen up. Neglecting to stretch is a big no-no. To counter the stress and strain you are putting on your body during your Greenville health club workouts, do some yoga to loosen up and stay limber.
  15. Stay young. Many poses in the practice are thought to delay (even reverse!) the aging process. What’s more, yoga keeps your spine young. Most of us as we age, neglect the spine and it begins to lose its natural flexibility and range of motion. Yoga ensures that you keep movin’ and groovin’ with ease.

Convinced? You should be.

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10 Yoga Poses for IT Band Problems & Pains

If you’ve been doing a substantial amount of heavy and intense running, deadlifts, squats, or cycling at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym and feel some lateral knee pain, your IT band(s) may need some serious TLC.

Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) is a frequent injury to the knee that is most often associated with running, cycling, hiking, or weight-lifting (especially squats). This pain usually presents as a stinging sensation just above the knee and can persist during and after activity. No good.

IT band problems and pain usually result from poor training habits, body abnormalities or alignment issues in the legs and feet, and/or muscle imbalances. Foam rolling, RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation), massage, and proper footwear, are all great methods to relieve and prevent IT band problems and pain. But wait…there’s yet another way to rescue your IT bands.

Yoga!

If you’re a gym-enthusiast, athlete, or runner with IT band problems you will definitely benefit from the following yoga poses – poses that you should definitely incorporate into your warm-up and/or cool down routines at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. Some of these poses are more accessible than others. Just play around with them mindfully to see which ones work for you, following the instruction of these yoga videos. Remember: Never force yourself into a pose. Never! Approach each pose consciously and gently.

All of these poses may be practiced pre-workout or post-workout at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym.

  1. Cow-Face Pose
  2. Pigeon Pose
  3. Double Pigeon Pose
  4. Revolved Triangle
  5. Half Lord of the Fishes Twist
  6. Reclining Twists
  7. Low Lunge
  8. Low Lunge With Twist
  9. Squat (Garland Pose)
  10. Dancer Pose

Practice yoga to prevent IT band issues from arising or to find relief from a current case of ITBS. Correct abnormalities and misalignments in the body. Boost your strength to correct muscle imbalances.

If you want to dive even deeper into a yoga practice, keep in mind that we offer yoga classes at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

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Yoga to Increase Thoracic Extension

If you do a lot of overhead pressing, snatches, squatting, and exercises that require really good thoracic extension, this post is for you.

The thoracic region of your spine is the mid region of the spine. For many people, there is a rounding of this region, otherwise known as kyphosis of the thoracic spine. In order to retain good form and boost your overhead pressing, snatching, and squatting performance, it is important to create and increase extension of the thoracic spine and correct any flexion or rounding that might be going on.

What do you gotta do to create better thoracic extension?

Yoga.

Yoga supports thoracic extension and allows you to do more overhead pressing, snatching, and squatting in your workouts at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. One pose, in particular, is highly effective in lengthening the thoracic spine. That pose is called Downward Facing Dog.

Downward Facing Dog stretches the muscles below your pelvis. It stretches the backs of the legs, which if tight, can create a posterior pelvic tilt. A posterior pelvic tilt can create flexion (rounding) of the entire spine. Go ahead and try it. Tuck your butt or tailbone and you’ll feel your entire spine flex or round. This is not good. You want to ensure and promote the natural curvature of the spine in all of your actions, especially when you are working out at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym.

Let’s try out this pose. Come to all fours, creating a tabletop position. Press the palms firmly into the ground. Wrists will be directly under the shoulders. Knees will be directly under the hips. Palms are shoulders distance apart. Knees are hips distance apart. Now, raise your trunk from the floor sending your hips to the sky. Press the heels down. The feet should be parallel to each other with the toes pointing toward your head. Roll the shoulders onto the back to create space between the ears and shoulders. Extend the arms strong. Let the heart melt toward the earth. Relax the head and neck. Notice how the positioning of the arms is exactly the form you want to have when doing an overhead press or snatch.

Donward Facing Dog

You can also practice Downward Facing Dog with the assistance of a wall. Put your hands on the wall (like you’re getting arrested). Then, drop your body down through your arms. Slowly start to reach your arms up higher, all the while pushing your chest down through your arms. You’ll feel a sweet release in your thoracic spine.

Practice this pose pre-workout or post-workout when you are at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. Hold it for 10 long, deep breaths. It is an awesome way to correct that rounding of the spine, open your shoulders, and expand your chest. Boost your overhead strength and get down with some Downward Facing Dog.

Photo Credit: Downward Facing Dog via yogaxtc.com

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10 Yoga Poses for Core Strength

The holidays have this sneaky way of adding excess adipose tissue to the belly region. All of the various seductive sweets really start stacking up after heavy, regular indulgence. That’s why it is incredibly important to stick to structure and pledge to discipline. Sure, this is the time of the year to be merry – to party, to indulge, and to unwind. Yet, you don’t have to completely lose yourself and stall (even backslide) on your fitness progress. If you want to maintain your current core strength and continue advancing, you must hit up the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym regularly and vigorously.

There are several yoga poses that, if practiced regularly, will keep your core strong, solid and toned. These poses are highly accessible and work all muscles of the core. Most core exercises only target the superficial muscles of the stomach (the 6-pack abs). These exercises, rather, target all layers – even the deepest layer – of your core. These deeper muscles are very important for balance.

Incorporate the following core yoga poses into your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym routine at least 3 times per week for results.

Plank Pose

  1. Plank Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  2. Down Dog (Hold 2 minutes)
  3. Dolphin Plank Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  4. Dolphin Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  5. Boat Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  6. Half Boat Pose (Hold 1 to 2 minutes)
  7. Side Plank (Hold 1 to 2 minutes each side)
  8. Forearm Side Plank (Hold 1 to 2 minutes each side)
  9. Chaturanga (4-limbed Pose) Push Ups (5 to 10 repeats)
  10. Cat/Cow Exercises – Massage the internal organs of the belly and experience a sweet release in your spine. Do as many as you wish!

A fit core will support you in many ways. Yes, you’ll look good in a bikini. That’s not the only bonus, though. A fit core prevents lower pack pain and injury. A powerful core supports balance and allows you to exercise with less effort and more ease. A strong core cultivates stronger and more confident posture. Knowing this should definitely inspire you to give your center of gravity some extra attention.

A strong core is very empowering, creating outer and inner strength. To sculpt and strengthen your center, mix in a bit of yoga in your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym routine.

Photo Credit: Image via Denice Lindell

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8 Simple & Strengthening Yoga Poses for Gym Enthusiasts

Amidst your strenuous workout routine at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym, you probably don’t feel like you have adequate time and energy to get in that yoga or Pilates class that you have been pondering. That’s cool. I feel you. We can’t do it all. The good news: You don’t have to get in a full-blown yoga class to reap the powerful benefits of a yoga practice. Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym does, however, offer yoga and Pilates in the mind and body room. So, if a full-blown class is what your heart desires, we’ve got you covered. If not, get wild with this handful of highly accessible, total-body strengthening, and core-enhancing yoga poses while you’re working it at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

  1. High Plank
  2. Low Plank (Plank on forearms)
  3. Side Plank (Each side on forearm or arm extended)
  4. Downward Facing Dog (To amplify Down Dog, try bending your elbows at about 45 degrees so that they are hovering right above the ground)
  5. Dolphin (Downward Dog on forearms with option for Dolphin push-ups)
  6. Crescent Lunge (Each side)
  7. Boat Pose
  8. Bridge Pose

You can sprinkle these poses into your circuit-training regimen or practice them as a sequence post-workout. Hold each pose for 30 seconds to one minute. If you find this too easy, set your timer for 2 minutes per pose. The more the merrier. Also, after you have practiced these very fortifying postures, it’s nice to enjoy a few restorative poses to relax, cool down, and reboot the system. Try Child’s Pose and/or Butterfly Pose to experience a juicy stretch and release.

See that? Your Greenville yoga doesn’t have to be so hard to get in. Just hop on an exercise mat post sweat session, cycle through a few poses, and there you have it. Boom. Yoga made easy for Greenville gym going enthusiasts!

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Even More Benefits of Yoga

Last week we discussed physical and mental benefits of yoga. You might think that covers the spectrum, but it’s really just the beginning. This form of exercise offers psychosomatic improvements that are linked by body and mind.

Physical + Mental Benefits

In yoga, unlike many other forms of athletics, there’s no reward for overexertion. And there’s no competitive element to this form of exercise. This decreases risk of injury and helps you understand when your body needs to rest so that you aren’t pressuring yourself to achieve more beyond your means.

Additionally, yoga classes are typically relegated to hour-plus blocks so that you go through the proper distribution of time from warming up to cooling down. With instructor-led courses, you don’t have to worry about your form or what series of poses to perform to make the most of your workout. Your knowledgeable trainer will correct your posture and help you improve each time you meet, while coaching you through a series of exercises at your level of performance. There’s also an element of group support and understanding in a classroom, so even though you concentrate mostly on yourself during classes, there’s a very social element. But there are also relaxation and concentration benefits to practicing yoga at home by yourself once you’ve mastered the techniques.

Other Benefits

Did you know that yoga can also help you fall and stay asleep? If you’re suffering from sleep disorders, yoga might do the trick to help you channel and calm your energy before bed to conquer some of those insomniac tendencies. Another byproduct of yoga is that it improves your balance, flexibility and posture. This not only refers to external balance, but also internal balance – ranging from a smoothly operating immune system to a stable metabolism. It also gives you a greater general awareness of your entire body, which can help you control your weight, notice physical changes and manage your overall health.

We hope you enjoyed reading all about yoga over the past few weeks! If you have any additional questions about how it can improve your body and mind, contact a Pivotal Fitness Greenville yoga instructor for tips, info and, of course, a class schedule.

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Health Benefits of Pivotal Fitness Greenville Yoga

As discussed last week, a diverse cross-section of gym-goers are working yoga workouts into their routines – and falling in love with it – each month. And don’t worry about filling up our classes, because we’re happy to add more as demand increases. We try to spread them out at different intervals and different times a day – such as Sunrise Yoga – to target all the different participants who might be interested.

Last time we talked about some of the reasons that yoga is gaining popularity and even provided an overview of how it can improve your health. This and next week, we want to expand on that theme by discussing some of the top ways that yoga can benefit your well-being in areas you might never have anticipated.

Physical Benefits

Yoga is extremely beneficial to the human heart. It helps slow your pulse and reduces blood pressure. It also decreases bad cholesterol while improving good cholesterol. From there, it actually improves blood circulation through the body. In the pursuit of controlling your heart rate, you also learn to control your breathing, which is ideal for respiratory ailments. With calm, balanced breathing, you have a calibrated amount of oxygen deposited into your body and bloodstream. This also has a calming effect – both in terms of your emotional state and in terms of getting your body to relax and open up.

The motions and poses help you stretch and condition muscles all throughout your body, making yoga a comprehensive exercise plan. As you tone your body, you also gain strength and learn how to apply that strength in everyday activities, from loading groceries to picking up your pet. You also learn to identify your muscle groups and then use them in harmony, whether you’re taking a scenic stroll or heading into the gym to complete further workouts.

Mental Benefits

Yoga is peaceful and meditative in nature, and can put you more in tune with your needs and desires. It can help you focus and redirect your thoughts into positive channels. This can ameliorate depression and reduce anxiety. Yoga instructors often talk about self-actualization as you turn your thoughts inward for self-exploration and recognition. This can help you build self-awareness first, followed by self-esteem. Both because of this dedicated “me time” and due to endorphins released while you move, you’re likely to leave class in an elevated mood, which stays with you well past the end of your Greenville yoga session.

Believe it or not, next week we investigate even more benefits of yoga! Don’t miss it.

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Yoga for Kids

Pivotal Fitness is family friendly gym in Greenville. Your kids are welcome in the KidZONE where they can take part in fitness activities designed just for kids. What is more, the lessons and classes in which you partake at Pivotal Fitness’ Greenville health club can also be taken home to benefit your family members. After learning more advanced training and positions in one of our ongoing group exercise yoga classes, you can tailor techniques to share with your kids.

Yoga breathing alone can help center your children and calm them in times of stress. Teaching your kids to focus and meditate is a great way to help them learn self-discipline and about how the mind and body interact. They can also learn about philosophy and compassion.

Yoga is also a wonderful way to introduce more physical activity into your child’s daily habits. Teaching him or her about exercise and nutrition is made easier when you sit down and explore yoga methodology as an easy example–and perform it by their side.

Bringing home your lessons is an excellent way for you to bond and spend time with your kids—while still practicing your hobby and doing something that you enjoy. If it’s something that they come to love, you can always bring them to the Kid’s Yoga Class offered in the KidsZONE.

Please note that Pivotal Fitness Greenville does not endorse that our adult yoga lessons are in any way intended for children; please use your own discretion when bringing home the many benefits of yoga. Please remember warming up and stretching are important best practices whenever you practice even the mildest forms of yoga, especially to set a good example for young kids.

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