Getting Our Licks In!

I received my latest purchase in the mail yesterday: Shiva Rea's Yoga Shakti:D Since i like her style, i had to get this one as most reviews say this is her best DVD. I purchased it even though i still haven't finished using the ones i bought through Collage.:eek: It looks amazing and i'm looking forward to trying it since there are tonnes of segments to mix and match. This one wasn't available from Collage so i ended up purchasing through spirit voyage which i was very happy with.

Shoegal: I don't recommend the Yogini Vinyasa Flow Yoga for Women. That's the one i was least excited about so far. Collage should have more than just two choices for Shiva Rea since i ordered 4 of her DVD's at once from them and i'm slowly working my way through them (I'm on # 3). If you have no yoga experience i recommend her beginner flow yoga DVD. Even though i'm not a beginner, I got it as an introduction to Shiva's style and i like it a lot. I would also recommend the one i tried yesterday: Daily Energy. Although i haven't tried the whole thing yet, I like it better than Yogini.

Laura: The only way i know to change your pictuure is under User CP: Edit Avatar. You should be able to browse and select a new pic and then save.
 
Did Athletic Step and abs today. Walked Rolly in drizzle rain. Not to bad, since there were no puddles. Yeah.

You all are doing so well. It's been hectic here getting into to many projects while Joey is away. Throwing stuff out and reorganizing. He should be home tomorrow, it's rainy where he is at and not fun staying there until Sat. Beside, I think he misses home.

Janie
 
well we will see if my photo changes this time!

I have a full day of clients today which totally rocks! My knee is still not better though:(:mad::confused: So I have made an appointment with a PT for next thursday. I am concerned because starting Monday I have to start back to my full class schedule which will be 5 classes between monday and wednesday! Not sure how I am going to get through it but I guess I will manage somehow...

Today I won't workout, resting as much as possible before next week, but I will do a Upper Body something tomorrow!

And I am SOOOOO EXCITED as we are going to go pick out our new puppy tomorrow!!!! I can't wait to meet her! We won't be able to bring her home yet for a couple more weeks, but we get to go and pick the one we want!
 
Quick post before I head down to Quantico for a retirement ceremony. I am back to work and back to STS. Tuesday, I did STS disc 10, Thursday was STS disc 11, and today was STS disc 12. I managed to finish the last week of meso 1 this week. Yeah!

Crazy busy this week but life is good. I'll come back later for personals.
~michelle
 
Laura - is that actually you doing a back bend? :eek:

Did ASC4 last night - well, to be fair - not all of it - just the parts I attempted. I didn't think I'd get it the first time through - all of it goes by like . . . SWOOSH!!!! I'm standing there completely lost - not frustrated really - just plain old - lost. I got combo 1 fairly well - combo 2 - it wasn't happening - but I really tried and I think I'll get this - well, I know I 'll get all of it but with Amy - it takes many tries - many attempts - then it is just FUN!!!

Oktoberfests all weekend here!!! Many events - all over the place. Rex and I were trying to make it to a few or one :eek::eek:. Funny thing is - I am not a beer person at all - rather have wine any day of the week and I really don't like German food. I suppose I'm going for the music and atmosphere!!!

I am having my annual Harvest Halloween party this Saturday. Small party with just my sisters, mom and good friend. We exchange halloween/ harvest decor items every year. Just a really great excuse to get together - get a great gift and have some wine. So it will definitely be a great evening. I think I'll stay over in Pittsburgh instead of driving home.

Elle - I appreciate the advice on Shiva Rea - it is always good to get somebody else's opinion before picking something out. You are right - there are more on Collage for Shiva Rea - (when I typed it in - I think I spelled it wrong - and only got the two) She has something called a Trance Dance - doesn't that sound like fun???!! Do you have that one??? I just watched the clip - don't think I could actually do it though.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!
 
Disc 12 legs today. OOOUUUUCH!

Laura, Nice photo. Is that you doing a back bend? Wow! I'm wishing you good health on a speedy recovery of your knees. (((((hugs too))))). How cool and exciting to have another puppy. I can feel your excitement through the words. Yeah! Pictures please, asap.

Michelle, Hope you had a wonderful time at the retirement party. Being back to work and STS is wonderful, isn't it? Congratulations on finishing Meso 1. Good for you, I'm very proud of you.

Shoegal, Great job on ASC4, glad you weren't frustrated. Keep challenging yourself as you always do. You always amaze me. Enjoy the Octoberfests all weekend, it sounds just plain fun. I'm not a fan of beer either. Also enjoy your annual Harvest Halloween party, that sounds like so much fun too. Your weekend should be full of fun.

Have a good one, will talk later.

Janie
 
Happy weekend!

Just finished Shiva Rea's Beginner's Flow Yoga. I don't know if I'm getting any better at yoga but it felt really good, particularly after doing STS disc 12, legs, yesterday. Those STS leg workouts are tough. I was literally crawling on the floor when it was over. Of course, you end that one on the floor doing leg toning exercises. And Ripken was being helpful yesterday at the end. Puppy face looking down at me about 3 inches from my nose, with the cute wrinkled looked going. What a goof.

The retirement ceremony yesterday was very nice. It was in the National Museum of the Marine Corps--beautiful setting.

Now, I'm going to change clothes and do a little boat washing. Later today, we have a pig roast at the marina. Yummy.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying a wonderful weekend.
~michelle
 
Done with Mesocycle One! Will do cardio and walks with Rolly the next several days and then will start Mesocycle Two.

You are doing better with yoga, the more you do it the better you get for sure. It can't be helped.:D After your leg workout is a great time to stretch them with yoga. I don't envy you at all doing legs, those are not my favorite workouts, but, they most likely do what we want them to do. LOL Sounds like you had a great time at the museum at the retirement ceremony. Enjoy your roast and day also the weekend.

Janie
 
Great walkabouts today with Ripken and MMA Kickbox. I'm still feeling DOMs for STS disc 12, legs, on Friday. Those STS leg workouts always stay with me a few days. Guess that means that they are working.

We've enjoyed another nice relaxing day at the marina. The weather has just been outstanding. We could use a few rainy days during the week, but we'll take these sunny weekends in the low 80s with a nice breeze. Very sweet.

Looking forward to a busy and productive week at work. Hope everyone has had a great weekend.
~michelle
 
Hi all,

I have been back just for the weekend - hectic, trying to get Clara squared away after a negative visit she had with her family, visiting the county fair (DH was superintendent of Vegetables and Fruits!), and unpacking/packing. Not much time for anything but that! I did get a workout and walk in yesterday (Cathe CTX Upper Body Split) and think I'll do the same today. Boston tomorrow, then after that trip I'll be home for ten days (!!!!). It's a rainy day today, and a good thing too. Without rain, the ground will be too hard to plant bulbs, and the shipping order emails tell me that pounds and pounds of them are headed my way :eek::eek::eek:

Michelle, doing kickbox after one of the Legs has always been rather challenging for me! It seems to take me a full week to recover when I do Meso 3, and four or five days after Mesos 1 and 2. Nice to know you're having great weather out your way - won't be out to DC again til October, myself, and by then it should be fall :)

Janie, congratulations on Meso 1! Is this the third time you've gone through STS, now? Those active rest weeks are nice, aren't they :D Did you see that the new Ilaria's are out? At least, three of them are. You were asking about Forza 2 ... I've only seen seen discussed on the VideoFitness lists, didn't show up. However, Mary at Total Fitness has the other Ilarias, and so does Collage. Yep, I did preorder them.

Shoegal, you are amazing at the choreography. That ASC4 must be quite something, if it's giving you a challenge! And, it just seems right that you're doing some decoration swapping right now. What a fun way to kick off October!

Laura, what a great picture! You are so flexible! It's amazing to see how comfortable you appear to be in such a difficult pose ... How was the puppy-picking? Best wishes on the knee.

Elle, sounds like you are getting quite a few good yoga dvds. It's nice to find an instructor that you can click with, especially one who is prolific - enjoy those Shiva Rea!

Renee, looks like you're feeling energetic as always, judging by the workout you posted on Facebook. Hopefully that's because you're having a wonderful semester with your kids!
 
Checking in with my own yoga practice completed. It felt really good to really push myself today after doing lots of Shiva Rea last week.

Shadowpup: Welcome back....and have another safe trip!:p

Laura: Love your new picture of you doing chakrasana! Looks great!

Michelle: Sounds like you had a very busy weekend. How was the pig roast?

Shoegal: Your Hallowe'en party sounds like so much fun. What did you get?

Janie: Congrats finishing Meso one! Enjoy your cardio week.
 
Thanks Elle!

Headed out the door in a moment ... But, before that, wanted to share with those of you who will understand that I set a personal record with my squat rack last night: I was able to do 161 pounds, three sets of nine reps each. I used the Meso 3 squat racks pace, and did the first set at 150, but felt pretty strong so I upped the weight. It makes a huge difference having the rack! I also discovered something called a lock jaw on sale, and it replaces those spring lock catches to hold the weights on the bar. It makes it very easy to take weights on and off the bar.

'See' you on Friday, and best wishes to all for a wonderful week :D
 
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I had a great weekend. Rex and I headed out to "The Church Brew Works" Friday night for Oktoberfest. St John the Baptist Church in Lawrenceville had been converted into the Brew Works, a restaurant and brewery. On the alter - there were now vats of brewing beer. Apparantly this has been in operation for quite awhile - but we had never been there. I really had a difficult time with the fact that it was once a church. The building itself is absolutely beautiful and it would have been a real shame to tear it down - especially the gorgeous stain glass windows - but everything about it screamed CHURCH - and it didn't seem right to be partying it up there. At least they were still serving bread & wine :eek::p:rolleyes: After awhile it didn't bother me as much. Later on we headed out to Penn Brewery for another Oktoberfest celebration - this was much larger with tents set up and a band playing outdoors. We had a great time.

Saturday - Rex and I went out to Narcissi Winery to meet some friends - I left after about 45minutes to go to my party - but Rex stayed on and eventually invited them over to the house.

Elle - I got some great items from the party - a witch that I'm going to hang from the ceiling, 3 huge spiders, a buzzard and a haunted house. Good job on your yoga practice - how do you decide what to do?

Shadowpup - it was good to hear from you!!! Great job on the squat rack and beating your own personal record. It is impressive for sure.

Michelle - the weather has been great here too - after a rainy Friday the weekend was very nice. Sounds like Meso 1 is working for you again.

Janie - everyone is doing STS - I think I should too. Although I think I'll wait to begin after my cruise - which is coming up quickly!!!

Hi to Laura and Renee!!!
 
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Checking in with Shiva Rea Daily energy yesterday. I did the following segments:
Earth- this is the segment i had tried last week. I really like it
Fire-this is a challenging & energizing segment with lots of pushups. Love it!
Forward Bends- a 6 minute add-on
Shavasana-relaxation completes the practice

Shadowpup: Congrats on setting a personal record with your squat rack! It's always great to see a measurable improvement.

Shoegal: sounds like you are all set to decorate your home for Hallowe'en. Enjoy! I agree, it would be weird to turn a holy place into a restaurant/bar. I would be interested to see how the energy feels in there.
To answer your question about how i decide what to do with my yoga:
I always begin with warmup exercises which include Sun Salutations and leg raises & stretches. After that, there are 12 basic poses done in a specific order. That's a basic practice and depending on how i feel or what i want to work on, i will add other poses or variations into the sequence.
 
I decided to give ASC4 another try and this time I was able to get down combos 1 & 2 - It is just a matter of time that I'm perfect there. Combo 3 I had never done - so I just sort of watched it - it was shorter and looked like tons of fun that the thought of actually doing what those girls were doing had me itching to get up. So after watching (its great to just watch when you don't get the combo - it really helps) the 1st half of 4 - I decided - heck I can do that and I finished the rest of the workout - which also meant doing 3 which I did relatively well. So now I am sure that I can get it all. Afterwards - I did the STS no equipment ab circuits. That was great too - so I had such a blast with my workout last night!!!:D

Yep - all set to decorate - just need the motivation to pull out the boxes. It always surprises me how much stuff I have now - that well, now I don't want to do it - it is turning into a mammoth task. Oh - but for me - it is worth it - I am thinking I should get it all done before setting off for my cruise - so I don't have to bother when I get back.

Elle - OH boy there is so much to learn about yoga!!! I have to say it sounds so great to me - Earth, Fire - I'm sure I've done Sun Salutations before. I think I'll pull out an old yoga workout and give it a go.

Hope everyone is doing well!! Not sure what to do tonight - a strength workout for sure!!
 
Hi everyone!

I've been either too busy or too tired to bother posting on our check-in.

ShadowPup I am soooo impressed with those squat weights. That is fantastic. I hope to be able to squat my own weight, but right now, I can just manage 66 pounds in meso 2. It will go up in meso 3, and do plan on doing Squat Rack lifting, not the plyo legs this time around.

Taking the day off tomorrow to visit the doctor about my allergies, they are so bad this year. I spent all weekend blowing my nose, and used an entire box of kleenex.

Had the opportunity to take an extra karate class in leg conditioning and kicking, but opted out this time around. Rest was more beneficial than tiring myself even more then I am these days. I have constant DOMS from meso 2, more so, then meso 1. Plus I am back at teaching, piano, and karate, plus STS and I sure do pack a lot of punch into one day.

I haven't even read all the posts. Sorry. Will be finishing the second week of meso 2 in the next two days.

Hope all is well with everybody. Take care.

~Renee
 
Well September has just been a very ungrounded and unsettling month here in the Rockies....between the fires, starting school, our internet problems, my injury, my best friend leaving her husband it just has been nuts!! UGH! I can't wait for things to settle back down again...

I had my stitches out on Monday morning, the stitches are healing nicely, but the RN was not at all happy about my R knee. He thinks I should get an x-ray to make sure there is not a fracture as it should be doing better by now. After several long discussions we decided to hold off for two more weeks, have me really lay off it and really ice and elevate..if it isn't getting better than I will go to my primary care physician and have them do an X ray so that it will be a lot less expensive than going through the ER. I have an appointment with a friend/PT on thursday and I will see what he thinks..

I have made it through teaching 3 of my 5 classes this week. I can do 90% of pilates with some modifications, but the ski conditioning I had to talk them through....


Elle: loving the yoga! Thanks for the compliment!:D
Shoegal: partying in a church makes me imagine Billy Idol pumping through the speakers! I have to get on the decorating, but busy this week planning the girls B-day party this saturday, after that I will do Michaelmass, general Fall, and then Halloween!:eek:
Shadowpup: holly molly bat girl! I was doing 125lbs this last round of meso cycle and was feeling good about myself!
Catchick: bummer about the allergies! Hang in there they should pass soon, right?
 
Walking Rolly these days in between rain. Not easy, sometimes we simply can't do it. But, I then go on the treadmill or one of many cardios. Rolly watches,:rolleyes: the kitties mind their own business.

Deborah, Congratulations for making a record against yourself with the squat rack! 161 pounds, I'm soooooooo very proud and inspired. Way to go!

Elle, Love how you are inspired by yoga. You can't go wrong with that at all. Great job!

Shoegal, Fantastic job on ASC4 and inpired by your "not giving up" attitude. With abs it sounds like a great workout. I can't wait to see your decorations, pictures please. Hey, it's been a year already? Time does fly.

Renee, Hope you get relief from the allergies. Yes you do accomplish a lot. Amazing. Glad you listened to your body and opted not to do the Karate.

Laura, September for sure hasn't been your month. Next month will be better for sure. Sure hope your knee is OK. let us know K? Take care of yourself and don't do too much for the knee. Let it have time to heal.

Janie
 
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Last night I did S&H Chest & Back. I know we have probably all done this workout -but my observation last night was that it was kind of boring. Lots of resting - the 3 sets of reps takes so long and I'm dying to get moving - Yes I know, it is supposed to be slow - I get it but this is why I couldn't do Amy Bento's Slo Mo strength challenge - it was killing me. Nice to mix things up though- it has been awhile. :D

Had to FORCE DH to hang some decor items last night - it has been weeks but I finally got it done. It was just a wall scounce I wanted above our bed - there were three of them - it actually motivated me to clean the bedroom last night as well. Maybe one day we'll get baseboard!!! Dare I dream that big???:eek::p

Laura - I am acutally very surprised it is taking this long for your knees to heal up - how deep were those cuts - does it hurt to walk? I am hoping you begin to see significant improvement in your right knee - take it easy, rest & recover. Exercise will be here when you get better.

Janie - glad you are getting the walking in - feels good to enjoy the outdoors before it gets really cold. Love fall - it is a wonderful time of year.

Renee - hoping you feel better - allergies are the worst.

Hello to everyone Michelle - Elle & Shadowpup!!
 
Good morning everyone. Been a little busy and haven't had time to post. Let's see, Monday was a rest day, Tuesday was the beginning of meso 2 and I'm trying to push myself on increasing my weight amounts. I'm no where near the 100 pound mark for squats let alone 161 pounds. WOWee!

Shadowpup: let me know when you are headed back this way. October 4-7, I am in New Orleans attending a conference, meetings, and participating in a working group. I might also have another trip down to Camp Lejeune later in the month, but will definitely be "around" the week of the 11th.

Okay--I've got to run to a brief meeting--be back later to finish.
~michelle
 
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