By Kathie FitzPatrick

Cardio…gotta get that heartbeat up for a certain period of time to benefit, but at the same time don’t overdo it.

Weights…Need the toning, no doubt about that.

Yoga…need the relaxation and stretching. Gravity works against us every day to compress our spines.  The need to stretch out to avoid crippling conditions as time advances forward is also critical.

The quest for discovering the best physical fitness workout plan is always a hot topic of popular news.  So now more and more people, everyone from casual fitness gym enthusiasts to medical MD’s agree that  the combination of Cardio with Yoga, interspersing the use of weights for toning and endurance, is the best combination for optimal physical fitness workout plan.

In an online discussion of the topic of successfully combining these fitness techniques, some interested ideas were exchanged.

The question was posed:

 How to schedule weight training, cardio and yoga in a weekly workout

“I Am 44 years old. Want to improve my endurance and stamina. Was doing regular weight training and cardio till a year back. Last one year did mostly yoga. Now i wish to start weight training and cardio again to improve stamina and endurance. Also dont wish to loose benefits of yoga. Hence looking for a workout plan combining these three during every week. I can spend an hour every day.”

Answers from the community:

“There are lots of ways to combine these. You could alternate days. If you went weights, cardio, yoga, weights, cardio, yoga then you could take day 7 off or just keep going weights, cardio, yoga without a day off. “

“One thing that I like to do is yoga, or some other form of deep, relaxing, stretch, after a workout. So, if you schedule your weight lifting so there’s not a lot of rest between sets, you could have 15-20 minutes left over at the end to do some yoga. This way, you can take advantage of your already-warm muscles.”

Another answer: Paul

“With that kind of time set aside for exercise, your possibilities of combining everything are practically endless. I like the suggestions Nancy gave you. Personally, I like combining cardio with strength training – whether done separately or intermittently. That should free your training schedule up even more. Just be sure to take at least one day off. Good luck with your training”

A female fitness fan answered this way: Christine

“Like Paul, I’m also a big fan of combining your cardio and weights in a session (make sure you are lifting heavy enough). You can get the benefit of both a few days a week and then also have time for your yoga.

There are so many options for you, and ultimately you’ll find what works for you.”

Another fitness – yoga fan named Dan, answered this way:

“As suggested by all of the responses, there are a lot of options with regard to how you combine your workouts. Both Nancy’s and Paul’s suggestion can be effective. Christine’s reference to “heavy enough” resistance for strength training is important. The exercises you select should ideally take the target muscle(s) to temporary failure by about 12 rep max. Also I suggest that you perform the strength and flexibility exercises following your cardio workout, as Nancy suggests, when muscles and connective tissues are warmed. I definitely agree that you schedule at least one day/week for rest, recovery and repacking of glycogen into the skeletal muscles.

Whether you perform your strength and hypertrophy exercises on the same day, or on alternate days, be sure to do a warm-up set prior to RM sets to increase the temperature in the milieu of the target muscle(s).”

The benefits of aerobic exercises are very strong.  On the cardio, which can be achieved in a variety of ways, running, jogging, brisk walking, gardening, tread mill and stair stepper to name a few–. The experts say you need about 150 minutes a week of moderate activity for good, heart health, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous activity such as running, jogging, cycling playing soccer, or swimming. Cardio aerobic type exercise will add many health benefits to your life and overall health such as:

Lowering blood pressure

Improves overall cardiovascular health lessening the risk of heart disease

Helps regulate blood sugar

Lessons asthma symptoms

Relieves chronic pain

Helps loose weight and keep it off

Helps people sleep better

Heightens the immune system

Improves overall alertness

Improves our mood

But why is cardio aerobic exercise so highly recommended? Read on to learn about the benefits and to get tips for ways to incorporate aerobic exercise into your routine. Fitness experts say most people should aim to get around 30 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity at least five days each week. This works out to around 150 minutes or 2 1/2 hours per week. You can mix up intensities and activities to keep it interesting and not too intense.

If you’re new to activity, start short and slow. You can always build as your fitness level improves. Remember: Any movement is better than no movement.

If you’re short on time, consider breaking up your exercise routine throughout the day into several 10-minute units. Even short sessions of aerobic exercise are enough to make the difference and reap benefits you can see and feel.

Yoga is the relaxing element

Meditation, body awareness, holding stretching a variety of twisting poses for a period of minutes can be beneficial for spine elongation, particularly in the lower back. A woman who had been a long term “Yogini” said she enjoyed Yoga, but cringed when Yoga instructors claimed that yoga did things like help flush toxins out of the system or cured constipation.  She was a skeptic when they started talking like that she admitted.

Is Yoga Good for You?

Most of the time Yoga usually involves various combination of the following: postures and poses (asanas), regulated breathing (pranayama), and meditation and relaxation (samyana). But in many classes, other elements are mixed in from chanting to heating to a variety of styles and types of types of music. There’s also a lot of variation in teaching quality and style of Yoga. Iyengar and Hatha yoga are mostly made up of stretches and restorative poses, while ashtanga and vinyasa tend to be more vigorous and athletic, almost aerobic.  Yin yoga is probably not the type of Yoga to make you sweat:  Yin yoga mostly has you holding postures for long periods of time for very deep stretches. However, in the Bikram variety, which consists of 26 postures repeated twice in a room that’s heated at 105 degrees, you can be sure you’ll drench your yoga clothes in perspiration by the time you finish.

Studies seems to reveal that yoga often helps to help alleviate lower back pain, improve strength and flexibility, and reduce inflammation in the body — which, in turn, can help stave off chronic disease and even death

 Yoga Study on Yoga for Health

Yoga Study:  A key medical study from 1975,  featured in Lancet, “Randomized controlled trial of yoga and bio feedback in management of hypertension.” This is the first-ever randomized trial on yoga, and it found that yoga was more effective than relaxation in reducing high blood pressure.”

2005: Annals of Internal Medicine — “Comparing yoga, exercise, and a self-care book for chronic low back pain.” This is the most important trial on yoga for lower back pain and the first really high-quality trial on yoga. Based on this trial, yoga had become increasingly recognized as an effective treatment for chronic lower back pain.

2013: Journal of the American College of Cardiology — “Effect of yoga on arrhythmia burden, anxiety, depression, and quality of life in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.” One of the first trials to show that yoga may have an impact on life-threatening diseases such as atrial fibrillation. (Quoted from an article by Julia Belluz-Vox media)

So there seem to be many benefits of Yoga that are different from other types of exercise but work very well in tandem with other forms of exercise for  optimum results, such as along with cardio aerobic exercise and weight training.  Only you can be the judge, and only you can feel the results for yourself.

Conclusion

From the testimonies of various avid fitness enthusiasts to evidence from medical studies, the combination of cardio or aerobic exercise, weight training and yoga seems to hit all sides of the fitness and relaxation spectrum. It is always good advice to consult your doctor when you start a new exercise program. But this is a recommended combination for fitness that is hard to beat!