Comments on: Building Stamina Through Yoga

By: Ambitious

Ambitious — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:44:47 +0000

I don't know how well you could there.
In many ways, large parts of the country are still quite primitive and not sophisticatd enough to deal with the necessary 'breaches', etc.

By: artgrl8163

artgrl8163 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:33:15 +0000

I liked Carmen Electra's strip tease workout. It was fun and I felt the workout. Yoga Booty Ballet is the best out of the ones you listed

By: John S

John S — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:22:40 +0000

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:53:41 +0000

I haven't taken a class at LA Fitness, but have done lots of yoga. Generally you need a yoga mat, towel, loose fitting clothing, and a bottle of water. That's about it. If you don't have a mat, you can sometimes borrow one from the gym, but you should check with them. They are pretty cheap (about $20) so I would get one of my own as the tend to get pretty sweaty!

By: Strykur

Strykur — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:32:52 +0000

We spend most of our life in a forward flexed position, whether it be hunched over a desk, bending forward to pick things up. slouched in a couch. Most of our world encourages us to lean forward, so we typically have good flexion mobility. However, we then lose our ability to extend our spines (ie bend backward). This leads to extra stress and pressure on discs, ligaments, and our back muscles are forced to work harder to hold us up. This can cause burning, pain, and sometimes tingling.

Lying back over the exercise ball is a great way to take your spinal joints through their full extension range of motion with the assistance of gravity. Your extensor muscles relax and the forward curvature is reversed to a degree (depending how flexible you are). To get a gentle stretch just let some of the air out of the ball. To progress for a more intense stretch just pump up the ball so it's firmer. The spine worx device looks pretty rigid and is probably much more expensive than the ball, so I would try a ball first. Remember that once you get the mobility, you need to be able to control it. ie you need to be able to maintain a good postural alignment in standing and during activity. The exercise ball can help you in that regard as well.

By strengthening the deep core stabilizers you will be able to maintain your postural alignment. The spine worx doesn't offer that versatility.

Here's a great website that'll show you some stretches over the exercise ball and some strengthening exercises as well so you can maintain that postural alignment:
http://www.exercise-ball-exercises.com

By: J F

J F — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:48:04 +0000

I recently bought a home gym. It is made by PowerTech and called the 'workbench'. It is great!! It took a while to setup…the directions weren't great but the machine is!! I bought it at Dick's Sporting Goods. 8ft by 11ft. It was $1000 without the weights…so I guess it depends on how serious you are and how much you have to spend.
It would be a lot of money to spend if a month or two from now you aren't using it much.

By: Madelyn

Madelyn — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:35:42 +0000

It does both. Yoga is progressive. The mmore limber you become, the more you can do. Holding those poses is harder than it looks, and a good yoga session will leave you drenched in sweat like any other workout.

By: opuspenguin

opuspenguin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:28:33 +0000

Ashtanga is great, like the above answer says. However, I find a traditional ashtanga practice to be too rigid – it's the exact same poses every class, and much of the primary series (which will be the focus of most ashtanga classes you get at gyms, studios, etc.) is a seated sequence that I find rather monotonous. In most ashtanga classes, each posture is held for 5 breaths.

I prefer a vinyasa flow style or "power yoga" class (which has roots in ashtanga, but is not as rigid – its sequencing is pretty much up to the instructor). In terms of strength and fitness, Bikram Yoga is great for cardio/strength – it is a fixed sequence of 26 postures done in a room heated to 90-something degrees. You will likely either love Bikram or hate it – if you try it, be sure to hydrate well in the 24 hours before you go, and bring a lot of water and a large towel (or 2) – you sweat a LOT (I'm not a fan of this form of yoga, for a couple of reasons, one being that I get so dehydrated afterwards no matter how much water I drink that I get pounding headaches; also I find it hard to hold some of the postures when I am literally soaked from head to toe). The purpose of heating the room to such a degree is that your muscles are more pliable as they heat up, and you can more easily get into postures.

Other types I find physically challenging – Jivamukti, Iyengar (can be a slower flow, but is challenging because you hold the poses for longer and really focus on alignment), Forrest (each pose is held for a really long time) and Taoist (I had a great Taoist teacher who moved away – most studios don't offer this style, it's not really mainstream in my experience).

Types that you may want to stay away from (more spiritual and/or restorative than physical) – Kundalini, Kripalu, Svaroopa. Hatha classes can be harder, or more geared towards beginners – it really depends on the instructor.

Good luck – I've been practicing yoga for about 4 years, and it is one of the best things I ever started doing. If I can help with class/studio recommendations in your area, let me know!

By: Stefanie B

Stefanie B — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:22:15 +0000

Curves