Last Updated on July 28, 2018
Today, many people are becoming more aware of the benefits of yoga. Yet, a regular macho guy who not want to be caught in a yoga class- they would consider it such a “un-man” thing to do.
And yet, guys are the ones who have the most problem with their lower back. They usually suffer a lot of lower back pain- even those who exercise regularly are not spared. Weightlifters, runners, those who spend long time sitting or driving and of course, the physically inactive ones. The problem is compounded when one develops a beer belly which puts more pressure to the lower back.
Still, the guys would rather suffer in silence and douse in painkillers that attend yoga classes. I got some friends who are exercise freaks but would stay away from any classes that even vaguely resembles yoga. Of course some would like to try but do not want to be stimagtized.
Another group would be the those who lead busy and stressful lifestyle (typical city folks in the rat race) who only have that much ‘allocated’ time for exercise. So they would rather go all out in Body Pump or Body Attack- than to do yoga. They figured that it burns much more calories. Yoga is too slllloooowwww for their fast moving life.
That’s why, when I saw the book Yoga for Regular Guys, I find that this book could potentially change the mindset of many yoga skeptics out there. This book is written by Diamond Dallas Page, who used to be a three time world champion wrestler. A book written by a macho guy- for the macho skeptics out there….. with macho language, models who consists of the following group: Harley Davidson guys, truck driver, army, and the couch potato- and to make it interesting, he had pictures of ‘yoga babes’, one of it being his wife.
The author had ruptured his L4 and L5 disk in 1998- which causes him to lose his flexibility at his lower back. He had always scorned yoga- but one day, as he lied down in bed totally in agony due to the pain, he was persuaded by his wife to try yoga. Since he had nothing to lose, he gave it a try. His wife had to actually sign a confidentiality agreement before he took up yoga.
The exercise helped his back injuries tremedously- as his body become more flexible and supple, his movements were more fluid and his quality of life improved. Thus, he became a true believer.
Above is an example of the page. The book is written with lots of humor- so you would not get bored reading it and would be tempted to try to exercise. Perhaps many people would be able to relate a guy who was out of shape- and looked so comfortable doing the exercises. Mr Page also addressed the fact that no doubt yoga has its origins in spiritual and mind purification, he did not want his book to have that theme because he knew a lot of the guys out there are not comfortable with this concept. He just emphasize on the poses and the benefit of each pose. Nothing religious. The poses in the book are also genuine poses that you would find in most yoga books.
The approach in writing this book is really creative- with all the rough language, eye-candy and your regular beer bellied guy- suddenly would make a guy think- ‘geez, I’ve been having muscle stiffness and lower back pains too. If a world champion wrestler recommends this, I guess I should give it a try. If they guys were to laugh at me, I’ll show them the book.”
