Back to Strength

Back to Strength with Radha Patel

Radha Patel, our resident pharmacist, Ayurvedic practitioner and Dru Yoga teacher is here to help get our health balanced at every level.

This great class of TOGA (toning yoga) class is focused on developing our muscle tone at the anamaya (physical) level. As a bit of a gym bunny, Radha explains; “This form of exercise not only builds strength throughout the body but by also optimising yoga poses for strength training, we can benefit from the many energetic and emotional benefits of each posture.”

In this class, we focus on specific muscles in the upper back, arms, core and gluteals through using our body weight to tone whilst holding various yoga postures. Regular repetition of this type of exercise builds muscle mass, which in turn can give us a faster metabolism (supporting weight loss) and stronger muscles which gives us better balance - decreasing the risk of falls and injury. As we gain strength our tendons and ligaments also get stronger, which then helps us maintain better posture.

All of this combined with the endorphins naturally released from movement and exercise means that you’ll feel fantastic after your session. 

In this Back to Strength class:

Step 1:

Focus on core strength and the back with a forward/ backward bend. Adding in a plank strengthens the upper back and shoulders. 

Step 2:

Cross lifting arm and opposite leg to really focus on toning the glutes and lower back.

Step 3:

Plank with leg lift. Strong on glutes, core and shoulders.

Repeat steps 1-3

Step 4

Cat position with opposite arm and leg extending. Complete with a child.

Step 5

• Stage 1 - Lying on your back and keeping the core in, raise lower legs to parallel to the floor. Tap one foot down onto the floor. 
• Stage 2 - is to extend alternate legs down towards the floor without touching the ground. Keep lower back on the floor at all times (if it’s too difficult please go back to an earlier stage).
• Stage 3 - extend both legs out towards the floor but not dropping down onto the floor.

Step 6

Lying on your back arms outstretched. Raise both legs up towards your chest and then allow them to drop over toward one side without touching the ground. Pull back up to centre and repeat to either side a few times. To add a bit more strength you can extend the legs when you are in the fully twisted position. Remember - if you’re new to this, it’s important to do fewer repetitions until you’ve built up a bit more muscle strength.

Repeat Step 5 and 6

Step 7

Maltese cross lying twist allows you to rest for a few moments as you stretch out the gluteals and lower back.