Wake Up

Body Flow

Last week I went to a BodyFlow class at Goodlife Fitness.

It is a combination of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates.

It is supposed to build strength and flexibility while leaving you calm and centred.

I really enjoyed this class. 

 I had never done Tai Chi before, but I really enjoyed that part of the work out.

It wasn't overly strenuous, but it did work a lot of balance and flexibility.

The core part of the workout included a lot of pilates moves and my abs were kind of sore the next day!!

I think this is a class that you get out of it what you put in,

there are progressions for almost all the moves, so its great for beginners, and you can challenge yourself as much as you feel comfortable.

I definitely want to go back!

The best part... is Goodlife fitness offers 3 free trail passes so you can check out the gym before you commit.

And if you do decide to get a membership it is only $28/month.

To find a club or a bodyflow class near your go here:

http://www.goodlifefitness.com/ 

5km Training Plan: Week 6

Week 6

Goal: Try to bump up the running time to seven minutes, and walk for one minute. If you want an extra challenge, you could consider running with very light hand weights.

Potential Pitfall: Injuries. Running injuries run the gamut, from “runners knee” (patelo femoral syndrome) to plantar fasciatis, a stretch injury to the plantar ligament that runs under the arch of the foot.

When dealing with injury, experts agree that you should determine whether the injury is something serious or simply a regular ache or pain from running – in many cases, it could be something that rest and ice will take care of. If you don’t know, ask your doctor.

Make sure you are taking time to stretch after your runs

And to prevent runners knee, make sure you strengthen you inner quads with some exercises I wrote about here

Hot Yoga

Bikram Yoga.. also knows as Hot Yoga

Classes usually run for 90 minutes, the room is typically around 105F/40C and 40% humidity.

The room is hot and the work out is intense so your body warms up really fast, and trust me- you sweat.
The purpose of the hot room is to heat up your muscles to help them be more efficient and to increase flexibility.

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For the last few weeks I have been doing on Monday mornings

And I am actually enjoying it.

The work out is hard - if anyone tells you yoga is easy, or its just stretching.. they obviously haven't done it.

Your legs are shaking, you are sweating, your muscles will be sore the next day.

And besides the physical benefits, a lot of people practice yoga for the spiritual benefits. The class I go focuses on self love - and while at first it seems hokey - maybe its not such a bad thing to spend 90 minutes on monday tell yourself that you love yourself and your body.
The meditation period at the end it relaxing, and rejuvenating.

If you are looking for a new type of exercise I would definitely look for a class.

Before you go here are some things to consider:

-Start with a class suitable for beginners - and make sure the instructors know you are new

-It's definitely beneficial to be in a class with an assistant/adjuster who can help you with your poses

 -Despite some reports you wont burn 1000 calories a session - you will burn lots, like any strength class -but not that much
-And any weight that you've lost immediately after a work out is WATER WEIGHT - all you did was sweat -out a bunch of water and now you are dehydrated.

You should be drinking at least 3 cups of water during your work out

and 3 cups for every pound you lost during your workout!

Remember - like with any new work out program you need to check with your doctor first
Especially since the heat - if you have issues with blood pressure, or don't do well in the heat I would consider doing a non-heated class.

Have you ever done yoga, power yoga, or hot yoga? What did you think?

Thinking about exercising?

Are you sitting there thinking "I should exercise"

-I will go to the gym tomorrow

-on monday I am going to start running again

-my New Years resolution will be to go to the gym 3 times a week

-as soon as the holidays are over I will start exercising again

well STOP

stop putting off your exercise and start TODAY

change those thoughts to things like

-Lets got for a walk after dinner

-I am going to the gym today after work

-Im going to hot yoga this morning

-Instead of tv, Im going to run - right now

Yoga for Runners

Two common problems that runners face are short/tight quads and hip flexors and runners knee - when the knee cap doesn't track properly.

Dancer's Pose - this will help stretch quads and hip flexors

Warrior II - this helps knee tracking

click here for descriptions of how to do these do yoga poses.

Runners knee is caused when the muscles on the outside of the quad are stronger or tighter than the ones on the outside. This pulls the kneecap to the outside and is very painful.

To prevent runners knee- the inner quad (VMO) and Hip Adductors need to be strengthened.

Sit in a chair, or lie on the floor- feet planted.  Place your fists side by side between your knees, or use a ball, or rolled up towel and squeeze.  Start by doing 3 sets of 10 reps.

Leg lifts - raise the leg behind and hold for 10 seconds. Then pulse for 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

women are catching up with the men!

Historically, Men have always been a lot more active than women. But that is changing. According to the Life Mark Health "Healthier You" newsletter, activity levels among women in Canada are increasing.


This is great news since Heart Disease is the number one killer of women in North America and the risk can be largely reduced by regular exercise.
Next time you are planning a date with your girl friends why not try to do something active. We need to get all women in Canada moving.
Here are some ideas of what you could do with the girls besides high calorie martinis and restaurant food.
Go for a walk - in the park, by a river, go for a hike (here is a link for Canada Trails - you can find information about hikes in your area, they even have information for Hiking groups)
Bike ride or roller blading - you probably haven't put on your roller blades since 1999 but it could be fun!
Jazzercise - yes it does still exist and it is targeting women stating 'its a fun thing to do with the girls"
Yoga - I know a lot of women who go to yoga, so why not get together with your friends and take a class
Join a recreational team - softball, kickball, volleyball, soccer... there are recreation leagues in almost all cities, you can play co-ed or I'm sure there are all women's leagues.
if there is something active you do with your girlfriends, let us know in the comments!

5 day fit yoga continued

mom and i did another session on the 5 day fit yoga dvd last week... but we don't know which one. it was number 5. the descriptions on the back of the dvd case aren't numbered, and once you put the dvd into the player, the menu only has numbers - no titles. we think it was the stress relief yoga. but it was more frustration than relief because we were not told of the props we needed prior to the exercise beginning. this exercise was lead by suzanne and i felt that her descriptions and reminders were very technical whereas rods were more about feeling the move and your breathing.
i was having a stressful week with exams and i did feel much better after the dvd - sometimes just getting moving is all that helps. focusing on breathing rather than what i have to study is helpful too. it was a relatively short exercises, around 25 minutes so it was perfect for quick pick me up before dinner. aside from the props and the lack of titles i still enjoyed this exercise and think its a good dvd for beginners.

here are moms thoughts on this exercise

we tried unit #5 on the 5 day fit yoga by gaiam dvd - we think it was the stress relief yoga - described as 20 minutes. unwind soothe and relax yourself with the calming workout and revitalize your mind body and spirit. props recommended yoga mat, yoga block yoga strap optional props eye pillow, wedge.

We didn't notice the props recommended or optional until after we started the dvd, and there was no mention of them at the beginning of the program, that we might want to have the strap and wedge available. This little reminder at the beginning would have been helpful, as we were 5 minutes into the dvd when we were instructed to grab the strap..... which wasn't handy at all..... stop dvd, run find strap...and start over again! 1/2 way through the dvd, when Suzanne Deason recommended we grab the wedge....which we don't have, and went on without.
Now the wedge isn't critical to the move if your low back and hips are flexible, but if you are new to yoga, they can make the difference to the both the ease of the posture, and the results. I would recommend having these two props handy.
All in all Suszanne is good at reminding us what is important about each of the postures, and to breath, there were a few postures I was not familiar with, and it did turn out that this program was 24 minutes long.
I think the lesson to be learned, is that it would be good to watch an excercise videos through the first time, so that I have realistic expectations, or just smile go with the flow, and enjoy doing what I can with each new video, and not to be too uptight about getting everything just right, after all it was a stress relief yoga dvd, and we are moving in a healthy way!