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Strength Training

Increase Your Yoga Burn

Toning is worth the weight

For a stronger yoga body, just add a fistful of iron. These hatha poses from Anthony Carillo, author of Iron Yoga, incorporate 2- to 5-pound dumbbells to strengthen your body and fry fat. Do each move once on both sides, then move to the next. For best results, repeat the flow for 45 minutes two or three times a week.

1) Crescent Lunge with Overhead Lateral Raise
1. With feet about 4 feet apart, pivot your body to face the front of your mat. Lower dumbbells to each side of your left foot and place fingertips on the floor. Bend your knee to 90 degrees.

2.. Pick up a dumbbell in each hand and raise your torso. Hold dumbbells at your sides with arms straight and palms facing upward, 1 foot from your hips.

3. Inhale as you raise the dumbbells in an arc until overhead. Exhale and hold. Inhale and then exhale as you lower the weights. Switch legs and repeat. Keep your arms straight as you lift the dumbbells.

2) Side Angle Lunge with Concentration Curl
1. With feet about 4 feet apart, turn your right foot out 90 degrees and your left foot in slightly. Bend your right knee to 90 degrees. Holding both dumbbells in your right hand, lower your right arm to the inside of your right heel and extend your left arm straight up. Keep your torso and hips facing forward.

2. Inhale, then exhale and reach your left arm over your ear. Inhale and curl your right arm to your shoulder. Hold. Exhale and inhale, then exhale as you curl down. Return to start and repeat on your left side.

3) Warrior II with Lateral Raise and Biceps Curl
1. With feet about 4 feet apart, turn your right foot out 90 degrees and your left foot in slightly. Square your hips and shoulders. Lift dumbbells to shoulder height. Bend your right knee to 90 degrees. Turn your head to the right.

2. Lower the right dumbbell to your right knee. Rotate your left palm to face upward.

3. Inhale and curl the left dumbbell. Hold while you slowly exhale and inhale once. Exhale and bring your left arm back to shoulder height. Repeat on your left side.

From Women's Health

Comments

judianne
02 Sep 2008, 21:57

I don't agree with doing full (long lever) lat raises --- even in the gym. For the sake of rotator cuff and neck safety, they should be done with a prone, not a supine grip, and the elbows should remain flexed. Sorry if it doesn't look as pretty. It's safety that counts before anything else. A much better choice for strengthening shoulders would be the lunge with light weights added for a military press -- provided that the elbows never dipped down below 90%. Before adding weight to any upper body large muscle group, one should always be certain his/her core temperature has been sufficiently elevated, and rotator cuffs are warmed up. Also, is should go without saying that, before weights are added to an asana, one should be advanced enough in his/her practice that balance in the lunge pose is no longer an issue.

judianne
03 Sep 2008, 12:22

One more thing I forgot to mention. When adding iron to either lat or front raises, one should never exceed shoulder height during the contractile portion of the exercise. The shoulder was not designed to safely support extra weight beyond this point.