[gopher]

I've belonged to a no frills healthclub for around 4 years. All they have is cardio machines, weight machines and free weights. Last summer, I had a couple injuries that forced me to take a break from lifting heavy weights, since then I've joined another club that has tennis and have been playing a lot. Combining that with cardio and lighter weights has been a pretty good regimen for me, and recently I've started to take a beginning yoga class. Wow, it's been eye opening to me how much my body works during a class, and how my muscles are sore afterwards especially my hamstrings. I am pretty average guy with little to no flexibility.

Are there any other classes I should consider and has anyone had good or bad experiences with yoga?

[fral945]

I had a similar experience. Some injuries forced me to cut back on weightlifting at one time. I've had nothing but good experiences with yoga. It has improved my flexibility and balance, it's relaxing, it's more challenging than it looks, and usually it's full of women.

[wickenhunter]

I started doing yoga recently cuz i hurt my back. It's really fun and relaxing, i definitely recommend it. It does require a lot of patience though since a lot of it uses slow movements.

[josie54]

I love yoga, but you've got to respect the limitations of your body as you practice the positions. Last year I suffered a compression fracture in my spine (discovered in an X-ray), and they asked when I'd had a traumatic accident!

I'd had no traumatic accident, but the injury was traced to my doing a yoga a couple months prior, when I did the "wheel" position (when you push up from the floor into a backbend). I thought nothing of it at the time, because I used to do backbends in high school. At first, my doctors couldn't believe I'd given myself the fracture from yoga alone, but that was when I'd first started experiencing pain, so eventually we realized that was the cause. Now I have a herniated disk as a result of the compression fracture.

I'm still doing yoga, but I also still have pain in my back from an injury that occurred a year ago, and it's going to take a long time to heal. So never push yourself--don't try to do something just because the instructor in the class or on the tape is doing it.

[Trialbyfire]

I've been doing a combination of yoga/pilates for years which has been great for staying healthy and flexible, with a focus on core-strengthening. Of course there are other types of sports and fitness-style activities I've done and do, beyond that.

It's worthwhile to be careful and know your limits. As we all age, our bodies aren't quite as indestructible as they used to be. The better we take care of our bodies now, the less problems we'll experience as we continue aging.

My parents are in their sixties. They've both been physically fit all their lives. It shows in their energy level, emotional perspectives and mental health in general. They exude good health and as a by-product, look great!