Asthanga practice and Cathe?

S

Skyeblu

Cathlete
Hi Cathe (or anyone who may have the answer),
I put the gym and weights aside about 6-7 months ago in leu of more yoga. I have been practicing for a couple years but uped my Asthanga practice to about 4-5 times a week. This is the most vigorous form of yoga and I am pretty advanced. Problem is I want to cut back and incorporate my weight training and cardio again as I abandoned it all together because yoga is so intense I could not do both ( my body needs a good amount of recovery). I know my yoga practice will be compromised but I want my body lean and cut again for the summer and without weights and cardio I ain't gettin' there, LOL!
If I cut back to 2-3 times, probably more 2 than 3 times for a while until I am in the shape I want, can you tell me how to incorporate your workouts in. I ideally would like to workout and practice yoga combined max 5 times a week. I have the following DVD's:
1. Legs & Glutes/KPC
2. High Step Challenge
3. ME/Boot Camp
4. CoreMax

Thanks to anyone who may have experience with this and an answer/advice.

Skye
 
Hi there Skye-
I am also a "struggling" yoga practitioner trying to figure out the right combination of cardio, weights and of course yoga. I practice bikram yoga and have for the past two years. Prior to this, I was VERY active with cardio and weights, spinning, rollerblading etc etc etc. Basically, once I discovered the yoga, I became completely hooked and gave up most of my cardio (with the exception of walking my dog) and all weight training. Unfortunately, the weight began to creep up. On top of the initial weight gain, I broke my ankle last January! I was completely non-weight bearing for close to 8 weeks and let me tell you, after removing that cast, the weight bearing was extremely difficult. Back to my story.....so the road back to ankle health has been VERY slow....very frustrating....but of course the one thing that has been very beneficial...you guessed it, the yoga! So here I am, 40 lbs heavier than my ideal weight, wanting to practice yoga as much as possible but knowing my body needs much, much more. Just this week, I started the Cathe fat loss rotation with the new series. On the two days that she suggests a segment of the stretchmax, I actually go to yoga on top of whatever DVD I am working on that day. Yes it is quite time consuming, but I know I need to keep my yoga practice for the flexibility and also the ankle strength. I am also planning on practicing my yoga on Sundays too.
Whew......hope you can find the time in your schedule to continue your yoga but have a Cathe workout too! Her videos/DVD's are the best I have ever tried. I feel like I am at the gym having a good ole time! Best of luck to you.
Karen :)
 
I just started practicing yoga when I got the P90X tapes about 4 months ago. Owie!!! Yoga is the hardest thing I have ever done, maybe because I seriously lack flexibility. Since then I have gotten more yoga dvd's (Shiva Rea and her awesome yoga matrix in Shakti Yoga, Bryan Kest's 3-in-1, and the MTV Yoga/Pilates 4 pack. I found the P90X yoga and Tony Horton to be a bit slow and long winded for my taste, and much prefer the power yoga). I am seriously inflexible from so much running for 22 years and not stretching out enough after. I am a complete amateur when it comes to the flexibility in yoga regarding legs and spine, but have the strength from the weight lifting.

Here is my current schedule:
Monday weights/core (either upper, lower, or full body)
Tuesday yoga/stretch max, run pm (from 45-55 minutes)
Wed weights/core (you could do yoga/core here)
Thurs yoga/stretch max, run pm
Fri weights
Sat walk with my daughter
Sun off
Some weeks I do 2 days of upper body, one of lower. Other weeks I do upper just once, and go heavy (no tapes, just my own program), and do lower once and up the cardio or core. Variety is the key.
This way you'd get in 2-3 days a week of yoga, and at least two days a week of weight lifting. I change things around depending on my schedule and the time of the month (PMS week I am sore and stiff and bloated, yech). Since you want to do more yoga, you could do it M-W-F and do the weight training T-Th.
Cheers, good luck.
 
Hi, Skye, I had a similar dilemma since I practice Anusara yoga at the intermediate to advanced level 4-5 times a week. Strength training enhances it, particularly the lower body work, since handstand, plank and pushup (Chaturanga Dandasana) work the shoulders, back and arms so nicely but the leg work tends to be more in the engagement of the muscles. Squats and lunges can't be beat when it comes to adding mass to the legs. I am very lean and have nice leg definition but I saw a reduction in my hard won mass when I did less strength and more yoga. My daughter is in the school production of the Hello Dolly which forced me to modify my yoga schedlue and I added the strength back in two morings a week when I just can't get to yoga. I will also do strength the morning of an evening class and it's challenging but doable. I use much more moderate weight than I did when I used strength training alone. I also do cardio several times a week on days when I have yoga on the schedule. I have taken to using shorter, modified cardio and that too works very well. One of the things I love about yoga is that it provides the physiological benefits benefits that cardio does and the strength benefits of strength training while increasing flexabiity and calmness. Even so, added leg strength and mass has improved my yoga. I could happily be a full time yogini but I love what cardio and strength do for me too so it's all about fitting it in and doing so in a way that doesn't increase the risk of injury. For me that means modified strength and cardio but with the yoga, it's all good! :)
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

-Ann Landers
 
Hi Karen, thanks for the response. When I started out practicing yoga I did Bikram before I switched to asthanga. I had the same problem with it back then too, I was so sore after all those long holds, weights was very difficult because my legs would shake especially doing standing bow and forward bend with your leg up. Don't you just love sweating like that? I do miss that intense heat from Bikram.
I hope your ankle is healing well and resuming all those fun things you were able to do before!
Skye
 
Thanks for the response Deborah! Congrats on your yoga practice, I am sure you love it as much as I do. Really makes you see a different side of pure strength.
Your schedule is a big help, I'll write it down and give it a shot.
Skye
 
Thanks Bobbi. I am familiar with Anusara. I tried a couple classes, really liked it. You had the same problem I did with less definition once you took on more yoga and less strength. I know that I will have to compromise now, unfortunately to look the way I want my yoga will suffer. But I can't have my cake and eat it too, LOL. A balance of both is the answer, I just have to have the patience to figure it out.
Good luck to your daughter with Hello Dolly!
Skye
 
Skye, I love yoga too and try to fit it in wherever I can. I've tried many ways but the most effective way for me is to extend my "week" to nine days in order to include more yoga and Pilates, and to sub short (10-15 min) yoga segments for the stretches in my strength and cardio workouts.

I have a hard time building muscle so I REALLY need to weight train in order to keep my body strong. I also think cardio is an extremely important component of fitness and would never leave that out either. I have a hard time gaining core strength and have found Pilates really helps, so I try to fit that in too.

Here's a rotation I did a few months ago that incorporated the 9-day-week idea. I got excellent results and didn't find myself working out endlessly:

SUN: PUB + Yoga Stretch
MON: PLB + 10 min Pilates
TUE: Imax 1 or 2
WED: Power Yoga
THU: Pilates + KPC Cardio Conditioning Premix
FRI: ME + Yoga Stretch
SAT: Rest
SUN: Cardio (Step Works, Step Blast, Christi Taylor)
MON: Power Yoga

I'm doing a similar rotation using the Hardcore Series.

I've read many times that it's better to do shorter yoga practices more frequently than to do longer practices less frequently.
 
hi everyone, i'm not trying to get off the subject of schedules, but i love doing yoga and would like to have more than a couple of videos to work with. if anyone could suggest videos with the same intensity of say IMAX or MAX INTENSITY i would greatly appreciate it. by the way, i don't really schedule my workouts, i go with what my body wants to do that day. usually driving home from work i think about what i feel would be best for my energy level. some days it's IMAX, some days it's weights, some days it's a good book on the couch(not too often!). listen to what your body tells you!

good luck with your new schedule and i hope we're all ready for summer!!}(
 
If you favor Ashtanga, I recommend Richard Freeman's Primary Series. He is an incredible yogi and where he takes this workout if unbelievable but he starts simple. David Swenson has a Primary Series also. I also like Eoinn Finns Yoga for Happiness and Power Yoga workouts. These are not flow yoga and they are easier than the Ashtanga workouts. I hope you find one you like!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

-Ann Landers
 
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