KEY TAKEAWAYS
on Yoga For Men
- All men should practice yoga at least 1-2 times a week. Because it is a physical activity, it would help to keep practicing regularly as yoga benefits many areas of your life related to health.
- You do NOT have to be flexible to start doing yoga. Yoga helps you become more flexible, among many other things, therefore, it is NOT a prerequisite to start practicing.
- If you’re a beginner, I recommend practicing yoga on your off days or directly after a lifting workout. This can help speed up recovery and reduce the risk of injury. At the end of the article, there are some poses to get you started. Keep reading to learn more.
Most guys don’t start yoga for a couple of reasons:
- They think they’re not flexible enough
- They think it’s only for women
- They don’t want to look like a fool when they inevitably fall over on certain poses (it’s going to happen).
Yes, it’s true that majority of the people who attend yoga classes are fit, flexible women in tight clothes.
However, contrary to what many people think, yoga is not just a sport for sexy ladies; men too can participate and enjoy its benefits too.
As for looking like a fool, well, that’s just going to happen.
Yoga is more than just a sport as it helps boost your performance in the bedroom (seriously), hone mental focus, and improve flexibility, among other benefits.
The real results of yoga are practical, and you don’t need to have any special equipment- just a mat and working area.
Any mat will suffice, however, I love this mat because it has lines all over it to help with aligning the body correctly with certain poses.
Here Are the Benefits of Yoga for Men
1. Yoga Will Make Your Body Strong and Flexible
(Okay, maybe not this flexible at the beginning)
Most men fear yoga because they feel they are not flexible enough.
However, this is a common misconception for many beginners to yoga.
Improving and increasing strength and flexibility are the main physical benefits of yoga, and therefore these two are not prerequisites for starting yoga.
You don’t have to be strong or flexible beforehand.
Yoga will improve your flexibility and balance, and of course, strengthen your muscles.
If you’ve ever tried bodyweight training, you know how tough it can be.
2. Yoga Improves Overall Well-Being
If you want to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, yoga is one of the practices you should try.
By promoting both mental toughness and physical health, your overall well-being will improve as well.
With time, you will start experiencing better sleeping patterns as a result due to the benefits without having followed a heavy workout routine.
3. Yoga Speeds Recovery and Eases Pain
If you have a body pain that is not going away, yoga will help you get significant relief, especially with back pain.
Compared to bodybuilding and other strenuous workouts, yoga involves light poses, especially for beginners, although there are challenging poses in advanced levels.
However, all of them will help decrease your risk of injury.
Most of the poses are meant to stretch your whole body, thereby alleviating pain in your joints.
There are also poses intended to stretch your back, a common area where men experience pain.
Due to a back injury, I suffered a while back, I do yoga every morning to relieve the back pain that is still there after many years.
Since I’ve started yoga, my back pain isn’t much of an issue anymore as it used to be.
It still comes from time to time and when it does, yoga is my go-to option for relief.
Recommended Reading:
Morning Yoga Sequence For Back Pain
Yoga works wonders for back pain and even if you don’t do yoga regularly, you should still stretch those achy muscles!
4. It Helps You Lose Weight
Yoga alone will not help you lose weight; only a caloric deficit will cause weight loss, however, if you have been struggling with weight loss, yoga is a great alternative.
Instead of doing HIIT all the time, try subbing out one of your cardio sessions with a 20-30 minute yoga routine?
You can find a bunch of yoga routines that will make you sweat at the end of this post.
Also, by making you mindful, you become aware of the benefits of eating healthy and having better sleeping patterns which is important for weight loss.
5. Yoga Can Help Relieve Stress
If you are looking for a relaxing workout, yoga is for you.
It will keep you motivated and replace negative feelings with positive vibes.
You will be surprised by the boosted energy and improvement in your mood.
Men suffering from anxiety will also benefit from yoga’s soothing effect.
6. It Makes You Feel Young
Yoga will make you feel full of vitality, no matter your age.
In fact, senior men are encouraged to try yoga because it keeps them fit and healthy.
Also, people in your yoga classes will help you.
Surrounding yourself with people who are passionate as you will increase your commitment and make your yoga journey interesting.
7. It Improves Your Performance in Bed
Yeah, you read that right.
Studies show that men, regardless of their ages, can improve their sexual performance by practicing yoga.
This includes boosting your desire, enabling you to achieve a harder erection, and boost your overall performance in bed.
By keeping you flexible and lowering your stress levels, you can have better sexual performance.
It also helps regulate your blood flow, which is a significant factor in determining your erection.
Therefore, the more time you spend on the mat, the more quality time you will spend in bed with her 😉
Yoga Routine For Men
The following poses aren’t a routine, but you should try and start with these if you’re beginning.
1. Warrior One
This posture stretches men in the shoulders and hips.
Besides stretching these critical areas, it also acts as a strengthening posture by helping build thigh muscles thereby giving you stability and protection for knee and shoulder joints during high impact sports.
If you want a challenge, try holding this pose for 15-20 breaths on both legs.
2. Upward Facing Dog
I LOVE doing this after a hard push workout.
The triceps get an amazing stretch with this pose.
This posture will help strengthen your arms and back and also open your chest.
This is a great posture for people who sit behind a wheel or desk for long hours every day as it helps open the hip flexors and abdomen.
For men who prefer strenuous exercises, this is a great pose to warm up and get blood flowing and muscles stretched going all out.
The posture also helps people with breathing difficulties.
3. Standing Forward Fold
Also called Uttanasana, this posture opens the hips, back, and back of the legs.
Flexibility is a tough problem for men and a lot of men can barely touch their toes.
If you can’t reach the floor with your hands when you bend, keep them on your calves, thighs, or ankles.
Try and push farther every time you practice yoga and you will see progress.
Besides stretching your muscles, this posture eases headaches, lowers blood pressure, helps you sleep better, and improves circulation.
If you allow gravity to do its work by relaxing your head and neck, you can reduce tension in your upper body.
This pose is especially helpful after doing a hard leg workout.
If you do Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs), this is an amazing pose to practice to help you with RDLs.
4. Bridge Pose
If you’re ever feeling groggy or tired, do this pose.
In my experience, every time I’ve done this pose, I’ve felt a massive rush of energy.
I also remember when I did this pose after doing a hard pull-up routine and I’ve never, repeat, NEVER, felt my lats as much as I did that day.
Try it!
Often, men experience tight muscles in their torso, and with Bridge pose, you can open the upper body and relax the tight muscles.
Whether you notice it or not, having tight muscles in your upper body makes you have shallow breathing and can make performing physical activities challenging.
With time, it will open your chest and make your breathing easier.
The Bottom Line on Yoga For Men
Women may still outnumber men in yoga classes, but trends are changing, and a growing number of men are practicing yoga.
If you have wanted to try yoga for men, but you are still intimidated, you can begin by trying the above postures at home until you get comfortable with this practice.
Another option would be to try out:
Power Yoga For Athletes (Check This Out!)
If you’re brand new to yoga, a great place to start is “Power Yoga for Athletes”.
The book contains over 100 different poses for athletes of all types, from runners to hockey players to football players, with helpful visual instructions for each pose.
The book also goes into detail about the specific muscles being worked with each yoga exercise so that you can easily incorporate them into your strength training exercises.
You don’t have to be an athlete to benefit from these exercises – “Power Yoga for Athletes” is also a great introduction to strength training for yogis.
Power yoga for men and women is ideal for anyone looking to take their yoga exercises to the next level, making it a good segue into strength training.
So don’t put it off any longer – start being your best self and get the most out of your yoga, strength training, and cardio workouts today. Click here to learn more.
I highly recommend this book for all of you men out there who think yoga is too easy.
Who knows, maybe soon you will be inviting your buddies to join you.
Christian
13 thoughts on “Yoga For Men – And Why Yoga Shouldn’t Scare Men”