Fitting Yoga Into Your Workout Routine

Q: I know that yoga is good for balance, flexibility, and strength, to a degree. Would it be beneficial to include a yoga practice in my workout schedule? I used to practice yoga at least three times a week, and I miss all of the positive feelings I got from it.

A: By all means, be sure to incorporate any exercise you enjoy. I would have an issue if you ONLY wanted to do a typical yoga routine for your exercise regimen, for two reasons: First, you need variety in your routine, and if you do the same thing repeatedly, your body will not get the best results; second, most forms of yoga do not burn as many calories as cardio or traditional resistance training. However, I do have a solution if you want to do yoga AND burn a lot of calories. My DVD, Yoga Inferno, combines hard-core yoga power poses with dynamic-training techniques to deliver a true calorie-burning workout. It's not the yoga you might currently practice, but you can get the positive feelings you talked about while melting away the pounds.

That said all types of yoga do have all the benefits you mention and would be an excellent addition to your fitness regimen!