Health & Exercise: Yoga Update

So, after a week of doing yoga, I thought I would give a brief update.

I am already finding my flexibility improving.  Aside from missing a couple of sessions, I have been pretty good about staying consistent and I am already noticing an improvement.  Now, obviously, it hasn't been miraculous and the splits are still totally out of the question, but I can already feel myself being able to reach farther and stretch more.  I am also at a point of having both the Sun Salutation and Moon Salutation completely memorized.  Last week, I did 2 Sun Salutations and 1 Moon Salutation daily.  This week, I will do 3 Sun Salutations and 2 Moon Salutations daily and see how that goes.

After more work with my Parker, my massage therapist who does my trigger point massage, she says that my muscles are much shorter than they should be in some places.  That happens after lactic acid builds up (from improper stretching after exercise) and then calcifies.  This pushes muscles fibers out of the way and causes them to shorten from the tension.  As those muscles shorten and pull, it is going to pull on the opposite muscles too.  So, for instance, likely my issues started in my pectorals (the muscles in your chest).  As they shortened, they pulled my shoulders forward causing my aforementioned shoulder pain.  My shoulders no being properly aligned pulled on my back muscles and my back muscles pulled on my hips and neck.  

Thus, part of my therapy needs to be not only breaking up the lactic acid and increase circulation, but also stretching and lengthening my muscles.  This is going to make it so that my recovery lasts longer and my body heals properly.  There are many forms of exercise that increase flexibility and give a good stretch but I chose yoga for one reason. It's all stretching! I work out to build muscle and increase endurance but what I really needed was a good stretch and so that is what I am going to focus on.  And so far... so good!

Health & Exercise: Yoga daily

So, I get a lot of questions about what workouts are like for us Army people.  Well, right now, my Army workouts are decidedly lacking in stretching.  Another time, I will post how I have gotten myself into a position where health care professionals believe that stretching needs to be apart of my workout routine but the important part is, it does.

Before, I used to get most of my stretching out of Tae Kwon Do.  I was actually President of the Illini Tae Kwon Do Club in college and was an assistant instructor.  Anyone who remembers me during practice probably also remembers my inflexibility.  I have always been inflexible, but taking stretching out of my workouts has not only made my inflexibility worse, but it has also hurt my overall fitness levels.  (Flexibility is one of the five components of fitness).

But the important part in Tae Kwon Do wasn't about being more bendy than a bendy-straw, it was about constant improvement and effort.  However, I am no longer in a position to continue taking Tae Kwon Do classes because of time and scheduling as well as the money issue.  So, I needed to find a good exercise routine that focused on stretching and, of course, yoga came to mind.

Not knowing much about it except that it has the same principles towards flexibility as Tae Kwon Do, I started asking questions.  I learned the Sun Salutation from a free class on Wednesday mornings at the Iron Horse Physical Fitness Center on Fort Carson.  My massage therapist (who will likely come up again), Parker, also mentioned that there was a Moon Salutation.

So here is the basics of both.  The Sun Salutation is a great set of stretches to help you start the day and increase circulation. It helps boost your energy and a couple of iterations can take less than ten minutes.  Here is a link to the video I use in the mornings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2VSdskq73g&list=FLT66Y_-UNAry38C3t9Jm6MQ&index=1&feature=plpp_video.  The Moon Salutation is a great way to stretch out before bed without waking yourself up.  It takes less than five minutes to go through a couple of iterations.  In fact, it usually makes me yawn and more ready for bed.  Here is the link to the video I use in the evenings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1eF-Wl2AlU&list=FLT66Y_-UNAry38C3t9Jm6MQ&index=2&feature=plpp_video.  And of course, all you need is some space to stretch out and a tablet or computer, or even phone with some YouTube access.

Our living room.  My preferred Yoga room for some obvious reasons. 

So, this has just become part of my daily exercise routine.  It only adds about 15 minutes (at most), of exercise to my day, but I am already noticing subtle differences.  However, it means being diligent when I get up in the morning, before physical training (PT) and before I go to bed.  And getting up even a little bit earlier always sucks when you aren't a morning person (which I am not and am convinced I never will be).  But, I figure this is part of what starting a blog is for, some degree of accountability.  As a way for me to hold myself accountable to this new commitment.  And heck, maybe some day I will be flexible enough to post a video of the routine I go through.  But for now, I will just need to stick with it and see how it goes.  And for those of you that need a little boost of energy in the morning or need a chance to clear your head at the end of the day (which is such a stress reliever and can really help you sleep), should give it a try too!