Information in this blog was taken from Jillian Michaels’ article, “Making the Cut.”

Split Routines: Focusing on different muscle groups during workouts, rather than hitting all muscle groups in a single workout.

Super-Sets:  Performing two different exercises, one after another, with no rest period. 
There are two categories of super-sets:
1) Same muscle group
2)  Antagonist (or opposing muscle groups)

Combo-Lifting: Combining two or more lifts into one exercise.
There are three different methods of combo-lifting:
1) Straight Combo-lift:  two lifts performed one after another (example: squat then shoulder press)
2) Complexes:  Three or more lifts performed in one exercise.
3) Hybrid-lifts:  Two or more exercises in one movement such as a lunge while doing biceps curl, or a squate while doing a shoulder press at the same time.

Pyramids:  Using a calculated and steady increase of weight based on a person’s one rep max. 
For example,
The first week a person may lift 55% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 60% of 1Rm (8-10 reps) and 65% of 1Rm (6-8 reps). 
The second week, 60% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 65% of 1RM  (8-10 reps) and 70% of 1RM (6-8 reps). 
The third week, 65% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 70% of 1RM (8-10 reps) and 75% of 1RM (6-8 reps). 
The fourth week, 70% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 75% of 1RM (8-10 reps) and 80% of 1RM (6-8 reps). 
After about four weeks of this progression, they would then find a new one rep max and start over with the same %1RM and reps format.

Reverse Pyramid: It is the same concept as the pyramid technique, but in reverse.  This would mean the person would lift heavier to lighter instead of lighter to heavier per week.

Circuit Training: Helps to build lean muscle while simultaneously improve aerobic fitness.  It is a series of exercises, one after another, with no rest period. The circuit is carefully designed, so that a muscle group is resting while another is working. Circuit training can be performed doing all resistance training, all cardio training or a combo of resistance and cardio.

Interval Training: Time periods of high-intensity followed by low-intensity cardiorespiratory exercises. This works both the anaerobic and aerobic systems. 

Plyometrics: Explosive and power training such as jumping, hopping and bounding exercises. It is also known as jump training. Plymetrics is high-intensity, advance and sport-specific training.

Yoga vs. Cardio

Is doing yoga enough exercise?  The answer depends on your purpose or intention for doing yoga. 

Are you training for a specific sports event or do you simply want to get fit?  If you are training for something specific such as a marathon or a canoe race, then yoga is not enough.  One should use the same muscles in training that one uses for the event: Meaning if you are training for a marathon, then use the treadmill in the gym.  If you are training for a canoe race, then use a rowing, elliptical, or upper body ergometer.  Yoga will best serve as an adjunct to the sports specific training by keeping the muscles supple, preventing injury, improving breath control, and focusing the mind.

If a person simply wants to get fit, yoga can be the answer.  Many people around the world practice yoga as their main source for fitness. The five areas of fitness are body composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility.  In dynamic styles of yoga such as Ashtanga, Power Yoga, and Flow all areas of fitness are getting addressed.

Total fitness gains however are not completely addressed in all forms of yoga.  Some styles are too gentle to achieve improvements in body composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, or cardiovascular endurance.  Nearly all forms of yoga in studios or health clubs produce flexibility gains.  The gentler forms of yoga are also good for muscular rehabilitation and stress reduction.

Before stopping your exercise regiment to hop on the yoga train, be clear about your intention.  If your intention is solely fitness, it will require taking intense and challenging yoga classes that will both challenge the mind and work the body.  It will also take time and patience to build up the endurance for this powerful style of yoga.  It would be best to make the change gradual.  Start with one or two classes a week and add more classes slowly over the course of many months.  

Many people in the United States start taking yoga purely for physical reasons – to loose weight, to become more flexible, to get a stronger core, etc…  What they discover is that yoga is so much more than a physical practice.  Yoga also has the remarkable ability to calm the mind, illuminate the soul, and open the heart.