3 REASONS TO ADD
YOGA TO YOUR TRAINING
You are only as strong as you are flexible, so adding an element of yoga to your
training simply makes sense.
WORDS: LISA GREENBAUM
f you’re not incorporating flexibility training or yoga into your workout regime, it’s going to catch up with you. There’s no getting around
it – you are only as strong as you are flexible! As a personal trainer, if you’re skipping the stretching portion at the end of the session,
you are only offering half the training service to your client. One of the most common reasons that fitness professionals do YogaFit
Instructor Training is this need to slow down, to stop the pounding on their joints and to add more flexibility to their personal workouts.
The following are the top three reasons to add yoga now:
I
1. Ease the wear and tear on your joints
2. Release tension from your neck and spine
Your joints are going to take a beating in this industry. The focus on
deep hip opening stretches in every yoga class releases tension 360
degrees around the hip joint. As the hips begin to relax, this travels
down to the knees, ankles and feet, and also through the lower
back, including piriformis, QL and extensors. This is particularly
important for runners and cyclists, whose activities feature little
lateral movement.
The focus on breath throughout a yoga class helps ease tension
from the body. Considering that most of us hold our tension in our
neck and traps, this is a great place to start. From there, the many
twists performed, either seated or supine, also greatly help to relax
the spine in a position that we don’t often find ourselves in while
performing other sports or fitness activities. Top that off with the core
strengthening weaved throughout class, and you’re on your way to
creating more mobility throughout your whole body.
3. Increase overall range of motion
The thing with yoga is that in nearly every pose you work every
muscle concentrically and eccentrically, and also include isometric
holds. Yoga teaches you to breathe and lengthen into poses.
Standing poses such as Warrior 1 work on muscular strength
through one side of the body and stretch through the other side;
this is then reversed when the opposite leg is brought forward. This
means that you work on flexibility throughout the entire class, not
just in the last few minutes.
Lisa Greenbaum holds her E-RYT 500 in yoga and is the Program Development
Manager for YogaFit Australia and Director of YogaFit Canada.
YogaFit
Instructor
Training courses
54 | NETWORK WINTER 2016
A range of YogaFit Instructor Training workshops are taking place across the country this Winter.
Upcoming dates: YogaFit Fundamentals, 17-19 & 24-26 June, Sydney; 1-3 & 8-10 July, Perth.
YogaFit Prenatal, 11 July, Melbourne. YogaFit Level 3, 28-29 July, Brisbane; 14-15 July, Melbourne.
YogaFit Anatomy & Alignment 2, 30-31 July, Brisbane; 16-17 July, Melbourne; and 21-22 July,
Sydney. YogaFit Sweat, 23 July, Sydney. YogaFit Meditation & Mindfulness, 12 July, Melbourne.
For all course details and special Network Member prices go to fitnessnetwork.com.au/yogafit