BECKLEY -- Warming up before a workout and cooling down when you are finished are important parts of any fitness program according to the Fitness Director at the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA. Tom Hamilton says some yoga training will benefit those who are signed up for the new YBFit Program at the YMCA. . Hamilton is the instructor for the yoga classes that are offered by the largest Y in southern West Virginia and he adds that yoga can benefit people off all ages and fitness levels. Hamilton says yoga is easily incorporated into any well-rounded exercise program. He says it can help your wellness no matter what diet you follow or what gene pool you come from. Yoga is beneficial to any regiment that includes resistance training and cardio workouts. "All of these are tiers. You should not isolate one thing to the expense of the other thing and anyone can do yoga." said Hamilton.

Hamilton says he has heard about some misconceptions about yoga, including the notion that it is some form of far eastern mysticism. Some people believe yoga is a kind of Asian voodoo. Hamilton says nothing could be further from the truth as he sees it. "There are so many values from it. It is not a religion. If it allows you better contract with your conception of God, so much the better. There are a lot of Christians that do yoga." Hamilton said.

Yoga is not a form of rigorous flexibility training or advanced stretching, according to Hamilton yoga works better than the conventional muscle-stretching techniques taught in gym classes in the 20th century. "Maybe we learned to stretch... by really going to our limit and really pulling hard and thinking we were doing ourselves a favor. said Hamilton, who went on to say of typical stretching, "...We were tearing up some joints and some muscles and causing a lot of stress and strain that yoga will tend to relieve." said Hamilton.

Hamilton adds that in addition to relieving some pains and strains, yoga has helped him when he competes in Iron Man Triathlons. " When I used to stretch before running, I was injured every single time, but with my yoga, I'm rarely, if ever, injured." Hamilton said. Yoga can be really important to maintaining overall flexibility as we age according to Hamilton. Yoga classes are offered several time a week at the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA.