Let’s get this straight first. I’m not taking shots at yoga. I’ve actually started using it myself. A couple short sessions each week. It’s helped. I’ll explain where it fits.
But calling yoga a training routine on its own misses the mark.
If your goal is to be fit, strong, capable, resilient. You need more than stretching, breathing, and controlled movement.
You need to lift weights. Heavy weights.
You need to build strength that transfers into real life. Picking things up. Moving your body with intent. Producing force.
You need conditioning. Not just one type either.
Long aerobic work that builds your engine. The ability to keep going when things get uncomfortable.
And short, high intensity efforts that push your limits. The kind that force adaptation.
You need to master the basics. Pull ups. Dips. Squats. Hinges. Carries.
These are not optional. These are the foundation.
Yoga doesn’t replace any of that.
There’s a dangerous idea floating around that flexibility equals fitness. It doesn’t.
Flexibility without strength and stability is a problem waiting to happen.
If you can move into extreme ranges but can’t control those positions under load, you’re vulnerable. That’s where injuries live.
Strength is what makes movement usable. Stability is what makes it safe.
Now here’s where yoga earns its place.
I started adding in 2 to 3 short sessions a week. Nothing long. Nothing extreme.
The goal wasn’t to get better at yoga. The goal was to recover better.
I’ve been doing a lot of cycling. Same movement pattern. Over and over. Hips take a beating. Tightness builds. Positions get restricted.
Yoga has helped restore that.
It opens things up. It brings awareness back to positions I’ve lost from repetition. It allows me to keep training hard without breaking down.
That’s the role.
It’s not the main event. It’s support work.
If your training already includes a wide range of movements. Strength work across full ranges. Controlled positions under load. You’re likely building mobility as a byproduct. You may not need much additional work.
But if your training is repetitive. Running. Cycling. Rowing. Anything where you’re stuck in the same patterns. Then you’re creating imbalances whether you feel them yet or not.
That’s where yoga can help.
Not as your training. As a tool to keep your training effective.
Use it to restore.
Use it to maintain.
Use it to stay in the game longer.
But don’t confuse it with the work that actually builds strength, capacity, and resilience.
If you want to be capable. If you want to perform. If you want to handle whatever life throws at you.
Lift heavy.
Move fast.
Build your engine.
Own your body.
Then, if needed, layer yoga in to support it.
That’s how it fits.
