6 Good Reasons Guys Should Get Their “Om” On
Yoga offers well-known benefits for both sexes, like improved flexibility and core strength. But there are some other surprising benefits that just might have the 
guys striking warrior poses a whole lot more often.
1. Yoga Challenges Your Entire Body
Unlike some workouts that target specific areas, yoga is a full-body resistance workout, stretching and strengthening nearly every muscle. And it doesn’t stop there. Yoga engages not just the muscular system, but calls in full support from the cardiovascular, skeletal and endocrine systems, too.
2. Yoga Improves Performance in Other Sports and Can Help Prevent Injury
If you’re into other sports, yoga can help improve your focus, boost energy, and prevent or ease postgame muscle soreness. It’s no wonder that pro athletes and even entire pro teams make yoga part of their training regimen.
There’s an injury prevention aspect as well. Regular yoga sessions keep muscles loose, flexible and limber, so they’re better prepared for the rigors of the game and less prone to injury. Yoga adds strength, balance, stability and a greater sense of body awareness to aid in injury prevention.
3. Yoga Helps You De-Stress
We’ve all heard that yoga is good for stress relief, but how does it work? There’s a surprisingly straightforward, nuts-and-bolts explanation.
Yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the “fight or flight” stress response associated with the sympathetic nervous system.
Yoga also helps reduce cortisol, a primary stress hormone. Excess cortisol in the body, due to stress, can suppress thyroid function, increase inflammatory response, damage muscle tissue, and increase blood pressure.
4. Yoga May Help Improve Your Job Performance
There are good reasons so many companies encourage their employees to practice yoga, and even provide yoga sessions onsite.
Yoga’s connection of the body’s movement with breath has a meditative and energizing effect, leading to greater clarity, focus and concentration. This clearing of the mind’s “clutter” can also leave it open for fresh insights, creative solutions, and more agile decision-making.
5. Yoga Promotes Healthy Digestion
Feeling sluggish or battling belly bloat? Specific twisting postures in yoga actually massage the internal organs, keeping food moving along and encouraging healthy digestion. Not only can this help ease digestive woes, but the effective absorption of nutrients leads to increased energy.
6. Yoga Can Help Curb Snack Attacks
If rushed meals at your desk or stress eating are causing some unwanted extra pounds, yoga may help.
Yoga contributes to a stronger mind-body connection, which can lead to more mindful eating. And due to yoga’s stress-relieving benefits, you’ll be less likely to reach for food to deal with tense moments.
