For year's Yoga has been seen as a woman's activity. Despite various articles in fitness magazines, blogs, websites etc promoting yoga as a great way to help with weight lifting, running, golfing, etc Yoga classes are still dominated by women. Yet top flight male sports teams in sports such as rugby, football, American Football all use Yoga to keep their players healthy and world class sports men from athletics to tennis to golf to Formula 1 draw on Yoga to help manage their bodies and improve their competitive edge mentally too. So it certainly isn't seen as a women's only activity by some of the fittest and most competitive men in the world.
There are so many published benefits of how Yoga can help physical and mental health, and these benefits are not only for the girls - men can definitely get in on enjoying the benefits too. Research has also been done on how Yoga can affect serious illnesses including cancer. Male specific illness including prostate cancer has also been studied. Yoga has been found to be highly beneficial for men suffering from prostate cancer and the inevitable treatment helping to boost the immune system, improve energy levels and fatigue and even help with urinary issues and sexual dysfunction. It may surprise you to know that there has been studies looking at the effect of Yoga on snoring and guess what - the initial studies have proved that it can help!
Yoga is certainly not a cure all but people who attend regular classes will tell you that they benefit from going. So for the ordinary guy on the street, what are the benefits that class members talk about?
Improved flexibility
Improved strength
Improved mobility
Improved stress levels
Improved sleep
improved weight loss
Reduced aches and pain
Reduced amount of nagging from the wife when you can proof you are doing something to help your health
There are different types of Yoga class out there, some are fast and super strong, others are very slow and very relaxing so check first before you start to make sure its the right class for you but here are some points to consider. What happens in a Yoga class:
Some breathing
Some strength work - standing, sitting, lying,
Some stretching - standing, sitting, lying
Relaxation (Generally everyone's favourite bit)
What to expect from a class:
Help and support from the teacher
Help and support from class members
Class members who can't touch their toes or bend into a pretzel shape
A lack of lycra and plenty of baggy tshirts and shorts
Potentially a bit of sweat and a raised heart rate
If you choose the right class a good laugh too
A final thought Did you know that when Yoga was introduced to the west from India it wasn't by female teachers, but male teachers. All the main yoga lineages (or styles) have been founded by men. So men at some point in history worked out that it was good for them too.
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