To a lot of guys, the word “yoga” means, girls, hippies, and yoga pants. We often view it as something girls do and if a male does it, he is not masculine in some way. I was not one of these guys, but I was still a little skeptical about what yoga really was and how a class is actually done. I am a big proponent of “Don’t knock it till you try it”, so I decided to give it a try before I really formed an opinion on it. Of course, part of my male bias kicked in so I made my workout buddy come along with me.

Let me tell you, Yoga is NO JOKE.

We came into the class with an open mind, thinking we would be able to handle the class pretty easily. We are both pretty athletic and strong so we didn’t think it was going to be too difficult.

We were wrong.

The class started off easy enough, doing basic stretches and warming up the muscles you were getting ready to use. Then it became difficult as we moved into some stability and balance exercises. My hips, calves and shoulders were on fire as we stood on one leg with our shoulder held straight out for what seemed like hours. As soon as you thought you were going to stop and could relax, you had to move into a new position that was even more challenging then the last.

The last part of the class was what I enjoyed the most. The instructor, Emilee, turned down the lights and had us just relax. Now I know what you’re thinking… NAP TIME!… but this was not a time to just fall asleep. You were supposed to lay there and listen to your body. This might sound REALLY corny, but hear me out on this.

I have had some pretty bad shoulder pain for the past few months now. Physical therapy and exercises help a little bit but I have never gotten it to fully go away. Part of this meditation period was to listen to your body and focus on healing the part of your body that is causing pain. So, I focused on my shoulder, and soon enough, I could just feel my shoulder melt. It was amazing to feel no pain in my shoulder for the first time in a while.

Overall this experience I had was awesome. After the class your body feels so good and you just feel relaxed.

When I talked to Emilee after class and was shocked to find out that in a normal 20 person class, she will have only 3 males. This needs to change guys! Yoga is a good way to stretch out all the muscle you have pounded with weights all week and start your rest period in a positive way.

So guys, put down your He-Man Muscle pride and try a Yoga class, and you may turn into a repeat customer like I will be.

Warhawk Fitness Group Fitness Schedule

Kevin Nelsen
Warhawk Fitness PR Team