YAS: Yoga for Athletes RIPPED

8/17/2010

In July of this year, the YAS enterprise decided to address the one obvious (resistance-training-shaped) hole in their fitness program, and started offering YFA Ripped. I’m already something of a YAS devotee. Then they hyped it up at the end of every class, and being the sucker that I am for almost anything advertised to me in person, I decided to check it out last week. When I checked in and was given a pair of three-pound weights, my first thought was, “So this is weightlifting I can do when I’m sick.”I was mostly right. The class consists of most of the basic, preset YFA sequence, but has students holding asanas for longer so that ten or so reps of various arm toning exercises can be completed while in the poses. For someone who already lifts weights a couple times a week, the weight-lifting component was not particularly challenging. The challenge was presented more in the form of being forced to hold poses for longer, to concentrate harder on holding them while you do something else. It’s also a step above the normal challenge to ujjayi breath. I left the class with the sense of having done something of a Pilates hybrid, even though we spent little time lying on the mat and did nothing particularly Pilates-like, save for the usual suspect asanas that straddle the yogalates border and can show up in any given class. But it had that air to it--that nonchalant, peaceful, let’s-make-our-muscles-do-something-that-doesn’t-seem-that-hard-and-see-how-long-they-can-do-it-for, we’re-not-sweating-but-rather-leaving-class-with-a-dewey-faced-glow, I-know-you-don’t-believe-it-but-you-WILL-be-at-least-a-little-sore-in-eight-hours vibe. It’s an appropriate vibe for the times of day that the class is offered--the early (for me) time slot of 8:30 AM and the afternoon-slump (for me) spot of 4:30 PM.

It delivered on the promises of its subtexts. I was a little sore that evening and the next day. A little. But my efforts with the weights at the gym routine haven’t made me sore in months (yes, that’s my fault), so I’m not criticizing.

Chatting with the warm, soothing and thoroughly stunning instructor after class, I got the impression that the typically hard-core clientele of YAS hasn’t really made up its collective mind about the new class yet. Students who try out the Ripped class fall into one of two categories: the “it’s not harder, just different” camp, and the “OMG that’s crazy hard” camp. I have no real evidence for my assertion, but I’m willing to bet that the dividing line is the same one that runs between those who do regular strength training and those who do not. Either way, YFA Ripped provides a nice option for variety in the fitness routine of members of either group. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that variety is key to continuing to yield maximal results from your routine, and that all of us should be doing some kind of resistance training on a regular basis for the maintenance of our metabolism, balance, coordination, body composition, and joint stability over the lifespan. And if you have been living under a rock, grab that sucker and overhead press it. It’s good for you, and when you’re old, you’ll be glad you did.

YAS Silverlake
1932 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.665.6011