5 Reasons Why Men (and Women) Should Get on That Yoga Mat

It's not just for super bendy females

I’m Tim from Time2Thrive, a newsletter that helps people find simple ways to get healthier, eat with intention, and care for their bodies.

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Does your back hurt for no good reason? I mean, does it hurt because you have been lifting too many heavy things, or does it just hurt FOR NO GOOD REASON?

But there is a reason.

We sit too much. And not only that, but we store our emotions, and our stress, in the muscles. We tighten up as we move through life. The reason for sore backs is being alive.

There is no way to avoid it. The only thing you can do is stretch it out.

As we get older, we shrink. Our cartilage and connective tissues get less flexible, and tight muscles are constantly pulling and shortening. This starts happening as early as age 30. Men shrink up to an inch between age 30 and age 70, and women up to two inches. Then another inch after that. You will lose up to two inches if you live long enough, maybe more.

Height loss is one thing. But this is also a symptom of the body becoming less flexible, less adaptable, and less useful.

One possible way to mitigate this shortening and shrinkage is to keep all of our tissues flexible and stretched out with an exercise routine, like yoga.

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Yoga was a life changer for me. It fixed a body broken by hard physical work and injuries. But it might be even more effective for someone more sedentary.

It has the potential to help a lot of men who are tight bundles of stress or inflexible piles of muscle. It’s like a workout that heals. So why would I be the only guy there in any live class I’ve ever been to? And why are men so resistant to giving it a try at home, using a YouTube video to get started? Is it peer pressure?

If fear of looking silly is the only thing in your way, then man up! Don’t let some silly little voice in your head stop you from getting in the best shape you could ever be.

Yoga classes are cheap and there are high-quality YouTube yoga tutorials, so you don’t even need much money to get started. It’s cheaper than drinking coffee every day for crying out loud.

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Yoga Makes You Strong

Flowing from one pose to another will affect your body more than you think. Multiple muscle groups find themselves working together instead of being isolated and unbalanced. Your core will get some love and become stronger every time you get on that mat.

The equipment is your body weight and gravity. When you practice yoga, your challenge level is suited for your size. You end up holding a lot of weight in poses that will force your muscles to get stronger over time.

An example is the Chaturanga. This one move incorporates elements of a plank and a close hands pushup. It stretches the lower back and all of the other muscles as you flow through it.

Yoga is a core workout in almost every pose.

Different types of yoga classes focus on different aspects, so you won’t get as much muscle-building out of a slow-stretching style of class. Try each and pick what you need the most. I prefer lots of flow and movement, and these classes make you strong.

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You’ll Get More Flexible

“Sorry, Tim. I can’t do yoga because I’m not flexible enough.”

Now THAT is ridiculous.

With that kind of logic, no one would ever do a thing. If you aren’t a racecar driver, I guess you can’t get behind the wheel of a car. If you aren’t an Olympic lifter, maybe you shouldn’t go to a gym. If you aren’t a chef you shouldn’t be allowed to make mac and cheese out of a box.

People do yoga to get flexible, not because they started that way!

Almost all guys suffer from the same problem, whether they go to the gym and lift, or only lift things like staplers and coffee cups. They lack flexibility. Their range of motion isn’t as big as it could be.

This is a major weakness that affects every area of your life. Flexibility makes you more injury-proof. It protects your back. Everyone needs to be flexible, or they end up snapping in two like a dry stick.

For people adding muscle bulk with weight training, retaining flexibility means you don’t become some cartoon character who can’t bend his arms all the way anymore. It’s easier to stay flexible if you work at while you bulk up, instead of afterward. But yoga could always help at any stage to get it back.

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Yoga Deletes Stress

If want to stay emotionally unhinged, then don’t do yoga.

But if you want to find a great way to reduce some of that stress you’ve been hanging onto, then yoga is a great place to start.

The simple act of slowly breathing while moving through the poses stimulates the vagus nerve. This article from Yoga For Modern Life , The Vagus Nerve And Why It Matters In Yoga, is a good primer on yogic breathing and how it helps you.

Reducing your chronic stress with yoga and slow, deep breathing while doing the poses has far-reaching effects. Not only is it a mood picker-upper, but it also lowers cortisol levels in the blood. This reduces inflammation, the silent killer. It can help mitigate cardiovascular problems too.

Give it a try for yourself. You’ll find that the stress-relieving effects alone are worth the effort.

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Meeting New Friends and Cool People

Yoga classes are a great way to get out of your box and see some new faces.

I appreciate that yoga class isn’t all sweaty dudes like other workouts I go to. I like being around people who are fitness-minded and interested in self-improvement but don’t grunt and toss weights on the floor. I like groups that can accept you no matter what level you’re at. Does this sound like the kind of people you’d like to meet?

Hint: yoga classes have these people.

If you’re afraid the experienced yoga geniuses are all gonna laugh at you while you struggle, it isn’t like that. Everyone is focused mostly on moving their own body. And the yoga community is very supportive of newbies. Trust me. No matter how shaky and silly you feel, it won’t be a problem.

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Injury Prevention, Healing, and Pain Reduction

This is why I started yoga. I had crippling lower back pain, and I was popping pills just to keep from screaming. Top that off with a sore neck and shoulder troubles too. My chiropractor and massage therapist couldn’t keep up. My lack of flexibility from years of working and a few injuries I collected along the way were a big problem.

Yoga showed me how tight I really was. Lower legs and hamstrings needed care like you wouldn’t believe. The bottoms of my feet had trouble with some of the poses because there were tight muscles. Tight muscles in my feet! I didn’t even know that was a thing.

My sides almost needed new sides, they were so cramped up. You name a body part, and it needed some stretching and oxygen.

The first session didn’t seem to do much, but a couple of weeks in, everything got limbered up, and started getting better blood flow. I started feeling fantastic.

I remember after one class, where we stretched out our upper spines, I went through the next few days like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was free from a cramped-up spot in between my shoulder blades that I didn’t even know was ruining my days.

It wasn’t an overnight change, but it only took a few short weeks to start undoing decades of damage. And now, back pain is a thing of the past.

Yoga optimizes your body. It’s that simple. No matter where you are with physical health, it helps to be flexible and have good blood flow to all the tissues. Any guy interested in living a long, healthy life should give it a go. You owe it to your body!

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