Great! You’ve decided to step up your yoga game, welcome, young padawan. If you’ve never tried yoga, this is not your scene; this is an advanced class. If you are looking to improve your poses and discover new ones, you’re in the right place. Under normal circumstances, we’d encourage beginners and yogis to go to class as much as possible, but since we’re all stuck at home, we do what we can with what we have. Today, we’re going to look at advanced yoga poses for men and their benefits.
While there are many yoga styles, finding the one you really connect with will help you keep up your yoga workouts. For those looking for a more dynamic, fast-paced practice, consider power yoga workouts. If you want to break a sweat, try hot yoga. Lastly, Vinyasa yoga concentrates on the mind-breath association and involves vigorous stretching. That’s just a few different yoga styles intended to promote flexibility, mental clearness, and so much more.
Before we get into today’s advanced poses, here’s why more men should practice yoga, in any style.
Benefits of Yoga for Men
Ease Stress
We all deal with stress differently, but yoga is universal. With regular practice of certain relaxation techniques, one can find repose and therefore lead a calmer life.
Promotes Flexibility
Most yoga poses include one or more spinal stretches to relax the many joints of your spine. This can promote mobility as well as detoxification and healthy digestion.
Strengthen Muscle
Yoga extends the range of motion and strengthens muscle fibers, allowing for more muscle growth. If you supplement your daily workout routine with yoga sessions, you’ll be able to stimulate neglected parts of certain muscles.
Prevent Injuries
Most yoga sessions start with a reminder to honor your body’s particular needs and limits. This fundamental ability to investigate and evaluate yourself as you exercise will help lessen the incidence of injury when engaging in other sports. Furthermore, well-stretched, flexible muscles recover faster after working out or getting injured.
Calm Your Mind
Amid your crammed schedule, committing to a few sessions a week might be the only way for some guys to take a moment and focus on their breathing. A 2013 study revealed that yoga relieves moderate clinical depression and helps you to sleep better and longer.
Advanced Yoga Poses for Male Body
Standing Forward Bend
The standing forward bend (Ardha Uttanasana) can be a challenge for men with unrelaxed muscles, but you’re no novice now, are you? Don’t worry about reaching your toes or the ground for that one. All you need to do is hang over your legs and don’t lock up the knees. Keep your feet apart (about hips’ distance)
Benefits:
- Helps reduce stress and mild depression
- Stretches the hamstrings, calves, and hips
- Strengthens the thighs and knees
- Promotes healthy digestion
- Reduces fatigue
- Soothes headache and insomnia
Lunge Plus a Twist
Lunge Plus a Twist is an advanced standing yoga pose that flexes and stretches your whole body. This variation raises the challenge of balancing while stretching out the shoulders, chest, as well as the spine.
Benefits
The lunge pose is a great way to stretch your lower body, while also opening the chest and shoulders. It reinforces and tones the hips, thighs, and butt while promoting flexible stability.
Lotus Pose
Padmasana (Lotus Pose) is one of the most universally distinguished poses in yoga. One of the reasons that the Lotus pose became such a loved pose is that it’s the ultimate pose for extended periods of seated meditation. The Lotus is an astonishingly grounding and stabilizing pose that is worth trying. Keep in mind that the Lotus is an advanced pose that puts extreme demand on your joints that it’s not for beginners.
Benefits
- Stimulates the spine, abdomen, pelvis, and bladder
- Stretches the knees and ankles
- Traditional texts say that Padmasana destroys all diseases and awakens kundalini.
Lord of the Dance Pose
Lord of the Dance Pose (Natarajasana) is a very challenging yet graceful pose that requires suppleness in the legs, spine, as well as the hips. To nail this pose, practice a lot of preparatory poses to make sure your body is ready to take it. Many novices, when lifting the leg, tend to cramp up. An easy way to solve this is by keeping the ankle of the lifted foot flexed.
Benefits
- Stretches chest and shoulders
- Stretches lower body
- Strengthens the legs and ankles
- Promotes balance
Peacock Pose
Peacock Pose (Mayurasana) is an advanced hand-balancing pose mostly associated with Hatha yoga, though it’s practiced in other types of yoga styles as well. This pose is an excellent way to loosen tension in the body while stretching your limbs and test your balancing skills.
Beginner’s Tip
To nail this pose, raise your forehead and/or your front ankles on a block.
Benefits
- Strengthens the wrists and forearms
- Tones the abdomen
- Strengthens the back torso and legs
Firefly Pose
This pose is not for the weak. Fire up that core and get ready to fly. Firefly pose is an arm balance pose that requires flexible hamstrings, hips, a supportive core, and arm and shoulder power.
Benefits
- Stretches the inner groins and back torso
- Strengthens the arms and wrists
- Tones abdomen
- Improves balance
Takeaway
It’s time to normalize yoga for men! The benefits are real and wonderful. Alright, fellas, it’s time to get out there and practice some yoga! If you find that some of these advanced yoga poses are too much, feel free to take it down a notch. But as an advanced student, come back to these poses and challenge yourself to try them.
