The combination of cardio and yoga exercises is a common style of exercise that is Cardio yoga. It is better employed by those people that may like the serenity of yoga; however, it requires more strenuous exercise.
What is cardio yoga?
Traditional philosophy has portrayed yoga to concentrate on breathing methods, poses, and meditation practices to improve consciousness and get rid of anxiety.
This exercise has become quite common within the world used to get rid of stress, improve mental and emotional health, improve sleep, and alleviate general low back and neck pain.
Yoga that focuses on physical postures is the most commonly used exercise routine known as Hatha yoga, even though many more are still present. Hatha yoga contains yoga classes like vinyasa, ashtanga, and power yoga.
Even though the difference in physical positions, series, and movements are seen with this kind of yoga, they are still not considered as cardio and aerobic exercise. It does not mostly depend on the severity of the movements that increase the heart rate; instead, it works on the body flow, postures, and breathing techniques.
Cardio yoga workouts consist of yoga techniques performed at a fast pace and with a smooth flow that works on muscles and test your circulatory and cardiovascular system.
Benefits of Cardio Yoga
The benefits of cardio yoga are;
1. Yoga Promotes Physical Activity
An increase in heart disease, which is the most common cause of death in men and women in the United States, as shown by the American Heart Association (AHA), occurs due to laziness and low activity.
But this factor can easily be maintained. It is also seen in the research that individuals who do yoga regularly are more energetic and have healthier food habits that serve well for the heart.
For good health, it is suggested by the AHA to perform intense aerobic activity for 30 minutes for 5 days a week and moderate-level activity to increase the strength of muscle for at least 2 days a week.
2. Yoga Helps You Manage Stress
Researchers do not fully understand how stress can worsen a heart condition, but they do know that it can increase certain behaviors and factors that can lead to elevated heart risk. They may include overeating, smoking, high blood pressure, and physical inactivity.
Many issues and tension can be released by yoga. A journal in May 2015 revealed that much improvement is seen in women who are waiting for a procedure to be done in their depression and tension by employing a six-week yoga session. “Breathing exercise is used to release stress through different techniques.”
3. Yoga May Lower Your Blood Pressure
Many studies say that yoga can help in controlling hypertension; they managed to study different studies related to meditation and yoga that suggested a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
4. Yoga Promotes Weight loss
Well known and authentic results are not present regarding whether yoga helps in losing weight or not. But still, studies conducted showed that people who performed yoga had a decrease in their BMI after dealing with obesity and overweight issues.
Many variables still may have come into work here, like some bias affecting the results of the study.
Even still, not much intensity is found in the starting or beginner levels yoga session for boosting cardiovascular health, but severe yoga-like cardio yoga can work on toughening up your heart and also increase the number of calories burned and helps in losing weight.
If your ambitions include losing weight, you may start by working 5 times a week with cardio yoga done for 30 minutes.
It should also be kept in mind that exercise rarely works alone to lessen weight or keep from getting it up; a low number of calories must be consumed than their increased intake. Noticeably, only reducing the 500-calorie intake of a single day can help you greatly.
5. Yoga helps with back pain relief.
Yoga is considered almost similar to basic stretching in dealing with pain and enhancing the movement of people with lower back pain issues.
Yoga was suggested as a first-line treatment therapy for lower back pain by a medical college.
6. Relieves Anxiety
Individuals start using yoga as a method to deal with their unpleasant feelings of tension. Fortunately, studies do show a decrease in stress due to the continuous practice of yoga.
7. Reduce Inflammation
Besides working to benefit your mental health, research also says that yoga helps to decrease inflammation too.
Inflammation is considered and triggered as a normal response from the immune system, but its prolonged occurrence can lead to cause pro-inflammatory diseases like diabetes, heart conditions, and cancer.
More evidence may be needed to fully confirm whether yoga gives benefit to inflammation; these results do help to determine that it does help in decreasing the chances of diseases caused by chronic inflammation.
8. Improves Quality of Life
Yoga is not considered as essential therapy used to improve the quality of life in many people’s lives—a study conducted on women with breast cancer with the treatment of chemotherapy.
Doing yoga showed decrease symptoms of chemotherapy like nausea and vomiting and also increased the quality of life.
9. Reduce Chronic Pain
Many millions of people are dealing with chronic pain that remains for a long time and may happen due to injuries and arthritis.
Practicing yoga can work to lessen different chronic pains, as seen in many types of research currently occurring.
10. Promote Sleep Quality
Obesity, depression, and high blood pressure, with other disorders, is also increased with poor sleep quality.
Sleep is improved by practicing yoga more, as seen in many studies. Anxiety, depression, stress and chronic pain are also dealt with efficiently with yoga since all these symptoms cause sleep problems.
Cardio yoga Moves
Mountain pose to low squat to Mountain pose
- Keep your toes out and stand straight with your feet apart and further away than your hips.
- Keep standing while breathing in, lower your knees and get into a squat position while breathing out.
- Place your hands on your knees, and do not bend too low if you have uneasiness in your knees. But if you are fit, with no knee issues, move into the lowest position possible with your hips just above the floor and elbows on the inside of your inner thigh.
- Keep your heels firm on the ground. Breathe in, and then move to a standing position. Exhale, and again move your body to the squat position.
- Continue doing this 10 times and then to 20 more repetitions. These positions increase heart rate, body to disseminate heat and works on hamstring and glutes.
Bridge pose rollups
- Move onto the back position and position your knees in the bent form with hips wide apart and knees over the ankles. Move your toes in a straight position.
- Your arms should be beside the torso with palms facing down. Slowly inhale and then move your hips by lifting them slowly with each vertebra at a time from the back of your spine too.
- Get into a Bridge pose with the upper back and head down and unmoving while your arms go above and move into the pose.
- Breathe out, then start lowering your hips with each vertebra, using the upper spine, and lowering the arms down too. Continue these 10 more times.
- Your back strength is improved with this exercise with the front open when your body moves from intensity to recovery.
Sun salutations
- Heat is created, and inner energy is stimulated by employing and practicing postures of sun salutations.
- Many major muscle groups are toughened up while also causing your heart to pump more.
Plank pose
- Start with a push-up position with your hands and toes, and forearms; stretch from the crown of the head to your heels.
- Keep your back flat, and your core pulled into your spine.
- Plank pose is a useful exercise, as it increases the strength of the core with the strength of chest, wrists, buttock, shoulders, triceps, spinal muscles and neck.
Chair pose
- Breathe in and move your arms towards the sky, keeping shoulders away from ears and relaxing.
- Breathe out slowly, and begin to bow with knees and move your hips lower like a chair in sitting.
- Move even lower, shift your weight to your heels and move your strength by straightening your lower back and pulling your heart up.
- Keep up this position for one minute. Most of your muscles work in this position, like spine muscles, triceps, abs, lower legs, deltoids, hamstrings and glutes, while creating heat in the process.
Warrior 3
- Start with a low lunge position and lower your back knee to the mat. Move your arms in a vertical position over the head.
- Exhale and intensify into the forward lunge. Inhale to bring your front knee over your ankle. Repeat with the other side too. This is known as the Crescent position.
Conclusion
Cardio yoga, even though more intense than normal yoga, is still not considered cardio.
It works to blend a mixture of dynamic techniques and yoga moves that helps increase and maintain elevated heart rate, helps in taking care of the heart and burn calories.
Cardio yoga is considered better than speed walking or exercising, but burning calories through hiking, running, or jogging are not.
