Yoga & Aerobics

Trendy workouts come and go, but yoga is by far the most enduring exercise program as it began more than 5,000 years ago. Aerobics has a much shorter history, but both yoga and aerobics offer unique health benefits.

Yoga

Yoga burns calories and tones muscles. Also, you get a total mind-body workout combining stretching and strengthening poses, added to deep breathing, relaxation, and meditation. With over 100 different types of yoga, you can choose a fast-paced, intense style or go for something more gentle and relaxing.

Different Types of Yoga

• Hatha is what you probably think of when someone says ‘Yoga.’ Hatha combines a set of basic movements and breathing.
• Power Yoga is a higher-intensity, faster practice that works to build muscle.
• Vinyasa is a series of poses that smoothly flow into the next.
• Ashtanga is also a series of poses that combine with a specialized breathing technique.
• Iyengar uses props like chairs, blocks, and straps to help you move your body into proper alignment.
• Bikram, or ‘hot yoga,’ is a series of 26 challenging poses completed in a hot room.

The intensity of yoga workouts depends on which type of yoga you perform. Hatha and Iyengar are slow and gentle yoga. Power and Bikram yoga are faster with an increased challenge level.

Areas Yoga Targets

• Core – Yoga most certainly targets your core. Many yoga poses target pretty much every core muscle.
• Arms – Yoga won’t build arm strength like you can with free weights or exercise equipment, but your own bodyweight does help some. Some poses spread your body weight between your legs and arms. Others challenge your arms by having them support your entire body weight.
• Legs – Yoga poses work your legs, including your hips, thighs and quadriceps.
• Glutes – Yoga bridges, squats, and warrior poses use deep knee bends to sculpt your rear.
• Back – Downward-facing dog, cat/cow and child’s pose stretch your back muscles which is really good for relieving a sore back.

Aerobics

The word ‘aerobics’ may bring to mind leotards, leg warmers, and intense workout videos. Still, aerobic exercise is any activity that makes your heart work harder and burns calories. Done regularly, your body benefits well beyond heart health, though.

Aerobic exercise takes many different forms, but aerobics refers to a specific activity. Aerobics combines a series of rhythmic aerobic exercises that include both strength training and stretching routines. The ultimate goal is to improve all aspects of your fitness, like your flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness.

Most aerobics are performed to music, led by an aerobics instructor. At home, participants usually follow a prerecorded session. But you can do aerobics by yourself and without music. Various aerobics routines use several standard dance-like exercises.

Aerobics workouts are divided into levels of different intensities and complexities. But no matter the level, they all have 5 parts.

• Warm-up for 5 to 10 minutes
• Cardiovascular conditioning for 25 to 30 minutes
• Muscular strengthening and conditioning for 10 to 15 minutes
• Cool-down for 5 to 8 minutes
• Stretching and flexibility for 5 to 8 minutes

Calorie burn rates depend on your weight, the length of the aerobics class and the intensity of the workout. For example, a 200-pound person burns up to 600 calories in a 60-minute, low-impact aerobics class. But a 140-pound person who is less fit, so they work out at a less intense level, might burn just 360 calories in that same class.

Yoga and Aerobics

Many people find that combining yoga and aerobics fits into their lifestyle, providing a foundation for healthy activities. Here at Eazyro.com, we have all the yoga and aerobics accessories you need to make your yoga and aerobics sessions ideal for your healthy lifestyle goals.