Yoga: Does she have an adequate man? What harm do the exercises in the gym after yoga and pilates? Is it worth combining yoga and gym? The hidden dangers of running, yoga and fitness … These and thousands of other articles of this kind are full of Internet space. And, I must say, not by chance. Many seriously ask questions: is it worth combining yoga with classes in the gym, is it productive, is it even compatible?
Have you ever thought about why India, a country with almost a half billion people, gave the world so few Olympic champions? For the entire 121-year history of the Olympic Games, the Indian team has only won 9 Olympic gold medals. The United States won about a thousand gold medals, China – 239 such medals, Russia (excluding the USSR) – 200 (including the USSR – almost 700, taking into account the former Soviet republics – under 800). Even Bulgaria won 52 gold medals. But India is only 9.
This clearly proves that India is not a sporting country at all. At the same time, this is the country where, in fact, yoga originated, and the Indian city of Rishikesh is still considered the world capital of yoga. It begs a simple, but obvious conclusion: yoga and professional sports at least do not coincide, and as a maximum – in some aspects, even organically contradict each other.
The basis of absolutely any sport (and “iron” as well) consists, in fact, only two components – cruel self-torture and no less fierce desire to defeat all rivals. Without these two components there is no champion, but full and unconditional compliance to these components will ensure 100% of this champion. Everything else – particulars, details and, so to speak, working moments. So in yoga there is none of these components, it, yoga, is based on exactly the opposite principles.
No, no, successful yogis are far from being slackers (if you inadvertently thought about this opposition of yoga to sports). Moreover, master yogins do not work less than the most successful sportsmen. Here are just the goals of this very jostling for yogis and athletes are diametrically opposed and, as a consequence, diametrically opposed results.
Professional athletes of the Olympic and world levels reach unthinkable (in fact, pathologically perfect, by the standards of Homo sapiens) results, but, as a rule, in 35-40 they become ruins (someone comes to this “remarkable” state at the age of just over 20) , and up to 50 most of them just do not live out.
Yogis, as they say, do not grab stars from heaven in terms of physical fitness. But their “modest” physical preparation remains with them, and sometimes and increases, to a deep old age. We know a lot of yogis at the age of 70 who sit down in all the twine and make a stand on their heads, but such professional sportsmen do not exist.
Yoga is not aimed at exhaustion and wear in the trash of one’s own organism, it is aimed at healing, both bodily and spiritual (who does not like the word “spiritual”, let it be “psycho-emotional”). All this is achieved, mainly, due to the rational combination in the yoga system of loads on tension and compression. Loads in the same gym provide almost only compression, and when working with maximum weights.
Professionally engaged in “iron” sports know a lot of examples when the once actively competing master of sports of international class on the bar, after entering the circulation can not deploy the body at 90 degrees and even with great difficulty tying shoelaces. The thing is that the compression load in the occupation of “iron” is mainly on the spine, and in it, as is known, is located the spinal cord, responsible for the coordination of movements. Many weightlifters hang on the bar after exhausting workouts, but this is usually not enough to completely restore the spine after a frenzied vertical load on it – and it is very rare to avoid negative health effects.
Balanced alternation of compression and stretching, used in yoga, actually negates the risk of various kinds of joint and spinal injuries (of course, with reasonable organization of training). Yoga in general categorically does not welcome training with any additional weights – whether it’s static exercises or exercises in dynamics. The main substratum of yoga (actually, just like the activities of “siloviki”) is the spine, only the yogis try not to squeeze out of it to the maximum, thus wearing out and twisting, but, on the contrary, they try every way to strengthen this skeleton, carefully alternating the static and dynamic impact on it.
Many reasonably object: but in fact, when people are injured while practicing yoga, literally millions around the world. And they will be absolutely right in this objection. With only one clause, in fact, nullifying this very objection: injuries in yoga are mainly due to the fact that people either want to sit on the twine for a month of training (and, therefore, too ardently and zealously persist in them), or come to occupations, having medical contraindications to these. You know how: a flame can warm in the cold, it can burn, and can burn the house to ashes. It is not the flame that is to blame, but its use.Diametrically opposite way, yoga and “iron” sport refer to the body weight of the practitioner.
“Iron” provides an irrepressible set of so-called “own weight”. A beginner from the master of sports (who is given – to the master of sports of the international class and the deserved master of sports) is separated on the average by 3-4 collected weight categories. It is understandable, even from the point of view of physics. We all remember from the school course that the force is equal to the product of the mass for acceleration, and therefore a 160-kilogram athlete always has an incomparable advantage over 60 kilograms – in part exactly lifting weights.
It is quite another matter – yoga. In yoga, there is no task of over-feeding the practitioner, nor is it to bring him to the state of anorexia. The goal is to provide a person with such a muscle mass that would make it possible to perform asanas relatively easily and without hindrance. That’s all. Out of the body weight, the yoga cult does not.
What kind of music do you usually hear in gyms? That’s right: the music is performed by Cannibal Corpse, Slipknot, System of a Down, HammerFall and others like that. She is beautiful and cheerful, there is no question, just for practicing yoga, something that is much more measured and calming will do. Heavy metal crashes are calling for the “iron” peaks, and to yogic wisdom – rather, the light sound of the strings in combination with a measured, quiet and unhurried tapping into the drum.
The yogi has no purpose to defeat the enemy. He and the enemy, then there is no, and therefore he simply has no one to win. He has only one rival (not the enemy!) – this is the one he sees in the mirror, and better than anyone he must be tomorrow. At the sportsman the enemy – all who dared to practically challenge his “best”. It is necessary to bypass all these competing “scoundrels” at any cost. If the “scoundrels” are not sufficiently prepared, then you can relax and act half-heartedly. The yogi never relaxes-and, at the same time, never strains. In this seeming dialectical paradox, in fact simply explained: the athlete (including the “iron”) competes with others, the yogi is always only with himself.
There are, of course, yoga and sports and much in common. Both yogis and athletes go from simple to complex; and yogis, and athletes on inspiration are preparing for the movement, on exhalation it is performed and so on. But still, the essential differences between yoga and sports, probably, are more than similarities.
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Is it possible to be an “iron” sportsman and at the same time a yogi? It is possible, but only with the above reservations. If the “iron” classes are not based on self-torture and hatred of others (read “rivals”), then forward and with the song: he worked out the barbell for hunting, then did the yoga asanas. No harm other than good. But if you are an “iron” professional, then the doors of yoga are closed to you (although, obviously, you are hardly worried about it).
In conclusion, it should probably be noted that the article did not in any way affirm that “iron” is bad, and yoga is good. No yogin will ever be able to boast on the beach superbly and effectively worked out muscle mass, as he can not jump a half meter high, as well as punch a boxing bag knockout (or close to that) blow. He will not do it and much more that the weightlifter, powerlifter, armwrestler, bodybuilder and so on can do without effort. You just need to take off the rose-colored glasses and face the truth: yoga and power sports are at a high level incompatible.
