Wholistic Fitness

“Be steadfast in yoga,�
oh Arjuna…
Perform your Duty without Attachment.
Remain equal in success or failure.
For such equanimity of mind is�
called, yoga.”

– Krishna to Arjuna
Baghavad Gita

photo; coach ilg at the top of the SnowBowl Ski Road after putting in an Arjuna-like effort. photo by Ananda

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HP YOGA Q & A
to Coach Ilg

#1: Yoga and Strength Training

QUESTION:
I have a yoga-cycling-strength-related question for you, since you’re the expert! I’m curious about yoga and strength training. I started going to the gym again around the same time I started doing yoga again and I’m feeling like with my riding hours increasing somewhat that I won’t have time to do both for very much longer. Will yoga build strength the same way that the gym will, or do they both have their own special attributes? If I just did yoga would I build the strength that I need for a season of ass kicking?

Thanks for your advice.

K

Dear Yogini K,
The best thing to do is for all athletes interested in how to combine Yoga with Sports Training is to study two of my books, THE WINTER ATHLETE and TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION. For precise Training Prescriptions relative to specific sports such as cycling, my book; THE WINTER ATHLETE is superb.

Yoga will not build strength in the same the gym (what in the WF Tradition we call, “The Iron Temple”). Yes, each has their own special -and for athletes, needed – attributes. The Iron Temple creates those deep neural and muscular fibers that Yoga asana simply cannot. There is no substitute for the Hip Chain Power Production benefits in the Yoga asanas, for instance, that can compare even remotely with a PowerClean or 5×15 heavy Back Squats. Can’t be done. The Iron Temple produces it’s huge power and strength production by a principle known as, Progressive Resistance. As you Adapt to a certain weight in the gym, you toss on more weight, and bingo; you Adapt to that new weight and, you get Stronger, more Powerful, and more coordinated at deep levels. Yoga asana cannot do that.

Two things will help you:
1) Periodization. Cycle your training year wisely. Once the State Championships in road cycling are over (usually late fall), right THEN AND THERE begin a three month minimum BLAST OF CONSISTENT Iron Temple training moving from Strength to Power to Strength Endurance as outlined in my books. Since your burned out from so much cycling, this Iron Temple Retreat will be most welcome to your body and mind. Then, start tapering off the Iron Temple by interweaving more Yoga as you begin your Spring Campaign in specific cycling.
and
2) my utterly unique DVD; High Performance Yoga� PROP WORKOUT. Fifteen years of elite level training went into my production of this DVD which combines some of the best qualities of strength training with a precisely (and dastardly) choreographed sequence of exclusive asana moves that challenge the best athletes in the world and yet still nurture what is needed by all levels of athletes and yogis. You can train on this DVD year round to develop and maintain your best fitness for sport specific transfer.

may this help and i will see you out on the ‘cobbles’,

coach ilg ryt/uscf/cpt

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#2: Yoga and Low Back Issues

QUESTION:
Thank you for your Wonderful Teachings on DIRECT LINES: Daily Online Meditations From Coach Ilg!
�
I am doing my best these days�.but I guess I also have a follow-up question.� I also suffer from low-back issues due to years of gymnastics and running at a young age.� I hate feeling like a failure, and sometimes my SI and IT Band (whatever is connected to my L5) are aggravated by certain leg exercises.� Is it okay to skip some, but still get the same workout?� That�s why I�m so excited that your book incorporates so many different things, and that YOU have recovered from such an injury.
�
Allie, NJ

Namaste Yogini Allie!

ANSWER:
Dear Yogini Allie,
you are not a failure.
the very Moment you Accept your lower back inJury* as your Yoga (Path Toward Union), then you Shift your Consciousness and will begin to receive Higher Guidance.

When you say, “or whatever is connected to my L5” that tells me that you are not doing the reSearch into your inJury. You are not Honoring its presence and are likely looking just to get free of the Pain in the quickest, least effortful manner on your part.

The Game don’t work that Way however. It is your Karma that this inJury is in your experience. Now, you must become a Karma Yogini…you must devote yourself to this difficulty in order to be freed from it. The more you resist such ‘issues’, the longer, deeper, and more heavy they will persist in your tissues.

“Be steadfast in yoga,�
oh Arjuna…
Perform your Duty without Attachment.
Remain equal in success or failure.
For such equanimity of mind is�
called, yoga.”

– Krishna to Arjuna
Baghavad Gita

Yes, you can train wisely ‘around’ such inJury’s until you have created new neural, musculature, and nadic Pathways. This however, is a Journey Within. This Journey is your Yoga.

namaste and i KNOW you can Dance This Lower Back Pain Dragon!

coach ilg
former member of the ‘smashed spine & pelvis club’

(remember, inJury’s are just that: they are an Inner Jury, witnessing how well you are paying attention to the Root Cause of the Pain)