Men who crave the benefits of . yoga but recoil at sharing the experience with a room full of . women are turning to Broga , a rugged take on the 3,000-year-old . practice of movement and breath . Broga celebrates the physical over the spiritual , and . strength over flexibility . Experts say it sets men free to flex . tight hamstrings without hearing invocations to Hindu deities or . feeling inept next to a woman twisted like a pretzel . Scroll down for video . Yoga for men : From downward dog to warrior pose , Broga is becoming increasingly popular thanks to its ‘ rugged ’ approach to traditional yoga workouts . Making a point : Traditionally seen as an exercise regime for women , yoga is changing and now has a more universal appeal . ' I consider myself an athletic guy , but have never been . flexible and did n't like the thought of embarrassing myself in . front of a group of women , ' said financial analyst and Broga enthusiast Eric Wright , . 22 , from San Jose , California . Founder : Robert Sidoti ( pictured ) is the creator and co-Founder of Broga . Eric and his male colleagues use the video streaming . service Grokker , which is aimed at broadcasting fitness , food and yoga classes directly to your home or office , to partake in their weekly yoga sessions . 'On Wednesdays we have a standing Broga appointment and . anywhere from five to eight others will join me , ' he said . Grokker founder and CEO Lorna Borenstein said more men . are adding yoga to their exercise routines as a cross-training . tool for flexibility and improving recovery time . Even if they spend most of their time focusing on more high intensity gym training , men are now using yoga as a useful warm-up method . 'Men are a little late to the party , ' she said . 'But we 're . seeing more men in the workplace who find time to do yoga . together a few times a week . ' Yoga instructor Robert Sidoti , based in Martha 's Vineyard , . Massachusetts , is the creator and co-founder of the trademarked . Broga Yoga , which so far has trained some 200 Broga instructors . in at least 22 states . Sidoti taught his first Broga class in 2009 . Proof : More gyms are holding classes focused at enabling men to practice the gentle work-out as it becomes more and more fashionable . Workout : Every athlete needs to incorporate elements of stretching and lengthening into their programme , says Broga 's founder . Popular : More gyms are devoting resources and dedicated studio space to Broga programs . ' A lot of guys were saying ' I ca n't touch my knees , let alone my toes . I would never go to a mostly women class and do things I 'm no good at , ' said Sidoti , whose sequences are designed with men 's bodies in mind . 'We rarely go into poses that require deep forward bending , . twisting and binding , ' he said , adding that a High Intensity Interval . Training ( HIIT ) sequence is included in his standard workout . Broga talk is also anatomically driven , rather than focusing on the mind and the soul like many traditional yoga classes do . 'It 's not so much about feeling your heart center as feeling . the stretch across your chest , ' Sidoti explained . Flexible : Experts say that Broga can help athletes recover from injuries and boost their range of motion . Strength training : Fitness experts say that certain sequences and asanas are great for warm-ups and cool downs before training . Beneficial : Experts say that Broga helps with increased mobility and , as a result , helps men lift heavier weights and boost their work-outs . Jessica Matthews , senior adviser for health and fitness . education at the American Council on Exercise , said most men . tend to view yoga as a workout rather than a spiritual practice . 'They celebrate the physical , ' said Matthews , who is also a. yoga teacher . Wright said Broga has improved his hamstring flexibility . 'Four months ago I could n't touch my toes and today I can . almost reach my palms to the ground , ' he said .
Broga Yoga targets its classes specifically at men with more ‘ rugged ’ workout . The yoga studio is located in a small town called Broga, about an hour and half drive from the city of Zagreb, Croatia. The training and licensing of instructors began in 2012 . There are now more than 200 Broga Yoga instructors in the U.S. Crunch , David Barton Gyms and Equinox are among the facilities offering yoga towards for men .