If I haven't heard it once I've heard it a 1,000 times "What can I do instead of the yoga?". For far too long I was one of those individuals.
I tried the yoga x workout during my very first week of my first round of P90x. I did a portion of the workout and thought to myself, "I'm going to get ripped without the yoga." I didn't see what was so important about it. For my first few rounds of P90x I substituted the yoga day with some sort of cardio. Looking back this was definitely one of the biggest mistakes I made.
After a few rounds of P90x I decided to give yoga a chance. I went into it with the mentality that it was good for my overall fitness and to give it a fair shot. I kept with it and over time it has become one of my favorite workouts.
The Challenge of Yoga
Yoga is a far more challenging workout than most people realize. Don't think it's an off day you'll know when you're done that you've done something! Yoga helps strengthen your core, improve your flexibility, ease your mind, and also gives you a true test of how physically fit you are. Tony Horton himself has said that if he was allowed to do only one style workout for the rest of his life it would be yoga. Fitness experts throughout overwhelmingly agree that a yoga style workout is essential to overall fitness.
So you're the guy wanting to massively bulk up with sheets of lean muscle mass? You're not excluded stretching is crucial to successively adding lean muscle mass. A lot of muscle building experts will tell you to stretch at least half the time that you spend resistance training on a weekly basis. For example, if you spend 3 hours lifting weights every week then you need to be spending at least 1 1/2 hours every week stretching. A good yoga routine is a great way to fill that gap.
My Commitment to Yoga
I'm currently on my 7th round of P90x. How important do I think yoga is? As you may know, the 7th day in a P90x weekly routine is the rest or stretch day. I've began doing yoga again on that day. So I'm currently doing yoga twice a week (the regularly scheduled 4th day and the 7th day as just mentioned). As I've gone through my 7 rounds of P90x there is several accomplishments I am very proud of. The vast improvements I've made in becoming better at yoga is one of the top accomplishments I'm most proud of.
So there is my take on the importance of yoga. I can't stress enough to give it a fair chance. Staying committed to yoga will be extremely beneficial to your overall fitness.