Slow Flow for Strength

Let's try building strength with this slow flowing Vinyasa sequence. Have you ever seen those yogis that look like they lift weights? Ever wondered about that? Well, they do lift weight. Their own bodyweight, that is.

With the popularity of flow classes on the upswing, different styles are beginning to emerge, and one of these is slow flow yoga, with the emphasis on building strength.

Slow Flow for Strength

Think of a vinyasa flow class where every move is done slowly from beginning to end, until the muscles burn and tremble. It’s gentle, as in there are no quick jumps from plank to forward fold, for example. But gentle doesn’t mean easy.

Why yoga for strength?

Because it works better than lifting weights! Think about it for a minute. When you go into a gym and pick up a barbell to do a bench press, or a pair of dumbbells to do curls, you are targeting a specific muscle, and only that muscle. The human body was made for the muscles to work in conjunction with each other, across a wide range of movements. Training only one muscle at a time teaches the muscle to begin working independently of the muscles around it, an approach that encourages muscular imbalance and can lead to a very inflexible “muscle-bound” look.

With yoga flow for strength, the entire body functions as a unit, like it was meant to do. Agility and balance are improved right along with functional strength. Muscles are being strengthened by lengthening them instead of repeatedly contracting (shortening) them, as is done in traditional weight lifting.

Sequencing of a strength class

A slow flow class designed to build strength will be sequenced with a lot of physically demanding yoga poses that encourage muscle growth, such as bridge pose, boat pose and chair pose. Challenging poses such as inversions and arm balances like crow pose may be included.

The key in a slow flow strength class is the student is moving from pose-to-pose very slow, spending as much time in the transitional parts of the poses as they are in the end position, before immediately moving into the next asana.

Website: http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com

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