Yoga Over Weight Training
Read, then watch the videos for better contextual value.
I sent a variation of this to a friend of mine and posted on my social media feeds. This person was seeking help with lower back issues and numb legs. They asked my advice as a personal trainer and someone who rather looks very deeply into these things from both a philosophical and fitness point of view.
Before I go on; one absolutely should seek medical guidance at some point and a chiropractor may or may not be the best form of medical help. It might, depending on the severity of your issue. I am no medical professional. I can only comment based on my own experiences, fitness knowledge and ability to research at a high level. If you want to really find out what is happening to you the only way a medical professional can find out is an MRI on that area. I am no expert by any means. Just that I have had problems. I thoroughly researched my issues and also sought out medical advice.
This is why I would give yoga a go over weight training. Yoga does a few things. It’s not just stretching, but it helps align your core and work your core without having to do actual conventional working out. You do not see bodybuilders or powerlifters do yoga often. Some, sure, but I am saying it isn’t something you see everywhere. They do not do it because they literally cannot do it. They are too over developed to be flexible like that and it physically hurts them so they stop or quit doing it. The truth is they literally are not in shape even though their outside look says otherwise. Some of the strongest people around are people that work construction or outside work. What happens is they tend to work harder and not smarter. Think more about working smarter and not harder here. Yoga is one, if not the hardest workout techniques to master. People will fall many times, but the ones that really want to feel better and/or look better get back up. It's all about getting back up. It is a challenge and test of heart and character. No one is watching, really. Just you. It's the attitude to do something even though it's difficult and one is in pain is so damn important. It is so important people have to force themselves to do something. Arthur’s story above is one of the best examples of that you're ever going to see. His video has 108 million views in 11 years. Disabled Veteran that was injured due to too many jumps out of the plane and landing feet first over and over again. It damaged his back so severely he couldn’t walk on his own anymore. The military fully disabled him and he accepted that was his new and normal life moving forward. Over the course of a few years Arthur gained a shit tone of weight and his body was literally dying the slow death when the body is no longer physically active in a healthy manner (work smarter not harder mentality).
I mean who has better excuses to give up than this guy or others like him? Most don’t even try. They use the excuse ‘they can’t’ due to whatever medical reason, mine own medical issues and excuses included. They cannot see how they can go from nothing to something in a relatively short time of 6-12 months. High School mentality of 4 years was a big deal, but are those 4 years that huge a deal in the larger scheme of your life? I did the math. 4 out of 45 years is about 8.89%. So 9% of our lives that we have lived was dedicated to that High school life. The point of this is 6-12 months to correct 30+plus years of poor behaviors, (behaviors that may have contributed to one’s unique physical/mental or both circumstances), is a fair trade off.
• Arthur began the work.
• He failed at first.
• He fell...
• Many times he fell.
• He documented it.
• He started to gain balance.
• His core became stronger.
• In 6 months he lost 100 pounds, a side effect of doing yoga, and was able to walk with a cane.
• In 10 months, he lost 140 pounds, walked with no cane and sprinted 50 yards.
• Sprinted, not walked with a cane, or not with a cane, but a dead-wind sprint.
• The man literally looked like he was 15 years younger.
• He defied all the doctors that said he would never walk again without help.
• He did that and more.
• All because he didn’t quit.
He understood that to be great at something, whatever it might be, that he would fail, epically. Epically fail and fall before he could become even a little bit good at this, then later, great at this and he endured. That is what it takes. I do not do yoga, I need to. Me, my excuse, is time. I never have enough time and I rather still enjoy weight training full-time, but I understand that I will need to change that in the near future. My body is too beat up to be grinding that way forever. The thing about yoga is you can do it anywhere at any time. No gym membership required. You can go on YouTube and find all sorts of free yoga instructions or pay for one or some. The DDP Yoga, Diamond Dallas Page, the Pro Wrestler from the 1990s started doing this to correct his back and shoulder injuries from being a pro wrestler for 25 years. He was so successful with it that he began hosting classes and then released his first DVD set in the mid-2000s and it blew up. DDP yoga is one of the more well-known yoga programs out there now. He has worked with and helped a lot of professional wrestlers with getting back into shape, helping with addiction issues (see how he helped Jake the Snake Roberts) and working with people who have really bad injuries they do not know how to work around.
We are talking about core/back/legs here.
That is why I say yoga over weight training but getting a band and doing stretches with a band isn’t a bad idea either. I am no yoga-guru, but I would think about doing 15-minute sessions every day, no matter what. Make it part of your daily habits. You have to make it habitual. There is no quick fix to these things. They tend to fail because the people tend to quit or modify it to such a degree no real work is being done. You have to stick with it and force this as part of your day/life and remove influences or people who do not support this for you. This comes full circle. You have to leave those, or whatever ‘it’ might be that hinders your strives to be better, behind. That is why I have to, every once and while, rant about something, because people in general, either are not paying attention, or they are so fixated on themselves, they just project themselves and their problems onto other people. Some will identify with this and leave you be while others will just enable it or you to get you out of their hair.
The past can only help you as a reminder, not a literal thing or experience one can relive. People still think that they can undo, unsee, or unsay what was once done, seen, said under the expectation of forgiveness. You do not forgive for forgiveness’s sake but one forgives because the person seeking forgiveness is working on themselves that it forces them to change. It’s a logical fallacy to believe one can change something that cannot be changed. Like the concept of time travel... One can never unsay, unsee or undo something they once said, saw or did and I have had to leave those behind that still think in those terms, that they think it is real. It’s not. As long as you are working on you, and make your physical, mental, spiritual health a priority, a process, a habitual thing that is part of you on every day and everything you do that strives towards other things. You are on the right track. No one can tell you –you are not on the right track. The ones that do are trying to sell you something or their main motivation is to make money off your ill fortunes. I have mainly good days but there are days or even weeks where I can’t do much of anything except grab my walking stick and walk around the woods, listening to science fiction books to give me that semblance of woe and awe of existence, taking in as much as I can. There will be a day I won’t be able to.
I really feel if you try the yoga thing and really put in the effort, mentally, physically, spiritually you can make strides. But starting is going to suck. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to tell you to quit. Don’t listen. Do your 15 minutes every day. Make it as much as a priority as people make their morning coffee.