Category Archives: training

The Tao of Weights

New equipment at the gym!  They replaced all the old Precor stuff with Hoist!  So exciting!  And best of all, this Hoist stuff moves as you push it, and press it, and pull on it, which makes it almost, (but not entirely,) amusing.

It was good to get back to it today, I must say.  Though I am weak as a kitten and there were times when I was just pretending to lift but in reality Tim was doing all the work.  He’s such a good guy. He didn’t have to do this.  And it was especially impressive since he had just swam 133 laps in the pool.

(So if you’re reading this: Thanks Timbo!  I really appreciate it.

(And people, I am not making up that number.  He really did swim 133 laps.)

But the important thing for me was that I did it. I got gym clothes on and walked there and presented my ID and changed my shoes and did it.

woot.

I now feel rebooted and that all systems are “GO.”  The challenge now is to be consistent. Consistency is the whole game.  I can’t lift everyday, because I need a day to recover, but every other day. Consistently.

The other thing  I have to remember is to forget.  I have to remember to focus on the now and forget about “cuts” and “guns” and all that other bushwah.  Because if I’m all focused on that end results-y stuff, there will be too much hard, and I don’t deal well with hard.

For me, it’s all about learning to love the path.  Because if I can’t love the path, I will never get into “flow,” and if I never get into “flow” then I won’t do it at all, and that will blow holes the size of grapefruits in the consistency thing.

Then the whole enterprise will have turned out to be a colossal waste of time and expensive Hoist equipment.  Am I right?

(Of course I am.)

 

Easing Into Fall

So just a short post tonight so I can get some sleep before my  alarm clock starts tweeting little birdy sounds in the dark at 4:30 in the morning.

Seasonal update: It’s getting colder.  How do I know this?  I had to wear gloves on my pranyama run this morning. And a little hat.

And by the way, I’m no longer calling it running, or even jogging but pranayama, because that’s what it is: it’s Bastrika pranayam pure and simple.  But the longest I’ve ever done Bastrika up till now was maybe in sets of 30 for 5 minutes with breaks in between to recover.  This is 23 minutes of continuous strong, horsey breathing.  I’m dizzy for quite a while after I stop, which is kinda scary, but also kind of a rush. (oh, still a child of the 60s.)

I emptied the composter today.  We have one of those tumbler ones, and it’s not making compost in these temps.  That, and the need for a hat is how  I know the season is changing.  Plus, all the tomato plants are dead and creepy looking.

And my velvet comforter is now back on my bed with its heavy, cozy wonderfulness, replacing the light, daylight-savings time, happy cotton madras one.  *a little sniff here*

And I now have my long-sleeved warmer jammies on.

And I’m sipping hot tea all day now, instead of the fizzy, mineraly San Pellegrino.

And it was dark halfway into my yoga class tonight and I need to remember to bring the little tea lights in for savasana.

My new eating and exercise and working plan is surprisingly okay.  Here’s the formula: do active things from 6 AM to 10 AM: exercise, cleaning, laundry, gardening, what-have-you.

From 10 to 2 PM: eat.  A lot.  Like Thanksgiving a lot.  Big meal.  After you eat, lie down on your left side for 10 minutes.  Then get up and take a 15 minute walk.

From 2 to 6 PM Work with your brain.  Write, read, figure things out–whatever  your intellectual thing is.

From 6 to 7 PM if you didn’t fit your exercise in in the morning, you have a little tiny window now, but really, try not to let it come to this. It shouldn’t be too heavy though, or it will bother your sleep.

Have  very small evening meal, if  you need one.  If you can go without, do. Some soup maybe.  Or a little salad. That’s it. Go to bed a little empty, even a little hungry.  It’s good for you.  Sleep is heavenly!

Sleep from 10 PM to 6 and then start over.

That’s my plan.  And it’s almost 10 now, and the birds chirp at 4:30, so g’night!

An 18-Day Experiment

Yesterday while I was practicing my new Fall Flow sequence and I was sweating and feeling a little awkward, it suddenly occurred to me that in a measly 18 days I am going to the Yoganand-a-Thon and I am NOT READY!

Not that I ever feel entirely ready for the rigors of training with Yoganand, but this particular line-up of postures has me reeling.

Here they are:

Angled Shoulderstand, Balancing Pigeon, Bound Lotus, Folded Tree, Half Camel, Handstand, Head to One Foot Pose, Headstand, Inverted Rabbit, Lifted Staff, Noose Posture, Pigeon Variations, Plow, Rabbit, Rooster, Scorpion, Seated 4 Angle Pose, Sideways Crow, Swallow, Swing Pose

This is a ridiculous amount of arm and shoulder work. But here’s the thing: it’s not important that I be able to do all these poses, only be able to teach them.  However…

That being said, I will have to try to do all of them, in a room with other teachers who WILL be able to do them.

But it goes deeper than that.  I feel I should be stronger. I feel I can be stronger.  But I can’t be strong enough in 18 days, but I can start.

Today I committed to a more balanced and ayurvedic approach to eating, exercising, and working. Nasal breathing when I run, one big meal mid-day, and 2 very small ones at breakfast and dinner.  And instead of working in the morning, doing my brain work in the afternoon.

We shall see. I want to see how fast I can reduce body fat and muscle up using an ayurvedic approach. I am using John Douillard’s Body, Mind and Sport as my guide in this.

I’ll post results daily until September 30th when I leave.

100 Recipes #5 Flat Belly Brownies (FAIL)

So, keeping with the Belly Fat theme, I made these brownies today.

They are the most god-awful tasting brownies in brownie-dom.  They’re not nearly sweet enough, and the texture is what I imagine recycled paper towels might taste like

If this is what it takes to have a flat belly, I’m depressed.

But it’s not.  I know that.

I had a great workout with Tim at a different gym today. I fell in love with this machine.  It’s made by a company called “Hoist,” so that’s what I call it: the Hoist.  I want one for my living room.  I think it would look awesome there, right next to the Rothko print.

It has a barbells on gliders, on GLIDERS!  And Tim showed me all kinds of torturous moves I can do on it.  And he took VIDEO!  You wanna see?

Sorry.  Not yet.  The video he took today is the “Before” video.  In a month, when I am looking all buffalicious, I’ll use it for dramatic contrast..

In the meantime, I want you all to rest this weekend, read a good book, and don’t bother making those brownies.

Eat Halloween candy instead.

The Power of Stickers

I was once a teacher so I know the power of stickers.  Put a sticker on a kid’s paper and that’s all it takes to make that kid’s day.  Promise a sticker to a kid for good effort and that kid will work like the devil.

Go figure.

I was telling Tim the other day about my streaks and how I am motivated by streaks; by keeping something going for as long as I can: this blog 5 times a week, my hour meditation every day, my paper journal-writing every day.

I now have a workout calendar and I’ve started a new streak (though it won’t be a streak “officially” until I’m 10 days in.)  The deal is that I am going to do something worky-outy every day: hike, bike, lift, run the stairs, etc.

Today Tim and I did Yoganand’s Pranakriya Yoga Workout, which is kick-asana.  He brought me stickers to put on my calendar for everyday I work out.  Little smileys with sweatbands.

I don’t really need external motiviation to keep going, but damn, these stickers are awesome.

stickers2

 

 

Belly Fat

On Monday Tim assessed my fitness in an effort to target my weight lifting regimen to meet my goals.

There was a “Flexibility” Test and a “Push-Up” Test and a “How-Far-Up-Can-You-Jump-and Touch-A-Spot-On-The-Wall” Test.

Measurements were taken at the bust, bicep, waist and thigh.  And I went on the scale.

(Does this give you some idea how much I must trust Tim?  I went on THE SCALE, people. And I told him THE NUMBER.  I only do this for people in lab coats, with clip boards, wearing name tags, who have already taken my insurance numbers and a coupla vials of blood.

I weigh 111.  My waist is 27 inches.  I forget the bicep number and the thigh number, but he wrote it all down.

In the push-up department, I can barely do 8.  My flexibility (ahem) is “above average.”

My goal is to have a 25 inch waist (by Thanksgiving) and to build my upper body strength to the point where I am able to bench press 80 lbs. (not by Thanksgiving.) This is what Tim’s assessment test results said I should be able to do.

So, what this means is that all my training from here on out is going to be focused on building upper body strength, and in the process, reducing belly fat.  (omg I cannot  believe I actually said the words “belly fat”)

But hey. Now that I think of it, if I put “Belly Fat” as the title of this post I might get hundreds of people to subscribe to this blog.  Could work.  Let’s make a game of it.  If you want to hear more about my BELLY FAT, hit the RSS feed button right there on my  sidebar above “Categories,” or up at the url address of this site.  Go ahead.  I dare you.)

So, back to the gym.

In the hand weight department, the heaviest ones I can I can pick up at this point (notice I did not say lift, I said “pick up”) are the 20s.  I can maybe do 10 chest presses with the 20s, but only if Tim hands them to me once I get into position, and then takes them off my hands when I make that dog-just-hit-by-a-car whimpering sound.

I looked at the 40 lb hand weights today, and don’t tell Tim I said this, but I cannot even imagine the person I will have to morph into in order to pick up those babies.  I will have to become…dare I say it?  Strong.

Strong of body, I mean  I am strong in lots of other ways, but I’ve never been strong in my body.  I am somewhat flexible from years of yoga.  And I can endure aerobic things for a while, and I can endure lots of mental pain and suffering.

I don’t even blink at the prospect of a root canal or an exam of my lady parts.  But lifting very heavy things?  No.  You would never ask me to help you move your couch.  Me, you would ask to move into the living room for coffee and cake.

I am kinda worried about this inability to conjure up in my imagination the me who will someday be able to hoist aloft 40 pound weights with nary a blink.  Who will that person be??  What will she look like?  What will she do with all this newfound strength?

Move your Barcalounger?

Kick up into a handstand?

I can’t fathom it.