I’m always glad to hear when people try different types of workouts. Variety is the spice of life and also a reason many people opt for boxing at our Stamford, CT gym. Yoga provides other help for weight loss, while still burning calories, just fewer than those of regular workouts. The classes are often longer than other types of workouts, so it’s not as intense of a workout, yet a calorie burning experience. There are forms of yoga that are extremely grueling, like Bikram or Vinyasa Flow yoga that burn between 477 and 594 calories an hour.
Yoga can make you more aware of your body and its needs.
Yoga promotes and inward focus. It can help you be more aware of not only your body, but also its needs. It often helps people become more self-aware of what they’re eating and how it affects their body, whether or not they’re really hungry and if they’ve satisfied that hunger. This is helpful for those who were raised as members of the plate cleaner’s club or feel the need to eat because the clock says it’s time, even if they are not hungry. That in itself is a huge help for weight loss.
Yoga can help you eat slower.
There’s a lot to be said about how fast or slow people eat and the effect it has on their weight. Eating slower gives the body time to signal the brain that it’s time to stop eating. Yoga makes people more mindful of eat bite, often slowing the eating process and enjoying the flavor of each bite. In this way, it allows the brain to catch up with the body and experience satiation before the overeating occurs. That’s a huge aid to weight loss.
Yoga can help you deal with stress.
Stress is often a common factor in overeating. It can lead you to seek out sugary treats, simple carbs and high calorie foods that are often comfort foods. Yoga is a big help when it comes to dealing with stress. Many of the breathing techniques can be used on the spot when stress occurs, nipping it in the bud immediately, rather than waiting to work off the stress at the gym later.
- No matter what form of exercise you choose, whether it’s boxing, traditional workouts, yoga or a combination of those, doing it on a consistent basis is what gets the best results.
- Yoga is complementary to boxing. It’s the thoughtful mental quiet and flexibility training that can add to the flexibility training and strength training of boxing. Doing both enhances different aspects of your fitness program.
- To use only yoga as a weight loss program, you need to find a class that is challenging and one that makes your heart rate increase if you want the most for your workout time.
- No matter what exercise program you select, it has to be combined with a healthy diet for weight loss to occur.