Gym, Yoga — the idea of fitness
The early Man was never conditioned for 8 to 10 hours of stationary work. Neither was it habituated with transport mediums. The life was full of physical labor and that is how the human body is conditioned. However, a changed age rendered us captivated to a desk and chair for a significant amount of our day. Making our body sloth-stricken which is to be escaped no matter what the means are.
Gym and Yoga are two approaches to keep the body active and sound. Though Gym can be a bit expensive compared to yoga as traditional yoga does not require any apparels or accessories or machinery. It is safe to say that while yoga is more of a body-and-mind encompassing practice, gym actively tries to target the body only. Fitness is the goal for both, however while yoga takes a more subtle and long-term approach. Both have their own benefits and no matter what the way is fitness is the ultimate destination for both.
Typically, Gym is a product of the western society. You go to a particular place and spend money to tire the muscles of your body. Various machines target different areas of muscle as gradually they strengthen to promote muscle growth and at the same time burn the excessive calories in the body that makes you all chubby. Although there are people to criticize the practice of working out in a gym by saying that it will make you go have a hulk like pumped-up figure. Well, truth be told pumped up muscles have nothing to do with gym or weightlifting for the matter of fact. Traditional gym goers strive to maintain their fitness.
Yoga, on the contrary, has a holistic approach to fitness. Born out of the ancient Vedic culture — yoga does not only strive to provide a fit body. A fit body can only be attained through a sound mind — such is the approach of yoga. Therefore, the yoga postures have a spiritual bearing as well. Ideally, yoga is said to be practiced early in the morning in open air. The morning air is considered beneficial to the body as well as the abundant consumption of fresh oxygen rejuvenates the brain. Instead of targeting a particular muscle or area of the body it strives to stimulate the hormonal glands and promote better metabolism. Thus, Yoga promotes a more organic and all-round approach to fitness. It targets to lose fat naturally rather than using big industrial equipment to agitate body fat.
The bottom line is pretty simple though, if physical fitness or weight loss is the primary and sole objective then gym is the place to be. It can yield visible results within a significantly less span of time. Nevertheless, if the definition of fitness, to you, is more of a body-mind, all-encompassing thing then nothing can be better than yoga. Yoga takes time to grow on you but once it does there can be nothing so fulfilling and delightful than this.
