Today’s Workout Track

I went into the gym today determined to get a decent workout in.  After the holiday break (Thanksgiving to New Years) I am left with 8 more pounds than I wanted.  Mix in a busy schedule of grad school finals, work, and travelling from here to there I hardly had time to make it to the climbing gym I enjoy so much.  It is a new year and it’s a perfect time for a fresh start.

For those that don’t already know I love good electronic music.  A blend of electro, hip-hop beats, cleverly utilized vocal samples are what I needed on the treadmill today.  I’d like to share this track with you so that you can have as much fun on the treadmill as I did today.  (If it were just a little warmer this evening I would have gone outside to run, but alas, it’s January.)

I downloaded this mp3 from BwompBeats.com months back and decided I needed a good 20-minute mixtape to keep me going.  You can download the track here:  MiMOSA’S FUTURE TRiLL MiX 2012 v2 (note: contains explicit content).

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Primary Series Key

For a good amount of the spring and summer time of last year I practiced yoga at home.  My room is not the best place to spread out, but there was enough to work with.  On the wall I taped a great instruction sheet that my friend gave me onto my wall.  As I stand at the top of my mat, I would gaze forward to reference the sequence of the standing postures and then began breathing through the movements.  Not only do I like how this key shows you the fully expressed variation of the posture and how it reminds you when to inhale and exhale during salutations, but it also prompts you when to go through a vinyasa during the sequence of postures.

If you are unfamiliar, a vinyasa is the ‘standard sequence’ that can be performed between asanas, or postures.  The sequence usually begins with plank, then exhale down to chaturanga, inhale into up-dog, then bringing the hips back and exhale into down-dog; reference the sheet below in the section titled Suryanamaskara-A Sun Salute. 

One of the important things when practicing yoga is to remember where your gaze is.  I’m glad to see that when it shows where to gaze when holding and breathing through an asana.

So without further ado, I share with you this key that was printed by Yoga Sport located in Bryn Mawr, PA.

Always remember to take full and deep breaths in and out of your nose, listen to what your body is telling you, and to have fun!

I Found an Old Workout Sheet

I had forgotten about this great workout routine I had found online some time ago.  I was wondering where it went!  I recently opened it up when I found it hiding in my journal and I observed all the notes I made for what worked for me at the time.  This document was printed out the summer of 2010 when I was getting more and more serious about training for parkour.  The descriptions are plain and simple.  (If you are not familiar on how to do these exercises properly, I suggest you search youtube for proper techniques.)  There are dynamic moves that require weights to be thrusted or swung about so I wrote down the weights that are comfortable for me.  Read over the whole routine before starting so that you pick and choose and plan out how you want your workout session to go.

If you are looking to gain more strength, flexibility, and stamina, I suggest you try this full-body workout that can help you build an able and healthy body.

Link: Parkour Training Workout Sheet

Good Luck and always remember to listen to what your body is telling you!  Be nice to it and it will be nice to you.  Happy Exercising!

PS.  I unfortunately don’t have the source of this sheet, but if you know who wrote this out, please send me their information so that I can give them proper credit.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Breakfast is an extremely important meal for me because I work construction. I need as much energy as I can get and the most efficient way for my body to get it is by consistently fueling it every morning. Not with donuts, sugar or cake,  but with hearty and healthy ingredients that I trust will keep me going until snack time.

A Guide to Sun Salutations

I found this on StubleUpon somewhere and thought this was a cool way to represent the flow of postures when practicing Sun Salutations.  Something to remember when practicing yoga is that you are always moving with your breath.  As a general rule of thumb, your inhale comes when you raise the arms over head and on up-dogs, and your exhale is released on forward folds and down-dogs.  If you are already familiar Sun Salutation A, but have not gone further in your practice then this is a good resource to reference modifications and deepen your yogic practice.

Print this out and hang on your wall for best results.

And if you don’t “do” yoga, you can start by taking a couple minutes every morning when you get out of bed and doing Half Surya Namaskara just to loosen up your muscles, get some blood flowing, and wake up your spine.  I Googled Sun Salutations and found this nice little post outlining the basics of this simple, yet highly beneficial exercise.(http://www.artofliving.org/sun-salutation)  Here is another article that goes deeper into the benefits of this practice (http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/news/surya.html).