Incorporating yoga into your routine has several benefits, but what kinds of benefits are you chasing? For some, yoga is an activity used mostly for brain stimulation and relaxation. For others, yoga is a fitness tool.
How often should you do yoga to see results? You should practice yoga 4 to 5 times a week to see results. However, if you are just starting, you should properly acquaint your body to handle the optimal workload for you. If you consistently practice yoga several times a week you will gain more comfort and strength and you might even be able to add sessions.
Seeing results will take more than just practicing yoga. If you do not maintain yourself outside of yoga, you will struggle to get the results you want. Four or five yoga sessions a week are not enough to combat an unhealthy way of living. In this article, you will get a better understanding of how to optimize your yoga results, as well as a few helpful tips.
Benefits Of Doing Yoga Regularly
Practice makes perfect. If yoga is a foreign activity to you, the only way to get better at it is through consistent practice and patience. Once yoga becomes a regular part of your routine, you will seamlessly start to incorporate it more into your schedule. The results you are looking for may vary, so let’s take a look at the benefits of doing yoga.
- Relaxation
- Mindfulness
- Physical well-being
- Core strength and fitness
Typically, those who practice yoga several times a week do it for their physical and mental health. These two go hand-and-hand. If you are relaxed and focused, your physical health will benefit from it. Depending on your goals, the number of times you should do yoga weekly will vary.
If your yoga is driven by physical results, the more you practice, the better. Do not overextend yourself. Yoga can be a physically taxing activity despite all of its benefits. Your body needs time to heal. Burnout is real and can diminish your productivity as well as the pace of your results. Ease into your yoga practice before diving in headfirst.
Variable Factors to Consider
Yoga alone will not give you the results you want. You must stay consistent and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Physical health results will come if you eat healthy and stay active. Yoga can be one of the center points of your schedule, but your goals should not end in the yoga lab. Let’s take a look at activities you should do in tandem with yoga.
- Eat healthy – Watch your calories and consume foods that benefit your body. Avoid junk food and excessive sugar. Eat proteins like chicken and fish and incorporate vegetables into your meals. Also, drink a lot of water and eliminate soda and alcohol.
- Stay active – You do not have to be at the gym every day, but doing physical activities will help. Go for walks and runs or do at-home workouts. The more you stay active the stronger your body will feel during yoga.
- Get sleep – Sleep deprivation caps your productivity levels and impacts your alertness. Rest is necessary for your body to work at its full potential. 6-8 hours of sleep is the recommended amount for optimal success.
- Form – Your form is everything. Improper form will cap the effectiveness of your yoga practice. Improper form can also lead to injuries and nothing is more of a setback to your physical goals than an injury.
Getting the results you want takes a concerted effort. You can do all the yoga you want, but if you are not keeping up the same commitment outside of the yoga lab, you will be left frustrated and unmotivated by your results. Also, if you are doing yoga 4 to 5 times a week, you should still maintain a healthy lifestyle on days you are not doing yoga.
Types of Yoga
Part of the battle is finding the right yoga for you. The results you want might differ from somebody else’s. There are yoga classes for people of all levels and classes for people with all kinds of goals. Depending on your goals and on the type of yoga that works best for you, you will have a better idea of how often you will need to practice to see results. These are just some of the many types of yoga you can find:
- Power Yoga – This yoga caters to athletes and makes for a great exercise. Power yoga strengthens your core, arms, and legs while also improving your flexibility. Ashtanga and Vinyasa yoga also fall under the power yoga category.
- Bikram – This yoga targets weight loss and helps you burn calories during and after the session. Rooms are heated up to 105 degrees with 40 percent humidity. Make sure to arrive hydrated and stretched out to avoid cramping and injury. Hot yoga also falls under the Bikram category.
- Anusara – If your goals revolve more around mental health, this meditation yoga is highly recommended. Anusara focuses on self-exploration, thought, and discovery. This will help you tap into your spirituality and relieve you of stress. This is a great choice for mental health benefits.
- Restorative – If your job requires a lot of physical labor or if you live an active lifestyle, restorative yoga is a great way to recover. Restorative yoga focuses on breathing exercises and stretches. It is a great way to heal your body and regain strength.
Depending on your goals, it is possible to incorporate multiple types of yoga into your routine. You might have several goals and focusing your energy on one a day can provide excellent results. For physical results, consider incorporating restorative yoga into your routine to help you avoid burnout and muscle failure.
Getting Discouraged
If you and a friend start doing yoga at the same time and they see results before you do, do not get discouraged. Try focusing on things that may be capping your potential results and eliminate them. Everyone’s goals are different and setting realistic expectations for yourself will help you achieve goals quicker and keep you encouraged.
It might take you a day, a few days, or even weeks before you start to see results, but patience is important. Try different types of yoga and keep your body and mind focused and engaged in the activity. If you feel burnout, take time to recover and reset. The number of times you do yoga will be irrelevant if you keep running into walls.
Conclusion
The amount of yoga you should do to see results varies. Typically 4 to 5 times a week is recommended, but less or more can also be beneficial. Figuring out what works for you will initially take trial and error. Start slow and ease into your yoga practice especially if yoga movements are new to you. Bump up your sessions as you gain more comfort.
Yoga alone will not give you the results you want. Stay consistent outside of the yoga lab by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy, stay active, get sleep, and practice proper form for optimal results. If you only focus on yoga and slack on all other factors you will only end up frustrated by your lack of results and might get discouraged.
The type of yoga you practice will also help expedite your results. Choosing the right type of yoga will let you focus on your exact goal. Incorporating different types of yoga will keep the activity fresh and activate different parts of your body and mind. So, try to do 4 to 5 days of yoga a week, but make sure to set yourself up for success!