om body
W YOGA
STRONG
Get strong, yoga strong. Six postures for building strength, by Lynsey Riach
e all know yoga offers a myriad of health benefits but getting strong is not one that springs to mind for most people. But for me, now in my 34th year, I can honestly say my body’s never been so resilient. I suffered injury last year, which kept me off my mat for six whole weeks – and that’s not pretty for any regular yoga practioner. I thought I would lose everything I had worked so hard for but my body bounced back from recovery to become stronger. Why? Because it has been trained to do so. Yoga is more than just stretching and relaxation. Daily yoga practice includes a comprehensive system that builds strength in the body and mind so when it takes some time off, it’s okay with that. It knows you’ll be back. And although I practice yoga every single day, that doesn’t mean I spend hour after hour on my mat; in fact, I just do a few simple morning yoga stretches. Making a routine of moving and stretching your body regularly will make you feel flexible, and, when flexible, we feel stronger.
Flexibility and strength
So let’s understand then the role of flexibility in strength. Strength coaches have realised that yoga’s ability to free up a locked body is unmatched. A lot of exercises people perform in a gym are muscle shortening (contraction). With a lot of repetition a huge range of motion can be lost. Then, although the muscles have a lot of power, this strength cannot be used effectively because the length of the muscle is restricted. It’s like trying to drive a car with a powerful engine while your foot is on the brakes. If you don’t train flexibility, you lose it. And I see this often in the variety of students that walk through my studio door. So many reasons can bring people to try yoga and to practice it long term. Some come to gain greater flexibility and some to heal injuries or enhance their performance. I have worked with jockeys, runners, dancers and bodybuilders, and although I have seen men with defined muscles and clear strength, a lot of them can’t even straighten their legs to touch their toes. Flexibility is essentially the ability of the muscles to lengthen across a joint or group of joints. It’s also often referred to as range of motion. A lack of flexibility will increase the likelihood of injury because if you don’t have the required range of motion to perform a particular
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