I was very excited when I received this book, however, I was somewhat disappointed when I found that the bulk of Popov’s book primarily focuses on strength training, and is not a mixture of both strength and yoga training as I had originally hoped.
The strength training exercises in the book are excellent, and Popov does a great job in describing target muscles and how to use weights and other equipment. There is even a training schedule in the book which is very detailed and at the same time easy to use.
Weight Resistance Yoga does have its drawbacks, however. As I suggested earlier, there is only a glossing over of yoga. There is a brief discussion of the Anjali mudra, relaxation and breathing exercises on page 10. He also suggests using the corpse pose after exercise. And Popov discusses various meditations while focusing on target muscles. I did not find these meditations useful. However, they can be retooled to fit the reader’s needs. Also, Popov’s writing style could intimidate a beginner as he is prone to go into great discussion on muscles, muscle groups and what they do.
Weight Resistance Yoga is great if you have a home gym or you work out in a public gym. A public gym could be tricky as the reader could have difficulty performing the corpse pose after a workout due to limited space and other people in the room. If the reader does not have a home gym, there are methods in which weight resistant training can be done, and I wish Popov had mentioned those, unfortunately he did not.
Popov is a good writer and I like his exercise methods. He did an outstanding job with the weight resistance training sections of the book. However, I wish he had given the yogic aspects of his book equal time. I hope that at some point Popov writes another book that focuses more on yoga and includes weight resistance training for those who do not have access to a gym. Recommended.
~review by Paricia Snodgrass
Author: Max Popov
Healing Arts Press, 2011
pp. 199
