4 Powerful Styles of workouts (Yoga, Aerobic, weightlifting, Cardio)

Workout is key to good health; however, we limit ourselves to one or two types of activity. As said by a physical therapist, Rachel Wilson, “People do what they enjoy, or what feels the most effective, so most aspects of exercise and fitness are ignored.” Variety is the spice of life, which also implements directly to your weekly workout routine.

The importance of different workout styles not just alleviates the boredom of routine but also helps you develop a well-rounded physical experience while maintaining your body shape on its proverbial toes. The article provides a brief overview of different styles of workout, including yoga, aerobics, weightlifting, and cardio.

Types of workout styles

When you think of workout or exercise, you imagine strenuous activities like biking or running – the ones that make you turn to flush, drip with sweat and breathe hard. There are mainly four types of exercise, all of which serve different purposes. These include yoga, aerobics, weightlifting, and cardio.

Physiologist Kelly Drew said, “If you are not flexible, you are still going to pull something when you are training.” Flexibility helps you perform strength training while improving the range of motion around joints and makes sure you can easily do lifts, and other strength moves effectively.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercises such as dancing, swimming, or running are activities that work best for your cardiovascular systems. Aerobic exercise speeds up your breathing and heart rate and is vital for many body functions.

Health Benefits of Aerobic Workout

It gives your lungs and heart a workout, which in result increases endurance. Aerobic workout style reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and lowers the risk of cancer.

If you are too winded to walk up the stairs of a flight, that is a perfect indicator that you require more aerobic exercise to help condition your lungs and heart and to get enough blood to your muscles that help them work more efficiently. Aerobic exercise also relaxes blood vessel walls, lowers blood sugar levels, boosts mood, reduces inflammation, raises good HDL cholesterol, and burns body fat.

Examples of Aerobic Exercise –

·         Chores such as mowing the lawn or raking leaves

·         Dancing

·         Playing sports such as basketball, soccer, or tennis

·         Swimming

·         Jogging or running

·         Brisk walking

How Much Aerobic Workout do you require?

As per the guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, adults should do at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity physical activity like brisk walking per week. There are several ways to break up these 150 minutes over a week; however, experts recommended dividing up this time into 30 minutes of physical activity for five days per week.

If you choose an active type of activity for your aerobic workout, so you are not required to do quite as much. According to HHS guidelines, 75 minutes of rigorous activity is equivalent to the 150 minutes of the activity of moderate-intensity per week.

Yoga

Yoga is an excellent addition to your workout routine. Yoga is often slow, and it more focused on stretching out the body and being mindful. The combination of an intense strength-training workout and slow, mindful yoga is known as "power yoga." Yoga is a high-intensity form of workout that focuses on strength-building and cardio.

Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga helps in burning calories and tone muscles. It is a complete mind-body workout that integrates both stretching and strengthening poses with meditation, relaxation, and deep breathing. Regular practice of yoga workout helps in mobilizing joints, stretching ligaments, and strengthening muscles.

Examples of Different Workout Styles of Yoga

·         Child’s pose

·         Ragdoll

·         High plank

·         Sun salutation

·         Downward facing dog

·         Chaturanga push-ups

·         Weighted squats

·         Upward facing dog

·         Savasana

·         Reclined spinal twist

·         Leg lifts

·         Figure four

·         Weighted crunch with oblique twist

·         Chest fly

·         Glute bridges

·         Oblique twists

·         Lawnmower rows

·         Weighted lunges with biceps curls

Some Popular Yoga Forms

There are six primary popular forms of yoga workout –

·         Vinyasa – it is a series of poses flowing smoothly into one another

·         Hatha – the most common type of yoga that combines breathing with the series of basic movements of our body 

·         Power – a higher-intensity and faster practice that helps to build muscles

·         Ashtanga – it is a series of poses that are combined with a unique technique of breathing

·         Bikram – it is a series of 26 challenging poses and is referred to hot yoga

·         Lyengar – it is a type of yoga that uses props like chairs, straps, and blocks that helps in moving your body into proper alignment

Weightlifting Workout

It is also referred to as strength training that uses weights for resistance. By using weight machines or by creating stress to the muscles performed with free weights like dumbbells and barbells, these exercises help in enabling muscles to get stronger and activated.

Health Benefits of Weightlifting Workout Style

Weightlifting provides remarkable results in those who have tried several times and failed to overhaul their fitness with just cardio or diet. Consistent training at least twice per week for consecutive 12 weeks helps in increasing muscle-fiber size, tendon strength, ligament strength, and contractile muscle strength.

Different Weightlifting Methods

There are various weightlifting methods like total body circuit training, push-pull training, power-lifting training, explosive dynamic training, and muscle isolation training. However, choosing the right weightlifting method depends on various factors such as experience level, conditioning level, specific goals, time constraints, and motivation levels.

It is best to start with a relatively simple weight lifting method and keep it simple for the initial training session. Once you complete your initial training, modify your program by implementing more variation.

Cardio Workout

Cardio workout is an essential component of any exercise either your goal is to get fit, lose weight, or be healthier. It is a rhythmic activity that increases your heart rate into your target heart rate zone, the zone where it will burn the most calories and fat.

Health Benefits of Cardio workout

Cardio helps you burn calories and fat for weight loss, makes your heart stronger, increases your lung capacity, reduces the risk of the heart attack and different forms of cancer, maintains cholesterol, and blood pressure level. Additionally, it makes you feel good, provides temporary relief from anxiety and depression, helps you sleep better, reduces stress, and increases bone density.

Cardio Frequency Guidelines

The cardio frequency workouts depend on fitness level and your schedule. To maintain a healthy body weight, you are required to perform 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. However, for health, it is best to try moderately by trying intense cardio 30 minutes per day, five days a week, vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes per day, and three days a week.

All of these four workout styles are important in their way as it prevents injury and maximizes your fitness. Additionally, all these styles of workout complement each other; for instance, strength training makes your muscles stronger, which in results helps to protect and support joints, and also prevents injury during an aerobic workout. Meanwhile, it also helps to balance muscle strength in a coordinated fashion while stabilizing your movements and reduces the injuries risk like ankle sprains.