Yoga vs. Lifting

[Zac]

My gym options are limited. I actually prefer climbing over anything else when it comes to fitness but I haven't been able to go for a while due to some financial constraints and the location of the gym.

Recently I've done some very beginners yoga and found it feels amazing. It is therapeutic and relaxing while at the same time appears to be limitless at the amount of challenge available.

I was reading the section of Models today where it basically demands you join a gym. If I was climbing I'd feel as though I was accomplishing that and more but I don't know if Yoga is considered a good equivalent.

I would imagine they should both be used experimentally but if I focused much more on one (yoga) than the other would I be doing myself a disservice?

[crazyhorse]

http://www.scoobyworkshop.com

this is a great source where you can find information on how to make your own home gym. He even encourages you to never buy expensive equipment.

You can also get far with bodyweight excercises.

[Zac]

* http://scoobysworkshop.com/

Thank you. Still though, if I do a solid hour of yoga a day 4 days a week is that as good for my body and overall "attractiveness" as hitting the gym and lifting weights?

[Alvar]

It's more "attractive" than the gym. It's your thing, you do it because you like it, you love it (man, one hour a day!) and you feel that you're doing something really good for you - you're investing in yourself. Going to the gym is great only if you enjoy it and are motivated. The best part, and IMHO the most important, is keeping yourself physically active, as physical activity is one of the activities shown to increase happiness. And you already do that with yoga, right?

[Zac]

Well to be honest I'm just starting. I really do enjoy it though. I don't not enjoy lifting as much as it's a much bigger time/money commitment to get to an actual gym. That scooby site kind of changes that. I actually do enjoy lifting when I get in a rhythm. It's cool to get bigger.

My main form of activity is running around with kids to coach sports. I did that every day for 9 months last year. I've taken 3 months off and become pretty lazy on the fitness end.

To fight this I've began yoga and will begin running tomorrow. My season is coming up in a few weeks and I'm feeling the pressure knowing I have to be able to provide running examples to kids and then be able to talk without losing my breath completely......

I was just reading Models and it makes such a big deal about lifting weights being important for health and stuff and I wasn't sure if you really got all the same benefits from an alternate form of exercise like yoga? If I'm not squatting am I doing myself a disservice as a man? Weight lifting requires me to go to a gym which I can't afford. I like the idea of workouts without weights or with more "natural" weights.

Reading Model's and just my overall awareness of the fact I've been slowly gaining weight has me a little fired up at how hard I've been slacking and I just want to figure out a plan for myself. I don't even mean it in terms of "attractive" as much as I mean it in terms of what would be the best thing for myself because doing that is the most attractive thing possible.

My girlfriend is a really good looking girl by my standards. I've actually gotten slightly less physically fit over the course of our relationship and I've been getting a little self conscious about it lately.

Would doing yoga and eating right while mixing in cardio be a good way to get in shape? Would I be missing out on anything? I think yoga/running/climbing and then mixing in random sports would be a good routine?

I'm adding on hiking and dog walking in general. I just want to get in way better shape and want to do it in a simple self sustaining way if that makes sense.

[CHB2]

Weightlifting is generally more conducive to adding muscle size than yoga. If you aren't as interested in size, lifting can also primarily add strength if you do workouts focused on that. I think yoga is really great for a variety of reasons and if its what works best for you, I'd say keep at it, but it will not have the same body transformation effects on most people as a lifting routine.

For me I do a martial art 4 days a week and lift at least 2 days, with yoga thrown in sporadically maybe 1 or 2 days a week. Maybe consider buying a pull-up bar and adding in a pull-up routine, as well as some pushups, if you cannot afford to go to a gym.

[Tim]

Only weights are going to make you bigger, except if you're a dedicated swimmer, shotputter, or something similar. But unless you're seriously undersized, do what you enjoy. Choosing a sport/activity that you will actually stick to, that makes you happy, and keeps you healthy will do more for your results with women than forcing yourself to lift weights if you hate it.

The advantage of lifting weights, that I think no other sport has to quite the same extent, is that aside from just making your bigger, it also makes you enjoy pain. Not just tolerate it, but enjoy it. I fear the squat rack but I also love being its bitch. Same with calf raises, the bench, and chin-ups. And that enjoyment of pain can give you the ability to tolerate and enjoy a lot of hard work in the rest of your life. I would say I get more out of the gym mentally than physically.

But yeah, still do what you enjoy. If you hate weights then you're probably not going to be very good at adhering to your gym plan, and even if you are, you won't be enjoying it. Life's too short for that.

[Zac]

My roommate actually just put up a pull bar. I understand lifting would make me bigger. Is bigger a really important thing or does it really only matter if it only matters to me?

[Tim]

Only if it matters to you, IMO.

[machiavelli]

It really depends on your goals. Yoga will burn calories (though not too many, unless you do some super-vigorous sort, like hardass ashtanga), it'll definitely improve flexibility, and it'll contribute to some improvement in functional strength -- particularly in core if you do a lot of standing/balance type poses (tree pose, etc.). But if you're trying to do serious body transformation (dropping fat, adding muscle) or trying to build serious strength, you really gotta hit a gym...

[Chaos]

Disclaimer: I have no knowledge of any kind about yoga or its benefits but... as a warning, most of the people on the Yoga class in my gym should stop doing it and hit the fucking cardio machines... That's the reason I HATE yoga, in most gyms is the sorry excuse for some people to think they're working on themselves by hitting the gym and doing something when they only attend because it cost them little effort (compared to what they should be doing, 1 hour cardio training)... it drives me mad.

[Halo Effect]

(03-12-2012 02:10 AM)Zac Wrote:  My roommate actually just put up a pull bar. I understand lifting would make me bigger. Is bigger a really important thing or does it really only matter if it only matters to me?

I used to be very skinny, then I gained ~10 kilograms as a newbie on Starting Strength, and my shoulders, legs, arms, back all became bigger. My posture became less awkward because of the added mass. The summer after I gained the muscle mass, when I went on vacation, my anxiety was still there, but for the first time ever girls started approaching me. (Note: I was 1.94 meters and 71-72 kilograms at my skinniest...)

Of course, I can't say that psychological processes didn't play their part, as I did feel better about myself, but to say that adding some muscle mass has no effect is like saying that being significantly overweight has no effect on your attractiveness to women. It does.

[Mark]

I added about 15 lbs of muscle mass last year, and have the same body fat % more or less now. I definitely get more looks and compliments on my physique now than I did a year ago. It's not a massive difference in results, but there's definitely a noticeable advantage. For the first time in my life girls grab and squeeze my arms when they talk to me. That's never happened to me before.

But aside from aesthetics, there are a number of health benefits to being stronger and like Halo said, some psychological benefits as well. I definitely feel a bit more confident.

[Edmond Dantès]

I did a few yoga exercises via youtube (Yeah I know you should get a coach and join a course, but whatever, I was curious ) and really enjoyed it. Centers you, you get more in your body and get out of your head. Just like meditation.

But I could never see both, meditation or yoga, as an alternative to fitness. Fitness has just so many benefits as you know (becoming physical more attractive, health improvement, confidence increasement, etc) which simply cannot be replaced by some yoga.

Yoga is something I want to dive deeper into, maybe I'll do a course this year, don't know yet, but I won't give up my fitness programm for it.


___


Am starting my fitness programm this weekend again. I really need detailed advice for gaining weight and muscles fast again. Lost a few pounds at the beginning of this year, because of illness and study stress. And this really sucks, because gaining weight and strength is a longterm goal for me as I have a hard time gaining weight and muscles (I think the term is ectomorph, if I remember right. I can eat for hours and hours and still don't get fat)

So if anybody, who has or had the same problem, has a solution for me, I would be really thankful.

Stats:

5'10 (181 cm)
143 lbs


Have a good day, guys!

[crazyhorse]

weight lifting is just awesome! I've heared it can raise your levels of testosterone as well, so that's always a nice side benefit of it.

Edmon you can gain weight super fast, if that's your goal. But gaining muscle, that usually takes a lot longer. The main reason is that you must allow rest and recovery periods, for your muscles, between your training sessions.

On nutrition. I really wouldn't overcomplicate this one, read Dan's post "the no hassle diet". Frankly if people would make sure that they ate adequate ammounts of protein (120-150 gram), don't overeat on carbs (200 max) and keep a moderate ammount of fat (40 gram) in their diet, they would do just fine. But you can read more about this on scooby's website. Although he still believes in the 5-7 meals a day habbit, I stick to 3 large meals and it hasn't hurt me.

When it comes to physical attraction, decent levels of body fat (I think I'm 14%) seriously rock. I've always had the classic "jawline & cheeckbones", but now that I've dropped my bodyfat significantly, girls just walk up to me and tell me how awesome my face looks. Before this happenned as well, but now it happens more often. It's a great boost for your ego.

[Mark]

Lift heavy. Eat big. Just keep eating. And not junk (obviously), but don't worry so much about counting fat calories or whatever. Just fucking eat. It's much easier to lose a little extra fat later than put on more mass.

Looking back, despite getting good results, I didn't eat as much as I could/should have.

Follow Rippetoe's Starting Strength if you haven't already.

[crazyhorse]

(03-12-2012 04:22 PM)Mark Wrote:  Lift heavy. Eat big. Just keep eating. And not junk (obviously), but don't worry so much about counting fat calories or whatever. Just fucking eat. It's much easier to lose a little extra fat later than put on more mass.

Looking back, despite getting good results, I didn't eat as much as I could/should have.

Follow Rippetoe's Starting Strength if you haven't already.

Edmund, while I'm not a fan of daily calorie counting, it does pay off to do it. You can do it for a couple of days, so you'll get an idea of how many calories you consume. This is very important, since you'll have a lot of people who claim that they don't eat much but do, and people who say that they can't gain weight no matter how much they eat. Usually these people either vastly underestimate or overestimate how much they eat.

It also pays well to know the content of your food. How much protein, how much carbs, how much fats. You can easily substitute with this, f.e. lean fish with chicken etc. With experience you'll get a hang of this.

I'm really not a fun of the just eat principle. I did that and it turned me into a big balloon. Try to be easy on the bulking, most people can gain muscle and loose fat at the same time. I stand by this!

[Jon]

If you want muscles, lift weights. You will not get big muscles from Yoga.

[Edmond Dantès]

@crazyhorse and Mark: Thank you for your advice. Will take a look at Rippetoe's programm and get a rough idea about the amount of calories I consume in a day.

[Tim]

(03-12-2012 03:31 PM)Edmond Dantès Wrote:  I can eat for hours and hours and still don't get fat)

So if anybody, who has or had the same problem, has a solution for me, I would be really thankful.

GOMAD: http://jcdfitness.com/2010/04/gomad-gall...-everyone/

It's hard to do, but I believe it's the single greatest thing you can to do to put on muscle. When I was bulking last year I drank 2 Litres of milk a day, and it seriously worked. That's 110 grams of protein right there. An actual gallon is more like 4 litres, so that'd be 220 grams protein. I defy anyone to GOMAD and not put on muscle (although you may put on fat too).

[Zac]

Quote:I can eat for hours and hours and still don't get fat

How old are you? I found this to be very true of myself until I hit about 23ish. I'm still pretty lucky with my metabolism but it definitely seems to have changed a ton over the last few years.

[Jon]

(03-12-2012 03:31 PM)Edmond Dantès Wrote:  I did a few yoga exercises via youtube (Yeah I know you should get a coach and join a course, but whatever, I was curious ) and really enjoyed it. Centers you, you get more in your body and get out of your head. Just like meditation.

But I could never see both, meditation or yoga, as an alternative to fitness. Fitness has just so many benefits as you know (becoming physical more attractive, health improvement, confidence increasement, etc) which simply cannot be replaced by some yoga.

1) if you're gonna do yoga, joining a course is such a good idea, if for no other reason than you will be grossly outnumbered by women

2) Yoga is exercise. Yoga counts as cardio. It's just not weights.

[CHB2]

I would not suggest GOMAD, it wrecked havoc on my stomach. Have you ever tried drinking a gallon of WATER a day? It is hard, now do it with whole milk..

[Tim]

Yeah GOMAD is hard, and being semi-lactose intolerant myself didn't help. It made me really tired most of the day, killing my productivity. I doubt it's very good for your body. But I can guarantee it works.

[Jon]

Tim, why not just drink whey protein isolate, easier on the digestion? You can get carbs from a non-lactose source