Strength isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when people think of yoga. However it is a common misconception that yoga cannot make you stronger, and improve your muscle tone.
When we repeat a motion, whether it's a Chaturanga or a Warrior II, our muscles become increasingly fatigued, allowing them to recover and grow stronger. We are in effect “weight training” as we support our own body weight in gravity.
Additionally, each yoga pose can be adjusted in a variety of ways to make it easier or more difficult. As yogis gain power, it's simple to find more challenging and difficult progressions that will enable us to keep growing.
In this way, yoga can be a great form of functional strength training. Meaning building strength in the whole body so that it can perform daily activities in the real world, not just lifting a certain amount of weight.
How can I get stronger with yoga?
Repetition
The more dynamic styles of yoga such as Vinyasa and Ashtanga can be fantastic for building strength due to the repetition of Sun Salutations and other vinyasas, fatiguing your muscles and challenging them to grow.
As the body gets used to the repetition, you can look at adapting your practice to make it feel stimulating again.
Why not try incorporating explosive actions, like jumping from Downward Facing Dog to the front of the mat?
Holding Poses for Longer
Holding standing poses such as the Warrior Poses and Triangle Pose is great for strengthening the leg muscles, and in balance poses such as Tree Pose, one leg has to hold up your entire body, so you’re increasing your strength just by putting your weight on that leg.
Holding a Plank or Boat Pose are fantastic for strengthening the core muscles in your abdomen and lower back. Likewise, poses such as Dolphin and Downward Dog rely on your arms and shoulders to help support your body weight, and will prove challenging when held for longer.
Progression
As you feel your strength improving, try adapting your practice to use progressively harder variations of each posture to help you continue to grow.
Challenging arm balances and inversion poses are very effective for building muscle strength, because they utilise groups of smaller muscles to help stabilise you and support the body’s weight during the pose.
Be experimental and creative about how you approach your practice!
Recovery
Remember to show yourself some love after working your body hard with a strength-focused flow. Take some time to cool-down with Yin and Restorative poses, to open up your joints and stretch the muscles. Maybe a hot bath and some rest will be beneficial too.
P.S. If you have any tips or reflections to share with your fellow yogis on how yoga has made you feel stronger, then please do comment on this article, we would love to hear from you!
Written by Matt Cresswell and published on Monday 26th April 2021 at 12:00
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