Suggestions wanted: Beginner Yoga for 40-yr old man

[DejaDeb]

My brother had heart surgery in January. He's doing well and has been given the go-ahead to exercise. He jogs (in the military), but he's overweight -- although since his surgery, he's dropped about 30 pounds.

He asked me for some tai-chi workouts, since he wants to work on "relaxation and flexibility." Personally, I think he'll find tai-chi duller than dirt , but I think he would enjoy a calm, gentle yoga practice.

I'm looking for some recommendations for beginner yoga workouts of about 30-minutes long (or shorter), preferably led by a man. I know there are a lot of "male leads" out there, but most of the ones I know are more intermediate. I know Tony Horton has a few yoga DVD's as well -- but again, I'm looking for something beginner (with form pointers, good cuing, etc.)

Any help/advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

[violingal3]

Eoin Finn's "Pure and Simple Yoga" (40 min?) is the only yoga I can get DH to do - he even asks when I plan on doing it so he can join in! On the menu screen, you can choose Eoin doing a beginner version or advanced version, or choose a split screen where you can see both.

[jhsimpson]

DDPYoga.com

Figure I would elaborate why Dallas Diamond Page (and Tony Horton) might be ideal choices. While there is nothing wrong with Eionn, Rod or Rodney. I suspect that since your brother is a kid from the 1980s (40 y/o) and is military that the personalities of D.D.P. or Tony may click better. DDP has his yoga foundation from Bryan Kest and used Yoga to rehabilitate his wrestling issues. To also add that the DDPYOGA site has a community forum that is great for support at any level. Some of the stories on the site (Arthur Borman, Staci Morris) show similar testimonials of shedding the weight and loving the yoga with out all of the 'Oprah - woo, woo' talk!

I myself don't care for the New Age talk and Sanskrit language. So when I hear instructors going all 'woo-woo' and speaking Yoga-Latin (adding the suffix '-asana' to some Indian word) rather than saying Cat / Cow, Down Dog, Cobra, Plank. I lose interest real fast.

Tony is your more comedic personality rather than a Yogi expert. He has some great workouts in his 'one on one' series that you can purchase individually and the last two sets of P90X and P90X2 have a yoga workout as part of the package. The hook for Tony is he is more General Purpose fitness so a P90-style workout may be more acceptable.

Finally, Modify, Modify, Modify - Cut the workout duration in half and since it is a video - Use the Pause button!

[Patti S.]

Rod Stryker! Yoga for Longevity and I think he has 2 different practices in one of the Gaiam compilations. PM me if you need the specific title.

Also perhaps Rodney Yee's AM Yoga for your Week.

[sheepla]

My husband is 44 and has tried and rejected many of my yoga workouts (includig Rodney Yee's AM Yoga for the Week). He doesn't hate Karen Voight's Yoga Focus. That's the best we've done so far.

[cathgpo]

Although not led by a man, I think Sage Rountree's The Athlete's Guide to Yoga would be a good choice. My husband will do this one. It's led by Sage, but one of the two backgrounders is a man. They also show beginning, intermediate and advanced options for all moves, and Sage gives lots of cues to help you do it correctly. And Sage moves through the poses at a pretty slow, steady pace. Lastly, it's a long dvd, but with lots of chapters. You can go to the Customize menu and select a couple sections you want to do together for a short workout. Very flexible and approachable.

There is a companion book that comes with a dvd, but that dvd is only a sampler of what is on the regular dvd. I highly suggest the regular dvd, not the book.

[missmomus]

Hulu.com has all of the Yoga Zone videos up that he can try for free & they're mostly ~20 minute segments. I think they are still some of the best videos for beginners & there's a mix of male & female instructors.

[DejaDeb]

Thanks for the suggestion so far!! I was actually interested in Tony Horton's One-on-One Patience Hummingbird, but I was told Tony gives very little instruction, and my brother NEEDS instruction!

Originally Posted by jhsimpson

I myself don't care for the New Age talk and Sanskrit language. So when I hear instructors ... adding the suffix '-asana' to some Indian word rather than saying Cat / Cow, Down Dog, Cobra, Plank. I lose interest real fast.

So they say catasana, cowasana, etc? JK!

Originally Posted by sheepla

My husband is 44 and has tried and rejected many of my yoga workouts (includig Rodney Yee's AM Yoga for the Week). He doesn't hate Karen Voight's Yoga Focus. That's the best we've done so far.

High praise, indeed!

[PeakFitness]

Originally Posted by missmomus

Hulu.com has all of the Yoga Zone videos up that he can try for free & they're mostly ~20 minute segments. I think they are still some of the best videos for beginners & there's a mix of male & female instructors.

Yeah, Yoga Zone!

Rodney Yee is also usually beginner.

[LAC]

doyogawithme.com offers free streaming yoga videos. Most of the instructors are female, but there is at least one male. You can search by difficulty level, time length and instructor.