Best Yoga DVD

I am admittedly an “at home” type exerciser. I love to work out at home, and the ability to pop in 30 or 40 minutes here and there. Yoga has been a new love for me, and quite challenging. I have attended a few classes, but it is much easier for me to plan to workout at home. My search for quality Yoga DVD workouts has been far and wide. But, I have a new favorite:

Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga: Total Body Transformation and Weight Loss with Sadie Nardini

I discovered Sadie purely by accident, really. It was on Amazon under “people who bought this also bought that.” At the time, I was purchasing another yoga workout. I put Sadie’s DVD in my cart, but did not buy it. Instead I got to know her first. I went to her website and her YouTube Channel. I got to read a lot of great articles and see her in action. Finally, I took the plunge. And now, it has easily become my favorite.

Why do I like it so much?

• It’s different. While some of my other yoga DVDs are “flow” yoga, Sadie adds in these great moves – like fists of fire – that I really enjoy. I’ve never quite seen a DVD workout like it.
• I can make my yoga practice any length. It’s the best of both worlds. While there are some “premixed” workouts on the DVD that I love, you can also select portions of workouts a la cart style and fill in with whatever time you have available. Or work on one section (i.e. Crow or inversions), to try and rock that pose.
• The yoga is for everyone. Sadie encourages you in her introduction to practice yoga where you’re at. She offers many modifications throughout the DVD and makes you feel allright about doing what you are capable of and gives you hope that one day you can even do a handstand.
• Her voice is soothing. She gives a lot of direction, but her voice is comforting and relaxing.
• The practice is challenging. It’s easy to work up a good sweat doing this practice. The moves are invigorating and truly get your heart pumping.
• I feel at peace when I have finished.

Overall, I find this workout a refreshing change in my yoga rotations. I may never make it to the Fierce Club to practice with Sadie, but I can feel like I have.

(Note: I am a beginner yogini, having practiced for about 6 months. I have tried many at-home yoga DVDs from many different teachers. I was not paid, nor provided a complimentary copy of this DVD to provide this commentary.)

 

Monday Morning Workout

Hey, it’s not Monday morning,yet, but I’m already thinking about my workout and what foods I’m going to eat. Yikes, I hate doing that. But yet, I find myself in this place. I have finished a week of exercises (actually, 6 days), and 7 days on a high protein diet. Well, allegedly. I think I’m failing at that part.

The good news is, I feel great. Overall, I am able to get up at the 6 o’clock hour, get my game on, and hit the porch for my workout. Usually the kiddos wake up sometime in the middle of it. Bump will entertain himself for a while, but if E is up, then it’s TV time. I also run into interference from the dogs. Casey, in particular, will sidle up alongside me if I am on the floor at any time, even if it’s push ups. I also have a lot of energy for the rest of the day, and have even considered dumping my morning cup of java. (Not caffeine all together, though.) But I’m still working on that one.

I’m ready for tomorrow. I have to be. I am going into it with my success already at hand – making it through one day at a time! Tomorrow is a tough one, so I’m digging in folks.

 

iPod Playlist for Today’s Workout

40 plus minutes on Bike Trainer

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow
All I Need is a Miracle by Paul Young
Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar
Volcano by Jimmy Buffet
You Love the Thunder by Jackson Brown
Hearts on Fire by Bryan Adams
Invincible by Pat Benatar
Mission Impossible Theme
We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel
Brown-Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

Good workout!

 

Working Out and Wearing Out

As much as I love fall, it has seemed to become a difficult season of getting in exercise. I ran my marathon in November of 1999 and I remember all those training runs in the cold and dark. Then daylight savings time ended, and the dark creeped back on me again. The cold fall mornings are different from the cold spring mornings. The sun is creeping away for the winter instead of inviting us into summer. I hate it.

It has made morning workouts undoable. And so my schedule has creeped some, and I find that I’m taking an early afternoon break – which is just as well, it gets my blood flowing to keep me from falling asleep. (My doctor has no reasons to give me for being so tired.)

I have found a new thing to do. And I like it, and it’s easy to do with the kids around. I am riding my old mountain bike on a bike trainer. I may have mentioned this before, but it has supplanted running as my main cardio workout. I even have a DVD. Because you know me, I love to have someone tell me what to do (well, as long as they aren’t in the room.) The DVD is from the Spinervals series of indoor bike training. It’s a beginners version, because really, I am not a biker in any way. It’s interval training. And it is tough. It really gets me going.

What’s interval training, you might ask. Well, it’s where you do a challenging set of exercises for short periods of time to get your heartrate up, and then let it fall back down. For example, I bike at a semi-hard gear for 45 seconds hard, and then get a 15 second recovery at an easier gear. I do it 3 times and then get a 90 second rest until the next “set” of similar biking. It’s a killer. My favorite line in the last set on one of the workouts is, “Anyone can suffer for 15 seconds.”

Intervals can also be done in running, although I never much enjoyed them there. I like the biking ones because I’m being coached and watching other bikers suffer at the same time. They also do this “Spinning” workout in classes, but I don’t have the luxury of having the time to attend.

My workouts have been down overall, but I’m hanging in there. No losses, but no gains either!

 

The End of Turbo Jam

Did you know there’s a Turbo Jam saga on my blog? I have over 100 hits today on my TJ entries. 8,000 plus have now read my thoughts on this product. I’m a small potatoes blogger, so that’s a lot of folks stopping by these parts.

Since me and TJ didn’t work out, I have wondered how to end it gracefully. There are so many low priced options of the DVD now available, I opted to donate it to my local library which currently does not have a copy in their collections. I’m hoping that they’ll add it so that others can “try before they buy.”

If you want to read my reviews of Turbo Jam and my thoughts on the workout vs. Cathe Freidrich, you’ll find the links below.

My Original Turbo Jam Review from 2007
Turbo Jam vs. Cathe
Turbo Jam – Round 2

 

Turbo Jam – Round 2

It’s funny that I’m back posting on Turbo Jam again. But, it’s the biggest – and I do mean biggest – traffic generator on my little blog. Since the first of the year more than 7,000 folks have stopped by to read one or both of my two posts on the subject:

Turbo Jam Review
Turbo Jam vs. Cathe Freidrich

A few weeks ago, a faithful turboite left a comment about her amazing success with TJ, and attributed my bias of the product to bonus features on the DVD. Surprisingly, I have not yet divested myself of the video set. It has been sitting in a padded envelope next to the computer for the better part of the last 6 months with a destination of ebay. (I’ve actually toyed with doing a giveaway on my fitness blog, but I feel a little funny giving away a product that I do not endorse.)

One Tuesday morning, I planned to do one of my cardio DVDs. Most often I am running or lifting weights, but every once and a while, I just want something simple that raises my heart rate. I thought that maybe TJ really wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be. After all, it was a brand new year and I had new and different fitness goals. It couldn’t hurt to try it.

My workout area is on our screen porch. I cleared the center of the porch of all toys, shoes, weights and other paraphernalia that ultimately gets dragged around out there. My kids were enjoying their morning hour of PBS just on the other side of the open French door. I grabbed my water bottle and loaded up the DVD.

I decided to go for the 45 minute Cardio Party. I got through all the warning and copyright screens to the video introduction. The hair on the back of my neck stood up with the “party” song that plays during this segment. Next, I watched the intro clips of all of the perky turboites having a blast during TJ. Where’s the FFWD button on my remote?

Okay, let’s get down to the serious workout.

I got through the warm up without much of a hitch. Then the instructor said those words that almost sent me to the “off button” – “Get your groove on.” I’m sorry, but I’m not here to groove, I’m here to sweat, work my tail off, push my limits. I never recovered. 15 minutes into the thing, I turned it off and went to a Tae Bo DVD that I’d won online a year ago. It wasn’t a particularly tough workout, but I like Billy Blanks, and I really felt like I was working out. Things were more controlled. He gave me all the information I needed to do my moves correctly and reinforced it. I could feel the muscles actually getting a workout with certain exercises. The difference – I felt like TJ is just like dancing and kicking around the living room (or in my case, the back porch). Maybe like, Turbo Pajama Party or something goofy. With the Tae Bo workout, I was focused on working various muscles through the routine.

No, I’m not crazy. I really don’t like TJ. It doesn’t represent anything that I want in a workout, and I am ashamed that I actually spent money on this thing. And to Meredith, who lost bou coup weight using it – good for you. You go girl. But just remember, there are other fish (or workouts) in the sea. What works for you, might now work for me. (And vice versa.)

One little note. Since I’ve been doing some more Tae Bo after I looked at TJ again, I noticed something. The way that Billy Blanks teaches punches and kicks is WAY different than what you see on TJ. It’s like night and day. The one area that popped for me was the speedbag routine he worked through. All through the routine, he is urging you not to bounce, but to focus and concentrate on the movements. In TJ, we are bouncing and grooving doing the speed bag… So who do you believe? The TJ chick, or Billy Blanks – member of the Karate Hall of Fame with 32 martial arts titles? Hmmmm. And as a 41 year old with a few aches and pains – form is everything to me. I’ve got to do it right.

Let’s just say this isn’t the only discrepancy I noticed….

So, nope, nothing’s changed. It’s still crap in my book.

By the way, I am writing this because I have struggled with finding fun exercises to do at home, and I don’t want people to get caught up in the hype of things or even take my opinion on what the best workout DVDs are. TJ is hype. A great way to preview exercise DVDs is to check them out from your local library – or Netflix. I previewed a couple of DVDs on Netflix before deciding to buy. And the thing I love about Cathe Freidrich is that she shows you EVERY single exercise on her website of any of her DVDs. So you can see what you’re getting into. No testimony or sales pitches – just workouts.

I hope this at least helps someone who is confused in the world of workouts.

Note: Since writing posts on Turbo Jam, I have donated my own copy to my local library, thus giving others a chance to try before they buy.

 

Fitness Goals

A while back I mentioned that I had a new approach to my fitness. Last year was all about losing the baby weight and getting into shape. The vehicle I used was running and the goal to run a half marathon was the motivator. I finished roughly with a 2:13 time and pushed through.

As the fall began, I started to get back into weight training some. Then around Thanksgiving, I strained my rotator cuff and everything went for a loop. It was a real demotivator. Because it happened during the winter months when the weather affects my personal ability to workout, it pulled me down that much harder. I did not run at all during the month of February, maintaining some workouts and physical therapy. I put on about 4 lbs. and slowed down.

While visions of improving my half marathon time danced in my head, I seriously wondered if I could put the miles in to do that – especially since my dh schedule was all over the place and he wasn’t much of a help in keeping the boys so I could run or coming with me. I knew that I wanted to be stronger all over and continue my weight training. I also knew that if I got into the running too hard, that all other exercise would fall by the wayside.

I decided that I wanted to increase my overall fitness level more than I wanted to train for races. For the last few months, I’ve been trying to work out a schedule that allows me to do that. It’s been a frustrating time as more schedule changes have really thrown a wrench in the matter.

Finally, things have worked out to some degree. My plan is to weight train on M-W-F using DVD training. I want to workout hard and increase my weights. On T-Th – Sat, I’ll run. Sunday will be my day off. Weather is a factor in my running schedule. If I need to, I can try and switch a day – especially at the end of the week when I can fiddle with my day off. Or once summer comes, we might do an extra run on Sunday as a family. Since we’ve been back in church the last few months, that has been harder to do.

I’m also diligently working my shoulder with some additional exercises I picked up in PT, doing ab work and throwing in Yoga stress relief here and there where needed.

In the last week I’ve decided to run with the stroller on my days rather than wait for my dh to get home from work in the afternoon. I do so much better with exercise in the mornings than in the afternoons. This week, it worked out fine – except for the weather. So, I just do the best I can. I got 5 of 6 workouts this week – which is more than I’ve done in some time.

I do my weight training when we first get up, while the boys are watching their morning show. It takes away computer time for me, but is well worth the effort.

So far, I’ve been doing well. Over the last month, I’ve dropped my additional poundage, and started to get muscles in areas that were not so muscular before. I feel better overall, although I still have a mini afternoon crash of about a half hour. I am sleeping better as well – that is when the other members of my family don’t wake me up (count both boys, dh and the dog).

I haven’t completely counted out racing for this year. As I’ve worked my body through weight training, my running is improving despite how few miles I’ve logged this spring. I know that the overall strength I’m building is fueling that.

I’m still blogging regularly at my fitness blog – mostly just summaries of my encounters and feelings toward my workouts. I am working on eating subtly, too – but still refuse to embrace the diet mentality.

So that’s where I’m going these days!

 

The Run

Exercise has been a hard discipline this spring. Schedules, motivation, ambitions have all swirled together and left me scattered at times. Exercise is the thing that loses out in the midst of all this shuffling. April has been the best month for me this year, but every day I still fight to squeeze in the time.

Today, I slipped away for a 58 minute run. Most running days, I try and push myself in the 5-6 mile range because I might only run 3 times this week and I want to get the most bang. I take the extra 10 minutes here in case I don’t get that chance to go out the door.

I hit the road about 10 am, which is late in the day for me. I prefer the early morning runs,with a little chill in the air. By the time my rubber met the road, the sun was making short order of shade and the temps had climbed into the low 70s. Definitely, not my favorite weather.

I think that every run is different. I find a variety of ways to push myself, to challenge myself, to get faster and stronger. As I walk out that door, I really never know what the challenge will be until I’m there in the midst of it. This morning, I found the weather to be challenging as I lost my shade on the toughest part of the course. I don’t carry water on these shorter runs, so there is really no relief until I hit one of the few shades patches and then finally get to what we call the “woods” – a part of the trail that has woods on one side and houses on the other. It’s usually shady and in summertime once the leaves are fully on the trees, makes for a cool final mile in a run.

It was in the woods where I found the biggest challenge.

Pace. I stink when it comes to pacing. My Garmin has shown me that. Most days my data has me up and down, back and forth on speed. But it’s on those rare gems where my lines are smooth and steady that I find my best runs. So how do I get there. My last mile in the woods was my attempt at maintaining.

I knew my distance. I knew what I had left. So I tried to keep pace at the highest level possible. No, I was not running full out, but trying to get in rhythm and stay there or crank it up a notch if I could. The heat had faded behind the shade trees. The path was familiar. And so I pushed it.

At one point I decided that I felt like I was running up against a wall, trying to push it forward or maybe running in water. But I didn’t back down. I kept trying to turn it up. Or maybe it just felt that way.

Looking at my stats afterward, I did if for a very short distance, probably almost half a mile. It felt like more. But at least I was out there and working hard, burning calories and moving my muscles.

 

They Don’t Call it “Butts & Guts” for Nothing

I’d been languishing in the post sickness doldrums, still not feeling like doing anything. This was a few days ago when Gil was occupying my sewing room in the midst of his sickness. I got inspired…inspired to exercise. I didn’t really want to, but my bedroom is my nighttime retreat. With it locked up, essentially, I had no where to turn.

I had a new CatheDVD that I had gotten for Christmas, but never tried because of the rotator cuff thing that is still persisting. It’s called “Butts and Guts” and target’s your core and glutes. I’d watched it, but until I saw a PT last week, couldn’t confirm that I could actually do the exercises. With a little modification, I was ready to go. Well, kind of.

After the warm-up, the first segment is standing glutes. It starts with walking lunges, cascades into one-legged squats, dead lifts, and more squats. After two rounds, I hit the fire walkers – man they burn. Then a few more squat/lunge segments. Whew, and I wasn’t done yet.

Next it was the floor with ankle weights and so many exercises that I can’t even remember. I pushed through it, resting often. Then I hit abs. Youch! It was one tough segment. I didn’t get to finish up the stretches because of the needs of my dog…who had been pestering me since I hit the floor. I also didn’t get to the bonus section. I felt like I had done my share.

The next day, I wasn’t sore at all, except for my shoulder. Or, so I thought. Around 4 PM, the legs began to let me know that they had registered the workout, and overnight my abs lit up. Whoa! It really was some workout.

I want to mention that I am so out-of-shape in these areas of my body that I couldn’t do all of the exercise and had to modify on some. On the one-legged squats, I stopped part way through and just did a regular squat for the remainder of that portion. On a few of the floor exercises, I removed the ankle weights. I went down on the weights from what she was using. I also had a more limited range of motion on some exercises, and I went as far as I could.

Once upon a time, I used to think that a workout was too hard if I couldn’t do it just like the instructor. I’m a little more humble these days and up for the challenge of being able to work through this workout with less troubles and modifications.

Today, I have my energy back. I’ve done a million things – including running, taking my kids to Jamestown, making a huge supper, washing my floor, sending out packages, shopping, taking Bump for a bike ride…and the list goes on. Sometimes, all it takes is a little exercise to jump start that engine.

Next on my list – our taxes…maybe that can wait until another night.

 

What a Difference a Year Makes

Typically this is the time of year where we have a tendency to look at ourselves and try to do something different to make our lives better – that New Year’s Resolution. I have never been one to embrace such ventures, but usually like to look back to see what has evolved in the last year and encourage myself to continue the truths and pursuits that are the core in my life.

This year has been a lot about health and fitness. I took a look at my last year’s Christmas photos. I still looked pregnant in a way. I was 162 lbs. and wearing size 12-14 clothes. I had started back on the exercise trail, but things were slow going. Even in March at Bump’s birthday party, I looked horrible. I still was up in the 160s. I’d toned up a little to now squeeze into some 10s, but 12s were still more comfy. It was time to get serious.

By June, I’d gotten down into 8s, now weighed in the upper-140s. I was running 20-30 miles a week and doing weight training 2-3 times a week. While weight losses became much slower to come by, I still trimmed up. By the end of summer, I was back to my pre-pregnancy size, although still 5 lbs. up – probably a muscle mass issue (you know, muscle DOES really weigh more than fat.)

Fall brought jean season back – and all my favorites fit. It was so exciting. I continued to work out and as winter came into focus, the weight started dropping a little more. Now my miles are only about 15-20 per week. I was lifting 2x per week before my shoulder injury, and was starting to see the difference big time as I pushed myself a little to lift heavier weights.

And then Gil said, “You know, those jeans don’t fit you.” I was standing at the sink rinsing out some dishes, wearing my favorite jeans and feeling comfy. I stopped. I knew what he said was true. My favorite jeans – both pairs of them – had become too big for me. (Actually they were becoming a little ratty, too since I bought them in 2001.)

A year ago, all I wanted was to get back into my old clothes – to lose my post-pregnancy paunch. But I didn’t have much aspiration to push beyond that. My clothes didn’t fit. I wanted them to.

Along the way, I began to realize that exercise gave me many things that had been lacking in my life. I slept harder and needed less sleep. I had more energy and fewer weary moments. While I still wanted naps, I didn’t need as many of them. I could keep up with my kids better and my mind seemed clearer and more focused. I work out a lot of things in my head when I exercise – it’s a big stress reliever as well. And, it gives me a little liberty with my diet.

I don’t “diet”. I try to eat good foods, but have embraced a life of comfort eating. I graze, eating small portions of food here and there. Some of these portions are not so good for me, but I eat them in smaller quantities. They are my treats of the day. But I also eat good stuff – salads, fruit, whole grains – you know the foods. And somehow it works. I get my burritos and guacamole. I enjoy eating when I eat.

I’m not writing about all this to brag about my accomplishments, but to encourage so many of you who I know struggle with food, exercise and how your clothes fit. It’s worse in so many ways for women – especially the eating part. Gil just drastically cuts back on his eating when he’s trying to shed a few pounds. But he’s not handling food all day – buying it, preparing it, thinking about what to prepare, feeding it to others. All he has to do is worry about him. I live in my kitchen. I feed my kids, my husband, my dog and me. I’m constantly in the fridge or pantry for something or other. I plan to grocery shop, I shop, I read ads, I clip coupons. I search for easy recipes – online, in books and magazines, in my own recipe box. I prepare. I think about when I’m going to have time to prepare. I take things out of the freezer. I clean out the fridge. I wash and put away dishes. Very few moments go by in the crux of my day where I’m not food involved. I know it is the same for you.

I say to you – baby steps. Start making those little changes today. Walk for 20 minutes. Pass up dessert. Order salad instead of a hamburger. Drink water. Eat dinner on a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. Look at an exercise DVD or a class or whatever fits your schedule. Check thrift stores for used exercise equipment – or the newspaper. You know you better than I know you, so experiment and figure out what works. And do be discouraged by small setbacks. Don’t weigh yourself every day. Do a little more each time. Just a little. And while you won’t lose 20 lbs. in 2 weeks, at this time next year, you too could be saying…”Wow, what a difference a year makes!”