A lot of people have started using yoga for weight loss (which is a great natural workout) but have been misinformed about parts of it. The concept of using 'hot yoga for weight loss' actually means using a style such as Ashtanga or Bikram yoga for weight loss. Instead of practicing in a slow relaxed attitude with slow poses and plenty of rests in between (which can still help lose weight) using 'hot yoga' involves practicing in a heated room or working hard to work up your own sweat.
It's not the kind of thing people normally think when yoga comes to mind, but then again neither is yoga for weight loss really. It's much more of a workout than you'd expect looking at your usual yoga class but if you think about it, that's really what you want so you can increase your heart rate and burn some calories. Why stop at some - burn lots of calories!
Yoga for weight loss is so flexibile and there are loads of ways to practice. You can go for 'hot yoga' or perhaps start of with a basic class to get the techniques right first. Its completly possible to practice the basics and even start losing weight with yoga completly from home. All you really need is an internet connection and enough space on the floor. When it comes to using hot yoga for weight loss - you can even blast your heating up for a while and get a similar effect.
I usually portray the benefits of using yoga for weight loss is being able to practice from home. This is because a lot of the time people are self concious about working out in front of other people (and hot yoga especially is usually practicied in little clothing). But, perhaps after you've had a little practice, using yoga for weight loss is a great way to meet people and keep eachother motivated, which can be the hardest part of working out.
Don't be fooled by the general view of yoga - it's a work out. And 'hot' or Ashtanga/Bikram yoga espcially. You want to do it as often as possible and hold those poses. Combine that with with a healthy balanced diet and perhaps another excerise (depending on how much yoga practice you are doing) and you have a great way to use hot yoga for weight loss.
Sunday 23 January 2011
Learning Yoga for Weight Loss
With so many benefits to learning yoga it's no surprise more and more people are joining classes and many of them are looking to learn how to use yoga for weight loss. Now before you laugh at this think it through. Yoga is actually much harder than it looks and the tougher styles (such as bikram and ashtanga yoga) you certainly work up a heart rate.
So all you need to do is up this workout from the usual relaxing yoga and get yourself a healthy diet. Now, don't fool yourself, using yoga for weight loss is not an overnight way to reach your ideal weight - this does simply not exist. What it is, is a way to lose weight while working out and gain a lot of the great additional benefits that yoga has to give. It can be combined with your usual workout (or a new one if you're just getting started) or, if you push hard enough, it can be done alone.
The great thing about learning yoga for weight loss is the flexibility it gives you in practicing (no pun intended). You can practice at home, in the park or in a class. A class is a good place to start but there's really nothing to stop you learning at home from a yoga for weight loss DvD. The great thing is about practicing in a group is you can meet a lot of people wil similar interests, but you can always start going once you are comfortable practicing on your own.
So once you get the basics of yoga down how do you learn how to use yoga for weight loss? Simple. Do it more often, reduce the breaks in between and hold those poses longer. It's that simple. If you want you can change from an average yoga style to something like Ashtanga yoga (which is harder work and works up a sweat) or bikram yoga (which is more advanced and takes place is a heated room).
If done properly you might be very surprised at how quickly you'll see the results but (like any weight loss) you get out of it exactly what you put in. So go grab a yoga mat and get started with yoga for weight loss!
So all you need to do is up this workout from the usual relaxing yoga and get yourself a healthy diet. Now, don't fool yourself, using yoga for weight loss is not an overnight way to reach your ideal weight - this does simply not exist. What it is, is a way to lose weight while working out and gain a lot of the great additional benefits that yoga has to give. It can be combined with your usual workout (or a new one if you're just getting started) or, if you push hard enough, it can be done alone.
The great thing about learning yoga for weight loss is the flexibility it gives you in practicing (no pun intended). You can practice at home, in the park or in a class. A class is a good place to start but there's really nothing to stop you learning at home from a yoga for weight loss DvD. The great thing is about practicing in a group is you can meet a lot of people wil similar interests, but you can always start going once you are comfortable practicing on your own.
So once you get the basics of yoga down how do you learn how to use yoga for weight loss? Simple. Do it more often, reduce the breaks in between and hold those poses longer. It's that simple. If you want you can change from an average yoga style to something like Ashtanga yoga (which is harder work and works up a sweat) or bikram yoga (which is more advanced and takes place is a heated room).
If done properly you might be very surprised at how quickly you'll see the results but (like any weight loss) you get out of it exactly what you put in. So go grab a yoga mat and get started with yoga for weight loss!
Learning Yoga for Weight Loss
There has been such a growth in yoga over the last few years and it's really not surprising when you consider the benefits - but it's driven a lot of people to ask if they can use yoga for weight loss. When I first heard this in my local yoga class I laughed - but I had to admit I was interested so I started to do some reading. It turns out it's huge and made me wish I'd known about it sooner.
Warning: Using weight loss requires a lot of work and healthy eating! It IS an amazing way to lose weight but this is NOT a rubbish 'lose weight quick' junk idea trying to rip people off. There really is no magic button which does everything you want over night. If you want to lose weight you'll want to work for it and this is by far the best way to do that. Using yoga for weight loss allows you to learn while gaining all of the additional benefits of yoga plus it's a fun and enjoyable method of weight loss.
Now, if you've practiced yoga before you'll know this, yoga can be a workout. It can be a terrific workout. Especially if you practice something something like Bikram or Ashtanga yoga - you really leave exhasusted. I think the media has given a very poor view of how hard yoga can actually be but you learn soon enough.
Yoga has a lot of great benefits. It's a great way to improve overall health and can be practiced at home or in groups (or both of course). Practicing yoga at a normal rate can indeed lose you weight, an average bikram session will burn around 500 calories, but it's when you start stepping it up and properly using yoga for weight loss that you'll see results. Yoga can be combined with something else like a regular cardio working out cycling (just for example) or you can do it on it's own, it's more than enough.
The basic procedure for most yoga class members is to go once or twice a month, perhaps once a week if they're trying. In order to use yoga for weight loss you need to increase this number to several times a week. If you can't always make it to the class this often then, not to worry, just make yourself enough space at home and maybe pick up a yoga mat for a few bucks.
Now that you're practicing yoga more often there's only one step left, hold those poses longer! Easy you might think if you've never been to a yoga class before - oh crap you're thinking if you have. Poses can be easy to learn and get into but holding it is where the workout 'burn' comes in. However long your trainer wants you to hold that pose, double it. When everyone else is slacking off and having that long rest you keep going and switch right into the next one. As with any weight loss, to use yoga for weight loss you need to get that heart rate up!
Warning: Using weight loss requires a lot of work and healthy eating! It IS an amazing way to lose weight but this is NOT a rubbish 'lose weight quick' junk idea trying to rip people off. There really is no magic button which does everything you want over night. If you want to lose weight you'll want to work for it and this is by far the best way to do that. Using yoga for weight loss allows you to learn while gaining all of the additional benefits of yoga plus it's a fun and enjoyable method of weight loss.
Now, if you've practiced yoga before you'll know this, yoga can be a workout. It can be a terrific workout. Especially if you practice something something like Bikram or Ashtanga yoga - you really leave exhasusted. I think the media has given a very poor view of how hard yoga can actually be but you learn soon enough.
Yoga has a lot of great benefits. It's a great way to improve overall health and can be practiced at home or in groups (or both of course). Practicing yoga at a normal rate can indeed lose you weight, an average bikram session will burn around 500 calories, but it's when you start stepping it up and properly using yoga for weight loss that you'll see results. Yoga can be combined with something else like a regular cardio working out cycling (just for example) or you can do it on it's own, it's more than enough.
The basic procedure for most yoga class members is to go once or twice a month, perhaps once a week if they're trying. In order to use yoga for weight loss you need to increase this number to several times a week. If you can't always make it to the class this often then, not to worry, just make yourself enough space at home and maybe pick up a yoga mat for a few bucks.
Now that you're practicing yoga more often there's only one step left, hold those poses longer! Easy you might think if you've never been to a yoga class before - oh crap you're thinking if you have. Poses can be easy to learn and get into but holding it is where the workout 'burn' comes in. However long your trainer wants you to hold that pose, double it. When everyone else is slacking off and having that long rest you keep going and switch right into the next one. As with any weight loss, to use yoga for weight loss you need to get that heart rate up!
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