Why yoga builds muscle while preventing injuries

Ask a yoga instructor if their toned, muscular physique is from lifting weights.  Most likely they will laugh and say, “Sure, I lift my own body weight.” Yoga is primarily known for gaining flexibility, increasing circulation, improving posture or relieving tension and stress.  It does enhance all of those things but mounting research is showing yoga is good for gaining muscle strength and injury prevention. 

Yoga is a mind-body practice integrating physical postures, breathing techniques and meditation making you healthier in mind, body, and spirit.  It basically lets you tone up and chill out all at the same time.

What is now being recognized is that yoga has been shown to be effective at building muscle and treating chronic injuries (sciatica, herniated discs, hip imbalances, and plantar fasciitis) along with preventing injuries to begin with.   This is perfect for individuals who are limited on what they can do physically but need the benefit of improved muscle mass. Yoga is different from weight lifting as the only weight you will lift is yourself.  Using your own body weight as resistance has been found to increase muscle strength resulting in reduced risk of arthritis, improved back pain, and better stability during a fall. 

A 12-week observational study found significant increases in hand grip strength and back muscle strength when yoga is practiced regularly.  Having strength within the hand, forearm and wrist is important for activities such as lifting, holding, throwing, and catching.  Strong back muscles support the spine and maintain an upright position while sitting or standing.  When back muscles are weak, this can lead to lower back pain possibly resulting in an injury. 

One condition yoga can help with is sciatica which is pain radiating along the sciatic nerve which runs down one or both legs from the lower back.  It can develop from sitting for long periods at a time causing the gluteus muscle to become incredibly tight pinches the sciatic nerve.  When a person has an injury like sciatica, they will begin adopting new conscious or unconscious behaviors to adapt to the pain.  Studies have shown this only leads to repeated patterns hindering recovery time. 

This is where a yoga class will practice moves increasing the effectiveness of all muscle groups to help with individuals who have lost their ability to complete basic moves like squats, lunges, stepping, balancing and reaching.

There are several reasons yoga is a more balanced way to do strength training:

·      Yoga tones muscles all over your body, in balance with each other.  Weight training exercises typically isolate and flex one muscle or muscle group at a time.

·      Yoga relies on eccentric contraction, where the muscle stretches as it contracts, giving the muscles that sleek, elongated look while increasing flexibility in the muscles and joints.  Weight training relies on the opposite physical principle of concentric muscle contraction, which means the muscle gets smaller as it contracts.  Without proper stretching, the muscle fibers heal close together, giving the muscle that compact, bulging look.

·      Yoga increases muscle endurance because you typically hold any given pose for a period of time and repeat it several times during a yoga workout.

It is best to get a mix of both body-weight exercise like yoga and workouts with weights or resistance tools.  The more variety in your workout routine, the faster results you’ll see. 

As we age, if we don’t practice flexibility movements like yoga, stiffness and rigidity of the soft-tissue structures of the joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments will occur. This leads to physical complications such as pain, imbalances, and potential injuries.  Yoga puts the joints through a full range of motion increasing the flow of nutrients, oxygen, and blood to areas of cartilage not often used.  If these areas of cartilage are ignored, they eventually wear out and can result in chronic pain and arthritis.

There are no set guidelines on the frequency or duration of a yoga session.  Like with anything, the more it is practiced the more you benefit.