Can yoga make you stronger?

Back when I worked at the front desk of a yoga studio, I occasionally had people wander in from the gym across the street. In addition to questions about the schedule and appropriate classes for beginners, one of the most common questions I got was about how strong yoga could make them. Years later, this is the answer I wish I could have given them.

A Qualified Yes

Getting stronger will depend a lot on who you are and the kind of yoga you practice. Strength is an adaptation to resistance. So if your yoga practice includes resistance training…then yes, yoga can make you stronger.

The Yoga of Resistance Training

Resistance training is basically moving through a range of motion while under resistance. The good news is that the body doesn’t distinguish between different types of resistance. Weights, an elastic band, gravity… it doesn’t matter so long as the muscles are being challenged. In most types of yoga, resistance is created by moving your body weight against the pull of gravity. 

Programing for strength

Most beginners who start a yoga program notice that they do become stronger. But generally speaking, yoga isn’t designed with strength in mind. Even Ashtanga and Power Yoga, two styles widely considered to be the most challenging, don’t necessarily adhere to the principles necessary for improved strength. 

So what does a yoga practice that makes you stronger need to include?

Add Resistance

You need to keep adding more resistance to get stronger. Beginners notice strength gains because they are going from ‘zero’ resistance to ‘some’ resistance, but eventually that resistance won’t be enough to stimulate new adaptation. They need new ways to add resistance. With bodyweight training this usually means making movements more challenging by doing one arm or one leg variations.

Go For Two (Or three or ten)

Repeating a movement exhausts the muscles and signals to the body to build them stronger. It also trains the nervous system to perform the movement with more efficiency. To improve strength, focus on doing fewer movements many times rather than many movements only once. Make sure your practice includes versions of these fundamental movement patterns: squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling, hinging and twisting.

Mix it up

Do you think Olympic athletes wake up everyday and train like they're trying to break the world record? No, they vary the intensity and volume of their practice to avoid injury and burnout. Include in your routine some days where you work with high resistance and do the most challenging poses you can (high intensity). Include other days where you practice easier variations many times (high volume)

You don’t need to go to the gym to build strength. But you might need to adapt your practice and let go of some ideas about what yoga looks like. Remember, yoga is HOW you practice not WHAT you practice. A strength building yoga practice can be just as meditative as a more traditional practice that emphasizes stretching, but in the end you’ll be stronger and more injury resistant.