BALANCING YOUR TRAINING
Have 30 minutes spare for fitness? Often we pick what we enjoy, I’m certainly guilty of this. A a new mum my time is more limited these days. I find myself reaching for the dumbbells and opting for a Strength or Cardio session but I’m becoming acutely aware that I am missing the benefits of having yoga in my weekly routine.
My muscles are stiffer and where I’m choosing more intense workouts, I have found that I have limited opportunities to wind down and really tune into how I’m feeling both mentally and physically.
In this latest blog post, Evelyn shares the benefits of combining Yoga, Cardio and Strength Training.
Balance + Glo co-founders Jenny Stewart + Evelyn Joyce prepping for a Strengthen + Flo class on retreat in Cornwall
Why should we balance our training?
On paper Yoga, Cardio and Strength training are very different. If you just did Yoga, Cardio or Strength training alone you would experience benefits but what if I told you that these different disciplines actually compliment one another. If you want to maximise results, combine the three to perform better across the board.
Benefits of Cardio
Cardio training elevates the heart rate. It allows the heart to pump blood more effectively and improves energy and lung capacity. This results in improved stamina for strength training and yoga, allowing you to complete longer sessions with more ease. Cardio is also a great way of warming your muscles prior to completing a yoga or strength sessions.
The issue is, alone cardio isn’t very effective at building muscles…
Benefits of Strength Training
Strength training builds muscles and improves stability, both of which are required in yoga. For example, you need strong arms and chest to perform Chaturanga Dandasana effectively. You need enough arm strength so that you hips and chest stay lifted as you lower down, while your elbows stay hugged in at your sides. Whilst building leg strength can help with warrior poses and overall balance.
The issue is, alone there is a risk of injury….
Benefits of Yoga
Yoga teaches to you to move with breath which is particularly useful when adding resistance to your training. You’ll find that yoga will improve your flexibility and result in a larger range of motion (e.g. allowing you to squat deeper and more effectively). Ultimately, a balance between flexibility + strength is the best way to prevent injury.
The mindfulness aspect of yoga helps you recover from your strength sessions by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system your “rest + digest” state.
How to balance your training
You don’t need to do all three disciplines every day but you could have a go at combining exercise types by using the Balance + Glo Online Studio. We designed our membership to be a holistic, 360 approach to well-being so balancing our training is at the forefront of the programming.
On the platform you can take Strength, HIIT, Yoga, Pilates, Barre, Meditation + Breath Work classes. Here’s an example of how you could balance your workout by Balance + Glo:
Warm-up with cardio before a strength workout or cool down with yoga after a strength workout.
Join Evelyn for 5 minutes of Cardio before joining Hannah for a 30 minute strength session.
Join Evelyn for 20 minutes of Full Body Strength before joining Olivia for a 15 minute Restore Flow.
Strengthen + Flo
Our popular Strengthen + Flo classes are making a come-back this month. The unique blend of yoga + strength training will hit our membership with new classes with Evelyn and Olivia. This March, you can expect two new Strengthen + Flo classes; Upper Body + Lower Body. These 30 minute sessions are great when you want a balanced workout but are short on time.
Schedule it in
Another way would be to dedicate different days in the week to different styles of training. Make sure you give your muscles time to recover e.g. don’t do strength on 2 consecutive days. The Balance + Glo live schedule of classes helps vary your training and provide opportunities to schedule in rest days:
Monday: Cardio + Core (with Hannah)
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Strength (with Hannah)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Yoga
Become a Balance + Glo Member
Join today and make the most of our 14 day FREE trial to give balancing your training a go. As a member you’ll have access to Yoga, HIIT, Strength, Pilates, and Barre, as well as our signature Strengthen and Flo class.
The classes range from 5-45 minutes to suit any busy schedule + if live classes are your thing you can join our wonderful instructors 5 times a week.
To summarise
The benefits of combining cardio, strength training and yoga include:
Strength
Flexibility
Endurance
Increased muscle mass
Less risk of injury
Decreased stress
