Trying to start yoga at 52

[acey]

Hello VFers:

I started working out to videos at age 30. Taebo, then kickboxing, then Cathe, and so forth. I was always addicted to cardio and weights (and still am).

However, at age 52 I am finally starting to feel the vicissitudes of aging. My back and leg muscles tighten up a lot, even after doing simple chores like loading the dishwasher. Last year at a wedding, I got up quickly from the table to hit the dance floor, and promptly pulled something in my upper leg/left hip that had me waddling and limping for two weeks!

I had never been much of a stretcher. I admit that I would often skip the cooldowns after cardio workouts. I only occasionally did Pilates or Lotte Berk/Callanetics-type exercises. I might do teeny bits of yoga like downward dogs and cat-cow stretches that were part of cooldowns.

Now I want to seriously start doing some yoga to address my flexibility issues. There are just so many kinds! I bought tons of yoga videos over the years planning to do *something*, but never opened them. I have all the usual suspects.

Which types of yoga, or which instructors, would you recommend I start out with as someone who has always been a cardio/weights junkie and is definitely needing something simple to start out with but that will make me feel worked out?

[bubbles76]

I started out with Rodney Yee's Yoga for Athletes, the Yoga Zones, and Total Yoga workouts with Tracy Rich and Ganga White. The dvd that really got me doing yoga regularly was Rodney Yee's AM Yoga for Your Week. I don't know if these will help you feel worked out (well, Total Yoga Fire death by chaturanga might come close) but I definitely got more limber. I definitely describe myself as a cardio and weights junkie

I have not done yoga regularly since Covid started. I should get back to it.

[JackieB]

Well, I normally would plug Essentrics . Love it.

As far as yoga, I am really enjoying working my way through a little bit of Yoga with Adrienne. There are so many different instructors on YouTube it is crazy.

[yogapam]

Originally Posted by JackieB

Well, I normally would plug Essentrics . Love it.

Lol! Agree, I also love doing & teaching Essentrics, so good for joint mobility, flexibility, and improving range of motion. But keeping yoga in my exercise routine gives me more flexibility and better balance than Essentrics alone.

I haven’t done dvds for ages so I can’t recommend many. But I do have digital copies of Jessica Smith’s yoga and stretch dvds. They are good, not purist yoga but accessible, effective, and easy to follow.

Originally Posted by JackieB

As far as yoga, I am really enjoying working my way through a little bit of Yoga with Adrienne. There are so many different instructors on YouTube it is crazy.

I love the wonderful variety of yoga on YouTube, so many good channels to chose from. I also like Yoga with Adrienne. Here are a few other faves:
~Mindful Yoga with YogiBethC - our very own VFer toaster
~Yoga with Joelle
~Yoga with Kassandra
~SarahBeth Yoga
~Yoga Ranger
~Five Parks Yoga
~Kate Vantucci Yoga

[dnna]

Gentle Yoga with Jane Adams. I start my day with ]the lying down full body stretch and it keeps me very flexible strong and nicer to my family . I am 73 and have very good flexibility[U] and I credit yoga for that.

[amoodygirl]

I am 65 and have been athletic my whole life. I also love cardio (running and biking) and weights. But I noticed as I hit my 50s injuries were creeping up. In early 2020, just before the pandemic, I injured my piriformis and hamstring so badly I couldn't walk without a lot of pain. I couldn't drive without pain. This began my journey with yoga.

I did yoga for a solid year, daily and this healed me and also taught me to really tune in to my body. For me, Bad Yogi worked miracles. Now I mix in Bad Yogi with lots and lots of other yoga instructors, mostly from You Tube. I'm back to running and biking but I've learned my lesson. When I feel even a twinge of something happening, I stop.

I also invested in a Tens machine. Mine is a $35 model from Amazon and this also helped in healing. I still use it today when I have some minor pain to nip it in the bud.

Yoga has helped my flexibility. I was always flexible but it wanes with age unless you keep at it. Balance is key as you age and I confess I don't like working on it but I do.

As Bette Davis once said, "Old age ain't no place for sissies”

[jldx2in2000]

I was very much in the same place in a few years ago when I turned 40. I had so many yoga dvds to try but just couldn't stick with them. I ended up getting sucked into a Facebook ad but it worked out. I don't think the program is talked about much on here but it is Yoga Burn. There is the Yoga Burn Original System that I started with. If you buy the DVD, you get 4 Phases. Each phase has 3 workouts. Each workout is only :15. You are supposed to repeat the workout 3 times for a total of :45 minutes but I started out only doing it once. Each phase gets progressively harder so you have room to build up. It is recommended to stay on each phase for 1 month and then move on but I did each phase for 2 months.

What I like best about it was that it had a cardio effect while also being yoga based. This helped me build the bridge between not jiving with yoga because it "wasn't a workout" to now craving it and making sure I have at least one session in a week.

Hope you find something you enjoy!

[bubbles76]

I actually really liked the Yoga Burn Monthly set. It's a set of yoga dvds that has a different focus each month - Restorative, Hatha, Kundalini, Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Vinyasa. There are four dvds per month, with I think four practices per dvd. Also has some bonuses on each dvd. Beautiful scenery, calm instructor though she does have a voice you either love or hate. I happen to love it. Don't buy the set from her website - there are sets on eBay going for much, much cheaper.

ETA: I suppose if you want something like yoga that also gives you a workout that you could try Buti Yoga. It's not pure yoga though.

[Izzy]

Man Flow Yoga or Body by Yoga by Dean Polhman. Dvds are Amazon. His instructions are impeccable. He started this geared towards men so he makes ist simple step by step. But many women use his program as well.

[laurajhawk]

I second the suggestion of Yee’s AM Yoga for Your Week. There are five practices each with a different focus, effective but not difficult, around 25 minutes each. I also think the world of Eoin Finn’s instruction; he has a beginner DVD, I believe, and the original Blissology is pure magic.