GYM YOGA

Got up and did elliptical at five am. I am currently splitting my day. Cardio in the morning and yoga at night. A lot of gym rats resist yoga because they don't feel it is a complete workout. I have done some research on this and the findings are that yoga doesn't pump the heart rate up like a good run does. No surprise there, although some vinyasa moves pretty fast. I am NOT a fast yogi myself. I like a deeper class, with longer holds, so I add cardio in. My goal this summer was a lot of biking, but due to the extended humidity I switched it back indoors for cardio.



The gym I go to has yoga and I look at the sign up sheets and normally they get one to three people although Spin looks packed. I looked at the yoga teachers credentials and it looked like she had pretty minimal training. I would bet the class is hatha style and doesn't contain a lot of strengthening moves.





I used to work out on weights and although I got stronger, especially in the legs, until I started doing a lot of planks, dolphins, and inversions in yoga, I just never got the upper body strength doing isolated movements with dumbbells. I have goten much stronger in the upper body incorporating more muscles into bigger movements using my body as resistance. It has taken a while but I am sure I am the strongest I have even been in the upper body. This is crucial for women especially who struggle with strong upper body.

As I look around the gym, I see a lot of NEED for good yoga. For example, when I see very elderly people on the elliptical plugging away at a slow walk I think it is great they are doing something, but they need more and I don't think weights are the answer. Doing yoga moves to open the shoulders and the front chest up would help them walk taller. They could do strength moves and get their upper body strong with planks on the wall.

When I see people with light dumbbells going through the motion I feel I have been in that trap before. I have to lift pretty strong weights to even feel my biceps so I have no clue what two pound weights do. Also for the younger people that are really in shape and obviously do a lot of weights/cardio, I see a lot of bad posture.

I auditioned once for a gym yoga class and didn't get the job. It was early in my teaching career. They didn't want to breath and seemed to want to do more jerky core movements on the back that strain the neck and don't really teach you to USE your Core.

NOT IN MY CLASS

Gym has etiquette rules just like yoga studios do although they are not spelled out. Some common ones that I see:

1. Two people talking LOUD on cardio equipment so I can't hear my music on my Bose headphones.
2. Running or walking flat footed. Ouch to the knee, hip, and ankle joints.
3. Smoking a cigarette outside the gym. (I didn't actually see this but my husband did.)
4. Eating hash browns at McDonalds after your workout. (I ran in for a coffee once and saw an older man doing this who had just been at my gym.) Not technically etiquette but caught ya!
5. Obvious one in the pic. Talking loud on the cell phone. People do this everywhere though and I am always surprised how much they 'share' for the eavesdroppers.
6. Cothes that cover parts that need to be covered. (This is actually a huge issue in yoga too! I see A LOT that I don't need to.)
7. Hitting on people or talking to me when I am on the elliptical. Take it elsewhere especially if you are holding equipment up.
8. Using drugs or alcohol before you come to the gym. I have had this in yoga. I had two women last year admit to me that they had been to happy hour before my class. They giggled and talked through class and I have no clue why they thought I was okay with it. I have a book I am reading on 12 steps and yoga that I will be reviewing soon. Anyway. INAPPROPRIATE.

I am sure there are more. Future post: When studio yoga becomes Gym Yoga. Not appropriate for all of my audience!