Yoga vs gym
 
You are planning to change your habits and start exercising, right? Sometimes this will of change is due to lose weight and burn calories, by prescription or to gain muscle mass. Yoga offers an excellent alternative for exercise but also to improve your mind and stabilize your emotions.
 
If you are looking to lose weight, exercise is a supplement and you need to make some changes in your diet. Yoga helps you to bring balance to your body, mind and spirit; you will use your own body weight and have routines based on strength, flexibility and balance. For this reason, it may be a good option for those starting in any physical activity.
 
Yoga is also a noncompetitive environment unlike a fitness routine; is an individual exercise where you're competing against yourself and expanding your range each session. Another key point is breath when exercising; whether you do a hard gym routine with weights, swimming, running, or some yoga, the basis for resistance and achieve results is correct breathing. Fortunately, Yoga teaches you these bases to control your inhalations and exhalations when performing physical activities (and initially requires more effort and patience).
 
Also, when performing a fitness routine and having more muscle effort, you will require several days for recovery and you have to focus on different muscle groups each day. In Yoga you can exercise all of your muscles in each session and the recovery period is shorter. Some people start with a couple of sessions per week, but you can always plan your classes with your instructor.
 
It is always possible to combine yoga and fitness routines, but some people need the explosive sessions of lifting weight. Definitely, if you're serious about gaining muscle mass, fitness routines are the choice for you. However, we recommend you try some yoga sessions and see the positive impact it will have on your life. So, let’s start working out!
 
 Picture by Deb Hultgren.