Yoga sculpt is a class created by yoga studios and fitness facilities to give you a workout that combines strength and cardio exercises with traditional asana practice to give you a full body workout. Yogis of all levels can gain from the higher calorie burn as well as the chance to develop strength and push their physical limits. By practicing the exercises’ movements and incorporating cross-training into your routine, you can get ready for this high-intensity format.
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What Is Yoga Sculpt?
You see, yoga sculpt is a 60-minute class that combines hand weights, short cardio bursts, and traditional yoga postures in a heated environment (typically between 93 and 95 degrees). You go after you have flown. You may be performing burpees or bicep curls one moment, and then bowing your head to finish your practice the next.
With a workout that burns calories and fat as well as the numerous psychological advantages of yoga, Sculpt is the ideal combination of mind and body. Additionally, it is timed with the music so you can squat while listening to Lizzo’s most recent hit. What’s not to love?
Two years after attending that first class, I am a Yoga Sculpt teacher, which is unimaginable to my teenage self.
My classes are all about muscle engagement and compound movements, which work out two or more muscle groups at once, given my background as an athlete. Whether you have never performed a down-dog in your life or are a regular at Cross Fit, the best thing about compound movements is that you can customize and modify based on your level of fitness.
What Should I Aim For In Yoga Sculpt?
The yoga practice will be difficult, positive, and extremely energizing. Yoga Sculpt classes are demanding but adaptable and suitable for all fitness levels. You will feel stretched, relaxed, and rewarded with a sense of accomplishment even though you will be pushed, perspire, and your heart will beat faster.
Targeted poses, asanas, and exercises will be used to prepare and open the body to begin the class. The practitioner is given the opportunity to get comfortable with the flow and poses before they develop with variations and intervals of weight training.
Blocks of the core targeted sequence are purposefully incorporated into the class to provide an active recovery where you are still working and moving but allowing the heart rate and breath to settle. When everything is prepared, the next unique Yoga Flow sequence begins.
Why I Should Include Yoga Sculpt In My Yoga Routine?
There are numerous benefits to including Yoga Sculpt in your routine. By doing this, you’ll incorporate cardio exercises and high-intensity interval training to maintain the health of your heart and burn calories. You’ll also develop lean muscle and increase your level of difficulty by adding hand weights to your workout. Particular advantages include:
It Creates Mind And Body Focus
We take great pride in the seamless integration of a yoga practice and a workout that our Yoga Sculpt classes provide. Yoga Sculpt is a type of yoga that places a lot of emphasis on connecting the body and mind. With an emotional and mental focus, we perform traditional asanas while adhering to all the fundamental principles. Strength and intensity are both huge components of Yoga Sculpt. Cardio and weights are combined in the sculpt practice, which adds cardio and strength training to the yoga mat.
Stretch: Flexibility Leads To Better Mobility
In the vinyasa-based yoga flow practice known as “Yoga Sculpt,” the cadence and rhythm of the breath will be used to direct the movement through the asanas. Traditional yoga poses are used to encourage flexibility and mobility. We hold the poses with mindfulness and focus, allowing the body to adjust and experience the benefits of the pose. Focus and maintaining mental and physical connectivity will be achieved using alignment details.
Strengthen: Stronger Equals A Safer Practice
Yoga Sculpt is a class that is open to all yogis, regardless of experience level. This class will never be “too easy” or “too hard” because the amount of weights can be changed. You can always make it harder or easier.
One of the best aspects of the class is that you can change your routine and even attend without using weights and still get the benefits. A major advantage of Yoga Sculpt classes is that they give participants the chance to focus on the muscles required for a robust and secure yoga practice. So why add weights? Despite being necessary for your practice, the muscles targeted in the Yoga Sculpt are not typically strengthened in a traditional vinyasa class. In order to promote mobility, strength and flexibility must be balanced: strengthen the muscles surrounding and supporting the joints and then give them the flexibility needed.
Sweat: Dynamic Movement That Makes You Sweat
Stress melts away with yoga sculpt! You literally start sweating to the point of being dripping once you begin moving through the yoga poses and add the weight training intervals. Yoga Sculpt will help you get that heart-pumping workout in by combining short cardio intervals with weights and a dynamic Yoga Flow sequence.
It’s Energizing And Fun
Fun and energizing class is ensured by good music, a dynamic flow, and a challenging setting. Finish with a final Savasana, which gives you the chance to focus your energy inward and revitalize your body and mind after a long day of work. You’ll emerge from the mat feeling renewed and prepared to face the day.
Five Yoga Sculpt Movements You Can Try At Home
Here are five (adaptable) compound exercises you can perform at home as a taster of what a yoga sculpt class might entail.
Head, Shoulders, Knees And Toes, Adult Version
I believe we can all recall playing that game as children. This is the exercise version of it, which is a great way to mix up your standard plank routine and put your core’s stability and strength to the test.
Starting in a high plank position with your chin lifted off your chest, shoulders stacked over your wrists, hips aligned with your shoulders, and sides of your neck lengthened, slowly tap your head with your right hand, set it down, and then tap it again with your left. Then your left hand taps your right shoulder, and vice versa. From there, drive your right hand in toward your chest and tap your left knee. Repeat on the other side. Finally, you probably guessed it!—your right hand taps your left toe without driving your tailbone up towards the sky, repeat on the other side.
The key is to move slowly and deliberately, avoiding the urge to swing your hips; your core should keep them stable. If you want to sing the song as you do it, just repeat the process five times.
Squats With A Controlled Pulse
Squat variations are common in sculpt classes because you want to constantly surprise your leg muscles and your glutes, one of your body’s largest muscles. Due to the restricted blood flow to your muscles caused by pulses, which I love incorporating into the mix, your muscles will be shocked when you release the small, controlled motion and transition into the larger movement.
With one heavy weight at chest level if desired, begin this exercise with your feet hips-width apart, your knees slightly bent, and your abs tight.
Put your hips into a chair-like position by squatting down while keeping your knees stacked over your ankles. Hold for a millisecond, then slowly and deliberately pulse your hips up and down by an inch before standing back up. Here, you should really feel the burn in your quads, especially as you control the small pulse of movement going up and down, keep your hips moving steadily, and avoid bouncing off your knees.
Additionally, you can add a shoulder press by raising the weight above your head as you rise from a full squat.
Glute Bridges With A Chest Press
Another compound movement option, as this can be turned into a full-body workout if you are short on time or seeking a greater challenge.
Walking your heels up to your glutes while lying on your back with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Bring a set of weights to your hips, one in each hand, to give your glute bridges a little more resistance if all you want to concentrate on is your booty.
Bring your elbows out to a T by your sides and hold a weight in each hand if you’d like to add the chest press. Keep your head and neck on the mat the entire time, look straight up, and avoid tucking your chin to your chest.
To add the chest, lift your weights so that they are directly in front of your chest and meet (but do not touch) as you press through your heels to drive your hips upward. Hover your elbows and lower back one to two inches off the mat as you squat down, restraining the urge to rest them there.
Crescent Lunge Lunges
Stacking your right knee over your right ankle and keeping your hips square and even with one another (imagine your car’s headlights) is a lower body exercise. Lower your back knee to hover one to two inches off the mat while keeping your belly button pulled to your spine to activate your core. Hold for about a half-second before raising it back up.
You can add a compound movement to this to maximize your return on investment.) by holding onto your weights and/or adding in a hammer curl (palms face one another, elbows glued to your side body), lifting and lowering your weights as you lift and lower your back knee.
Continue on the opposite side, being very careful to keep your front knee stacked over your front ankle. This movement is all about your back knee, so it is crucial that it never protrudes over the front ankle. Additionally, pulses may be added (can you tell I like pulses?) after your set of lunges by hovering your back knee one to two inches off of your mat and pulsing up one inch and down one inch, slow and controlled.
Obliques Twists In Horse Squat
It looks so simple to do this pose. But because so many people end up working their arms and shoulders over those tiny oblique muscles by our rib cage, it’s also very simple to get wrong. Please understand that’s what we’re going for with this.
Your heels should be in and your toes should be pointed out as you spread your feet out past hip-width. Squat down while keeping your tailbone down, shoulders stacked over your hips, and chest raised. The alignment of your knees and toes should be the same. Great, take a seat and move back two inches.
Grab your weights now—you can use one or two.) and glue it into your chest. Your upper body should now be twisted to the right while using your left side oblique, then back to the center. Never let your weights leave your chest as you repeat on the other side. While it is a very small movement, it is significantly more efficient than simply swinging your weights from side to side with your arms and shoulders. Hold tight in that horse squat because your hips and legs aren’t moving either!
Conclusion
Yoga sculpt routines not only differ greatly from vinyasa yoga and other well-liked forms, but also each session may differ depending on the studio you visit or the instructor teaching the class. The goal of the class is to challenge your body and mind in unique ways, whether you’re taking it for the first time or the fiftyth time. Strength training, cardio exercise, good eating practices, and regular mindfulness practices can help you get ready so that you can benefit more.