Any of You Devoted Cathe Fans Do Yoga?

S

Soosan

Cathlete
If so, in what capacity? Do you add short segments to your strength or cardio workouts? Do you incorporate lengthier yoga videos into your rotations? Do you occasionally do just yoga rotations?

I find myself adding more and more yoga to my training. At 41, I can't believe how much my flexibility has improved. I am also finding my body craving the feeling I get after a yoga session. There's nothing that relaxes my body more after a tough strength or cardio workout.

I recently obtained a 1992 yoga tape by Yoga Journal called "Yoga for Flexibility" with Patricia Walden. My flexibility has improved by leaps and bounds after doing the forward bending segment of this tape 3x/wk for the past 3 wks. I highly recommend it!

For anyone interested in incorporating more yoga into their training, here's my current rotation, which I love. (Some days, the workouts take close to 90 minutes, but the Walden tape has been so effective, I find myself gladly adding it on.)

SUN: PLB Up + Power Yoga (David Swenson's Short Forms, 30 min segment)
MON: PUB Up + P. Walden's Yoga for Flexibility (30 min segment)
TUE: Imax2 + Yoga for Flexibility (30 min)
WED: ME + B. Baptiste's Power & Precision Yoga (15 min segment)
THU: Off
FRI: BC + Yoga for Flexibility (30 min)
SAT: Power Yoga (usually B. Kest or D. Swenson) + 1/2 Imax2
 
Hi Susan! I have most of the Yoga Journal tapes they've put out, and I love them! I've practiced yoga for about ten years. I admit I'm not as diligent with it as I could be, but I also find it relaxes and calms me like nothing else can. As for how often I practice, it varies from once a week to three times a week, depending on the kind of week I'm having, and how much time I have. Sometimes I'll simply incorporate asanas into my stretch routine at the end of a Cathe workout, and sometimes I pop in a tape and do all or part of it. As I said, I don't pay as much attention to my practice as I should, but it definitely makes a difference when I do! Great question, by the way!!

Carol
:)
 
Hi Susan! Yes I most certainly do incorporate yoga into my routine weekly. I only have time 1x a week; I generally either reach for Karen Voight's Yoga Focus which has 2 workouts yoga for strength & then yoga stretch. This tape is 60 min. or I do Rodney Yee's Yoga for Intermediates which lasts 70 min. I tried Kest & Baptiste & unfortunately did not like these 2 instructors. I also do Ali McGraw's tape for 60 min. BTW your rotation looks really good. Kathy
 
Yes, I love the way yoga stretches out my upper and lower body. I like Swenson's Short Forms, Baron Baptiste, and I also love Rodney Yee's Yoga Conditioning for Athletes, Yoga for Energy, and his Power Yoga for Beginners. (Ali MacGraw's tape is great too.) I don't really use yoga to build upper body strength (I'd rather lift weights), but I do use it to stretch out my body and help me relax. It has helped me increase my flexibility, and has greatly reduced soreness from running long distances.
Laura
 
Hi there! I love Yoga. I teach yoga as well as other group exercise classes. In fact, I'm teaching a half cardio/half yoga class this Fall. Sometimes I do only yoga on days when my energy is low or even on my rest days. Other times I add it on to my regular workouts. It's amazing what yoga does for core and balance.
 
Susan --

I do this tape too and love it. As an ectomorph, I'm already less flexible than average. After years of cardio/strength training and NO Stretching, I was alarmed how stiff I felt. I started this tape about 6 months ago and last week (the day before my 46th birthday) I was able to do the Upward Bow. Surprised the heck out of me! I this tape about 2x a week (Backwards bends one night and Forward bends the next time).

Yoga surprises me because I feel very energized while practicing but 20 minutes later I can barely keep my eyes open!

Juli
 
I have a lot of the Yoga Zone 20 minute DVDs and I add one of those on frequently to my workout. My typical workout is a split weights, then a short cardio (30 min) then the yoga. Takes about 90 min, sometimes more or less. I am pretty much wall-to-wall Cathe except for the yoga. She really teased us about a year ago and said she was thinking of doing a YogaMax tape -- got us all excited I should say. She decided not to do it, which is cool, but I sure wish she had. Everything she does is so fantastic!
Meredith
Oh, I have to second what everyone else said - I love how yoga makes me feel, emotionally and physically. What a surprize, I thought it was a workout for people too lazy to do a "real" one. Ha, joke was really on me!
 
On Doctor's orders I added Pilates to my workouts everyday starting early in September. In my search for videos, I found Karen Voight's Core Essentials. I loaned it out, but missed it so much I got it on the DVD. There was where I found her Yoga and Sculpting Workout. Her smooth voice is so relaxing and easy to follow instructions. I was amazed at me being able to to the Warrior and then the Teaser at the end.

I feel much calmer after doing these moves. I'm also feeling more flexable which carries over into my other workouts. Some have said that Yoga is what helped them define their muscles.
Now I wonder how I survived this far without these videos? :p

I'll have to check into the videos that you girls have mentioned in the above posts.
And I agree with you, Cathe would make one awesome Yoga workout. Look how she has incorporated some tough Pilates and some Yoga moves in the workouts thus far.
 
Can you imagine how well-chaptered a Cathe yoga workout would be? I would love a video where I could easily program just the poses I wanted. You can kind of do this on the Body Wisdom DVDs, but not very easily.
 
I do yoga at the end of all my workouts, i use the Ali MacGraw tape (the most beautiful tape i've ever seen). I only do 15 minute of it, the standing flow series and tree pose. I love it and have done that same routine for the past 8 years!!! You feel totally relaxed, at peace and so stretched out cause you're so warm from the previous cathe workout.
 
I started incorporating yoga into my workouts about a year ago and the difference in my endurance is unbelievable! I try to do an hour yoga vid two or three times a week. If I go for a couple of weeks without doing any yoga, I notice a huge difference in my regular workouts.:+
Sherry
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http://www.picturetrail.com/Peanut7
 
Yes and I wouldn't like to do without it! I quite often skip strength and do yoga instead and haven't lost any strength, in fact I found to my astonishment that I've actually gained strength in my back since I started doing Bryan Kest's Spinal Strengthening and Long, Slow & Deep. I usually do back work with very light weights or no weights at all because I find it hard to lift much when working my back without aggravating it. I've really slacked off my strength recently in favour of yoga then got sick and thought I'd start out with Slow & Heavy, Chest and Back. Now I know this won't impress most of you but I found my 2lb weights too light and my 6.6lb weights just right. Yoga did that for me. It also does wonders for my body and mind and there's nothing finer than doing a practice like Kest's L.S.D. after a good session of cardio and strength. ~bliss~

Rodney Yee, Eoin Finn and Sara Ivanhoe are some of my other favourite yoga instructors. I haven't tried Baron yet - not sure if he'd be my cup of tea?!
ATB,
- Lisa :)
 
I must have tried all the wrong yoga videos, because none of them ever did much for me. I think I started with Patricia Walden's beginner tape, tried a Rodney Yee back care tape and then bought a Kathy Smith 3-DVD set. I never really got much from any of them. Do you yoga fans think there is another workout I should try? I've also considered taking classes. Any suggestions?
 
Hi Nancy! Rodney Yee has a new one out called "Power Yoga Total Body Workout Kit" which comes with a yoga mat as well as a strap for only $30! I couldn't believe the price! Its typical Rodney gorgeous moutainous views the usual beautiful scenery. Or you might want to try Karen Voight's Yoga Focus which is 2 workouts in 1. Yoga Strength 30 min. & then Yoga Stretch 30 min. or Karen Voight's Yoga Sculpt. Another gorgeous tape! I have to have beautiful colors & a very pleasing backdrop in order for me to start to feel serene & calm before I do the poses but that's just me. Also the instructor has to be very explicit w/the instructions in order for me to do the poses correctly. I still consider myself a novice. Try any of these & you won't go wrong. HTH, Kathy:D
 
Hi Nancy! The first time I did yoga was about 3 yrs ago in Maine right by the ocean on the porch of an 85-yr-old woman. The woman had invited her instructor to lead a class of about 15 women of various ages and levels. I liked it right away.

When I got home, I went to Target and bought some Rodney Yee videos for $6.99. I thought they were okay but nothing I would do regularly. Then our local Y got an instructor (I live in the boonies) so I started attending her classes 2x/wk in addition to doing my Cathe tapes. I learned a lot about form from her, but didn't feel like I could progress all that much because she modified so many of the poses in order to keep it safe for the many elderly participants. I still loved the way I felt after a session, though.

So, I did several searches for yoga at VF and decided to buy Bryan Kest's Power Yoga Vols. 1-3 at Half.com. I was intimidated by his tapes at first because the background exercisers are like Gumby, but the more I did it, the more I progressed and the more I liked it. These are challenging power yoga practices and I love how he holds his poses for a long time. (I don't love HIM all that much, but I love these practices. Too bad they're not on DVD.)

Further searches at VF yielded the following recommendations which fit the criteria I was looking for in yoga videos (e.g., challenging power yoga; challenging flexibility poses; ability to break up into shorter segments; on DVD).

1) DAVID SWENSON - SHORT FORMS (challenging ashtanga, 15, 30, and 45 min segments, DVD)

2) BARON BAPTISTE - POWER & PRECISION (intermediate power, 4 15-min segments, I use it often as a cool-down, VHS though)

3) BARON BAPTISTE - SOUL OF STRENGTH (challenging power, 3 different workouts, DVD)

4) BODY WISDOM - YOGA FOR EVERY BODY (beg-adv ability levels, many workouts ranging from 15-75 min, DVD)

5) RODNEY YEE - YOGA CONDITIONING FOR ATHLETES (intermediate, background exercisers show modifications, 3 20-min segments, I got VHS in a trade but I think it's on DVD)

6) PATRICIA WALDEN - YOGA FOR FLEXIBILITY (challenging backbends and forward bends, 2 30-min segments, bonus workout on YOGA JOURNAL'S YOGA FOR BEGINNERS DVD)

I don't know if these would suit your criteria. Even when I was new to yoga, I found the beginner tapes I tried were not challenging enough, probably because I was already in shape from regular Cathe workouts and I'm naturally flexible.

Since you live in NYC, I would suggest taking a class for several weeks to learn basic form but still get a good workout. Then, if you like it, try a couple of the above suggestions (maybe from the library?) or do a search on VF.

Let me know how you make out! I'm sorry this is so horrendously long!:eek:
 
Susan-
Thanks for all the suggestions! As soon as I am feeling better (this cold is endless :-( ) I will go back to PS to try to get back to where I left off. When I am back in shape I will try some yoga lessons at my gym. You know my gym is right around the corner from my apartment; I don't even have to cross a street to get there, and yet I don't use it nearly often enough. It's strange how spoiled I've become. I remember a time not so long ago when I would have been happy to drive 20 miles to go to a gym if I could just afford one, and now I completely take it for granted. How quickly we forget!! :-(

I'm looking forward to our dinner in New York!!

-Nancy
 
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