All about Yoga

Yoga can be defined as a physical and mental exercise that helps in increasing will power of people. Most of the people believe yoga is a spiritual exercise, which enlightens the spirit and purifies the heart. For example: Doing yoga can help you increase patience and get relief from worries. Yoga has to be practiced in a peaceful environment. Most of the people prefer practicing yoga in natural surroundings. Some people prefer practicing yoga at meditation centers. Whatever may be the place, people should concentrate on the type of clothes they wear for yoga. Yoga Clothes play an important role in yoga practice. 

Clothes people wear during yoga should give them maximum comfort and help them to ease body movement. Yoga Clothes unlike ordinary clothes are made of special material.

It’s good if people wear Yoga Clothes that are loose, i.e. clothes like shorts, leotards, sweat pants, camisoles, vests, etc. Men and women generally prefer shorts when practicing yoga. Shorts allow people to see the alignment of their foot, knees and ankles. Yoga Clothes for men comprise of yoga shirts and pants. Yoga shirts need to be light and comfortable. All yoga shirts are made of natural materials and preferably are seamless. In fact that’s true with most yoga clothing. Yoga pants can be used for practicing yoga, martial arts, aerobics, dance, and exercise. Yoga pants fit easily around the waist, and permit stretches.  

Women should wear yoga shorts along with a yoga bra. Yoga Clothes should be comfortable, sweat absorbent and breathable. Women prefer stretchable cotton pants when practicing yoga. These cotton pants fit loosely around the hips, and have a flattering leg finish. Hard tail cotton pants are easily available and these pants are made of cotton Lycra blends.

Pants are usually pre-shrunk with a mix of 90% cotton and 10% Lycra. These pants are available in varying colors, and are ideal for women with varying waist sizes. People should always wear clothes that are good for all yoga exercises. They should check for yoga clothes that are form-fitting, i.e., clothes they select should be suitable and well adjusted irrespective of yoga movements.

Are you like me and really haven’t given aerobic activity a second thought? Does the sound of working out just not give you a great feeling? Relax, you’re not alone, though it doesn’t need to be that way.

I have been involved in different exercise classes and have purchased videos and tapes. I have joined different health clubs and other organized activities through community education, but I have never stuck with one program. I know that aerobic activity is needed to maintain my health, but listening to aerobics experts and reading various information it all seemed over whelming to me.

During my last physical my doctor told me that due to the heart disease in my family it is very important that I get involved with aerobic activity several times each week. I explained my past experiences with trying to be involved in various aerobic activity, and how I found it difficult to stick with a program. He told me that aerobic activity does not have to be organized, nor does it have to be doing the same thing each time. Aerobics is simply working the large muscle groups at a regular pace strenuous enough to cause your breathing to increase.

This can be achieved through walking at a brisk pace, biking, swimming, rowing or any other aerobic activity that you find enjoyable. He feels that it is more beneficial to vary the aerobic activity through out the week because this allows you to strengthen various muscles and it keeps you from getting bored. He said not to worry about taking your pulse and trying to figure out the different formulas that aerobic activity experts are coming up with, the important thing is to go out and get your heart beat going and improve your lung capacity.

On my way home from the clinic I reflected on what the doctor had told me. It made sense to me to just continue the walks that I was already taking, but to push myself to go a bit faster. I did this for two weeks and found that I was going farther on my walks in the same half hour period of time. After the two weeks of increasing the pace I began to wear one pound wrist weights. The added weight slowed me down a bit, but I could feel my lungs and heart were working harder. By making just a couple of minor adjustments to my evening walks I was involved in aerobic activity.

I know that many people simply do not have the time to walk. I mentioned this to one of my co-workers. She said that she had just read an article that said if you did not have 30 minutes to devote to aerobic activity at one time, you get the same benefits by increasing your breathing rate for three 10 minute intervals throughout the day. It is easy to fit this in by simply walking though the large office building I work in and taking the flights of stairs.

I mapped out a route that involves 4 flights of stairs broken up into two flights at a time. Between flights I briskly walk the corridor from one stairwell to the other. On days that I know I have a tight schedule I walk this route prior to starting my work day, I walk it again before going on lunch break and again before leaving the office for the day. This way I get my 30 minutes of aerobic activity completed before I get home.

I found that getting the aerobic activity I need for my health really isn’t that difficult after all. The biggest key is to simply get started. Once you do that you can adjust to your schedule and time restraints, but at least you can get in the right amount of aerobic activity.

Everyone knows that working out is good for your body. However, do you really understand the correlation between aerobics and heart health? There are many people who swear that doing aerobics is the best way for them to feel healthy and to be better in every aspect of their life. When it comes right down to it, aerobics and heart health is something that you want to keep an eye on because it is something that you can really focus on to get more healthy.

There are simply more benefits to aerobics than you can talk about in an article. However, the correlation between aerobics and heart health is something that you simply cannot deny because it is something that is going to stay with you and with your health forever. When you look at aerobics and heart health you are going to see that the more aerobics you can do, the healthier your heart is going to become. This might seem like a general idea, and yes, it is very general in that the more you work, the better your heart will work for you. However, there are specific reasons that this is the case.

When it comes to the relationship between aerobics and heart health the basic point is that by doing aerobics you are giving yourself a work out where your heart and lungs are constantly moving faster than they are when you are resting. This means that as you work out, your heart and lungs are forced to work harder. The more that you do, the more your heart has to do for you. By making aerobics part of your routine, you are forcing your heart to work each day, and this is going to make it stronger.

Basically, when it comes to aerobics and heart health the point is that they are connected. The better your heart is doing, the more aerobics you are going to be able to do without stopping. And the more aerobics you can do, the healthier your heart is going to be.

Like anything, when it comes to aerobics and heart health you are going to have to work your way up. If you haven’t done much working out, your heart isn’t going to be able to take very much right away. Aerobics and heart health are something that you have to work up to, so take your time and talk to your doctor in order to develop a great aerobics routine that is going to clearly benefit you.

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A large number of bodybuilders are perplexed regarding the role of aerobic activity, with some feeling that such effort is necessary to control body fat levels, while others embracing the idea that cardiovascular exercise will in effect either burn away muscle mass, or limit future muscle building dramatically. The latter group’s fear has caused many bodybuilders to avoid aerobic activity during muscle building periods, and even shy away from cardiovascular exercise when fat loss is the primary goal, but for many, the question remains as to whether the aerobic activity hysteria is well founded, or if this idea is instead a part of bodybuilding mythology.

Most bodybuilders do realize the value of aerobic activity in fat burning, but the worry begins when they consider the impact to muscle mass, and this idea has forced certain bodybuilders to replace their moderately intense aerobic routines with power walking, feeling that this is sufficiently intense to burn fat, but below the threshold for muscle loss. I often try to determine in my mind where exactly these ideas originate, and a group may have possibly felt so attracted to the idea of putting forth less effort (which is the case when comparing power walking to jogging), that they began promoting this rather foolish concept, or a group of marketers felt that they could design a particular program filled with propaganda, namely a simple to follow routine that will convince readers to sign up due to the magnificent effortless promises. Of course, such routines have repeatedly proven themselves to be abysmal failures, with horrid results. Yet, what bodybuilder does not enjoy the thought of reducing effort and achieving superior progress? Taking this idea one step further, do you know of any bodybuilder who would reject an excuse to abandon aerobic exercise completely if he or she were convinced that doing so was helpful to muscle gains?

Yes, the idea of evil aerobics sounds very attractive to those who wish to reduce effort, and marketing is an industry where the senses are tickled to the point of emotional purchase, but the virtues taught decades ago, such as “hard work pays dividends” are never replaced by marketing slogans, despite the effort of many physical fitness entrepreneurs to do so. The truth is, making aerobics seem wasteful is an excellent method at encouraging a bodybuilder to invest financially in a particular muscle building and fat loss system, because every one of us feels a sense of intrigue at the idea of more couch time producing superior results, but this particular gimmick does not translate into real world progress. Wherever the idea originated, marketers have used the “aerobics burns muscle” idea to market their own products, despite the fact that aerobic activity is not only effective in burning body fat when performed correctly and consistently, but is not a hindrance to muscle building.

All bodybuilders realize that his or her physique will deteriorate in overall aesthetic beauty as body fat begins to climb, and conversely, will improve extraordinarily as body fat declines. Therefore, prudence suggests that any body fat control technique should be employed at all times in order for the best possible bodybuilding results, and if aerobic activity is in fact an effective fat control mechanism, then it behooves all who seek the best possible bodybuilding progress to integrate aerobic activity into their regular workout plan.

The only exception to this rule is if a bodybuilder aims for muscle building, and due to time constraints or emotional inability to accept additional workout time, he or she feels simply unable to maintain maximum intensity during weight lifting workouts when aerobic activity is an additional burden; in such a scenario, aerobics can be saved for fat loss periods only, when weight lifting workout volume declines. But for those who have the time and wherewithal to perform consistent aerobic activity, integrating aerobics several days per week is prudent, even during muscle building phases, as the less body fat that is accumulated during muscle gain, the more focus can be maintained on achieving new muscle growth, and the more definition a bodybuilder will experience throughout the year.

Therefore, despite the skeptics and marketing experts who may claim otherwise, aerobic activity is helpful in fat loss, will not risk muscle when following an effective diet plan and weight training routine, and will improve metabolism so that body fat levels can remain acceptable at all times. If you are seeking maximum bodybuilding results, and wish to avoid extended fat loss periods, then consider aerobics to be your trusted fat burning ally.

Pilates workout is mainly desiredtype of workout that is often accepted and treasured bymost of the people today. From dancers to gymnasts and a lot of Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities have taken up Pilates to increase power and elasticity. Pilates has become a hot option among the fit and body conscious public of present genre. The dedicated practitioners really gain themselves immensely by doing the Pilates properly that cannot be gained by other type of workout or traditional aerobics. Pilates is used for profound body conditioning and to built up the body’s core muscles. Pilates help to develop strong muscles, a flat stomach and a strong back, and improves posture. If you desire slender and lean figure at the same time you also need to be muscular enough, then Pilates is just the right option for you. That is why most of the gymnasts and dancers opt for Pilates as their favorite workout. Pilates work on the whole body rather than on specific section of muscles and this thus avoids forming of muscles. The other major benefit of Pilates program is it increases the power of additive muscles that can not be attained in other types of workout plans. The movements in Pilates are quite elegant and elastic which helps to attain a better litheness of the body. These further helps you to balance your body better, despite the arrangement of your body. Like yoga, Pilates help to control and tone your mind along with your body. The stretchy and fluid movements in this form of workout have a great power on your mind too. This further helps to reduce nervousness, stress and sadness. Pilates help you to improve the strength of your body by improving the muscles near the abdominal and the spine area. Pilates controls the respirstory system too. it thus cleans your internal structure. This way you get a more efficient body as the movements are smoother, safer and graceful. By daily performance of Pilates, your body is shaped internally and externally too, you gain power and elasticity which helps you to remain healthy and clean most of the times. Pilates is equally beneficial to adults too specifically to those who suffer from terrible diseases like arthritis along with firm and painful joints. Pilates help the adults to improve the muscular movements and overall power of the muscle. As Pilates focuses mainly on the movements of the body, it gradually helps you to achieve the desired elasticity in your behavior. You shouldn’t feel any type of pain or inconvenience while performing Pilates. A routine practice and sincere labor will surely help you to achieve the desired results. With several benefits like developing muscles without bulking, minimized stress, increased energy levels, stronger and elastic vertebrae, improved joint movements, improved circulation, relief from spine and joint pain, increased stamina, mobility and energy in your body last but not the least, a beautiful and attractive looking body, Pilates is indeed the best type of workout that has greatly helped the daily practitioners tremendously.

This is a claim you hear often, especially among bodybuilders, but also among some personal trainers. The most extreme version is “aerobics makes you fat”, the reasoning being that it leads to loss of muscle, which lowers your metabolism, causing you to gain fat because you’re now eating too much for your slow metabolism.

These types of claims are based on some truth, as we’ll see, but are highly exaggerated. Your muscles are not going to waste away to nothing because you run half an hour per day.

There are some mechanisms by which aerobic exercise can interfere with muscle growth or cause actual muscle loss. The first is that concurrent aerobic exercise and strength training lead to competing adaptations in muscles. For example, steady state aerobics leads to endurance adaptations such as increased mitochondria (aerobic energy factories) and aerobic enzymes in the muscle cells, while strength training can lead to hypertrophy, or growth in muscle fibers.

The bottom line is that doing both of these activities has been shown to cut muscle growth about in half compared to just doing strength training [Docherty, 2001; Gordon, 1967]. For those of us that are doing strength training for fitness this is not a big deal, it just means it will take longer to build up muscle mass. But for bodybuilders it’s interfering with proficiency in their specialty. So many bodybuilders will minimize aerobics or take measures to reduce the intereference.

I think this is where the seed of this “muscle wasting” idea was first planted. But note that aerobics in these studies has been shown to reduce the rate of muscle growth, which is a far cry from causing muscle loss. Interestingly, the opposite interference does not seem to occur: adding strength training does not interfere with cardio improvements. Many of us that are into aerobic training will supplement it with upper body strength work, and there’s no problem with concurrent training in that case.

There is another way that cardio can interfere with strength training, and that can be by just taking up too much time. I remember a time when I was trying to lose weight so I did about 90 minutes a day of cardio. I tried to do a token amount of resistance training but had little time and was worn out anyway. I had much more success when I cut back to a more reasonable hour per day and left more time to lift.

There are a couple of mechanisms by which excessive aerobics can lead to actual muscle loss, however, due to overtraining and/or poor nutrition. Too much aerobics can lead to increased production of catabolic hormones like cortisol (often referred to as a “stress hormone”), which can subsequently cause breakdown of muscle tissue.

But aerobics in moderate amounts is a relaxing activity, which leads to a net decrease in cortisol. Only excessive amounts of aerobic activity leads to elevated cortisol levels in the bloodstream after the activity is complete.

A study which specifically examined how much aerobic exercise is needed found that cortisol elevations did not occur when running for 40 or 80 minutes, but only occurred in runs of two hours [Tremblay, 2005]. Ironically, high volume resistance training can cause the same effect [Stone, 1998], but I’ve never heard anyone being warned not to lift because it causes your muscles to waste away!

The other mechanism is that if your body does not have enough blood glucose, it can manufacture it by breaking down protein. If not enough protein is available from food, it will get it from muscle tissue [Berning, 1998]. Again this is only likely if you’re training excessively, or undernourished.

The most obvious example of this is “hitting the wall” in the marathon or cyclists “bonking” on long rides. You can get irritable and have impaired judgement as the brain, which can only run on glucose, is not getting enough fuel.

I’ve experienced both of these and they’re no fun. I don’t know if my body broke down muscle for fuel but afterwards it sure felt like my muscles had been broken down, or at least beat up. But both times this occurred to me after about 3 hours of exercise without taking in any fuel.

On the other hand, many people that are into aerobics, thinking of carbs as fuel, will bump up their consumption of bad carbs like white flour products or sugary drinks or “power bars” which are basically glorified candy bars. This can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle of poor nutrition justified by overtraining.

There is a way people who do a lot of cardio can end up protein deficient: endurance exercise increases the demand for protein. You’ve probably heard that cardio is fueled by a mixture of carbs and fat, depending on the intensity level, but there’s a small bit of protein in the mix, too. Protein is also needed to repair any tissue damage caused by the exercise [Noakes, 2004].

Strength trainers are well aware that they need more protein, but people who do cardio often are not. In addition, since many who do cardio are trying to lose weight, they’re probably cutting back on calories at the same time, which if you do it by just reducing portion size can decrease protein intake. The typical recommendation for protein is 0.25-0.45 grams per pound of body weight, but endurance athletes can require more like 0.55 to 0.65 grams per pound [Sharkey, 2001].

So don’t overtrain and don’t underreat, and don’t eat junk. Follow common sense procedures like easy day/hard day, don’t do hours per day of cardio, and don’t try to lose more than about a pound of weight per week. Make sure you’re doing a balance of cardio and resistance training, and your muscles will be just fine.

References

-Berning, J, “Energy Intake, Diet, and Muscle Wasting”, in in Overtraining in Sport, Kreider, R, Fry, A, and O’Toole, M, eds, Human Kinetics, 1998.

-Noakes, T, Lore of Running, Human Kinetics, 2002.

-Sharkey, B, Fitness and Health, Human Kinetics, 2001.

-Stone, M, and Fry, A, “Increased Training Volume in Strength/Power Athletes”, in Overtraining in Sport, Kreider, R, Fry, A, and O’Toole, M, eds, Human Kinetics, 1998.

-Tremblay, M, Copeland J, and Van Helder, W, “Influence Of Exercise Duration On Post-exercise Steroid Hormone Responses In Trained Males”, Eur J Appl Physiol, 94(5-6):505-13, 2005.