Since men are more into sports and other physical activities, practicing Asanas will help offset any physical irregularities that they may acquire from such tasks. Like in sports such as golf or tennis, there is a tendency that some muscles are used more than their respective symmetrical counterparts (i.e. right and left arms, legs, etc.) Asanas help by loosening tightness in the muscles, bringing the body back into its natural alignment.
While Weight Training isn’t bad, combining it with Yoga can produce even better results. Asanas will allow for more flexibility and will relax the muscles. Pranayama keeps the health vibrant and can also improve response from the nervous system. Meditation will help keep one’s focus and concentration and will clear one’s mind, reducing the stress resulting from the repetitive actions of weight lifting.
The overall practice of Yoga can help combat age-related diseases like impotence, prostate conditions, Osteoporosis, and heart problems. That, plus reasons mentioned above, is why the practice of Yoga is highly recommended to all men.
Questions
Which of the different yoga types is best for me?
Can yoga help me in my sports performance?
Can I really lose weight with yoga?
How do I begin yoga breathing and what are the benefits?
How can I easily begin a yoga diet?
Can yoga help me with sexual difficulties?
How do I actually meditate, and are there any easy meditation techniques?
This is a highly practical and entertaining book that approaches yoga from a different perspective.
I've been practicing Yoga for about 7 years now daily. I used to be intensely involved in weight training and I'm in much better shape and feel a hundred times better doing Yoga than I did before. There are several reasons for this.
First of all, you can do Yoga every day which means you can feel great every day. In my case I vary the intensity of my practice, some days more of a power routine and other days more of a gentle approach to stay physically "open". You are truly as young as your spine is (and your joints, muscles, ligaments (etc.) as well
Second, it involves whole body movements so you are not overtraining any one area. While you certainly aren't going to get the size that you will from weight training, you will get incredibly muscular everywhere. My torso has more subtle definition from daily yoga than my former weight training regimen.
You also get whole body, "real life" strength. You learn to work with your body in an integrated fashion that will help you in your day to day movements. Even if you are doing very physical work you'll find you can do it more effectively because your body works cohesively.
Third, you learn how to breathe more completely. This helps with stress, fatigue and also your ability to focus.
Fourth, if you do a vigorous vinyasa style of yoga several times a week (one that is continuously flowing) you CAN actually get a pretty intense cardio workout (this is my only point of disagreement with the author who thinks you still need a separate cardio practice). Sure, your heart isn't going to be pushed as hard as if you are running or biking, but from my own experience I have found tremendous cardio benefits from a vigorous yoga practice. You will push yourself enough to get a serious sweat going and raise your heart rate up to a higher yet safe rate without putting yourself into a situation of "overwhelm".
While I'm sure there are many who will disagree with this, there have been studies that show that serious yoga practitioners have excellent cardio scores when tested.
Of course there are multiple other benefits of yoga in general but now I want to speak about this book in particular.
This book is a great introduction to yoga, whether you are a man or a woman. It has sound and clear instruction,is actually more thorough than I expected it to be, and it is a book that many men might be inclined to read who otherwise wouldn't give yoga a chance.
The short vignettes throughout of various world class atheletes as well as men who do yoga just to enhance their regular lives (as well as their "weekend" sports activities) helps bring yoga into the realm of real people.
My only complaint, and it's a VERY small one, is that sometimes I find that the author "tries too hard" to appeal to a certain "jock" mentality in his use of language. It seemed a bit forced to me and actually geared to a "locker room" mentality. It's not that he uses profanity, its just that he sounds like he's speaking to idiots from time to time and I found it annoying.
I happen to be a huge football fan in general and a Tennessee Titans fan in particular and can assure you that if you've ever heard Eddie George speak (who is on the cover of the book) he is highly intelligent and extremely well spoken. This goes as well for many other professional atheletes (such as Defensive end for the Titans Kevin Carter, who is another Yoga Junkie).
So I would've liked the book more with less forced "jock talk" and language geared more towards intelligent men who are also sports junkies as well as interested in their physical well being.
Still, the content of the book more than makes up for this shortcoming and that is why I still gave it the five stars it deserves.
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