I know that yoga's been practiced for years and I have tried it once, but what I'd really like to know is if it's worth spending the money if it's not going to help me with my weightloss goals. People have told me that it helps tone.. anybody have experience with Yoga? I also attend a kickboxing gym so I'm hoping a combination of the two will make a difference. Any insight?

If you want to simply burn fat/lose pounds then yoga probably isn't the best fit. If want to want to do is simply drop weight then cardio and resistance training (or Kickboxing) is much more efficient.

That being said I think yoga is great for your body and mind in other ways. Like you said you do get toned when you have to hold poses for several seconds, which can sometimes feel more difficult than just lifting a heavy weight. And more importantly you do get more flexible. I used to run stairs allot when I was taking yoga (unrelated) and my legs always felt really tight and I am convinced my yoga class made my legs longer by helping me stretch those muscles. I am 70+ pounds overweight and I can still see definition in my legs. Some of that is the stairs, but I'm convinced some of that is Yoga too.

Also I don't think I was ever felt a stronger feeling of accomplishment than when I did my first shoulder stand (holding your body in a column, supporting your weight on your shoulders).

If its not a strain on your budget I would suggest giving it a couple weeks. If it is however I would focus on kick boxing for the weight benefit. But there are tons of really solid free websites and books that can walk you through alot of the simpler asanas (poses) which can still be helpful. I wouldn't try something like a shoulder stand without an instructor but there are others that can be useful. Whenever my lower back hurts (and as a 40DDD, it happens often) I still .do "child's pose" and its been 6 years and like 30 pounds since I took a formal class.

I have a Yoga for beginners DVD. I use a few times a month. It really helps relax me...I think the main benefits for me are flexibility. It REALLY stretches you out. I don't think I do it frequently enough to get toning results though.

Yeah, like I said, I do do kickboxing and I really do reap the benefits and I'm lucky that I carry my weight really well but i think I will try yoga, since I could probably use some toning anyways (lol) House of Mirth, When you say you were doing stairs, how did it help? Is it something that you do like a treadmill workout where you do it until you just can't anymore? or is it more like strength training for your legs?

LOL I didn't realize until I saw this question how massively unclear I was. I literally mean taking massive amounts of stairs 4 minutes at a time...every 40 minutes. I went to a physically HUGE high school (the student body was huge too..about 4000 students 900+ people in my graduating class). It took up an entire NYC block and had 8 floors that students had classes on and the floors were each separated by 2+ flights of stairs and NO ELEVATORS. And clearly the folks at the program office did not take this into consideration when they made schedules. I usually had three floors (6 flights of stairs min) separating two classes.At its worst I had to go from the West Side of the Basement to the East side of the 6th floor in four minutes. That means i was dragging my 180lb body plus whatever I was carrying in text books up 6 stories in less than 4 minutes 5 days a week for at least 5 months.

So I guess you really cant duplicate that particular experience but I HAVE tried something similar on the stair machine. I give it all I have for 4 minutes and then take it back down to about 50% capacity for 6. My legs feel just about as rubbery as they did in High school when I do that. Its just standard interval training. when I do it consistently I see good results.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to relive all that!

can i just add that some of those hot yoga classes have left me more sore than a good gym workout. there are so many different styles of yoga, some of them are really gentle, like kripalu, and others really get you worked out, like...errrr, uh, ok i don't the names of them. Vinyasa? Anyway, sample them -- most studios let you get your first class for free.
good luck!!
sonja

Yoga is great, I think you can bank on 150 -200 calories an hour. It is really worth it for strength and flexibility. If you don't feel up to the cardio, you will still burn calories with Yoga. I used to do yoga once or twice a week and since I have stopped, have lost A LOT of flexibility.

Yoga is great for the mind & body. If you really don't have the money to spend on a yoga class, take a look on the internet, there are many yoga related sites that show you plenty of poses. Start practicing at home.

My favorite poses is the Sun Salutation series. You will feel your core and every body part the next day. It is the most simple and very effective series of poses to get your body lean & toned.

I just bought my first yoga dvd this week (I can't think of the name off hand) and am glad to hear that it will get me some benefits! Anybody have some other good yoga dvd's that you would recommend?

Sister of the groom - I'm not sure if he ever came out with dvds yet, but you can watch my favorite guy on tv, his name is Steve Ross. The program is called Inhale, he is fun and kicks your butt. Very down to earth host. I actually loved his Yoga book when I read it.

I really like it but I agree with the others Yoga isn't the best calorie burner. I like YogaBootyBallet which is a combo of yoga/ballet/dancing. It really gets me moving. I'd say get a trial membership to blockbuster online or netflix and try out some dvd's before you buy them. some places have free month trials or at least two week trials.

When I actively practiced Yoga, I did a Am/Pm workout. I noticed it helped my mood and helped me ease tension.