Should you do yoga before or after a workout? Well, it all depends on a wide range of variables. Yoga is recommended as a post-workout activity, for instance, if you’re about to lift weights.
In this article, we’ll go in-depth on the best ways to fit your yoga practice in with your other workouts.
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Benefits Of Adding Yoga To Your Workout Routine
There are primarily two causes for your inquiry: Yoga: should I practice it before or after exercise? You are either a dedicated yogi looking to supplement your regular yoga practice with other forms of exercise, or you are an active participant in other forms of exercise looking to add yoga to your fitness regimen to balance it out.
If it’s the former, you’re probably already aware of the advantages of yoga, but if it’s the latter, it’s useful to briefly discuss the advantages of including yoga in your exercise regimen.
You can choose whether to practice yoga before or after working out by considering the advantages of incorporating it into your fitness regimen.
Studies have shown that a consistent yoga practice can increase flexibility and mobility, reduce chronic pain and back pain, improve breathing, strengthen the entire body, improve balance and posture, increase circulation, and reduce stress and anxiety.
Should I Practice Yoga Before Or After Workout?
Fortunately, you’ll reap the benefits of adding yoga to your fitness routine whether you do yoga before or after your workout, but it may be better to structure things one way over than other depending on your fitness goals, the type of workout you’re going to do (cardio or strength training), and the style of yoga you are practicing.
Yoga increases circulation and can assist in warming up your muscles before a more strenuous workout, so practicing it before working out can be advantageous.
For instance, performing a few Sun Salutations can increase your heart rate, loosen up tight muscles, and help you reconnect with your breath rather than immediately leaving the office to go for a hard run.
On the other hand, doing yoga after a workout is a great way to transition your body from a high-intensity, heart-pumping exercise to a resting state.
More specifically, let’s look at the advantages of practicing yoga before and after exercise.
Why You Shouldn’t Do A Yoga Class After A Workout？
Contrary to popular belief, static stretching before working out may not be helpful (like what you might do in your regular yoga practice).
Stretching prior to exercise has been found to actually reduce performance. One study found that stretching before training had no significant impact on reducing the risk of injury during exercise, but did cause runners to run slower, jumpers to jump lower, and weight lifters to lift less.
You’ll probably feel a temporary loss of muscle power if the poses in your yoga practice involve a lot of static stretching. Yogis who practice yin yoga, where each pose is held for a long time, should refrain from practicing it right before a workout.
However, if you warm up with dynamic stretches, it might help your workout. Dynamic stretches don’t hold the stretch; instead, they involve keeping the body moving. Any vinyasa or flow style of yoga, as long as it’s not too vigorous, is the kind to practice before your workout.
Why You Should Do Your Yoga Practice Post-workout?
Attending a yoga class right after working out is much more advantageous.
Yoga, which can facilitate the body and mind’s transition from intense exercise to a regular period of rest, is a great activity to engage in now.
Following an exercise session with yoga has a number of advantages.
Increases Flexibility
As you probably already know, muscles are composed of interlocking fibers. The act of shortening a muscle simply involves the passage of adjacent muscle fibers. After exercise, some muscles may continue to be contracted, resulting in tightness and stiffness.
Where yoga can help is in this situation.
All of your muscles can be fully stretched out with yoga. Consistent stretching results from realigning the muscle fibers in this manner. The muscles can now heal more quickly and effectively in that situation.
Regular stretching of the muscles will gradually increase their flexibility. Less rigid muscles put less strain on the joints and are more resistant to injury. Furthermore, yoga not only reduces your risk of injury but also helps to ward off osteoarthritis in the joints.
Enhanced Muscle Recovery
Yoga increases blood flow to the muscles, which aids in muscle recovery after exercise. Your active tissues receive essential nutrients and oxygen from the increased blood flow. In fact, this helps muscles recover more quickly from a strenuous training session.
Reduces Cortisol & Blood Sugar Levels
Workouts of moderate to high intensity will raise cortisol levels in the body. This is a naturally occurring stress hormone, and high levels of the hormone can cause:
- Weakens the immune system
- Elevate your blood pressure
- Causes muscle weakness and wasting
- Increases your risk of developing diabetes
Thankfully, consistent yoga practice has been shown to lower cortisol levels in the body.
Yoga after exercise has another benefit in that it lowers the concentration of blood sugar. This mitigates the impact of fast, intense workouts that raise blood sugar levels.
The body becomes more insulin-sensitive with regular exercise. By doing this, your muscles can receive more blood sugar. Additionally, high blood sugar levels make the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas more vulnerable.
You can eventually manage or even prevent diabetes thanks to yoga’s impact on blood sugar.
Reduces Your Heart Rate
Your heart rate increases as you work out. You must therefore reset your pulse to its normal resting rate. Yoga can help with this by focusing on slow, deep breathing.
The vagus nerve in the body is stimulated by deep breathing. The parasympathetic nervous system uses your heart rate to conserve energy, so this is crucial. Your sympathetic nervous system, which is activated during exercise to produce stress responses, is at odds with this behavior.
The end result is lower blood pressure and slower heartbeats. With continued practice, this effect can be maintained, which can also be beneficial for heart disease.
Is Yoga Allowed Before A Workout?
While yoga can be used as a stand-alone workout as well as a great way to cool down and stretch the muscles worked in an intense training session, a few yoga stretches pre-workout can also be a great way to warm up and get your blood flowing.
If you want to get the most out of your yoga practice before working out, choose a gentle vinyasa flow or a few rounds of sun salutations rather than restorative poses like savasana, which will make you want to sleep instead of lift weights. Dynamic stretches help you warm up your muscles and raise your heart rate before your workout.
Yoga practice before a workout is most advantageous for certain sports or training sessions that emphasize flexibility over strength.
Can Yoga Be Beneficial Before A Workout?
Is there a benefit to practicing a little downward dog before starting your workout? The answer is yes, particularly if practicing yoga before your workout fits your schedule or is just something you prefer. Here are a few more justifications for striking the warrior pose before starting the treadmill. (Here are some more fantastic dynamic stretches for pre-workout.)
Warms Up Your Body For Your Workout
As was already mentioned in this article, the majority of recent research does not support the practice of static stretching prior to exercise, especially if you intend to engage in any kind of strength training. Your muscles will naturally stretch as a result of static stretches, which may reduce their ability to contract. In layman’s terms, this means that you might not be able to lift as much weight after practicing yoga.
But if you concentrate on doing dynamic stretches as part of your pre-workout yoga routine, you might be successful. It’s a great idea to warm up for a workout by doing dynamic stretches, which are active, moving stretches. In terms of yoga, this entails going through the poses slowly and gently and not holding them for a long period of time. Your heart rate will gradually increase as you perform dynamic stretches, which will cause your blood to begin flowing through your body.
Eases You Into Your Workout
Let’s take a moment to be realistic. Making it to the gym can be difficult, particularly if you anticipate a difficult workout. If you’re on the fence about going to the gym, think about starting with 10 or 15 minutes of yoga before your workout. You can call it a day if you still don’t feel like working out after the yoga session. The hardest step, however, is frequently simply starting. Once you begin practicing yoga, you might feel more ready to begin working out. You can maintain your fitness objectives and make better overall fitness progress by using this simple trick.
Connects You To Your Body
Yoga’s capacity to improve your mind-body connection is among its most potent characteristics. You will be able to feel your bones, muscles, and tendons as you move through the poses. Yoga encourages improved mobility and body awareness. Additionally, it may help you feel upbeat and confident before working out. You might benefit more from your workout with a stronger mind-body connection.
Conclusion
The short answer is that, generally speaking, you should practice yoga after a workout, especially if it emphasizes strength over flexibility. In fact, the majority of fitness experts concur that you should practice yoga both before and after doing cardio or strength training, as well as after lifting weights.
Yoga can actually hinder your performance by weakening your body in preparation for a workout. Additionally, there are more benefits to practicing yoga after a workout, particularly after a challenging cardio session.
That said, if it’s more feasible to squeeze in yoga on the front end of your workout, you’ll absolutely still reap plenty of amazing benefits from including yoga in your workout routine.
In other words, don’t let the fact that practicing yoga after a workout is a little more beneficial keep you from finding your flow there. No matter when or how you set up your exercise routine, your body and mind will thank you.