Eventually, I hope to do intermediate-level aerobics 5 days a week for ~50 minutes (part of that time includes warming up and cooling down)

plus

Strength training 3 days/week for ~45 minutes (part of this time also includes warming up and cooling down)


I want to add yoga to this mix because who couldn't use more flexibility and balance? How should I go about doing this?

I was thinking of adding 3 days of 30-minute yoga sessions. (However, I plan to do this graduatlly to avoid burnout and to minimize risk) If I added that, I'd be doing 11 workout sessions and roughly 7.5 hrs of exercise/week.

Does that seem to much? Can you do that much yoga when you're already doing other exercises? I'm in my mid-20s.

Should I just do two 30-minute sessions instead of three? Is there any other advice that you have for someone in my situation?

Are you planning to do yoga at home?? I would advise against that. Yoga requires precision - and it's more important to go into postures right than to go for depth - which is certainly the temptation. For myself I need somebody to watch me doing that. Join a class. When you get the hang of it you can do it at home.

Yep - you sure can do yoga while doing other things. I do one 90 minute session of yoga every week. (I do hot yoga - Bikram yoga) and I do tons of other stuff. I did the C25K while doing daily yoga last summer.

It certainly has helped my flexibility and balance. I am now playing rugby and it's tough on the body, especially in my position where there's a great deal of pressure on my neck, shoulders and spine. Yoga helps me be able to move again after a match.

I do yoga along with other things.

Maybe just start by taking a class. Learn some of the postures, integrate the stretches into your regular workout times. Take another class. Etc.

Don't feel like you have to commit to 3 30 minute sessions per week or nothing.

Start with a little, see if you like it. If its gentle enough yoga it won't overly stress your body or affect your other exercise.

It should be perfectly possible. Certain styles of yoga (eg Yin) are even basically there as a balance for an otherwise vigorous exercise program. I agree with the advice above of trying to find a class, though. Some of the poses can be tricky initially. You may also want to experiment a little to see what style of yoga and approach to teaching works best for you.

Are you doing any yoga right now? I would just start out with a class and take it from there.... and really not worry about whether you should be doing 2 or 3 classes a week at this point... Are you already exercising everyday? Do you already have days where you work out twice a day? That's definitely a pretty ambitious workout schedule.... So however you decide to build up to it... I would take it nice and slow... The last thing you want is to get burned out or worse, injured....

The rule of thumb that I was always taught when it comes to training.... Is not to add more than 10% in time or distance to your workouts per week... So that means if say you're workout for 3 hrs a week right now... That's 180 minutes... So the following week add no more than 18 minutes total to your overall workout time... So a total of 198 minutes (I would just probably round that up to 200 minutes total for simplicity's sake.... Lol...) but you get the idea....

You can definitely do yoga at home. Take one of your exercise days and switch out to do sun salutations. Check out Shiva Rea on youtube. Sun salutation A and B will work the cardio, you're moving with your breath, and also challenges strength and balance. The sun salutations benefit you also by being soothing to the nervous system, instead of jarring it as does 'cardio' and weight work.

For yoga at home I like Dr Melissa West, Namaste Yoga on youtube, blip and/or her website. It's very easy for beginners. In my area there is a local church that has very reasonable exercise classes plus a free workout room and indoor walking track. (It's only $3 for zumba and yoga there!) Many classes are free for the first visit, so you can try it out. Some basic yoga poses seem simple, but if you aren't doing them right; you could really mess up your back or your knees.

What about observing oneself before a mirror while doing a pose?

Veronica - a mirror is a fantastic tool in yoga. But for me personally, I need to feel what's the right position - and I know that I would never have been able to do the 26 postures in Bikram without help from a pro. And a lot of these 26 positions are deceptively simple looking (not all) but still very easy to get wrong. We always do the same 26 postures in the same order every single time and I'm still learning. In most cases the wrongness just means that I'm not getting the benefit. I'm extremely inflexible so I'm unlikely to do myself a yoga injury with the Bikram series of postures (excepting 1, possibly 2) But if you are flexible - and almost everyone is more flexible than I am - it is possible to overextend and do yourself some damage. For me, after a year of yoga including a period of daily practice there are still some postures I cannot do. Teachers have helped me find adaptations to these postures which give me the benefits and help me work toward the full expression of the posture. I'd never have been able to do that at home. However, now I feel confident to run through the 26 postures at home, because I kinda know what I'm doing (just kinda though... I still learn something new about the practice and myself at every class).

Yoga is an art and practice that's been developed over thousands of years. You CAN do it at home, but why not learn from someone before you start doing it at home? I really don't want to put anyone off from yoga, because it's a wonderful thing that has changed my life for the better - but at the same time it's a practice that must be developed. If you find a local yoga class you can start incorporating easier postures (easier conceptually not necessarily physically) into your routine at home from Day 2. But if you're brand new to yoga, why not take the opportunity to learn from someone who knows what they're doing?