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Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Today I had the worst practice session I’ve had in a long time. It was probably mostly my fault… I noticed as I was starting that I felt somewhat lightheaded and off-balance. Unfortunately, I decided that continuing on with the session was probably a good idea, because it might help me get over the disorientation. Unfortunately, because I was trying to complete the cycle of five, I chose to do the last remaining session from that cycle, which happened to be Yoga for Strength session 2. The problem with that is that it’s the session that requires the greatest amount of balance, by far. I should have aborted the session when I had trouble with side-arm balance, which I’ve been able to do easily pretty much ever since I started. However, I continued on, performing at a mediocre level with the notable exceptions of half-moon pose, which is normally not a strong pose, but I can handle it, and brave warrior, during which I very nearly fell over. I probably would have ended the session then, except I knew it was the last standing balance, so I continued through to try and recover what I could of the practice. It ended alright, but it was still a warning that I should pay attention when my body doesn’t feel capable of doing a session, and particularly not to pick a session that’s likely to directly confront feelings of illness or disorientation.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

I’m beginning to feel that doing the Yoga for Strength session 1 is a reward for getting through the rest of the sessions in the week. Yeah, it’s somewhat taxing, particularly with the headstand preparations, and yeah, the two minutes of dog pose is killer on the shoulders. Especially since as I predicted, the slight modification to my downward dog has resulted in needing to build the shoulder muscles up in a slightly different place than I was previously working, which means that two minutes of dog pose is pretty painful again. But then when I get to the end, with shoulderstand, it all seems worth it. It is described as a cooling pose, and while I certainly wouldn’t have believed it when I started, it feels like one now. It’s one of those amazing things about getting into yoga, I guess, where the poses start to feel like they’re supposed to feel. On the other hand, downward dog is supposed to eventually feel relaxing, too, so I guess we’ll have to reserve judgment on that for now. Because as of right now, it still feels like my shoulders are going to fall off when I have to hold it for those two minutes. But perhaps in a month or so I’ll feel differently, as I continue to progress in my practice.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

So after yesterday’s success, I decided to try and step my practices up a notch. As I suggested I might last week, I decided to combine two of the Power Yoga workouts, Stamina and Strength. It certainly upped the level of challenge, as I was nearly unable to complete the Strength workout due to fatigue. However, while it was certainly challenging while in progress, I think that in the end I felt more rewarded than if I had only done one workout. I don’t believe that my technique was impaired due to doing the workouts consecutively. However, I did notice that the sessions, particularly in the middle, move a little too quickly. This is both a positive and a negative. Positive, because it gives a more aerobic workout; negative, because it doesn’t really give you time to fully get into the poses before moving on to the next one. I particularly noticed this with the downward dog, as I did not have time to extend my spine back fully before moving again. I suppose I notice this in particular now as I try to work on my technique for downward dog, and thus notice when I’m not reaching full extension in the pose. I suppose it is probably designed that way, though, since at a few points in the workout we’re told to “extend fully into downward dog”, during which we spend more time in the pose. Too much time, according to my poor shoulders. Overall, however, I have to regard the experiment as successful, and hopefully will be able to incorporate the other two proposed combinations into my schedule, though I fear that Strength and Flexibility back-to-back might be more than I can handle right now. We’ll find out later in the week, I imagine.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility, Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Did a combined Power Yoga Stamina/Flexibility workout earlier today. It went pretty well, I think… felt easier than the Stamina/Strength workout, but then again, I think that Strength is the most physically demanding of the three. While the overall effect of doing two of the workouts in a row is greater exertion of the body and greater fatigue at the end of the workout, I have noticed a distinct benefit in the two combined sessions I’ve done. By the time I start the second of the two sessions, I’m much more focused than when I start the first session. I think this really contributes to the effectiveness of the workout, since my mind is much more in tune with my body by that point. I’ll have to continue to monitor the situation, but I definitely see benefits to the total workout package as opposed to doing them all separately.
I’m not quite certain what I’m going to do in terms of scheduling… I definitely don’t think I’m capable of doing double Power Yoga workouts on back-to-back days, so I suspect I’m just going to have to go back and forth between those and the Yoga for Strength workouts. I suppose it probably works out about the same, since I’ll be doing the Power Yoga workouts twice for every cycle I do. Might actually even end up being less Yoga for Strength, relatively, although it’ll probably be a greater amount overall. Depends on whether or not I continue to take days off, since I’m getting to the point where I’m not particularly sore, at least not to the point where I can’t do my workout. Anyway, just a couple of ideas, I’m sure something will work out.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Wow. Completed my first Power Yoga: Strength + Flexibility routine today. I made it through, although it was pretty tough going, particularly close to the end. In part, that’s because it should be a challenging set anyway, but I think part of it is because my front deltoids have become quite fatigued. I think this is mostly due to a combination of adjusting my downward dog, such that the fronts are more affected, and doing the double Power Yoga sessions, which takes more out of me. Overall, I’m fairly pleased with my progress… certainly, I wouldn’t have been able to do consecutive sessions of anything back in March or April, or even a month ago. On the other hand, it sometimes feels like my progress is slow… but I think that I’ve just become relatively impatient for results. Really, I am continuing to make subtle improvements and expand the number of poses that I can successfully do pretty well, but a few of the elusive ones (pendulum pose in particular) tend to stick in the mind, I guess. However, it feels like a few poses are really becoming strong, crane pose being the most notable of those.
Anyway, I think I may have been premature in thinking that I could stop taking days off. While I may not be experiencing a lot of soreness anymore, muscle fatigue is perhaps just as good, or perhaps even better, in making a day or two of rest seem like a good idea. I’ll probably try to get in a good Yoga for Strength session two workout tomorrow, and depending on how I feel during and after that, may decide to take a few days off to rest.
On a slightly different note, I’ve finally gotten around to linking to a few of the more often mentioned poses, as well as pictures of the DVDs that I’m using. Unfortunately, I still haven’t managed to find a picture for pendulum pose. Overall, I think the site could still use a little sprucing up, which I’ll probably just tackle gradually. Perhaps integrate an actual background or something crazy like that. Anyway, we’ll see what happens… probably nothing too dramatic.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Just 10 days after having perhaps my worst workout ever in terms of my capabilities vs. my performance, I managed to have one of my best workouts ever. Amusingly enough, it was on the same workout, Yoga for Strength session 2. I think I’ve finally conquered brave warrior… although I couldn’t hold it for the length of time shown on the disc, I was able to get into it, and finally understand how to get into it consistently. Holding it for longer will just be a matter of increasing strength, probably, or not having my hamstrings be all sore. Either way, it’s no longer an obstacle. Half moon was also quite successful, pretty much perfect, with perhaps just a slight wobble on the right side. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with it lately, so I’ll have to wait and see if I’ve got that one figured out or not for sure, though I was certainly confident going into it today. I was very pleased with crane pose… I’m pretty sure that’s now firmly in my list of poses that I’m solid with. The only negative point was pendulum pose, which has now become my nemesis, being the only pose in any of the workouts that I really can’t hit at all. I think it’s still mostly a matter of not enough strength, but I think perhaps my improved downward dog technique will help correct that. Certainly, I’ll be starting to focus my energies heavily on that, since I’ll feel pretty good about looking to advance to a new level of poses after I start being able to do pendulum.
However, I did note that my front deltoids are still pretty fatigued, even more so than directly after doing my session yesterday, I think. Unfortunately, it looks like I’m going to have to take a few days off in order to let them recover somewhat. I’m not thrilled with the idea, but when even doing a pose like exalted warrior that doesn’t put any weight on them causes the fatigue to be felt, it’s time to give it a rest, I think. So, I’ll probably take off until at least Sunday, and then try to evaluate how my shoulders feel. I think I’ll come back on Tuesday at the very latest, because I don’t want to get out of the habit of regular workouts. Alternately, maybe I should scale my power yoga workouts back to single sessions, at least until my shoulders have strengthed from the downward dog change. Either way, a few days off is in order, so I’ll be sure to report when I return, probably Sunday or Monday.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

Returned today with a Yoga for Strength session one practice. It went reasonably well, although my front deltoids still feel fatigued. I’m not sure how much time it might take for them to feel fully recovered. I decided to just rest through the two minute downward dog, as that seemed like it would really stretch the limits again. I might have to adjust my practices for a little while to focus on sessions that work that area a little less. I’m definitely hesitant to take more time off, and I’m not certain that it would be good, or necessary. I think if I just exercise caution in my workouts, I’ll probably be okay. To that effect, I’ll probably be going back to the single Power Yoga workout at a time, at least for the moment. The burn won’t be quite as intense, but hopefully I’ll be able to get back to the double workouts in a few weeks. At any rate, it was good to get back into the workout, even if the results were a little disappointing.
On a more administrative note, I’ve spruced up the site design a little bit. Included a sidebar in the archive pages, which should help make the site more accessible to anybody that might happen to jump in on the archive pages. Cleaned up the colors in the archives, incorporated the SimpleComments plugin, made the comment windows resizable. That’s probably most of it. I think it’s pretty much done for now, except for a few slight color changes, mostly varying shades of black to gray. I might see about incorporating pictures of the poses more directly into the site, but then again, I might not. As always, further news as events warrant.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Had a relatively light workout with a Power Yoga: Stamina session. On the negative side, I don’t really feel like I had an extensive workout… didn’t really push myself in any way, or make any improvements. On the positive side, while my shoulders did object a bit, particularly at the beginning, it felt as though after they warmed up they weren’t straining much. That’s a reversal from the trends of the past week, where the fatigue kept increasing as the workout progressed, so it’s possibly a sign that they’re starting to recover. On the other hand, it could be a sign that I’m adjusting my poses to compensate, which wouldn’t be good. But I don’t really think that’s the case, so I’ll regard it as a positive sign for the moment.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Went with the expected Yoga for Strength session 2 workout today. It was somewhat interesting, in that I think I did pretty much as well with it as I did last Thursday, and yet I wasn’t terribly pumped up about the matter at all. Really, I think it went better than last time, as I think both my pendulum pose and my crane pose were better, and everything else was pretty much the same. Brave warrior was also a little stronger, especially on the left, which I held for just short of the time used on the video. It didn’t seem terribly fulfilling, though, and I’m not entirely certain why. Perhaps it had something to do with my pre-workout attitude, where I was uncertain about whether or not I wanted to actually do the workout. Whatever, hopefully I’ll be more fully invested in my workout tomorrow.
On the plus side, while I’m still feeling a bit of fatigue in the shoulders, the fatigue was far less going through the workout today than it was last Thursday. I’m still planning on taking it easy for a few more days, not overextending into double Power Yoga workouts, but hopefully I’ll be getting back to that by the end of next week at the latest.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

Ran through a Power Yoga: Flexibility workout today. Normally I’d have done a PY:Strength workout, but I’m still trying to avoid overworking those shoulders, which isn’t terribly compatible with Strength. So I went with the slightly less intense Flexibility workout. I like the workout, because I think it really is helping me become more flexible. Still, it seems like progress is slow in this area. I’ve always blamed my knees for my inability to do certain things, like lotus position, but I’m becoming more of the opinion that the problem isn’t actually in the knees, but the hips. Perhaps the greatest indication of this is in when the legs are in cobbler’s position, since my knees are nowhere near the ground, really, although (in theory), they should be on the ground. They’re obviously not the problem there, so what is? Pretty much has to be the hips. Same with lotus, since it basically works off of that… if neither knee can get close to the ground, it becomes far more difficult to bring one foot above the other leg, much less both at the same time. Still, it seems like improvements are being made, particularly in the realm of forward bends, and there does seem to be a slight improvement in hip flexibility, so hopefully continued practice will start to work through these issues.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

Decided to take yesterday off, both because I wanted to rest my shoulders a bit more and because I really didn’t have a very good time to do the workout. Started another cycle today with Yoga for Strength session 1. It went fairly well, I think… having someone available to critique your form is always helpful. Decided to rest through the two minute downward dog again, since I’m definitely still feeling some fatigue, though it seems to be getting better still. I’m thinking my original estimate of being back at full strength by the end of the week might be overly optimistic, though. I’m now looking at being back to going through a complete set of all five workouts straight, now. Possibly in this cycle, or if not, then pretty much definitely in the next cycle, barring unforeseen complications.
It has been suggested that I should post some sort of description of each of the workouts, so I might get to that one of these days. I’m not certain if it would be useful or not, but I suppose it might at least clarify some of what I’m always talking about. Anyway, look for that to happen sometime, perhaps in a few weeks.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Power Yoga: Stamina today. It felt pretty good… most importantly, I think, was the fact that I didn’t feel like my shoulders were fatigued at any point in the workout. This is quite promising for the resurrection of a more challenging overall workout. The situation will still have to be monitored carefully… I think tomorrow’s workout will probably be fairly revealing as to the extent of the healing. Stamina runs you through dog pose a number of times, but doesn’t really have any long holds to put a lot of strain on the shoulders. I suppose Yoga for Strength session two doesn’t strain the shoulders much either, so perhaps it won’t be overly revealing. Either Power Yoga: Strength or Power Yoga: Flexibility will be informative, though. It’s tempting to say that I’m going to put Strength back in this cycle, but perhaps premature. Difficult to say right now. At any rate, I’ll likely be doing the YfS:2 workout tomorrow, so I’ll probably have to wait until Tuesday to really test the shoulders out.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Went with the planned Yoga for Strength session 2 workout today. As predicted, it didn’t really test my deltoids much, as it’s a fairly non-intensive workout in that respect. However, in the last few workouts I have noticed that when my deltoids aren’t feeling like they’re being overly strained, they’ve felt stronger than they were before. Hopefully this signifies that the muscle has been building (as it’s supposed to) in response to the strain being placed upon it, and now the “easier” segments are allowing it to heal. With any luck, I’ll soon be back to full workouts, with added strength in the deltoids. Perhaps this will enable me to get to the point where downward dog actually feels like a “resting” pose, as it theoretically does when you’re really good at it.
As for the workout itself, fairly typical… I decided to try something new, and stuck a tape measure by the mat so I could actually see how far four feet is… as I suspected, I often extend my legs further than I need to (should?), which might have some effect on the “correctness” of the pose. I’ll probably try to watch that in upcoming workouts, and see if my poses seem more accurate with a slightly shorter extension. Other than that… brave warrior went fairly well, though it’s one where I definitely need someone to critique the pose, or I need to be in front of a big mirror. I tried to make sure my back leg was high enough, but of course that causes me to fall over. Pendulum pose seems to be improving a little bit, or at least I’m now able to get off the ground for a small amount of time. Crane pose feels good, though I’m going to try and get some critique on that, too, just to make sure my form looks right. Anyway, a fairly successful workout, hopefully getting me ready for tomorrow.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

After taking a day off in the middle of the cycle, I decided to go ahead and put my body to the test with a Power Yoga: Strength workout today. My main concern was that it would prove to be more than my front deltoids were ready for, and I’d end up straining or fatiguing them again. While the workout certainly made them a little tired, I don’t know that it was nearly as bad as I was fearing it might be. I think this was partly because I seem to be getting a little bit better at putting my weight on my legs, like I’m supposed to be. It seems very unnatural at first that the weight of the body could be on the legs, but I think that perhaps when you finally start to achieve full extension of the spine, that starts to happen. If that’s the case, and I’m finally starting to achieve this, that’ll be great… I’m certain my progress will be quicker if I’m not getting worn out from downward dog. Particularly with a workout such as PY:Strength, which seemingly has an endless amount of downward dog poses to be done. I’m still not certain whether I consider this or YfS:1 to be the more intense workout in terms of downward dog, but they’re both pretty mean. Anyway, I think I made it through alright, though it’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow to really be sure. For now, I’m hopeful that I’m successfully recovering without being excessively cautious, and also without causing further injury.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

Finished the cycle with Power Yoga: Flexibility today. It definitely made apparent that my deltoids hadn’t recovered as fully as I might have liked to believe… there was definitely more fatigue involved with tonight’s workout than any other workout lately, most likely due to yesterday’s workout. On the plus side, I continued working on taking the weight of the body in downward dog onto my legs instead of my arms, and that is helping a little. It’ll probably take a little while for that to have a major effect on the difficulty of a given workout, but small steps, and all that.
Otherwise, a pretty routine Flexibility workout. I really enjoy doing the forward bends in this workout, perhaps just because it gives me a feeling of progressing. It seems like every time I do the workout, I can bend just a little bit further forward. In addition to helping the forward bends themselves, that’s the type of extension of the spine that the downward dog utilizes, so it helps with that as well. Anyway, I’ll quite likely take tomorrow off, keep resting the deltoids to hopefully promote quicker recovery.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Did a Power Yoga: Stamina workout today. Wasn’t really very motivated, but I wanted to get a workout in, and that’s probably the easiest one to just go ahead and do. Nothing particularly interesting about the workout itself. I have noticed, however, that I don’t have my front leg in the correct position in several of the poses, or at least I often don’t. That’s because the front leg is supposed to be bent into a right angle, but that’s supposed to be the bottom and back of the leg, not the top and front. The problem is that it’s rather difficult to judge from above if you’re actually bending the leg the correct amount. I think I need to practice these poses in front of a mirror for a while, at least until I get the sense of the correct angle as viewed from the top, or in the feeling of the muscles themselves. That’s my observation for the day, hopefully I’ll be able to make some progress with it in the coming weeks.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

I’ve been feeling a lack of motivation to do yoga for the last 4 or 5 days. Which is part of the reason that my workouts have been a little more spread out than they would otherwise be. I’m not really certain as to the causes of this lack of motivation… perhaps it is most attributable to a general lethargy that I’ve been experiencing. Whatever the cause, I’m just trying to muddle through for the moment, until I either regain my motivation or decide to take a little time off, hopefully to recover my motivation from absence.
Anyway, did a Yoga for Strength session one workout today. It felt okay, a little bit of strain on the shoulders, particularly when holding downward dog for extended periods. I did go for the 2 minute downward dog this time, probably made about a minute and a half before calling it in, so that’s better. Trying to tweak triangle pose a little, it seems like it’s about right, but maybe just a little bit off. Also was trying to maintain a right angle bend for side stretch pose, which perhaps makes it a little easier than what I was doing before… I think I was previously extending too far forward, and drawing off of my back leg more than I should have been. Nothing much else… shoulderstand hasn’t felt quite as rewarding the last few times, but perhaps that’s a sign that I’ve been improving my posture overall. I’m not sure about that, though.
Anyway, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow, I’m planning on getting another workout in, so hopefully the motivation will hold up a little. Admittedly, I always feel at least as good, and often better than I did before the workout on those occasions where I don’t feel like doing the workout. Sometimes just knowing yourself like that can help you through a loss in motivation, so hopefully I’ll break out of this pretty soon.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

My motivation levels were slightly higher today. I felt like I wanted to do a workout, but I had some trouble deciding on which one. Eventually I decided that I just wasn’t in the mood for a slow-paced workout, so I ended up going with Power Yoga: Flexibility. It wasn’t really in sequence, but I was highly uncertain that I was up to a Power Yoga: Strength workout, and I didn’t really feel like doing one, anyway.
The workout itself went fairly well, not a whole lot of note. It’s nice when you get to the end of the workout, and your legs feel so much more flexible and stretched than they did when you started. Of course, that’s pretty much the idea, I suppose. Really, today was just a regular Flexibility workout.
Also, my deltoids didn’t feel terribly strained by today’s workout, which was a good sign. I was concerned that I may have overexerted myself with yesterday’s workout, particularly with trying to get through the two minute downward dog. However, I’m still planning on taking it easy for a little while, until I feel like I can do a good hard workout with risking further injury.