Yoga vs Gym: How to be super-fit and build muscles

Can Yoga help you gain muscle? If you spend hours pumping iron, you might find it difficult to believe. Sadhguru shares his thoughts on the ongoing debate between Yoga vs Gym in this article.

The human muscular system is incredible. What our muscles are capable of is incredible. And this can be improved by fortifying them while also making them very flexible. If you lift a lot of weights, your muscles will appear large but unflexible. People who have developed large muscles are unable to perform a namaskar properly. They are unable to even bend.

If you just want muscles that look good, there are easier ways to get them these days. Bicep implants are an option. The silicon penetrates not only the breast but also the biceps, calf muscles, and other areas. It makes no difference that it is useless. You are not required to work hard, take cortisones and hormones, or go on pumping iron. There are easier ways, if it is just about looking good.

Bodybuilding does give you brute strength. However, you can build the same strength in a completely different way, and most importantly, you keep your body flexible, which is critical.

Wellbeing has many facets, including health, energy, the mind, and the spiritual dimension. When we invest 30 minutes to an hour in the morning, we want to see that the benefit extends beyond bunched up muscles.

Should you avoid lifting weights if you want to gain muscle? You could, because modern technology has taken physical exercise and activity out of our lives. Machines handle everything. Except for your iPhone, you don't need to bring much. Because you aren't using your limbs all day, light weight training in the gym is fine.

Yoga Isn't Just for Exercise

Yoga is not a type of exercise. It has additional dimensions. It would be a heinous crime to reduce Yoga to a gymnastic process. However, there is something called Upa-yoga, which means sub-yoga or useful processes of doing things without a spiritual dimension.

Fitness is guaranteed if you practise Upa-yoga or Angamardana systems of Yoga. Furthermore, no equipment is required. All you need is a six-by-six-foot floor space. You will be extremely fit and able to build muscle.

All of the exercises in Angamardana and Upa-yoga are done with your own body weight. Then you'll have no excuse for not going to the gym. Because you still have your body, you can exercise wherever you are. 

This is just as effective as weight training in the gym at building muscle. It will make you look like a rational human being while also making you extremely strong without putting undue strain on the system. The only difference is that you will not become muscled-up. A lot of people have turned into that. They believe they are fit, but I believe they are shackled! It's not just your muscle mass or strength.

We don't just look at muscular strength in Yoga. Organ health is also critical. The yogic system has evolved to address organ health as well. What good is having a lot of muscle if your liver isn't working properly? It is critical that the body be flexible and usable. 

Organ comfort is another term for it. One aspect is that the majority of the body's vital organs are located in the chest and abdomen. These organs are not rigid and are not held together with bolts and clamps. They're free and hanging in nets. Only by sitting with your spine erect will your organs be in the best possible condition. 

We do not keep our bodies erect because we dislike comfort; rather, we understand and experience comfort in a completely different way.

You can train your muscles to be comfortable when your spine is straight, but you can't train your organs to be comfortable when you're slouching. There is no way around it. So we decide to train the body so that our skeletal and muscular systems are comfortable sitting in this position.

Yoga Introducing Existence

Yoga is not something you do to lose weight or to relieve back pain or headaches. Being healthy and peaceful will happen regardless, but these are byproducts of Yoga, not the focus of Yoga. Yoga is not required to lose weight or stay healthy. All you have to do is eat healthily, play tennis, or go swimming. 

The goal of Yoga is to awaken another dimension within you that exists beyond the physical. Only when that is alive does existence gradually open up to you in a million different ways. Things you never imagined existed become a living reality for you because a dimension beyond the physical has come to life.

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