Additional aerobics

[Guest guest]

I would very much like to give up traditional

aerobic workouts to concentrate on practicing yoga 6 days

a week. The problem is that heart disease runs in

my family, and I'm not sure if I CAN give up

running, walking, etc. Do you all feel that your practice

provides enough cardiovascular conditioning, or do some of

you supplement as I have been doing?<br><br>I FEEL

like I'm working hard :oD !!!<br><br>Thank you to

all!<br><br>Celeste<br>Celeste1995

[Guest guest]

Hi Celeste,<br><br>I supplement with aerobics,

and I'll explain my opinion.<br><br>I have been

practicing ashtanga on and off for 2 years, so I am by NO

means an ashtanga expert. I am, however, a certified

aerobics instructor with 9 years of experience teaching

group fitness classes of all types and levels. So I can

talk about cardiovascular fitness from an aerobic

perspective.<br><br>In order to maintain the basic health of your heart,

which is a primary concern you mentioned, the ACSM

recommends that you get your heart rate into your target

zone and hold it there for at least 20 minutes, 3-5

times per week. So, I would only suggest removing

aerobics from your total health program if you can get

your heart rate high enough to get it into your target

zone and maintain it there for at least 20 minutes

during your practice. Although they're correlated,

working hard isn't necessarily the equivalent of raising

your heart rate. For example, holding some of the

static poses is very difficult for me, but

standing/sitting/lying in one position doesn't usually raise my

heartrate. Aerobics is the challenge to the heart and lungs

that results from rhythmic motion of your large muscle

groups; in order to raise your heart rate, you have to

move large muscles like quads/hamstrings/glutes.

<br><br>Before you make your decision, I would also suggest you

find out what your personal target zone is, over

several cardio workouts. Then, see if you can achieve

that zone during your ashtanga practice. Those charts

on the walls of gyms that show your age and your

60%, 70% etc. are too generic in many cases. The

charts combine data for men and women of all health and

fitness levels. Your own personal target zone can vary

from day to day based on sleep, stress, medication,

illness, so take the time to find out your zone. I don't

know how much you know about heart rate training so I

wont bore you with it now, but I'm happy to tell you

more if you're interested. <br><br>The part of

practice that DOES raise my heart rate is the sun

salutations at the beginning, because there is a lot of

movement from standing, to the floor, to standing, which

uses enough muscles to raise the HR. I don't know if

this is kosher from the yogic perspective (and I'd be

really interested to hear a response from some of you

more experienced practitioners on my idea, please),

but from the aerobic perspective you could do 20-30

minutes of sun salutes or other vinyasa before moving

onto the rest of the ashtanga poses. <br><br>Best

regards for your continued wellness,<br>Nancy

[Guest guest]

.... and when you start finding that easy, another

fun game to try is Suryanamaskar (sun salutation)B

holding for five breaths at EVERY point. Which is more

isometric than aerobic, esp. on the arms in chaturanga and

upward dog. Also makes you think about proper alignment

in these asanas.

[Guest guest]

Thanks, alan_little for that gem. I tried holding longer as you recommended

today. An amazing difference! A great way to produce more heat. Much nicer to

begin the series.