My exercise regime consist of 4 hours cardio a week and 2 hours strength training.
I am wondering what would you consider yoga to be? I am not talking about yoga easier yoga for relaxing. My classes included vinyasas and held poses. It gets my heart rate up and i sweat a little but not like i do in kick boxing. I also requires a lot of strength but i don't get sore like i do with weight training...
What do you think should i count it or just do it as extra?
i dont really count my yoga in. i take it 1-2 times a week because i find that it loosens up all my muscles and gives me evergy for the next day. If anything maybe a little strength. My upper body and core usually get a pretty good work out.
I have the same problem not knowing how to count the pilates that I do. So what i do is think about what it mostly consisted of...like if the pilates i do that day is upper body, then i count it as strength training. So i just try to cater it to the actual workout.
I would consider it a strengthening exercise. You're using your body weight for resistance (and in the case of pilates, you're doing tons of core work). Your heart rate doesn't get up nearly high enough for it to be considered cardio, I don't think.
Why count it? Just do it ! I also run 3x, do the gym 3-4x, now I bike 3-4x, I also sometimes swim 1-2x... I just do Yoga 2-3/week because I like it, I consider it relaxation and stretching which everyone desperately needs...
Pilates would be considered a strength exercise-with very similar, and just as intense benefits for the abs and back as doing a gym set of ab exercises would be.
Yoga-it depends on what class/type/dvd you are doing. Some are geared more towards relaxation, others more towards strength (no, you are not using weights, but you are supporting your body weight in many of the poses), and not only stretching the muscles...but also opening up parts of your body such as the hip bones, etc.
Yoga is in it's OWN category. The benefits are different than you get from regular cardio or weights.
Yoga ..cardio .. strength ???
I also run 3x, do the gym 3-4x, now I bike 3-4x, I also sometimes swim 1-2x... I just do Yoga 2-3/week because I like it, I consider it relaxation and stretching which everyone desperately needs...
