Yoga for outdoors ?

I've noticed that yoga has become (super)popular withing the last 5 years. People has become obsessed with it, believing that this is "the best form of exercise " for your body. There is no funnier ( well, may be there is) thing for me, than watching an overweight woman, practicing yoga in a group class, hoping to "shed a few pounds" (just a few ? really?). Now days, yoga is practiced by everybody : from old school hippies and stay-at-home moms to movie stars and professional athletes.

Recently, there has been a new trend -"yoga for outdoorsmen" : backpackers, climbers, skiers. What does yoga have to do with those activities ?
While there are no arguments that yoga has numerous benefits for your body (and mind): improves your balance, flexibility, focus, stamina, strength; practicing just yoga won't make you a better skier or climber, it won't help you lose weight, it won't make you injury-proof. Another common misbelief is that yoga is an "ultimate tool " to strengthen your core. “Drawing your navel in towards your spine ” will not help "cultivate an awareness of our core as the body’s center and source of stability''. It takes more than "holding a plank position for 30 minutes " to lose a 52- inch waist or make you even a decent skier.

Yoga is not a"fitness trend" of its own. Only combined with "physical fitness" ( cardio, strength training, group exercise classes...) you will see the maximum results.

As a personal trainer, I've had clients who did strength and cardio training before enrolling into a yoga class ( or a spin class, or "getting into the outdoors").

The bottom line is - no matter what you goal is ( lose weight, run a marathon, hike Grand Canyon rim to rim , climb Mt Rainier, injury-proof your body), the best way ( actually the only way) to achieve it is to integrate all components : strength and cardio, yoga and group exercise classes ( for fun and extra credits), and , of course, whatever you do in the outdoors ( hiking, biking, climbing, skiing...). Because no matter how much time you spend at your gym ( or yoga studio), it's all useless if it's not functional ( I honestly don't believe in exercising "for fun" or "to stay in shape" ( we all know that "round" is a shape too).