If you’re looking to improve your flexibility and movement, yoga classes are an obvious choice.
If you want to build lean muscle mass to improve your strength and physique, weight training is an easy answer.
But what if you want all of the above?
Try a class that combines the best of both worlds: yoga sculpt classes!
What Is Yoga Sculpt?
Yoga sculpt is a specific kind of yoga practice that combines the flow of yoga with the benefits of weight training and cardiovascular improvement.
As any yoga practitioner will tell you, practicing yoga is a lot more than just stretching and mastering different postures (asanas). Rather, yoga is a dynamic total-body exercise that aligns your body and mind as you work through challenging physical poses and flows. It’s an excellent tool for reducing injuries, minimizing pain, and strengthening your muscles, all while helping you find balance and peace on the mat in a world that’s always on the move.
Yoga sculpt classes take your usual yoga classes one step further by introducing another physical challenge: resistance training! Yoga sculpt classes combine strength training moves and weightlifting to your yoga practice so that you can build even more lean muscle mass and improve your fitness and physique while still capitalizing on all the benefits of yoga training.
If you join a yoga sculpt class, you might find equipment like lightweight dumbbells and resistance bands in addition to the expected yoga mat and blocks. Instructors will lead you through a high-energy flow that combines elements of yoga with strengthening weightlifting moves that’ll challenge your muscles, ligaments, and joints. You’ll also find that yoga sculpt classes are a great way to incorporate cardio training in the yoga mix since they keep your heart rate elevated for maximum fitness benefits.
Benefits Of Yoga Sculpt Classes
Because yoga sculpt classes involve both yoga practice and resistance training, they’re an excellent way to lengthen and strengthen all the muscles in your body.
Flexibility And Mobility
One of the reasons that yoga has become such a staple in the fitness community is because of how effectively it can improve your flexibility and mobility. While other kinds of workouts might overlook stretching and joint movement, these are both fundamental skills that you need in order to make fitness progress without limiting your range of motion or being prone to injuries.
Building Lean Muscle
Having lean, strong muscle mass is one of the most important things you can do to improve your physical fitness. Your muscles are already doing a ton of work with regular yoga practices to support your body weight and stay balanced in complex movements and asanas. But when you add weight training with dumbbells and other equipment into the mix during a yoga sculpt class, you’re adding even more resistance to your workout and your muscles need to work extra hard to support it all.
The addition of resistance training to your yoga practice Improves metabolism, physique, is an asset for any other kind of fitness training that you do from weightlifting to yoga and everything in between.
Improving Cardio
Another key perk of adding yoga sculpt classes into your training is that they get your heart rate going, which is essential both for your fitness and for your overall health. The constant movement and physical challenges that you’ll experience in an hour-long yoga sculpt session will help improve your endurance and strengthen your heart. It also doesn’t hurt that increasing your cardio workouts boosts your metabolism by increasing the number of calories you burn, which is always a perk for those who are looking to lose weight while building muscle!
Balance
Finally, one of the key reasons people gravitate towards yoga in the first place is how it focuses not only on your physical fitness but your overall wellness as well. Because yoga sculpt classes combine all the major balancing benefits of yoga with the major benefits of weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise, you’ll be working towards all of your spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical goals in one class.
The end result of regular yoga sculpt practice? A stronger, more sculpted, and well-balanced you!
FAQ: What Do I Need To Do To Start Practicing Yoga Sculpt?
The first step is to find a good Yoga Sculpt class near you (if you’re in the Chicago area, check out Studio Three’s boutique yoga studio!).
Many yoga sculpt classes are inclusive to people of all fitness levels and friendly for people with varying yoga experiences. However, it’s important to note that yoga sculpt classes are generally a little more intense than other slower-paced and lower-intensity yoga classes, so you may want to brush up on the basics before
Before you start trying out yoga sculpt, you may want to work on:
The Yoga Basics
There’s usually a lot going on during a yoga sculpt class, so it’s helpful to have a foundational understanding of some of the most common yoga poses like Downward-Facing Dog, Mountain Pose, Chair Pose, Warriors I & II, etc prior to coming to your first class. Luckily, you can easily practice these poses either at home or in another yoga class to perfect your form and improve your endurance.
Strength Training
It might also be a good idea to start training with weights prior to starting your yoga sculpt practice if it’s not already a regular part of your workouts. Using some lightweight dumbbells similar to the kinds you would use during a yoga sculpt class can help you get used to the movements and strengthen those muscles prior to beginning. You can also work on other strength-training exercises like bodyweight workouts if you want to improve your strength but don’t have access to weightlifting equipment.
Cardio
Part of the fun of yoga sculpt classes are that they keep your body moving and challenged throughout the workout, which can help improve your cardiovascular fitness. If you aren’t used to regular cardio workouts, try adding jogs or cycling a couple of times a week to prepare for the more strenuous workload of your yoga class.
Key Takeaways
Yoga Sculpt classes are some of the workouts around for challenging your entire body and working efficiently towards all of your fitness and health goals. Grab a mat, a good pair of lightweight dumbbells, and get ready to feel the burn!
Image credit: Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels