Recently discovered yoga this year and have become hooked. Have continued to do it 3x per week during IM training. How many of you that practice yoga on a regular basis keep on the same schedule duirng an IM taper?
I continue (or slightly increase) yoga during my 3 week taper - especially leading into Cozumel this November I will add in extra hot yoga sessions to improve heat acclimation - great for recovery, stretching and also mental focus which can help on those long IM bikes.
I don’t do yoga during 90% of my training just during taper/Bikram yoga to drop weight and try to gain flexibility.
I like it+typically some MILF’s in class…
I really wanted to and would have, but life got in the way. Yoga has so many benefits… go for it.
And you have to admit the scenery is very nice at yoga too;)
I’d keep it the same until the final week, then maybe cut back the sessions to 1/2 the normal time you do it, and 2-3 days out just 10-15 minutes of it instead of full sessions (60-90 min?)
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I am a long time yoga teacher, and a yoga teacher trainer. Now that is out of the way, just be careful! This is NOT the time to work on stronger postures (see my profile pic) or make flexibility gains. Keep the practice similar to what you are used to and focus on the elements of relaxation, mindfulness, & recovery. Lighter/easier practices. Off season is the time to build up your yoga practice…but now is time to prepare for your event. Namaste!
I do yoga year-round. I have a bad back and very tight hamstrings. Yoga is essential.
I would avoid classes and practice on your own. During a taper last year I attended a class that was basically all Warrior poses (deep lunges). Very ill-timed. If you do go to classes, choose easy ones or suck up your pride and sit out the strenuous stuff.
Another thought: yoga counteracts the muscle-stiffening effects of tri training. If you reduce training during your taper but continue to do the same amount of yoga, your muscles may get overly loose.
I used to do bikram yoga 2-3 times a week a few years back when I was doing IM and continued to do it during taper to help stay loose, although I would back off a bit on how deep I would go into certain postures. Definitely helped as far as staying acclimated to the heat as I had no issues during race itself on a hot day in LP.
I do something very much like Yoga … well, it’s* like* Yoga in a way that Scrambled Eggs are like Crème brûlée
Y’know … as a Surfer, I should like Yoga … I mean it’s all about Balance and slowness and calm and so on; which is kinda how I am, really … but once I get a DVD on or something OnDemand and I try it … I’m all like: “Okay, I can touch my toes. Great! Can we move on here? I haven’t got all day! What’s next? Move it people!”
You clearly have not found the right style of practice or the right instructor for you. My students NEVER complain of such things…
Yoga is way more than stretching, strengthening, getting entertained–even though a good class may do all that.
If everyone did Yoga the hospitals and doctors would be bankrupt!! That is why most of them don’t tell you to do Yoga. Some moron of a doctor with a Q&A column in the newspaper told a runner NOT to stretch!! I realise there are athletes that may not HAVE to stretch(some sort of super human DNA)but if I did not do Yoga I might be dead!Andre Agassi was famous for not stretching but what he often forgot to mention is he had SEVERE hip and back problems toword the end of his career that required cortisone shots. IMO about the ONLY way to delay the grim reaper of age and injury is Yoga and related disciplines.
My wife took me to one of her Hot Yoga classes and i feel like it helped out. I plan on adding more classes to the training.
If everyone did Yoga the hospitals and doctors would be bankrupt!! That is why most of them don’t tell you to do Yoga
Up front: My wife is a doc.
This has to be up there with one of the most moronic posts of all time. What do you think doctors do? Deal with flexibility issues all day?
I love yoga, don’t get to do enough due to time restraints and other training, but am well aware of it’s benefits and I do it both in classes and at home. BUT … walk through most hospitals and doctors waiting rooms and there are few sick people that would have bypassed the hospital due to doing yoga poses.
MOST say don’t do yoga? I have never met a doctor that tells people not to do yoga. I know several doctors that do it and even more that would recommend it. I have met several yoga people who like to jump on the Doctors peddle drugs bandwagon though. Try curing cancer with downward facing dog. Try piecing vehicle accident victims back together with childs pose instead of shoving your hands into their throat to stop arterial bleeding. Ask expectant mothers with baby development issues whether a nice Shavasana would suffice or whether they would like to keep the constant monitoring and reserved operating theatre for the minute their baby is born.
There seems to be a mindless level of people that mix up healthcare financial issues with the fact that Doctor’s, Nurses et alles spend their days sorting peoples worst nightmares out. When the time comes, and you’ll know when it does, there won’t be a moments hesitation in picking a Doc over your yoga instructor. Funny how previously ‘anti medical establishment’ patients suddenly become a doctors devotee when their family or children are sick.
Yoga can help keep various nags, worries and minor ailments at bay. Great for joints, flexibility, keeping range of motion and strength as we get older. But to equate yoga to the medical profession and claim it could replace it shows an alarming lack of knowledge.
Sorry for the rant but there seems to be a recent cancer of anti healthcare voices that are thoroughly annoying.
You are not the first to call my posts moronic(and even worse,lol).Check out the"Total Immersion Debate"thread. My posts are provocative to make a point. I did not say"MOST say don’t do Yoga". I said"most …don’t TELL you to do Yoga". In my opinion EVERY health care professional should tell EVERY patient to do some form of Yoga or related activity. The value of Yoga CANNOT be overstated! I saw a program on PBS a few days about Yoga and people went on and on about what Yoga can do. Many said the LEAST value was the physical! Yoga can literally reverse the aging process! Read the book"The Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth"and it will tell how to do just that! The #1 cause of death in people over 70 is NOT cancer or heart disease but falling and breaking their hip. Doing Yoga reduces the chances of that happening a LOT. IMO,the main purpose of modern medicine is just as you say,emergencies. IMO,two major benefits(there are a lot more)of Yoga are if you do have an emergency you will be in MUCH better shape so you will recover quicker and use the health system less. And also IMO you will be FAR LESS likely to have an emergency situation to begin with,because you will be physically and mentally sharper so you will be less likely to use the medical system. I used the word"bankrupt"to catch attention and it worked,lol.
You are not the first to call my posts moronic
You surprise me.
Recently discovered yoga this year and have become hooked. Have continued to do it 3x per week during IM training. How many of you that practice yoga on a regular basis keep on the same schedule duirng an IM taper?
If you have ankle flexibility issues such that your heels don’t easily touch in down dog, be careful. I’ve gotten dreaded plantar fasciitis from excessive stretch/stress on the arches in downdog. Crescent Lunge also is pretty hard on the arches, as is that thing where you kneel and sit on your heels/toes in the stretched position.
As others have said, be careful of the deep lunges in warrior poses. If you don’t use your core properly and use too much outer thigh, you can irritate your knee.
Watch dehydration from hot yoga. Chronic dehydration in tapers or in general is not a good thing.
Not one Downward Dog joke in this whole thread…You should all be ashamed!!
You make some very valid points. I have close to a dozen M.D.s as students, so I know for a fact that there is a percentage of them doing yoga themselves, as well as referring their patients. (I’m in a relatively small city, Boise, ID.) Yoga is however, NOT all about stretching or strengthening. For some, yoga is exclusively a form of exercise, and that is OK.
Traditional aspects of yoga bring a greater self awareness including: emotions, coping mechanisms, behaviors, rigid mindsets etc. Yoga is a technology to change habits & about exploring the inner landscape of (S)elf. The results include lowered stress, improved self care, improved relationships, not to mention the physical benefits of doing the postures themselves. And doing yoga as a form of exercise, we will still see improved immunity (the prior contribute to this as well), better lymphatic flow, improved joint mobility, back pain recovery, correction of structural imbalances. Much of this you brought up. I agree that yoga (any form) as well as a holistic lifestyle cannot replace good modern medicine such as orthopedic surgery, pain medications, properly used antibiotics, and various critical care scenarios.
Yet, what is the percentage of diseases currently being treated that are caused by poor lifestyle? A majority! I don’t know the latest figure, but it’s a lot. I am a proponent of health care reform that Obama is doing, and modern medical care where appropriate. However, if it was that effective for all conditions, we would not see such rises in diabetes, heart disease, & cancer despite the best medical system possible to date. What causes these diseases in a majority of people? LIFESTYLE & lifestyle choices.
It’s a tough situation for even the most holistically minded medical professionals–since people are addicted to foods/behaviors and changing lifestyle is very difficult to get them to do. What are the doctors to do? If the patient won’t exercise or eat healthfully, they have no choice to prescribe medication. People in general want the pill, not the work. I still think it’s even more complicated than this since people are toxic, have a lack of micro-nutrients, and may not be able to “control” themselves. See Hungry For Change, Food Matters, the latest news from Johnson & Johnson, & Environmental Working Group. I believe that true wellness & health takes a lot more all the way around.
Edit: People are overfed & under nourished (re: lack of micro-nutrients comment).
The phrase"If the patient won’t exercise and eat healthfully"stuck out to me. In my opinion maybe the main reason that is because the message is both too vague and too complicated. EVERYONE disagrees on what to eat and how exercise! The solution to my thinking is reduce the advice to TWO WORDS. As far as I am concerned those two words are DO YOGA!! If everyone in the government and the private sector said"DO YOGA"then eventually a large majority would do Yoga,lol.It works with the STOP SMOKING campaign and will probably work with the END BULLYING campaign. The thing about Yoga is that it is so amazing that when you do it you will lose weight,eat better,feel better,look better,have better mental health,etc.etc. So instead of getting lost in complicated solutions we just say"DO YOGA"and problem solved.The thing about Yoga is that basically it is simple so we can teach unemployed people to teach it,thus solving the health problem AND the unemployment problem at the same time!