Like choosing between a soft or hard shell taco, deciding what type of workout you want to do is a dilemma that we can all relate to. Strength training, yoga, Yin, Barre…how can you possibly pick one?
Our fit-girl prayers were solved at our third session of our Don’t Sweat it! yoga series in partnership with Rexona Clinical Protection. Flow Athletic’s Warrior yoga, combining weights and a vinyasa flow, was a strength and stability class like no other. We immediately were intrigued by the concept, as the saying goes: porque no los dos?
Incorporating dynamic movements and long hold stretches, the Amodrn team were back at it again in the sweat zone, bicep curling in goddess pose. While we were very thankful the yoga-weight combo included a peaceful savasana at the end, we’re excited to share what we learnt during this Warrior yoga Class.
No need to go heavy
Walk into any typical gym and you’ll see the intimidating weight room, complete with grunting men and the occasional fit girl dropping it low on the squat rack. Drop the heavy stuff (literally), cause we had the lightest weights possible (we’re talking 1kg each), but did we feel the burn! The slow, controlled repetition of movements in Warrior yoga, much like in Barre, isolated and effectively targeted smaller muscle groups.
It’s not about what you’re doing, but how how you’re doing it
One of the main components of yoga is stability and balance, which teachers will consistently remind you it comes from your core. Good alignment in yoga is the safest way to practice, and also ensures you are in the correct pose while using the targeted muscles. With weights in your hands comes a whole new awareness of our posture, what to switch on, and how to hold it.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat
An interesting facet of yoga is that no matter what pose you’ve contortioned yourself into, using the correct breathing technique makes all the difference. Whether we were doing some core work on the mat or deep in goddess pose while doing tricep kickbacks (yes, it’s possible), the way you inhale and exhale can turn any exercise from near-exhausting to manageable when done correctly. Aside from naturally calming the nervous system, deep inhales and slow exhales were there to remind us that slow was the way to go. This created a very focused and in-the-moment class, which much like in traditional yoga, was a very pleasant and stress-relieving bonus.
