I am an avid runner looking for good cross training options. My goal is to increase core strength and strengthen muscles that don’t get used running. By doing this I also hope to minimize my chance of injury due to muscle imbalances. Would yoga help me achieve this goal? How does yoga compare to weight training using light weight and lots of reps in strengthening and toning muscles? I’m a little hesitant to get into weight training because I do not want to gain bulk. I am trying to loose weight and get my body fat from 13% down to 9%.
Wasatch,
My goal is to increase core strength and strengthen muscles that don’t get used running
Yoga is a system for growth of human beings. The physical practice is but a sliver of that forest. That physical practice can be quite amazing. However for the stated goals you might find Pilates or functional strength training to be more targeted.
…minimize my chance of injury due to muscle imbalances. Would yoga help me achieve this goal?
Preventing injury requires an approach that transcends the physical - though addressing imbalances in muscles and nutrition would be very helpful. However, the sort of runner who only runs would have a full time job countering their living as often its opposite is resting.
Yoga can be used for goals however it’s not a system created for achievement. It is a system created for experience and provides a pathway to the Self for the purposes of increased awareness and a subsequent reduction in suffering.
…How does yoga compare to weight training using light weight and lots of reps in strengthening and toning muscles?
Asana, the physical practice that is a part of yoga, is focused on contracting muscles while they are lengthened. In weight training, strengthening and toning muscle is the goal. In yoga it is merely a by product. Light weights in the gym can be increased to vary the load on the muscle. In asana the load is typically limited to your body weight.
Bear in mind I am speaking of the bigger picture of yoga and cannot speak for everything branded yoga. Just as everything “low-fat” is not necessarily “good” for you, so to can we say that not everything branded with “yoga” has any yoga in it at all.
Consider working with a functional strength trainer (one who’s been doing it a while and has legitimate certifications that are up to date).
gordon
“By doing this I also hope to minimize my chance of injury due to muscle imbalances. Would yoga help me achieve this goal?”
Because yoga tends to extend and lengthen muscles rather than contract and repeatedly shorten them, as running does, then yes, it will serve as a balance to running.
“How does yoga compare to weight training using light weight and lots of reps in strengthening and toning muscles? I’m a little hesitant to get into weight training because I do not want to gain bulk.”
In spite of what the media would have you believe, it requires intense weightlifting, the right genetics, and a lot of food to gain bulk. And/or certain, uhm, medical connections.
Look, try yoga and decide for yourself if it helps your running, or even if you just enjoy it for what it is.