What Is Yoga for the Upper Body?
There are many poses in yoga for the upper body that help to tone and sculpts all the upper body muscles without bulking them up. All these poses will help cultivate long and lean muscles in the arms.
What Are the Poses in Yoga for the Upper Body?
The various poses of yoga for upper body are:
Downward-Dog Splits
Plank Pose
Four-Limbed Staff Pose
Upward-Facing Dog
Side Plank Variations
Crow Pose
Plank to Dolphin Plank
Fallen Triangle
Locust Pose
How Effectively can we do Yoga for the Upper Body at Home?
Yoga for the upper body makes use of body weight to create a result like weightlifting. This is done by resisting the gravity's force on the body and moving your body through closed chain workouts. A closed chain workout always shows better results than open-chain workouts as statistics showed an increase of 31% in six weeks, whereas open-chain activities showed only 13% improvements. Moreover, yoga for the upper body is excellent to lose weight and burn fat faster as it does not require any special equipment, it can be performed anywhere and everywhere with no restriction.
Who Can Do Yoga for the Upper Body?
Almost anyone can do yoga for the upper body, and the spine's flexibility is the primary key to performing all kinds of yoga. Even if the spine is rigid with time, practising yoga helps a great deal for an individual to develop flexibility. There is also no restriction with age groups as far as yoga moves are concerned as they are not intense and strenuous for most of the body types. So, yoga for the upper body is the safest form of workout for all the population.
Who Should Avoid Yoga for the Upper Body?
Though yoga for the upper body is an effortless and slowly paced routine, certain people should refrain from practising the yoga poses and posture. They are:
People with horrible balance who frequently feel extra wobbly and with no ear equilibrium should avoid doing yoga for the upper body.
Back, neck and knee injured people must not perform any kinds of yoga for the upper body.
List of Best Yoga for Upper Body
The list of the best yoga for the upper body that is very effective is elaborately mentioned below. They are:
Plank Pose
Stand on your hands and knees with the hands directly under the shoulders and neck aligned. Pull your abdominals in by having the legs tight and making sure the back is flat without sagging down. Hold this position and breathe fully.
Downward-Dog Splits
This is the most incredible stretch for the back by starting in a kneeling position with the fingers spread and hands directly under the shoulders. Tucking the toes and engaging the abdominals to push up the body off the mat, move the hip to the topmost position.
Locust Pose
This posture is done by lying on the belly with the arms along the sides. Place the palms facing up and the forehead resting on the floor. Exhale and lift the head, arms, upper torso and legs away from the floor. Tighten the buttocks and raise the arms parallel to the floor by stretching back.
Benefits of Doing Yoga for Upper Body
The benefits of doing yoga for upper body are:
Yoga for upper body weight loss burns more amounts of fat and increases body metabolism.
Yoga for upper body weight loss helps with maintaining the body weight and bringing it into perfect shape. This is done by curbing overeating.
Yoga for upper body strength reduces anxiety and tension in the body.
Yoga for neck shoulder and upper back improves muscle strength, flexibility and makes one more mindful by creating positive mental health.
Yoga for upper back and neck pain relaxes all the strained muscles and helps cope with pain and bring about a speedy recovery.
Arm stand yoga and its kinds will help to improve all cardiovascular conditions.
Upper body yoga poses are also seen to lower the blood pressure levels in the human system effectively.
Disadvantages of Doing Yoga for Upper Body
The different disadvantages associated with yoga for upper body are:
The upper body yoga poses bring about an extensive muscle, tendon and ligament stretch that will lead to strain, tear and other body injuries.
Arm stand yoga will cause specific stress on the body muscles that will take more time to heal.
Yoga for upper body weight loss is seen to cause heat intolerance and other heat-related illness in specific populations.
Dos & Don'ts
The dos and don'ts of
yoga asanas for upper body are:
One must perform all the upper body yoga poses on an empty stomach.
Make sure to have the bladder and bowels empty before starting
yoga for lower body or upper body.
Do the
yoga for mind in a very relaxed manner by being aware of both body and breath continuously.
Do not eat meat, eggs, onion, garlic and mushroom in the diet while performing
yoga for sleep.
Things Required to Do Yoga for Upper Body if You Are at Home & Gym
The things that are required to do yoga for upper body are:
Yoga mat
A towel
Water bottle
Comfortable or breathable clothing
Yoga accessories like blocks, bolsters, meditation cushions and straps
Eye pillows
Sound system
Yoga CD
Exercise ball