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Is Yoga Strengthening?

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Strength is your ability to produce force. More broadly, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. 

Its benefits for athletes are well known, but there are many reasons non-athletes and average Janes might seek strength, too. Time and time again, research shows that building strength—improving force production—confers broad health benefits. Some evidenced-based benefits to getting stronger include improved bone density, injury prevention, better balance, and improved confidence, to name a few.

Knowing this, it’s not surprising that the word “strength” is making its way around movement circles these days. Many modalities promise strength—from yoga and Pilates to kettlebells—and while all of these have many possible benefits—movement is medicine!—none guarantee that strengthening will occur.

Modalities don’t make us stronger. Stimuli does.

The stimulus for improving muscle force production is resistance. We can alter resistance (scale it up or down) in a number of ways by playing with exercise variations, as well as parameters like weight, reps, and sets, to name a few.

Important to our discussion today is determining whether or not a modality, like yoga asana, will make us stronger. We might wonder, too, if the strength we acquire from our yoga practice will transfer to other ways that we seek to be strong off the mat. The answers to these questions rely, first and foremost, on determining whether or not the stimuli we receive from our practice exceeds the threshold it needs to for strength, as an adaptation, to take place in our body.

Given this, it’s probably best not to rely on marketing to know whether or not our practice is making us stronger, and instead, understand strength a bit better, as well as our personal thresholds and what getting stronger feels like. Here’s a hint: it’s probably gonna feel a little uncomfortable.

Strength is individual.

Just like everyone’s optimal diet and amount of sleep will be different, everyone’s threshold for strength adaptations to occur will also depend on their training/movement experience. This means certain modalities, delivered in a universally prescribed dose—like a set workout routine with a specified weight, or set yoga sequence—might involve training stimuli that is sufficient for some individuals to gain strength, and it might not for others. It might involve training stimuli that is sufficient for some to gain strength for a while, but if the stimuli doesn’t progress, they will quickly plateau.

We hear this question a lot—is yoga strengthening? The answer is: It depends on the person and the dosage.

Same goes for Pilates, kettlebells, or anything with resistance bands.

From a teaching perspective, this fact presents some challenge. It’s much easier to assume that everyone can get some 20lb dumbbells and do 3 sets of 10 reps of everything and get stronger.

If I had a penny for every time someone DM’d me on Instagram to ask “what weights should I get” I’d have enough money to buy another over-priced kettlebell.

It’s also tempting to believe that everyone who regularly does your “challenging” Vinyasa flow sequence, your yoga with resistance bands class, or your yoga with hand weights class is benefiting by getting stronger.

But unless we know each student’s history of loading, we simply can’t know if these inputs will help individual students improve their force production under the unique circumstances each of these classes present. It’s very possible that for some people in some exercises, poses, and transitions, they will see strength gains (temporarily, at least.) It’s also possible that for other people, they might not. For others still, it could be way too much stimuli and result in pain or injury—definitely not where we want to go.

So instead of trying to fit strength in a one-size-fits-all modality, let’s examine a key feature that might make a modality more likely to result in strengthening (for more people more of the time.) This way, if our goal is to get stronger, we might seek out modalities that are more effective for accomplishing these goals. 

External loading equipment that ranges from light to heavy allows us to scale stimuli within a variety of movements for a variety of individuals.

Being able to add or subtract external load is helpful if strengthening is the goal. We all know that everyone is different, however, maybe less commonly considered is how as individuals, we are also different every day. What we need for building strength early on in our journey to get stronger is not what we’ll need later on. As we get stronger, our thresholds for strengthening stimuli go up. Eventually, we’ll need more resistance than bodyweight. If we fail to increase the level of resistance that we work against, we may still absolutely benefit from the exercise or modality in a number of ways, but we won’t continue to get stronger from it. Instead, we may plateau or our strength may actually decrease.

This is why free weights and resistance bands are very convenient. Both allow us to scale training stimulus easily. Resistance bands are definitely the lower cost, more space-saving equipment of the two options, however, for most high load, mulit-joint movements that we’d use to progress our strength (think deadlifts and squats) resistance bands are often less practical for a number of reasons including that they might not offer enough resistance in these lifts.

To avoid pitting these two types of equipment—bands and free weights—against each other, it’s more helpful to value them in combination. Both can be used in very different ways in different exercises. Ultimately, it’s probably worthwhile to have both. 

In contrast, traditional postural yoga utilizes mostly body weight as the source of resistance. Body weight is also scalable through propping, body position, and orientation. But those adjustments are not as readily available or scaleable as simply being able to alter external load.

In addition to examining the characteristics of a modality, we might also examine our exertion levels to see how this insight can inform whether or not what we’re doing is strengthening.

Awareness of our levels of exertion is key to avoiding over-doing it. But maybe more important to our discussion here is that it’s also key for avoiding under-doing it, too.

For me, the practice of mindfulness has helped me tremendously in connecting to the concept of exertion, or being able to feel into whether or not I’ve exceeded my personal threshold for strengthening to occur with the strength program I’m using. Let’s review:

I decide to lift weights and I’ve got external load to do it, but merely lifting weights a number of reps and sets doesn’t guarantee I’ll get stronger. Instead, it depends on whether I’m loading sufficiently to yield strength adaptations. Here’s where internal awareness of exertion—how we feel while undergoing this programming—can be a crucial gauge.

You see, it’s actually really easy for students to under-load, especially in a group class scenario where the teacher or coach has failed to help students scale the training stimulus appropriately based on individual thresholds. This is why I spend a good amount of energy educating students about exertion—what it is, what it feels like, and how much of it to explore.

Awareness of exertion is awareness of our thresholds. It’s how close we are to failure, or that point when we are not able to complete another lift, or hold a position for another few seconds. What that proximity feels like is how get to know our thresholds from the inside.

Conveniently, observations like muscles burning, heart rate, and rate of breathing are all signs that we are a certain distance from failure.

For example if we’re not feeling too much muscle discomfort, or our heartbeat and rate of breathing is relatively slow, these internal states might indicate we are not working very hard, which is another way to say that we are far away from failure. This means we’re likely too far away from the threshold we’d need to surpass for strengthening to occur.

Meanwhile, muscle discomfort, a fast heart beat, and a quick rate of breathing might indicate that we are getting closer, or that we’ve reached or surpassed that threshold for strengthening to occur.

Being able to identify our level of exertion is important for us to individualize our training stimulus, rather than competing with the person next to us. It’s key for working above the necessary threshold for strength adaptations to occur. It’s also important for helping us respond to our day to day needs. This way, on days when we need to do less, we can avoid blowing past our body’s signals and risk burn out, pain, or injury.

Yoga has been one of the primary ways that I’ve engaged in refining states of internal awareness which has made it invaluable for helping me learn to build strength.

In fact, it’s a key reason why I consider strength training a part of my yoga practice. Connecting to our bodies on a regular basis—in a variety of ways like lifting weights, doing chores, or even engaging in tough conversations with someone—means getting clearer about where our thresholds are, how to stay above those required for growth and under those, that when surpassed, result in damage and disrepair.

Maybe that kind of intelligence and insight is its own kind of strength. In the end, it can help make us better capable of accessing the full range of experiences in our bodies and minds. 

Filed Under: Body of Knowledge

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laurelbeversdorf

A “flow” refrain within an asana class can be A “flow” refrain within an asana class can be more than chaturanga-up dog-down dog.Find a flow phrase and keep coming back to it.Repeat for as long as it’s interesting.
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#shouldercircles #shouldercars #yogaflows #yogasequencing
7 New Looks for Cat/Cow that I love!1) arms cros 7 New Looks for Cat/Cow that I love!1) arms crossed = new feels for the upper back!2) thigh crossed = new feels for the hips and a constraint to lumbar movement/this one might mobilize your upper back more, too!3) Wavy spine! Learn to differentiate your spinal movements with the wave and find stiffer segments you’d otherwise gloss over.4) Tidal wave/shift forward and back and get your elbows and knees involved in the wave, too. This is a great precursor to spinal wave from down dog into plank pose and from plank to chaturanga. It’s also a rocking movement which in and of itself can be a rhythmic, soothing way to reset the nervous system.5) Need an adjustment in your neck and upper back? This one’s not for everyone, but if it’s for you, you’re welcome 🤤 IYKYK6) Stair steppers bring in rotation and IMO no other movement feels better in my upper back than when I rotate (+ flex) or rotate (+ extend.)7) Which is convenient because then we go cock-eyed and spend even more time flexing and extending while rotated. Suuuuper duper!Sprinkle in some new looks for cat/cow from time to time. They can be surprisingly informative to certain movement themes and they often also feel so good!
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#catcowpose #catcow #catcowvariation #spinalmobility #neckmobility #upperback #lowerback #yogasequencing
A challenging movement brings us to the present mo A challenging movement brings us to the present moment.Challenging movement is not necessarily what you think it is.It’s not inaccessible or fancy, particularly.It’s not leg behind head while standing on one foot.It could be something simple like coordinating bird dog with shoulder circles.Or patting your head with one hand while rubbing your tummy with the other.When you challenge your coordination in this way, whatever was stressing you out will get pushed out of your mind by a different problem to solve—the kind that stretches, lubricates, and mobilizes your shoulders, spine, and hips.Simple movement that requires deep focus and concentration can be deeply therapeutic.
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#shouldercircles #shouldercars #birddogs
Wanna make a familiar, well worn practice novel? Wanna make a familiar, well worn practice novel?Work your angles.We know that in thread the needle, typically the arm reaches straight out to the side, and then we sweep it behind the weight-bearing wrist to rotate the spine.And that feels so good.But we can take this general movement *template* and expand upon it without having to totally reinvent the wheel (or needle?)When we do, these small changes can add considerable variety to how we move, which can in and of itself go a long way toward reducing pain (and increasing pleasure!)To play with reaching your limbs to different angles in thread the needle, think of your arm as the hand of a clock that you can reach forward to 12 o’clock to the side to 3 or 9 o’clock and straight back to 6 o’clock.There are many more hours in the day and angles with which to play than this!Hit them all (or as many as you can) and feel what happens!Same goes with the entire lower extremity.Notice how it completely alters the movement, stretch, and muscle activation from your spine/core, as well as hips and shoulders.Each traditional pose (or well worn movement) is really just one point along a continuum of possible directions of movement to play with.Work your angles!
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.#threadtheneedle #creativeyoga #creativeyogaflow #yogasequencing #upperback #upperbackstretch
I refuse to shrink away like I tried to do in my e I refuse to shrink away like I tried to do in my early 20s with the endless pursuit of “smaller” for the benefit of the “male gaze” (which corporate interests made up.)I will continue to send the cells of my body the message that I am strong.This message, when it’s a little “louder” than they’re used to hearing, lands in a way where they respond and go, “oh, I guess this is what we do now.”My tissues remodel at every level to be strong—bone, tendon, muscle, cartilage, self-esteem.Heavy strength training is protective stress. Especially for women.Who told you to stay small?Who told you weak was pretty?Who painted the tiny dumbbells pink?Who profits from these messages?Who’s trading your self worth for money?
On its own, down dog is a wonderful stretch, but h On its own, down dog is a wonderful stretch, but have you tried targeting different areas of your body with some sly fidgeting?One of my favorite things to do in down dog is fidget (and sneak in some multi-planar micro moves to an otherwise sagittal, static pose.)Fidget #1: Cross your legs as much as possible, bend your knees (it’s a little like eagle pose legs) then flip your heels to one side of the mat (your knees will point to the other). Flip your feet (and knees) thenother way. Then change which leg is crossed in front and repeat.Fidget #2: Step your feet to the midline and line them up. The knee of the foot in front will naturally be a little bit more bent. Straighten it as the heel of the foot behind lifts. Then drive the heel of the back foot down and let the front knee bend. Repeat for as long as it feels good. Change sides.Fidget #3: While in down dog, surreptitiously bend opposite elbow and opposite knee. You might notice the non-bent limbs feel really “plugged in” and your spine gets a chriopractic adjustment with no chiropractor needed!Hold the pose but sprinkle in some fidgets!
This rockin’ (literally) sequence helps you work This rockin’ (literally) sequence helps you work on back strength and teach your dog new tricks!In this 90 second video, I show a build up to Urdvha Mukha Svanasana (upward dog) using passive, active, and breath-based strategies.We work active and passive range in spinal extension and shoulder extension.We use the arms to initiate a rock back and forth to highlight effort from the back body to lift the upper trunk and head higher, as well as effort from the back body to lifts the lower extremities higher.Then we apply a sneakier trick with the breath to see how abdominal breathing on inhale (inhale the belly out and down into the floor) shifts the fulcrum lower to advantage a lift if the chest, and vice versa, how exhaling shifts the fulcrum to advantage lifting the legs.Get rocking with your prone backbending and teach your dog some new tricks. 🐶
I’m happy to share this episode on the Practice I’m happy to share this episode on the Practice Human Podcast!@sarahcourtdpt and I sat down with @caitlincasella a few weeks ago to talk about scope of practice and cognitive biases.Swipe left to hear a couple highlights from me on working with different types of people with unique interests and goals, and from Sarah’s clinical perspective on being able to read a person.From the host (and my dear friend) Caitlin:I’ve always admired Laurel as a colleague and friend for her mental malleability when approaching a broad array of ideas, beliefs, and questions. Thank you Laurel for your insights. I will always consider you an inspiration and valuable partner in learning.As I mention in the episode intro, Sarah (unknowingly) served as a model for me of someone making the leap to go to PT school after a career teaching yoga. Sarah, I’m so grateful for your guidance still and the wisdom you impart in this talk.Link in my bio @caitlincasella to hear the full episode. And check out Laurel and Sarah’s podcast and online educational programming @movementlogictutorials#scopeofpractice #learningstyles #cognitivebias #cognativebiases #moveinalltheways #physicaltherapy #physiotherapy #physio #getptfirst #practicehuman
UPDATE: Shoulder Circle Flow turned into Let It Go UPDATE: Shoulder Circle Flow turned into Let It Go Flow followed immediately by Savasana.We learned shoulder circles.Then we learned how to not take ourselves too seriously while doing shoulder circles.
Old news: shoulder circles are a fabulous way to m Old news: shoulder circles are a fabulous way to mobilize your shoulders.New news: But have you taken a step back to really appreciate how excellent they are for mobilizing your spine?That’s exactly what we’ll be exploring in a brand new whole body, slow flow about to hit my Virtual Studio.SHOULDER CIRCLE SLOW FLOWThis video is a version of what we will build toward. (It’s also a form of “note-taking” that I use for my class planning process. Since I get ideas from seeing movement as much as I do from moving, videos of my “thought process” inspire new “thoughts”.)Sometimes I share my process with you! 😊The reason I put this class together and made these specific choices is that I polled my members and their top vote was as follows:Class type—slow flow
Region of focus—shoulders
Pose type—unique flow transitionsThis class will have all of that and more with a body AND brain challenge. 🧠
Physio balls elevate the happy factor!We’re ro Physio balls elevate the happy factor!We’re rolling ours out for handstand practice these days.I sort of sprung some optional physioball exercises on my Tue/Thu morning live class members and then quickly learned that many already have one.If you also happen to have one sitting in the corner over yonder, here are 5 ways to use it!Move more and make it playful! 😊
“Take the cookies and put them on the bottom she “Take the cookies and put them on the bottom shelf.”One of the better teaching analogies I’ve encountered. 😊🍪 🍪 🍪
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