Can Stretching/Yoga Lead to Hypertrophy

[ucimigrate]

Can stretching (as with a towel stretching hamstrings) or Yoga increase hypertrophy?

Can anyone explain why Yoga instructors look good, and very functional?

 

[bell1986]

Thiers a good chance they incorporate weight training aswell? People can look good without it though it just all depends on your lifestyle aswell

 

[JCR97]

Thiers a good chance they incorporate weight training aswell? People can look good without it though it just all depends on your lifestyle aswell

This as well as yoga instructors seem to always have the "all natural" lifestyle which means that they more than likely eat healthier than 75% of the population. Which obviously helps with their body comp. although I have done yoga it can be hard especially the expert routines it has you falling and shaking everywhere which might mean they have a better mind muscle connection as well as obviously having a bit of hypertrophy almost calisthenics like training. like he just said they might incorporate weight training in as well. There are a tonne of factors but the main one is that the yoga culture seems to revolve around being healthy.

 

[compudog]

I don't think so. Not all yoga instructors have great physiques, it's not a requirement. However, discipline is a big deal in yoga, it's called tapas or fire. So I think a lot of yoga teachers are probably really disciplined w.r.t. their diet. Also a lot of them are generally active people and do other stuff.

But can it lead to hypertrophy? No or at least, nowhere near as effectively as resistance training. The loading via bodyweight simply isn't there.

That said, yoga is a lot more than just stretching. A regular yoga practice will produce a balanced strength in the body, and creates immense body awareness. As such, I feel it's a valuable adjunct to weight training for bodybuilders & lifters. I think it's not well understood in terms of the physiological benefits, otherwise a lot more lifters would be doing it, in fact I think in the future they will, especially powerlifters, if only because it can reduce the injury rate from lifting drastically.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

It reminds me of when someone asked a Zumba instructor if he got so muscular from doing Zumba and he laughed and said of course not, he also lifted regularly.