Does Yoga Count As Cardio?

Yoga — originally starting out in Indian culture a long time ago — is the practice of spiritual and physical  exercise, and you have almost definitely heard of it. Let's be honest, yoga has been growing in popularity and demand in North America over the last 15 years. It went from people knowing virtually nothing of it and the physical and mental benefits, to a point where you could spot a yoga studio in practically every town. Yoga has gained so much popularity by being a holistic, simple, and overall good physical activity for anyone, no matter who you are.

Of course, with its supporters also come the critics; asking is yoga strenuous enough to be considered adequate physical activity? Does yoga fit in as with resistance training or cardiovascular training?

We'll be taking a look at that today. Understanding both the pros and cons, advantages and drawbacks of yoga can help to answer these questions. Read on to know everything you need to know about yoga.

Yoga's original design

Are you looking to lose weight? If so you're probably in the wrong place. Yoga's purpose was never to help people lose weight so they could look like their favorite models or movie stars. If this is your intention, yoga may not be the best option for you as there are many other ways to lose weight. In reality, Yoga was originally made to enhance and align the spirit with ones physical self.

Yoga was developed over thousands of years and continues to evolve to this day. Today, westerners have chosen to separate and categorize yoga poses to make sense of them all from a western perspective. For example, kundalini is used for meditative purposes while “power” yoga is described as the resistance training of yoga. All of these branches of yoga come together to achieve essentially the same goal: better spiritual and physical health.

Known Advantages of yoga

For many people, exercise is more than about just one goal they have in mind. Typically, there is one catalyst which keeps people coming back to exercise, supported by several other, smaller reasons which they know are important as well. For example, weightloss is often a primary reason to get active, but most people also want to reduce blood pressure, reduce health risks, and improve energy. Fortunately, yoga is one of those activities which can help with diverse goals.

These are some of the advantages from engaging in various types of yoga for a consistent period of time:

• Yoga is an effective de-stressor

• Yoga improves flexibility at the joints (helping to reduce joint pain, back pain, etc.)

• Yoga helps to relax muscle and tendon tension (helping to reduce muscle pain, knots, etc)

• Yoga improves mental health; this is a side effect of meditation and exercise

• Yoga helps to improve sleep quality

• Yoga can be used as a part of a weight loss plan

• Some forms of yoga can help to improve muscle strength

• Yoga is low impact, and safe for those with bad joints, etc.