Body builders

There is a false notion runs in people mind who go to gym for fitness and body building. The thinking also is, yoga and bodybuilding has little common. Truth is, both are connected and body building and yoga improve body. Yoga helps body builders in many ways.

• Yoga helps to understand body and its limitations
• It improves flexibility
• Yoga helps to stay focused and achieve goal
• Yoga releases body stress and anxiety
• Yoga helps to improve the body posture.

People who work to build body regularly lift weights. Weightlifting can shorten muscle and tighter. Yoga is a remedy for this and counteracts to increase the flexibility and reduces the risk of injury. While handling various types of machines during training, body also undergoes stress and wrong alignment. Including yoga in fitness practice will help to improve body posture and keeps vital organs in check. Yoga practice every day for half an hour improves endurance and stamina. It gives stability and balance for muscles.

Following poses help body builders to shape muscles well, gives stamina, flexibility and strengthen core and other muscles.

1. Plank pose: Simple yoga plank is a challenging pose, holding plank pose in as straight line is harder and needs practice. The posture helps strengthen the core, stretches body allowing muscles to adopt around the collar bones and shoulder as muscle builds around the area.
2. Side plank: It offers the same benefit as the straight plank. It works on the butt muscle and tones thigh muscle.
3. Plow pose: An advanced yoga pose, has rewarding benefits for body builders. Bringing legs over head and feet meeting the floor, moving arms on side will totally stretch muscles in back and shoulders. Plow pose helps to withstand strain on muscles. It reduces fatigue buy improving blood circulation.
4. Bird dog pose: A simple pose that improves stability of muscle and lower back. It strengthens the core. Extending hands and legs in this exercise strengthens biceps and forearms.
5. Down ward dog pose: To keep body energize, to strengthen arm, leg, hamstring, calves, reduces loss of bone density. In addition, it gives strength to wrists, low back, decreases back pain that might be existing because of weight lifting.
6. Cobra pose: Raising chest and head above the ground by pushing hands on the mat improves lungs functionality, opens chest and strengthens spine. Firmer shoulder and abdominal muscle can be achieved by cobra pose.
7. Child pose: Child pose is the relaxing pose for all yogis. So, it helps body builders to relax too. Any back pain that one might have will be reduced by practicing child pose.

For body builders, maintaining correct posture is very critical to avoid body injury. Balancing, focusing and keeping good posture to achieve the goal is possible by practicing these yoga poses. Achieving flexibility of various muscles is a positive aspect of these poses. In addition, yoga poses will bring awareness to both mind and body and, brings harmony between two and makes body building more meaningful and achievable.

Image credit: Photo by Anupam Mahapatra on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)