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In this modern age of heightened health and fitness awareness, a person’s favourite workout regime can swap and change according to preference, level of fitness, and also trends.
Some like the solitude of running, others like limit testing of something like CrossFit, but yoga is one form of exercise that every single person of any fitness level can try and enjoy. Arguably one of the most ancient and historied forms of organised exercise, yoga can be experienced at a range of different ability levels, making it accessible to anybody willing to try. If you are currently considering adding something new to your workouts, then here are five major benefits of yoga that might persuade you to grab some yoga mats of your own!
- Increased Flexibility
At its core, yoga is a series of exercises that encourage stretching the muscles in every part of your body. With increased ability, you will realise that your overall flexibility starts to increase as well. Not only does this make yoga easier and more enjoyable, but it can have a wider reaching impact on your body and fitness that can translate into making other forms of activity more accessible as well. The more flexible you are in general, the more open to other workout possibilities you will become.
- Improved Respiration
You will notice that a lot of successful yoga moves involve inhaling and exhaling at specified points, and it comes as no surprise that continued practise at this will result in an overall improved respiration. Don’t forget that much of your respiration relies on the repeated use of muscles too, and as we have already discussed, yoga is perfect for anything muscle-related.
- Balanced Metabolism
In terms of weight loss, yoga is admittedly not the most effective exercise to take up as your primary fat-busting workout. What it can do, however, is help your body to achieve and maintain a balanced metabolism that will then work in conjunction with the other exercise you are doing to burn calories more effectively. As we all know, the higher your calorie deficit is at the end of each day, the more weight you will stand to lose over the course of a week, month, year etc.
- Injury Prevention
If you also like to partake in activities like group sports, for example, then yoga can be a wonderful addition that can help to guard your body against the impact and onset of certain injuries. The stronger you make your core and the more you work on muscles that don’t necessarily get worked in other exercises, the less chance you will have of randomly pulling something. Yoga is a great preventative effort.
- Improved Mental Health
And lastly, away from the physical side of things, yoga has also been proven time and time again to be fantastic for improved mental health and wellbeing. Some people consider yoga to be an active form of meditation, forcing you to do things like focus on your breathing and really try to centre yourself.
Yoga has great benefits for health and fitness. It can be performed on its own or in conjunction with other forms of exercise.