Strength Training for Yogis
You've been on your mat for years. You know your body. You've built flexibility, breath awareness and a practice that grounds you. But lately something is nudging you a whisper that it might be time to pick up some weights.
You're not alone. More and more devoted yoga students are discovering that strength training isn't the enemy of their practice. It's the missing piece.
Why Yogis Actually Need Strength Training
Let's be honest. Yoga is incredible. It builds body awareness, flexibility, breath control and a connection to yourself that most fitness modalities can't touch. But here's what yoga doesn't always build- raw strength.
Specifically the kind of strength that protects your joints, supports your posture and helps you hold those poses with power rather than just flexibility.
Think about your chaturanga. Are you flowing through it with control or are you collapsing into it and hoping for the best? Think about warrior 3. Are you shaking through it or are you steady and grounded?
That shakiness? That collapse? That's not a yoga problem. That's a strength problem.
And the good news is it's completely fixable.
Will Strength Training Make Me Less Flexible?
This is the number one fear I hear from yoga students and I want to address it head on.
No. Strength training done well will not make you less flexible.
In fact research shows that strength training through a full range of motion can actually improve flexibility. The key words there are done well and full range of motion.
What we're not doing here is loading up a barbell and grinding through half reps with our ego in charge. What we are doing is building functional strength that supports the way your body already moves on the mat.
There is so much more to yoga than being bendy. You already know this. The devotional yogi understands that yoga is about presence, breath and consciousness- and a strong body is a more present body.
The Modern Body Problem — And Why Yogis Aren't Immune
Here's something worth paying attention to. Most of us, yes even devoted yogis spend a significant portion of our days rounded forward.
We're at our computers. We're on our phones. We're driving. We're sitting. Even some yoga postures can reinforce this forward rounding if we're not careful.
The result? Weak back bodies.
Specifically:
- Weak glutes- the largest muscle group in your body, essential for stability and power
- Weak upper back- leading to rounded shoulders and neck tension
- Weak triceps - making those chaturangas harder than they need to be
- Undertrained deep core- the sneaky stabilizers that nobody talks about but everybody needs
Strength training gives us the opportunity to deliberately counteract all of this rounding and build a body that is strong from the back up.
Strength Training Exercises Specifically For Yogis
These are some of my favorite exercises for yoga students because they complement your practice rather than compete with it. I have demonstration videos linked for each one so you can see exactly how they work.
Tabletop Tricep Kickback With Leg Extension
For your chaturanga and your balance poses
This one is sneaky good. In tabletop position you're already in a familiar yoga shape — neutral spine, breath engaged. Adding a tricep kickback with a simultaneous leg extension builds the back arm strength you need for chaturanga while also challenging your stability and core. [Watch the demo here →]
Warrior 3 With a Dumbbell Pass
For your standing balance poses
You know warrior 3. Now imagine doing it while passing a light dumbbell from hand to hand. This challenges your balance, hip stability and focus in a way that directly transfers to your yoga practice. It's humbling and incredibly effective. [Watch the demo here →]
Squats
For your glute strength and hip stability
Squats are non negotiable for yogis. Your glutes are the foundation of so much of what you do on the mat — from warrior poses to chair pose to the stability you need in inversions. Building genuine glute strength changes everything. [Watch the demo here →]
Push Ups
For your chaturanga and arm balances
I know. You do chaturangas in class. But are you doing them well? Push ups allow you to build the specific strength needed for chaturanga in a slower more controlled way. Start on your knees if you need to. Meet yourself where you are. [Watch the demo here →]
Dead Bugs With Band
For your sneaky deep core
Dead bugs are one of the best core exercises nobody talks about. They target the deep stabilizing muscles of your core — the ones that protect your spine and give you the foundation for every single pose you do. Adding light weights makes them even more effective. [Watch the demo here →]
How to Start: Two Sessions a Week Is Enough
Here's the beautiful thing. You don't need to overhaul your entire life to add strength training. Two sessions a week is enough to start building real, meaningful strength that supports your yoga practice.
Thirty minutes. Twice a week. That's it.
The key is consistency over intensity. This isn't about destroying yourself in the gym. It's about showing up regularly with intention, which as a yogi you already know how to do.
Adding an Ayurvedic Lens- Train With Your Seasons
If you've been around this space for a while you've probably heard me talk about Ayurveda. And if you haven't Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of wellness that teaches us to live in rhythm with nature's cycles.
One of the most powerful things you can do for your strength training practice is align it with the seasons. Here's a simple guide:
Fall & Early Winter- Vata Season
Focus: Grounding and building
Vata energy is airy, scattered and can leave us feeling ungrounded and anxious as the days get shorter and colder. This is a beautiful time to build strength around your hips and core the parts of your body most connected to stability and groundedness. Think slow, deliberate movements that bring you back into your body.
Late Winter & Early Spring - Kapha Season
Focus: Energize and ignite
Kapha energy is heavy, slow and earthy and while that's beautiful it can also leave us feeling sluggish and unmotivated as winter lingers. This is actually the best time to bring some fire to your workouts. Challenge yourself a little more. Add some weight. Move with purpose. Your body is ready to shake off the heaviness of winter and step into something stronger.
Summer- Pitta Season
Focus: Ease and sustainability
Pitta energy is fiery, driven and intense and summer amplifies all of that. If you're a pitta dominant woman you already know how easy it is to push too hard and burn yourself out. Summer is actually a time to pull back slightly on intensity and focus on consistency over effort. A lighter routine that you actually enjoy is worth infinitely more than a punishing one that leaves you depleted.
You Don't Have to Choose Between Yoga and Strength
This is the thing I want you to hear most. Yoga and strength training are not in competition. They are deeply complementary practices that together build a body and a life that feels both strong and spacious.
The devoted yoga student who adds intentional strength training to her practice doesn't become less of a yogi. She becomes a more embodied, more powerful, more sustainable version of herself.
And isn't that what the practice has always been pointing us toward?
Ready to Build Strength That Actually Supports Your Practice?
If you're a devoted yoga student ready to add strength training in a way that feels aligned, intentional and completely like you I would love to support you.
My 1:1 personal training program is built specifically for women like you. We train for 30 minutes, we work with your body's energy and seasons, and we never leave your yoga practice behind.
Explore 1:1 Personal Training With Andrea →
Or if you're not quite ready to commit start with 5 Days of Stillness, my free five day practice combining yoga nidra, breathwork and meditation to help you come back to yourself.
About Andrea Claassen: Andrea is a personal trainer, yoga teacher, Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor and postpartum doula with 19 years of experience helping women build strength that actually lasts. She works with women virtually and in person in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
