Man Flow Yoga Review

Yoga for men. Why isn’t this mainstream yet?

It’s good that you’re researching yoga workouts because whatever you choose requires significant time and energy. And you deserve results.

As I have learned from years of testing, not all workout programs are created equal. That’s why I always measure before and after results, evaluate progress, and decide if it’s worth my time.

As an engineer, I did what I do best and ran a 6-week experiment. This extremely in-depth Man Flow Yoga review is a summary of my results and experience.

Here’s a sneak peek: not only did I see mobility improvements of 70%, my strength improved a wild 101%. Only with yoga!

man flow yoga review and results

I have been practicing yoga since 2010 with my mom and sister who are yoga instructors. Alex and I also created our own couples yoga workout program.

Well, guess what? I’m still “bad” at yoga.

Quite frankly, my shoulder and hip mobility are horrible. My hamstrings are like steel cables. Most days, I wake up with back pain. And 1-2 times per year I make a wrong move that causes crippling back pain for a week.

Maybe I am not bad at yoga. Instead, could it be possible that I am just a typical guy? Because that’s the perfect audience for Man Flow Yoga.

Why I signed up for Man Flow Yoga TV

My motivation to try Man Flow Yoga was my active 8-month-old daughter.

Carrying her around, changing diapers on the floor, sitting in the bathtub with her, and carrying her in the front pack always resulted in back tension and usually pain.

There were days when I would have to muster up courage before leaning over to lift her out of the crib. “You can do it. You can do it. Engage your core. Please don’t throw out your back,” I’d think to myself.

It was Fall 2022, and I knew that during the holiday season all of the flying, driving, constantly sleeping in different beds while visiting family, and being more sedentary in general was going make my bad back even worse.

My story began on December 8th, when I signed up for Man Flow Yoga and committed to the Beginner’s Fundamentals Program.

Then, I geeked out and designed my yoga experiment.

I graphed my improvements by taking before and after strength and mobility measurements. Each day, I rated my back pain during specific activities and kept a journal.

My goal and expectations were high because I needed a fix, or else I could see my back pain going down a bad trajectory. So, did Man Flow Yoga help?

Before we dive deep into my results from and review of Man Flow Yoga TV, here’s the story behind the company.

What Is Man Flow Yoga?

Man Flow Yoga is, according to their website,

“Workouts & Programs to build strength and flexibility, specifically designed for inflexible men new to yoga.” 

The yoga workouts and community were created by Dean Pohlman, an athlete who accidentally attended a bikram yoga class in 2012.

Halfway through the class, he was exhausted, too proud to leave, and working muscles he didn’t know he had. He drove home inspired.

Over the next few months, yoga improved all areas of his physical fitness, from:

• Strength
• Mobility
• Flexibility
• Balance
• Posture
• Muscle mass
• Breathing

At the same time, his recovery time and muscle soreness decreased after his lacrosse practices. He wanted his whole lacrosse team to experience the boost he had from yoga workouts.

When the coach was too cheap to hire an instructor, Dean’s career as a yogi began.

Now, more than 10 years later, Dean is an authority on yoga for men. His Man Flow Yoga workouts are used by professional athletes and recommended by physical therapists, doctors, chiropractors, and other medical professionals globally.

He is also a published author of the book, “Yoga Fitness for Men: The Ultimate Guide to Strength, Flexibility and Balance” which has sold 35,000 copies.

To extend his reach beyond his yoga studio, he created the Man Flow Yoga Members’ Area and App for his on-demand workout platform. It’s designed for men who are intimidated by classes full of bendy women and want a more accessible, masculine, and fitness-based approach to yoga.

According to Man Flow Yoga reviews (mine included), it’s the best yoga app for men.

Is it just for men?

From a marketing perspective, Dean is brilliant for designing and promoting this program to men. However, in my opinion, it’s not just for men.

For super bendy and mobile women, it’s going to be less challenging, but it’s for anyone who wants to eliminate inactivity induced discomfort, improve strength and mobility, and multiply athletic performance.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into what is included, what sets Man Flow Yoga apart from other online yoga programs I’ve taken, and what it’s like to become a member.

But first, I’ll share the results of my experiment. Here is what can happen after six weeks of working out with Dean (and his dogs).

My Man Flow Yoga Results

This time of year is especially hectic (and back-breaking). During the experiment, I slept in 7 different beds, spent 40 hours in airports or flying, and drove 1000-plus miles over the holidays.

I had to do yoga at my gate twice just to stay on track.

Per the program, I did five yoga routines weekly. Each day, I completed my scheduled workout, filled out the journal provided in the app, and rated my back pain during the day.

Right away, I appreciated that the Man Flow Yoga app was user-friendly and not glitchy. Downloading workouts for offline use was really easy. Additionally, the calendar helped me stay accountable and I enjoyed journaling in the app after the workout. 10/10.

Before & After Measurement Methods

For three weeks before the experiment started, I was active but I didn’t lift weights, run, or do any form of exercise. I didn’t want anything to interfere with my yoga data.

On Day 1, Alex helped me take my “before” measurements. Consistently measuring strength improvements is relatively simple, however, considerable thought went into how to accurately measure mobility improvements.

I am very satisfied with my measurement methods and confident that the data is accurate. I share the details and photos of how these measurements were taken in the downloadable Ultimate Fitness Tracker PDF (available for download below).

After three weeks, I waited until Day 22 to take my “after” measurements. It ended up being 28 hours since my last yoga workout, so my post-yoga bendiness didn’t skew the data.

I did the same at six weeks and took my measurements a day later.

My Before and After Results

During the experiment, it was clear that my strength and flexibility were improving. The routines were still a challenge, but I could tell that I had less tension, more mobility, and I was shaking and cramping less frequently.

Also, since I was journaling my back pain daily, I knew that Man Flow Yoga was helping me achieve my #1 goal of eliminating back pain.

Still, when I started charting the data I was shocked by the huge improvements. Let’s begin with my strength results.

Strength results after 3 weeks and 6 weeks

The following exercises were selected to measure strength improvements because they target my weak areas.

I measured strength improvement in repetitions to failure using the following exercises:

• Upper Back: Bent over rows
• Lower Body: Squats
• Ab Strength: Crunches
• Lower Back: Back extensions

Note: Even though strength increases are relatively easy to measure, several controls were put in place for each exercise to ensure consistency. Again, I share my measurement process in our Ultimate Fitness Tracker PDF available for download below. 

Below are my before and after measurements. As you can see, my upper back and lower body strength increased drastically.

It’s nice to graph my reps steadily increasing, but it’s also helpful to see the increase as a percentage.

On average, my strength improved 54% after 3 weeks and 101% after 6 weeks.

My lower body strength increased 136%, upper back 147%, ab or core strength 69%, and lower back 53%. Wow.

Why didn’t I take before and after photos? Man, am I kicking myself for not doing that. I do that all the time with my workouts but never for yoga. That’s just for flexibility, right?

According to my Man Flow Yoga data, wrong!

My mobility results after 3 weeks and 6 weeks

Again, I chose these mobility and flexibility exercises because they target my weaknesses.

Myself and many of my relatives have horrible shoulder range of motion, hip tightness and pain, and steel cable hamstrings. Not to mention stiff and achey backs.

Measuring my mobility improvements was more difficult than strength but I am confident that I developed a replicable system. If you would like to recreate these measurements, I’ll share these details in the downloadable PDF (coming soon).

The following Man Flow Yoga mobility measurements were taken with a tape measure in inches. In most cases, I was using gravity and measuring the distance between my hands and the floor.

• Hamstring Flexibility: Forward fold (bent knees and flat back)
• Hip Mobility: Deer pose
• Hip Flexor Flexibility: Low lunge
• Shoulder Mobility: Supine arms overhead
• Spinal Mobility: Supine spinal twist

The chart below shows my significant improvements. Fewer inches mean I’ve increased my flexibility.

I don’t know about you, but these are the gains that I am most excited about.

Sure, big biceps are great, but restoring mobility in my 34-year-old body that’s been beaten down by activity (lacrosse, soccer, running, HIIT, weight lifting) and inactivity (desk work, commuting, nerd neck) is life changing!

Here is a chart showing the percent improvement in my mobility.

On average, my mobility improved 44% after 3 weeks and 70% after 6 weeks.

My take on these mobility results

During one of the workouts, Dean was talking about loosening up the back and he said something that struck a chord with me.

 “We’re doing this primarily by focusing on strength. A lot of discomfort or a lot of pain is actually not caused by muscle tightness, it’s caused my muscle weakness.” – Dean Pohlman

To me, this was groundbreaking. I am always stretching and rolling and stretching again in attempt to improve my mobility. But, it was the strength-based portion of Man Flow Yoga that I needed.

These are the kind of improvements I have been dreaming of. These results have made me a Man Flow Yoga lifer. What’s exciting is that this experiment only included 15 workouts of the 350+ in the Man Flow Yoga Member’s Area.

The last part of my experiment, although less scientific, was very important to me. If I could eliminate my back pain (my #1 goal and motivation to start), I would be a new man!

My back pain improvement after 3 weeks and 6 weeks

During each day of the experiment (excluding rest days), I rated my back pain on a 0-5 scale with 0 being perfect and 5 being constant aching and extremely tense. For reference, a 10 would be the crippling back pain I experience once or twice a year.

I rated my pain three times daily during these activities:

Back pain upon waking:

My back is really sensitive. I was born with diastasis recti so I blame my weak core. Alex calls me “the prince and the pea” because 98% of mattresses result in morning back pain. I usually sleep with 2 pillows under my knees to alleviate the pain.

Back stiffness due to baby care:

There are several baby-related activities, most of which involve me sitting on the ground, that result in stiffness. For example, changing diapers, taking baths, playing, moving the baby in and out of the crib, etc.

Lumbar ache in bedtime cobra:

I have 2-3 bulging discs in my lumbar spine depending on which MRI results you look at. When they flare up, it knocks me out for a week. Therefore, I am always monitoring them. Each night, I stretch my back in a cobra pose to see how much my lower back aches and stiffens up.

While my back pain rating system isn’t so scientific, these activities are pretty specific. I feel like this rating system worked well and the below graph tells an accurate story about how my back pain improved during the Man Flow Yoga experiment.

The trend is excellent and by Day 13, my mind was officially blown. I felt amazing.

And remember, this was all during the holidays, meaning there was lots of driving, flying, carrying 50-pound suitcases, and sleeping on seven different mattresses.

The final test: a soccer game after 6 weeks of yoga only

By the end of the 6-week Man Flow Yoga test, I was feeling great. But, I hadn’t done any cardio for over two months and I hadn’t played soccer in over 2 years. I was excited to test out my new body on the field, but concerned about my lungs.

This was going to be a great test because…

In the last decade, 8 of the 10 soccer games I played in resulted in physical injury and mental devastation. It was routine for Alex to look up when I got home from a game and ask me, “So how did you hurt yourself today?”

I always told myself, “My problem with soccer is that my competitive mind hasn’t aged a day and my body is just too old to keep up.”

Dean helped me crush that mindset.

My post-Man Flow Yoga soccer game was a major success. The first game we had no subs so I played hard the full hour. Then, I was still feeling strong so I played a second game. Two full hours of soccer on a turf field is pretty brutal on the body.

I was thrilled that not only did I make three goals, I had zero pain and incredible cardio endurance. I was sore as hell the next day and my feet and legs were covered in blisters and turf burn, but my body was solid. No aching back, tender Achilles, pulled quad, hamstring tendonitis, nothing.

Huge success (and borderline miracle).

Conclusions

To me, there are three main conclusions I can draw after 6-weeks of Man Flow Yoga’s Beginner’s Fundamental Program.

1. The strength improvements were excellent.

Why? I believe it’s because Dean has you holding poses for a long time while giving wildly detailed instruction on what muscles to engage, when, and how.

Not only does Man Flow Yoga increase overall strength, it corrects imbalances that cause aches and pains.

2. The mobility improvements are game-changing.

Being fluid, mobile, and pain-free improves confidence and makes everything in life more enjoyable. Now I am better at my hobbies — running, soccer, backpacking, archery — and I’m not always hurting or at risk of injuring myself.

My ability to perform well and play soccer for two hours is real-life evidence that my strength and mobility drastically improved.

3. The reduced back pain is life-changing.

After 13 Man Flow Yoga workouts, I couldn’t believe how happy I was all day when I scored a 0 for back pain. Chronic back pain really puts a damper on life.

Based on these three results, I will DEFINITELY continue following Man Flow Yoga programs for at least the next decade. It’s the best yoga app for men by a long shot.

I feel like Dean designed the entire yoga platform specifically for me. If you’re a guy or girl who struggles with mobility and back pain, Man Flow Yoga is for you.

My Review of the man flow yoga Platform and App

Now that you’ve seen my results and heard my conclusions, you know that my Man Flow Yoga review is a positive one.

In this section, I will share my experience as a Man Flow Yoga Member, what is included, and the Man Flow Yoga cost.

Why Man Flow Yoga?

I’ve tried dozens of yoga instructors and online workout apps in the last several years, but my back pain and poor mobility persist.

Dean Pohlman’s approach to yoga intrigued me for several reasons. Based on my experience, this is what sets Man Flow Yoga apart from all the other online yoga programs out there.

This is why Dean’s Man Flow Yoga is the best yoga app for men.

It’s for males or inflexible beginners

I’ve always gravitated toward male instructors, but I’d never completed a program designed specifically for men. Man Flow Yoga is like nothing I have ever seen.

Dean doesn’t just select moves that are helpful for men or show you how to modify them to make a pose more man-friendly. Instead, he elevates yoga for men.

He uses his experience working with men to create an innovative yoga practice that includes helpful strength and mobility exercises that aren’t even yoga poses. It feels like a cross between a yoga class, an isometric workout, and a physical therapy session.

In addition to designing workouts that are perfect for inflexible men and beginner yogis, he demonstrates and describes with incredible clarity how you should do each pose.

The instruction is incredible

If I conducted my experiment with Dean’s instructions muted, my results would have been minimal. His instruction is invaluable, which is saying something since I’ve been practicing yoga for over a decade.

He says all the right things in the right order of importance to help you get the most out of every pose. His instruction includes what you should and should not feel, where you should and should not engage muscles, and how to advance in the pose or how to back off.

All while sharing reminders to breathe through your nose, relax your neck, and maintain proper posture.

Also, he tells you when you’re doing something difficult that may require more time to develop muscle awareness, strength, or mobility to complete. To me, this insight was motivating and empowering.

For example, here is the instruction Man Flow Yoga provides for bridge pose:

• Heels under knees
• Squeeze a block between thighs
• Drive pelvis up by flexing your butt
• Keep weight in the full foot
• Engage core and keep back straight
• Flex hamstrings and pull your shoulders toward knees (like the mat ripped and you’re trying to pull it back together)
• Head down, relax neck and breathe through your nose
• Hold and feel for fatigue in your glutes, hamstrings, thighs, and lower back muscles that run along spine
• Put your arms up to advance the pose
• Point your pelvis towards your face
• Increase glute burn by alternately lifting one heel off the ground

Do all that for 30-45 seconds while taking deep breaths through your nose.

It’s focused on physical fitness

I respect the spiritual and mental benefits of yoga, but it’s the physical benefits that keep me coming back. As you can tell from my results, the focus on strength, mobility, and physical fitness pays off.

Man Flow Yoga also focuses on breathing deeply and through your nose. This is essential because it tells your body “Everything is okay… just relax and get the most out of this pose.”

This focus on breathing will improve your endurance. I noticed a big difference while playing soccer.

It delivers results (not just for me)

You saw my results, but what do other reviewers think? The Trustpilot reviews and Reddit reviews for Man Flow Yoga are incredible. I knew about Man Flow Yoga for 2-3 years before I decided to commit.

These rave reviews kept building up and finally, the program’s reputation was too strong to pass up.

I had my yogi-certified mom (500 hours) and sister (500 hours) join a couple of his workouts and both were highly impressed with the detailed queues for seemingly simple poses such as plank, bridge, sphinx, and deer pose.

While they were sad that the workouts didn’t end with Shavasana, they approved, wanted to do more, and were happy to know of a program they could recommend to guys.

You don’t earn this score on Trustpilot without a great product and customer experience.

It’s actually MUCH MORE than just yoga

Every online fitness or diet product in existence makes a promise like this:

“We’re more than just a workout. We’re a community, your accountability partner, and the motivation squad to help you improve every area of your life!!”

Eye roll. Personally, I only care about the core product and I expect everything else to be just fluff.

Surprisingly, the Man Flow Yoga community is strong and incredibly useful. It’s been several months and I am still subscribed to Dean’s mailing list. Most of the emails he sends are quite useful, such as recommending future programs to bulletproof my knees or sharing a link to his most popular Better Man podcast (which I listened to).

Also included in the members area is content about nutrition, weight lifting, healthy living, etc. It’s mainly tailored for men.

Here is what’s most impressive: within the members area there are hundreds of workouts. Below each workout is a comments section which is loaded with comments and questions and very thoughtful replies from Dean himself. That’s dedication!

This particular workout has 78 comments, all with thoughtful responses from “The Real Dean.”

What is included?

What is included in the Man Flow Yoga Members’ Area and App? What do you get for tools and support? What type of content is included? Is there a Man Flow Yoga trial?

Let’s dive in.

Web and mobile app

The Man Flow Yoga Members’ Area is both web and app-based. I typically did the workouts on my laptop with the web-based app and then tracked my progress and journaled about each workout in the mobile app.

Welcome videos

Each program comes with a welcome video. In the Beginner’s Fundamentals video, Dean encourages consistency and following the program calendar. He tells you to decide where and when you will be doing the workouts.

Lastly, he recommends Man Flow Yoga accountability emails for that program which you can sign up for in the “About” tab. This is all excellent advice, and he provides the tools you need.

Additionally, each program has a wrap-up video. I was curious about what programs I would do next and the wrap-up video gave me the advice I needed. So, my next workout program will be The Breath Series 28-Day Challenge.

Tools and tech worth mentioning

In addition to the accountability emails, I thought the calendar and journaling tools kept me most accountable. After each workout (or before) you can mark it as complete (or schedule one for the next day) and you can view a weekly or monthly calendar of your progress.

Personally, these were the tools I used most but there are even more, like marking your favorite programs.

You can also easily download workouts and full programs for offline use, which worked flawlessly for me.

The search functionality is impressively thorough. You can type in “sciatica” or “knee pain” to find several workouts that target those.

The Man Flow Yoga programs are available via any browser, on iOS, Android, AppleTV, Roku, and FireTV.

Additionally, you can add a workout to your calendar. I didn’t use this but I can see it would be very helpful for groups who are trying to do the workouts together virtually or individuals who need added accountability.

Lastly, the comments section is available on the browser and mobile app (not on the TV). You can use this to ask questions, make friends, or become more motivated.

When I had questions about a workout, I usually found the answer in the comments section. Here, I learned that cramping (something I experienced a lot in the first week) is normal.

Content you can access

There are 350+ workouts and 35+ programs in the members’ area and this number is growing monthly. The content in the Man Flow Yoga members’ area is in three categories.

First, there are programs or playlists of workouts. In my experience, the programs are what you need to focus on. This is why picking and choosing workouts off of Youtube won’t get you great results. You need a full plan created by an expert.

I did the Beginner’s Fundamentals Program, but there is also an Absolute Beginners program. The next step in my Man Flow Yoga journey will be The Breath Series 28-Day Challenge.

Second, there are individual workouts to choose from in various styles of yoga. These include workouts for Hatha (for strength and flexibility), power or flow (breath with movement), and yin yoga for recovery and stress relief.

Lastly, there is educational content, covering tips on diet and nutrition, tutorials on technique, and wellness advice on training strategies, motivation, and consistency.

Is Man Flow Yoga worth it?

Absolutely, there is no question about it. In addition to all the benefits I’ve already mentioned, Man Flow Yoga TV offers the flexibility and freedom to workout anywhere and anytime. If you have a busy schedule, that’s critical.

Even if you love going to the studio, I think it’s essential to have an at-home yoga practice.

So what about the pros and cons list?

In my experience, the list of pros is pages long. Even the tech and app functionality were perfect. Most fitness apps (including BODi which is backed by a $1 billion business) are glitchy and sometimes completely down.

I can only think of a couple of cons.

First, for geeks like myself, it would be nice if you could export your workouts and journal entries from the app. That would make it easier to track progress.

Second, I feel like Dean offers too much free content on YouTube. Sure, for dabblers, this is a good thing. There are lots of programs to test drive before you buy.

However, for people who want to commit and follow a proven plan, they’re a distraction.

I can guarantee you the people in the paid Man Flow Yoga Member’s Area (like me) get results far greater than the people only subscribing to Dean’s YouTube channel.

Remember, when it comes to coaching, you get what you pay for.

How much does Man Flow Yoga cost?

How much are you going to pay? There are three membership plans for Man Flow Yoga.

You can pay annually or monthly, plus the option for a 7-day Man Flow Yoga trial, but you pay for it. Here are the options:

• Pay annually and skip the trial – $180/year (50% savings, $14.99/month)
• Pay annually with a 7-day trial – $220/year (38% savings, $18.33/month)
• Pay monthly with a 7-day trial – $360/year or $29.97/month

At this point in our Man Flow Yoga review, you should have all the information you need to skip the trial, commit, and see crazy results in 6-weeks.

Frankly, the Man Flow Yoga TV trial is too short and you lose out on a lot of savings. Plus, there is a 30-day, 100% satisfaction money-back guarantee.

Click here to sign up for Man Flow Yoga TV

When you use the above link or discount code, we’ll get a commission for your order (at no extra cost to you). I greatly appreciate this since I’ve put well over 100 hours into this experiment and review.

Over time, I’ll work to keep this article up to date and if you have any questions, please share them in the comments section. I’ll do my best to be like Dean and respond to every one quickly.

One last money-saving tip: find a friend to start with you. Once you sign up, you’ll have the opportunity to refer a friend for a free month of Man Flow Yoga TV.

Closing Thoughts on ManFlowYoga.TV

Even before writing this review, I have several family members and friends following the programs.

I hope you start and achieve incredible results. When you do, let us know in the comments how Man Flow Yoga has improved your life.

For more helpful resources, such as our Bodyweight Workout Plan or the 75 Hard Printable Checklist, head over to our Work Out At Home page.