Yoga Lovers & Cross-Trainers (week of 18 Nov)

Vee

Vee

Cathlete
Getting us started for the week, and with the check-in.....

Apart from checking-in to report a workout I thought we could post about our discovery of yoga and how we train.

How I train:
My "usual" routine was:
- Weight Training 3X a week (usually split routine) at the gym
- Cardio 3X a week (usually treadill or elliptical, sometimes kickboxing with a video)
- Yoga 4-6X a week.
- Rest day 1X a week
Each session was one hour, so on Yoga days I would end up exercising for 2 hours. If life got busy, I would cut back on cardio, but manage for the most part to keep up with everything else.

I got really busy at work and travel and could not keep up sice mid August.

I am getting back on track. I'd like to go back to my old routine but for the next few months thta seems unlikely. I am consulting to an overseas company in Malaysia and am spending a few weeks there and then a few weeks back at home (in India).

So my new plan is:
- Weight training - 3 X per week (full body for now)
- Yoga - 3 X per week
- Off day - 1X per week
- Cardio - if and when I can fit it in, as an add on to my workout.
Each session should be at least half an hour, but preferably one hour.

I am going to see how this goes and then tweak it as I go along.

How I came to do yoga:
Although I live in India, yoga never interested me. I enjoyed aerobics/cardio which I did from my teens, and weight training after I discovered Cathe in my early thirties.

My sis took up yoga classes (she is a fitness buff who tried Cathe before I did, from reading the reviews at videofitness). She tried for a long time to convince me to give yoga a try. After a couple of years hearing from her (and on fitness forums) about how wonderful yoga is, I did my first yoga session at her home with her. She had built up quite a library of Yoga DVDs by then and we did a Yoga Zone DVD. I found myself fumbling and wishing I could be as fluid and graceful as the people in the DVD and my sis. I decided to try live Yoga class. After a long quest for the right teacher, I was lucky enough to find Venkat, my yoga teacher. I joined his live classes and LOVED every class from the very first session. I took to Yoga at the age of 38 (I am 41 now) although it has its roots in my own country. I learnt in Venkat's live class for over a year, three times per week.

I have built my own collection of Yoga DVDs now and mainly practise solo. Venkat has become a good friend. He comes home on weekends to do yoga sometimes. Sometimes he guides our practise or sometimes we pop in a DVD.

I enjoy yoga more than any other form of fitness now. Some people like yoga as a stress buster. All forms of exercise work as stress busters for me. I like how yoga works synergistically on strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. My proprioception and range of motion have developed so much with yoga. I love the grace and serenity of yoga and feel it spills over to my attitide to life when I am practising regularly.

I dont meditate unless Venkat guides me. I still havent found my groove with meditation. I do a lot of asana practise and some breathing work.

My workout Plan for today:
Today is supposed to be a weight training day. I will be back later to read everyone's posts and to post about what I did.

Thank you everyone, for responding to my postin the OD and joining the check-in.

Sorry for rambling.

- Vee (or Vrinda) -
 
Good morning Vee and all who follows,

I would love to join a joga check in! I plan is doing joga 3x a week! I am also starting a circuit training for the next 4 weeks.
 
Hi Vee and gang...

I've been wanting to join a check-in group for awhile. Hopefully, this check-in and I fit. I'll give some info and we'll decide...

About Me...I'm 35, married, no kids, 2 dogs. For the last 1.5 yrs I have been an American living in Brussels, Belgium (well, I've been American all my life, but the living in Belgium part was the last 1.5 yrs:)). I found Cathe through CollageVideo and have been lurking on the site since 2005.

My workout/fitness history....I had been relatively fit until 2001 (age 28) and then I gained 60 lbs over the next 2 years. I blame it on variety of things. I now have 40lbs to lose and a lot of fitness to regain...I've been VERY inconsistent with my workouts and eating for 7 years.

My workout plan....I need to get on track and stay motivated.
Short term goal: lose 5lbs by 25-Dec,2008
Short term stretch goal: lose 8lbs by 25-Dec,2008

Mon cardio and/or yoga
Tue full body (PH,MIS or a total body premix)
Wed cardio and/or yoga
Thu circuit (C/W,HSC,DM,LIC,CM)
Fri cardio and/or yoga
Sat circuit
Sun off

My yoga experience...very little. I've always been interested and I've taken a few classes. There is much for me to learn. My yoga dvd collection is small:eek:. I just recently got Rainbeau Mars' Beginners, Pure Tranquility, Pure Power, Pure Sweat.

Today's plan....
I don't have much time since I have dinner plans tonight so I'd like to fit in some weight work. Maybe a total body premix...LIC upper body sculpt 31 minutes.

Vee, your posts have always been highly educational and motivating to me.

I look forward to checking in with everyone! :D

Lori
 
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Hello Delurked Lori:

When I was 33 I was in the same spot as you. Well ....not an American living in Europe... I am Indian living in India....but fitness wise. I had been relatively fit until age 28 doing dancy cardio, taebo, and some "toning" type stuff with little or no weights. I was out of shape and over weight from a bad lifestyle when I decided to get back on track at age 33 or so. My sis was in the same shape as me. She got her act together after discovering Cathe's Step and Weight training and inspired me to try too. I lost slowly and steadily and have more or less kept it off since (I am 41 now). I gain a bit every year or so (like now) but manage to pull myself together and get back in shape again.

Rainbeau's series is a great set. I have those DVDs and her Dawn and Dusk too. Pure Sweat is my favorite from her followed by Pure Tranquility.

Your plan sounds good to me. Endurance style weight training and sensible eating has been my best bet for fat loss since my mid-thirties. Before that just relying on cardio weas enough.

I wish you luck with meeting your short term and long term goals. I hope you decide to stay a fellow Yoga Lover & Cross Trainer and let us cheer you on.

Hello Everyone else: My check in for today - Total Body Premix from Drill Max. I managed all through except for the push up section. My time off from working out has impacted my upper body strength and I am looking forward to building it back up.
 
Hello all!
A little bit about my fitness regime now, which has changed alot over the past year. First an early morning walk with my dogs every day (walking my DD to school, then continuing for 45 mins). Relatively short (30 min) cardio/strength circuits about 3X a week. Strength about 1X. Straight cardio maybe 1X. Yoga about 5X... ranging from 30 mins to 1 1/2 hours.

Sometimes I'll do a short cardio/strength workout in the a.m. Then do a ravi/ana workout at night because I find their workouts, with all the focus on breathing, really unwinds me.

Today I'm doing a live class. It's 1 1/2 hour iyengar based, with major focus on alignment and the spine. It's perfect for me, since I've got SI issues and mild scoliosis. That will be it for me today.

Namaste, everyone!
 
Good Morning Everyone!

Today I did Patrick Goudeau's Hard Work Conditioning. I'm getting back into full body workouts and circuits after spending a long time on splits. I'm into doing more barre workouts now like Squeeze. I always liked heavy lifting but I think endurance is working better for me now.

I usually do yoga once a week (but really wish I could do it every day). I basically do ashtanga or power yoga but have really wanted to get into Bikram. I just got Ali McGraw's Yoga, Mind & Body which I've read a lot of people raved about. Another new one I just got was Total Yoga: Fire.

Yoga comes somewhat easy to me. I've always been pretty flexible. I still do full splits (horizontal and vertical) at 43. I'm still working on handstands and headstands but I do a really good shoulderstand.

Vee: I also really enjoy your posts and find yoga my favorite form of exercise (next to dancing - it's tough, kind of a toss-up).

My favorite yoga practices right now are Eoin Finn's Power Yoga for Happiness 2 (I also have his first one which is really great too). I've been building my yoga collection over the past couple of years and it includes Shiva Rea, Mark Blanchard, Bryan Kest, Eoin, Peter Sterios, David Swenson (he still amazes me everytime I watch him), Erich Schiffmann and Baron Baptiste and a few others but I don't have my full list with me.

Have a great day all!

Marcy
 
ever have soreness from your yoga practice?

I notice it in my forearms from doing downward dog. I mostly practice yoga on my own. In many ways I'm very new with this. I enjoy it alot and always find it to be a challenge. I did post over in the rotations what I'm doing now, but I will repeat myself anyway as a reminder to myself to stay focused :) I'm working on a self created intermediate rotation. I do a lot of cardio because I am or used to be insulin resistant and my doctor told me that cardio is the one thing that immediately improves that condition. So I do cardio almost every day. I take one day off per week. I only eat my carbs immediately post workout. The rest of the time I try to only eat protein and vegetable sources. That usually works out. The trick is carrying low carb snacks with me so I don't end up in a low blood sugar situation where the only options are fast food. I'm good about workouts. I hope to apply that discipline to planning and preparing food as well.

I jog/walk then a stretch max 3x a week. I do step 3x a week one of those is a circuit. I do yoga 3x a week. My thighs usually feel it from my yoga practice because I do horse stance and rapid breath a lot. I have just two wo but I get yoga dvds from my netflix account.

My short term goals are to lose 6.6 pounds by Jan 1 and to be down 26 pounds by my birthday in March. I've been working on weight loss for about 3 years now.
 
Hello everyone - I'm looking forward to having a check-in group. Thanks for starting this Vee.

A little about my fitness background. I was a chubby teen until I started working out at the age of 21 and found that I just loved to exercise. I became very thin and fit - I was a real cardio junkie. During the pregnancies and births of my first two children (they were 5 years apart) I stayed pretty average in weight and working out plus I added weight training.

When my 2nd child was 2 y/o my husband left and I went on the divorce diet!!! I added running to my workout schedule and became very thin and physically fit again. I was remarried and had two more children within 19 months in my 40's. I started working out again and got to a weight I felt great at (not as light as my younger days but I was okay with that).

Then everything fell apart last summer. First a broken toe, then planter fasciitis, lower back pain, tennis elbow. This past summer at the July Road Trip I really wanted to do the kickboxing class on Sunday but injured my back far worse than it was, headed into physical therapy and stopped working out completely - I was in too much pain.

I have just started back on my fitness journey as of last week. I have been wanting to add yoga to my program for a couple of reasons. First, my body just isn't handling all of the pounding anymore and second, my physical therapist said that my tight hamstrings are adding to my back problem. She said that I am not flexible at all and need to rectify that.

I have heard so many wonderful things about Yoga and know this is something I need to do to preserve my body but still be physically fit.

So as a newbie, I'm going to need a little help here. Are there beginning yoga workouts you would recommend?

Thanks and I look forward to getting to know all of you!
 
Debbie,

I am so sorry to hear of your injuries.

Yoga can help you not just with flexibility but with keeping fit without the pounding as you have read.

When you start with yoga with DVDs (if you are not going to a live class) then I think quality of instruction on the right alignment is most important. Once you learn to do each pose you can branch out with videos that appeal on other levels (music, production values, your favorite style).

Of the yoga instructors I have personally experienced on DVD, I rate Alan Finger and Erich Schiffman best on cueing to compensate for lack of a live class. A perfect pose is not about achieving the "full" version because you are ultra-flexible. It is a pose where you put your body into the right angles and dont over-compensate for inflexibility by forcing the stretch. Alan and Erich have a gift for explaining this while still making it seem easy.

This DVD by Barbara Benagh is highly rated by the yoga crowd I respect on the videofitness forum, as suitable for beginners who want to learn "right":
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Beginners-Barbara-Benagh/dp/B000H8RVSO

From Alan Finger, I like these two. I found them useful when I was starting out and after 4 years, still find it useful to return to them for a form primer:
a. http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Zone-Fle...ef=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1227034020&sr=1-4

b. http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Zone-Flexibility-Tone-Beginners/dp/B00005AWRF/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_c

Erich Schiffman's Backyard Beginners DVD is not available widely, but is another great resource to get started that you will find useful for some time to come. Erich's site is:
http://www.movingintostillness.com/index.html
Unfortunately his shopping store is temporarily not working.

Rainbeau Mars Yoga for Tranquility has absolutely no emphasis apart from stretching and relaxation. It is another of my favorites. It is available from multiple online stores and you are likely to find it cheap.

It you want to feel "worked out" but without pounding, I'd suggest trying something from Baron Baptiste's Live series, or Rodney Yee's Yoga Burn. But I would personally pick one or two from the rest of the list first.
 
Thanks Vee - I will be busy ordering tonight.

I'll just be posting my regular routine until I get some yoga.

I am psyched!!!

By the way, I did Rhythmic Step today and my left foot has been hurting since! These tapes can't come fast enough!!!
 
Worknprogress said:
Thanks Vee - I will be busy ordering tonight.

I'll just be posting my regular routine until I get some yoga.

I am psyched!!!

By the way, I did Rhythmic Step today and my left foot has been hurting since! These tapes can't come fast enough!!!
Click to expand...

Debbie,

Hope your left foot feels better.

Let us know which DVDs you get. Until the DVDs arrive, if your internet connection is fast enough, you could try www.yogatoday.com

They have streaming video yoga classes live. Many classes are suitable for beginners.

You will need to make enough space in front of your PC for your yoga mat and you are all set.

Vrinda
 
Marcy: I enjoy Hard Work Conditioning, but am not tempted to get HWC2. I am getting overwhelmed by the number of DVDs in my collection. I too think David Swenson is amazing to watch. I did watch his Ashtanga video but was too daunted to even try. Fire is a great video to build upper body and core strength (lots of chaturanga - low planks). Mind and Body is beautifully shot and not too intense and in my opinion, a good addition to any Yoga collection. It has everything - flexibility, strength, balance, breathing focus and everyone has superb form.

RapidBreath: I can get DOMS from an intense yoga session too. Mainly I get chest and triceps DOMS if the session had a lot of sun salutations. Sometimes I too do freestyle yoga. But mostly I am too lazy to think and like to follow along with a video.

Delfinn: I hope you enjoyed the 1 and 1/2 hour of Iyengar yoga yesterday. Sounds delicious.
 
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Wednesday Hello....

Yesterday I didn't have the time after work I thought I would so I only did a few minutes of jump rope. :eek: I guess I'll consider that my rest day.

Tonight, I plan to do a 2.5 mile walk/jog and Rainbeau Mars' Yoga Sweat.

Vee, from reading your wonderful video summaries I have been looking to get the Erich Schiffman Backyard Beginners, but I'm having trouble finding it in stock anywhere. The DVD by Barbara Benagh Yoga for Beginner's looks versatile. That might be my next purchase.

Delfinn, I'd loved to hear about your class. What is iyengar based yoga?

Marcy, I am sooo impressed with you flexibility. I have NEVER been able to do splits in my whole entire life!

RapidBreath, let's melt these pounds away together. :)

Debbie, You are resilient. You just keep at it despite all the injuries. I look forward to learning more about yoga with you!

Hope I didn't miss anyone. Bye for now, Lori
 
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Lori,

You can find a download of the Erich Schifman DVD here:
http://www.ihanuman.com/search.php?albumsWithThisLetter=b

If you want it on DVD, I found this link on google, but I have not brought from them before:
http://redrockstore.com/Catalog/index.php?crn=181&rn=1740&action=show_detailhttp://www.ihanuman.com/search.php?albumsWithThisLetter=b

I think the link on Erich's site is temporarily down. You may want to write to him alternqtively to check if you can buy the DVD directly from him. The contact info provided at his site is:

erichyog at earthlink dot net
or
info at exhalespa dot com
 
Well, yesterday I was so busy I didn't have time to post so I will today.

Yesterdays workout was PUB then Eoin Finn's Yoga for Happiness the 40 minute workout (can't remember what it's called...'Bliss'??). I just got this workout last week and did the 30 minute 'Quicki' segment last Saturday.

I'm feeling some DOMS today for sure, probably more from PUB but I've definitely have gotten DOMS from yoga.

I'm going to go workout now...PLB is what I have planned.

Have a great day everyone!

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Good morning girls,

Sorry, for being so short yesterday ! DH had endoscopic septum Surgery last Wednesday; he had a lot of problems since the surgery. The Macho Soldier that I married is still a baby at heart.

Well ladies since I was short on time yesterday I would like to introduce myself. I am Belinda (AKA bayerngirl), I am from Bavaria in south eastern Germany. I have been with Cathe since 2006. I enjoy a wide variety of exercise and try to never miss a day except for the down day. I am married DH for 25 years on 1 Dec. He is a soldier and has been for 28 years (we travel a lot). I have two wonderful children, both in college, my daughter is a Grad student, and my son is a sophomore. I currently live in Germany, where my DH has been assigned. I have 2 dogs; we adopted them while we were stationed in El Paso, from the Humane society 4 years ago.

Yesterday I picked up Gaiam yoga for beginners with Patricia Walden from our library. I have to say, it was really good! I did High Step Training in the morning and yoga in the evening!

Today I will do KPC! Not sure if I get a stretch/ yoga in!

Sorry, I don't have time for personals! Have to run!
 
[quote
I'm going to go workout now...PLB is what I have planned.
[/quote]

Well I got er done. Did the entire PLB and added 30 minutes walking on the TM. Burned a total of 668 cal if my HRM is correct.

Got lots of errands to do today. Later!

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Okay - I should be up and running soon with my new purchases!

Vee - I picked (online) Barbara Benagh, Alan Finger (Flex & strength) and a Baron Baptiste 3-pack. In the meantime I am going to check on the online classes. Thanks for all that great info.

Belinda - I hope you hubby is doing better. My 3-year old has a bad cold/cough - but I think husbands are more work when they aren't well:p! You'll need a couple of days off when he is well I'm sure!!!

Lori - I purchased LIC a couple of months ago but haven't tried it yet. How do you like the upper body sculpt premix you did yesterday?

Delfinn - How old is your DD? You must live fairly close to the school. My only daughter is turning 16 next month and she only spends time with me in public when she has to!!

Marcy - Yikes! I don't think I could even do the splits when I was born!! Did you used to be a dancer growing up? Is that where your flexibility comes from? I've heard of barre workouts - what are they exactly?

RapidBreath - My understanding of insuline resistance is limited. How long have you had this? It sounds as though you manage it similar to someone with diabetes, is that correct?

Tamrahan - PUB is one of my favorite upper body workouts. Although I love it, the one weak part, IMO, are the 2 moves for the back.

My workout today was PUB without abs (I did abs yesterday).

Hope everyone had a great day!
 
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