Morning Fitness Maniacs -
This morning I did CIA - Cardio Step Express with Gay Gasper followed by the Core Work (60 min) and then Duncan Won'gs Yogic Arts - Source Power - Energy Section (50 min) but then I added on the hip opener segment, shoulder segment, and core work. I wanted to add on the kicking segment, but I figured I better stop, as I have lots to do today.
IN CASE YOU DON"T WANT TO READ the REVIEWS - I labeled them:
CIA STEP REVIEW -The CIA workout was good. It starts out a bit slow but gets going about 20 min into it. It's a combo of dancy step and athletic moves. It's sort of like a mini Imax in that it has energy bursts but not quite as intense as an Imax. My HR stayed in the 150's. I could have pushed it higher, but I wanted to stay a bit lower. This was somewhat hard to follow, but I've only done it one other time. Gay is very professional and never makes any mistakes. She's almost too perfect. She has never really grown on me as an instructor.....maybe I'll warm up to her. The workout is good though and the ab work was really good and different. IT was sort of Pilates meets athletic.
SOURCE POWER REVIEW - Duncan Wong's Yogic Arts "Source Power" - WOW...all I can say is what a workout. This dude is serious about his stuff and he knows what he's doing. Obviously, he has been doing yoga and martial arts for a long time. He is even more flexible than Shiva (if that is even possible). I've never seen anything like this, nor have I ever done anything this difficult. The first person I thought of was Diana Sue. I said to myself "she would love this"! This is a blend of the ancient systems of Korean Buddhist Gung Fu, Astanga yoga and Thai bodywork. This DVD states it is an "intermediate to advanced practice". It states "take your inner warrior to the next level" under the title. They aren't kidding. Okay, maybe if I hadn't just done 60 minutes of step and core work, this may have been just a tiny bit easier (maybe not). Oh and he is obviously friends with Shiva as there is a trailer of this DVD on the beginning of her Trance Dance DVD and a quote from her on the front case.
SOURCE POWER cont - This has 2, 50 min segments on it. One is Prana and one is Energy. I chose the Energy practice with the above add on. The entire workout is 100 minutes if you do all of it. It is also chaptered, so you can add anything on. This is hard to describe, but it is more of a strengthening type of yoga. I had to modify quite a bit with both the strengthing poses (handstands, headstands, arm balances) and even some of the poses were way to deep for me. I don't know if I'll ever get to that level, but all I can say is that it felt really good trying today. He has his own spin on each yoga posture and somehow manages to go deeper into the poses than I've ever seen. I can't wait to get the beginner level DVD (from Amazon called Awakening ...and it was only $11.99). I hope it has a bit more instruction on it. I'm sure it will still be hard if this one is only intermediate to advanced.
SOURCE POWER cont - Here is an example of one of the poses (that I cannot do). He does full lotus and then binds his arms behind his back and touches his forehead to the ground. He then even goes off into side variations of this pose. The standing segment works your legs A LOT. It has a section with gluteal work and you do deep lunge pulses, etc. I liked this, but I think I will end up loving it as I practice it even more and become better at it. (one last thought on this DVD. For an example of how strengthening this felt - I think if you only did this DVD 3 times a week and cardio - you'd be exceptionally fit!! I can see why he's worked out with Madonna - she's no slouch when it comes to yoga/exercise).
Well, I better quit babbling. I know not everyone cares for yoga here , and no...I'm not the cult leader (LOL).
I'm not sure what movie we're going to yet. It all depends on what time I can be ready. I've got a lot to do this weekend.
I think I may take a rest day tomorrow since I have to work. Would Pilates plus a stretch be considered a rest day?
Have great workouts everyone and I'll be back later. I'm off to soak my shoulder in the tub. My pain is flaring pretty badly. It always gets worse right before my period and yesterday, I did some pushups on my toes to see how my shoulder could handle it. It didn't like it...which is frustrating cuz I'm strong enough to do them, but it aggravates my injury (specifically the deep intrascapular pain on my left side from my disc bulge).
This morning I did CIA - Cardio Step Express with Gay Gasper followed by the Core Work (60 min) and then Duncan Won'gs Yogic Arts - Source Power - Energy Section (50 min) but then I added on the hip opener segment, shoulder segment, and core work. I wanted to add on the kicking segment, but I figured I better stop, as I have lots to do today.
IN CASE YOU DON"T WANT TO READ the REVIEWS - I labeled them:
CIA STEP REVIEW -The CIA workout was good. It starts out a bit slow but gets going about 20 min into it. It's a combo of dancy step and athletic moves. It's sort of like a mini Imax in that it has energy bursts but not quite as intense as an Imax. My HR stayed in the 150's. I could have pushed it higher, but I wanted to stay a bit lower. This was somewhat hard to follow, but I've only done it one other time. Gay is very professional and never makes any mistakes. She's almost too perfect. She has never really grown on me as an instructor.....maybe I'll warm up to her. The workout is good though and the ab work was really good and different. IT was sort of Pilates meets athletic.
SOURCE POWER REVIEW - Duncan Wong's Yogic Arts "Source Power" - WOW...all I can say is what a workout. This dude is serious about his stuff and he knows what he's doing. Obviously, he has been doing yoga and martial arts for a long time. He is even more flexible than Shiva (if that is even possible). I've never seen anything like this, nor have I ever done anything this difficult. The first person I thought of was Diana Sue. I said to myself "she would love this"! This is a blend of the ancient systems of Korean Buddhist Gung Fu, Astanga yoga and Thai bodywork. This DVD states it is an "intermediate to advanced practice". It states "take your inner warrior to the next level" under the title. They aren't kidding. Okay, maybe if I hadn't just done 60 minutes of step and core work, this may have been just a tiny bit easier (maybe not). Oh and he is obviously friends with Shiva as there is a trailer of this DVD on the beginning of her Trance Dance DVD and a quote from her on the front case.
SOURCE POWER cont - This has 2, 50 min segments on it. One is Prana and one is Energy. I chose the Energy practice with the above add on. The entire workout is 100 minutes if you do all of it. It is also chaptered, so you can add anything on. This is hard to describe, but it is more of a strengthening type of yoga. I had to modify quite a bit with both the strengthing poses (handstands, headstands, arm balances) and even some of the poses were way to deep for me. I don't know if I'll ever get to that level, but all I can say is that it felt really good trying today. He has his own spin on each yoga posture and somehow manages to go deeper into the poses than I've ever seen. I can't wait to get the beginner level DVD (from Amazon called Awakening ...and it was only $11.99). I hope it has a bit more instruction on it. I'm sure it will still be hard if this one is only intermediate to advanced.
SOURCE POWER cont - Here is an example of one of the poses (that I cannot do). He does full lotus and then binds his arms behind his back and touches his forehead to the ground. He then even goes off into side variations of this pose. The standing segment works your legs A LOT. It has a section with gluteal work and you do deep lunge pulses, etc. I liked this, but I think I will end up loving it as I practice it even more and become better at it. (one last thought on this DVD. For an example of how strengthening this felt - I think if you only did this DVD 3 times a week and cardio - you'd be exceptionally fit!! I can see why he's worked out with Madonna - she's no slouch when it comes to yoga/exercise).
Well, I better quit babbling. I know not everyone cares for yoga here , and no...I'm not the cult leader (LOL).
I'm not sure what movie we're going to yet. It all depends on what time I can be ready. I've got a lot to do this weekend.
I think I may take a rest day tomorrow since I have to work. Would Pilates plus a stretch be considered a rest day?
Have great workouts everyone and I'll be back later. I'm off to soak my shoulder in the tub. My pain is flaring pretty badly. It always gets worse right before my period and yesterday, I did some pushups on my toes to see how my shoulder could handle it. It didn't like it...which is frustrating cuz I'm strong enough to do them, but it aggravates my injury (specifically the deep intrascapular pain on my left side from my disc bulge).
