BBM Connection

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Finally got back to abs work today. The absence from abs wasn’t really intentional, it just kind of worked out that way. Anyway, today’s workout went well. I felt pretty strong, like I had good form and everything. I did notice that I don’t integrate breath and movement quite as well as I’d like in this workout, but that’s something I’ll keep working with.
Well, this was my last workout with my free schedule. I’m planning on keeping up a consistent workout schedule, hopefully maintaining my daily routine, but we’ll see how it goes. Certainly there will exist a fair number of distractions, but I’m hoping that my establishment of a consistent schedule during the last few months will keep me focused on getting the workouts in. For now, I’m off, and will hopefully be posting again later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Pilates
Author: chaos

Started out my new, more scheduled existence with a pilates abs workout. It actually went surprisingly well, considering that I haven’t done this workout in several weeks. I think that my new focus on integrating my breath and movements really helped a lot with this workout. I’m still doing the modified version, of course, and I did skip the one exercise that really causes me a lot of problems, but I managed to make my way through the rest of it with relatively good form. I did go into the workout tonight with the idea of concentrating more on form, and taking breaks if I needed to. I should be doing that with everything, of course, but it’s a little bit easier to realize when going into this workout, because the motions are fairly different from what I’m used to. Although I’m starting to become more familiar with them, it’s still quite different. I almost feel as though I’m not really flexible enough for this workout, but perhaps that will also come in time. At any rate, it’s definitely good work for the abs, and I’m hoping to start getting it in much more often.

Workout: Back Care Conditioning
Author: Kristi

I finally checked out my back care conditioning with supportball tape. I should say Andy’s tape. Anyway, it was a nice quick stretch … not really a workout, but nice to stretch out and it felt good on my poor little back. Too much catering last weekend, followed by being shoved in the back of a camaro for hours.

So I’m not really up to a full total body workout, so I think it’s time to get out and get that new tape, for days like this.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

I went with a solo strength workout today, primarily because the disc isn’t available to me right at the moment. It’s a situation that should be rectified fairly soon, but in the meantime, I might be doing a few workouts without the benefit of direct instruction. I think those are good for me to do on occasion anyway, because it really forces me to think over the moves that I’m doing. Today’s workout went well. It seemed a little easier than usual, probably because I think I did it slightly more slowly than the video. Which is probably better overall, in this case. When I remembered, I focused more on integrating breath and movement, but again, didn’t do that great of a job. But still, the idea is in my mind, and as long as I continue to work on it during every workout, it should get better. Anyway, this is somewhat later than I was actually planning on being up, so I think I’m going to finish this off and hopefully get to sleep pretty soon.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Got in another fairly good abs workout today. It probably wasn’t quite as good as it could have been, because I was really pretty tired during it. Well, for that matter, I’m still pretty tired. In a way, I think it helps the workout, because I’m not thinking as much, but it also makes it more difficult to really concentrate on improving. At any rate, the physical aspects felt pretty good, easy, almost. I don’t really have anything more to say, I don’t think. Too tired to come up with anything else there might have been, so I think I’ll call it a night.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Did a light total body workout today. Did the first section, and skipped to the last. Didn’t even do all of the last, because I didn’t feel like doing some of the stretches. The big difference between today and when I’ve done that in the past is that I chose not to do certain portions of the workout today, not because I was tired, but because I simply didn’t think it would be beneficial at the time. I was actually feeling better overall than I have in quite a while… I think that the relatively light workout schedule I’ve had this week has probably helped. But for whatever reason, I really didn’t feel that going through the full workout would be the best of ideas. Maybe it’s just the fatigue that’s been accumulating talking. Whatever the case, I did feel pretty good about the part of the workout that I did do. It was fairly light, but still satisfying as a workout. I’ll probably do this one in that manner a little more often, as the mood strikes me. No idea what I’ll do tomorrow, but hopefully I’ll get something a little more intense in over the weekend sometime.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

I ended up not doing a workout yesterday. The combination of driving and accumulated fatigue from the week caught up with me, and I ended up sleeping instead. When the time came for the workout today, I still wasn’t feeling particularly motivated. I decided more or less arbitrarily to do this workout, not for any real reason, just to choose a workout, mostly. Don’t really have much of anything to say about it… it was neither particularly good, nor particularly bad. I did feel pretty good about my push up pose and upward dog, though. I definitely think my technique for those has gotten much better. And I have a new idea on how to do the “float” when jumping forward. Whether I can actually do that remains to be seen. Anyway, I’ll probably try to do something tomorrow afternoon, possibly balanceball abs.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Balanceball
Author: chaos

Got in the balanceball workout today. It felt pretty good, overall… felt like I was working my abs, and breathing well at the same time. The only thing that I was unhappy about was that I felt I was tensing up a little too much in my body during the workout. Not real badly, but enough that I noticed. I suppose all of that is just a constant balancing act, to maintain relaxation and yet exert at the same time. Anyway, just a quick note for the workout tonight. No idea what I’ll do tomorrow, probably something like Flexibility or Total Body.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

Tonight’s workout was a little uncertain of happening. I definitely had to work a bit to convince myself that I really should get the workout in. In the end, though, I’m glad that I did. It felt pretty good, just about what I needed. My only complaint is that I probably overextended on stretches again, and will quite likely have slightly sore hamstrings tomorrow. Of course, that’s my own fault, not something of the workout. Other than that, I worked on my float a bit. The first one is always the best, it seems, but I definitely have the idea now. I think my integration of breath and movement is becoming a little more automatic now. It’s still nowhere near perfect, of course, but it is improving. Hmm… not much more to say, or at least not anything that I really remember. I’ll probably try for an abs workout tomorrow, quite possibly pilates.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Well, I suppose I did originally plan on getting an abs workout in tonight. But I was thinking more like pilates. And then for a while I was thinking about total body, but that was before I ended up staying out visiting friends way later than I probably should have. Oh well. Anyway, it was a pretty decent workout. I definitely felt like I was working well with the relaxation aspects of it. Probably because the instinct of my body was to fall asleep, not so much do yoga. Anyway. Tomorrow’s going to be another late one, probably, and Thursday, who knows. I might try to sneak one in during the early evening. Or perhaps I just won’t get one in. Have to wait and see, I guess. Until then…

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Continued on my quest of relaxing while doing ab work today. It went pretty well, actually… I think the fact that I’m still fairly tired from this week helped. At any rate, I really felt like I was in a better zone than I normally am with this workout. Particularly on the parts with having the legs extended and slowly lowering them from vertical to horizontal, it seemed like I was able to stay relaxed and yet work the lower abs well. Who knows. Maybe it’s because I played a lot of DDR the other night, and it used my abs more than I realized. Which wouldn’t be surprising, since I didn’t notice it using my abs at all. Anyway. It was a bit longer between workouts this last time than I really like, but that’s something I’m going to have to regard as part of the potential cost of my current schedule. As always, I’ll strive to avoid having it come up, but also be accepting of it when it does. I’ll probably try to get another workout in later today, quite likely something in the power yoga vein.

Workout: Yoga for Back Care
Author: Kristi

I’ve been a little slow to update. I actually did this workout last Friday. It’s broken up into three sections, which Rodney claims you can pick and choose amongst. I tried all three. It went pretty well — I liked a lot of the relaxation, though I found it difficult to completely let all of the muscles in my back let go. I also liked that there was a lot of ab work as that will help support my back. All in all, it was a good workout, though no where near as vigorous of a workout as power yoga yet still taking the same amount of time. We’ll see how well I can integrate this new dvd into trying to do yoga more frequently.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

I’ve really been slacking off on the yoga this week. Only two workouts in the last four days! It’s practically criminal. Hopefully I’ll get back to daily workouts now. Probably after next weekend, things will start to open up a little more, anyway. Whatever. I’m sure I’ll work it out.
Anyway, today’s workout went pretty well, I think. It felt good, anyway. Of course, that might have just been the good feeling from getting back into any workout, but still. I didn’t think I was doing all that well overall, but half moon and warrior III were both fairly good today, and I like the torque that I’m getting in triangle pose. I’m starting to be able to look at the top hand with both eyes fairly consistently. I didn’t really feel like I was overextending myself during the stretches, which is good. Hopefully I can keep that discipline up. Hmmm… that’s about it. I’ll probably try to get another workout in tomorrow afternoon, and possibly even one tomorrow night as well.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

I apparently am unable to successfully predict whether or not I’ll be sore on a day after a workout. I really didn’t think that I overextended myself yesterday, but my hamstrings were certainly quite tender. Perhaps all of the extra exercise I’m getting with moving boxes is having some effect. Not quite sure. Anyway, just continued to work on the normal things, breathing and the like. My left knee was also a bit more sore today than yesterday, so still not really healed. My “float” continues to improve… while it’s still not consistent, it occurs more frequently. Other than that, little to say, hopefully I won’t be sore from the scrubbing I was doing.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Today’s workout was pretty good, but unsatisfying. In a way it was really good… it definitely seemed like my form was close to perfect today. I felt that I was really getting the full workout. And yet… at the end, it wasn’t very satisfying. Perhaps it’s because the workout just doesn’t seem challenging enough anymore. It really seems like it should be combined with another workout, but I haven’t really been leaving myself enough time to do that lately. Which is a problem with my scheduling more than anything. Also, I really need to start stepping up and doing the pilates workout more often. A large part of the reason that I haven’t been is because I’ve been doing these workouts shortly before going to bed, and the overall tenor of the yoga workout is much more relaxing. But I need to start trying to get the workout in a little bit earlier, to have time to relax afterwards before bed. Anyway, just wanted to get a few thoughts down before crashing for the night. I’ll probably try to get something a little more energetic in tomorrow, perhaps even stamina + strength or something.

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

I took a short nap earlier in the evening, and actually didn’t have other things that I was doing tonight, so I had both the time and the energy to get a longer workout in. It was a pretty decent workout… it really warmed up my hamstrings, which always feels nice. Hopefully I didn’t do anything to make them sore again tomorrow, as that does get old after a while.
Anyway, overall things went well. I’m still feeling really good about my triangle pose. I think that my integration of breath and movement has been doing fairly well. It’s fairly rare that I find myself getting out of sync these days. The only problem I tend to have is occasionally holding my breath when I’m supposed to be exhaling. Hmmm. Well, I think that I had more to say, but the fatigue is starting to catch up with me, so I’m just going to cut it here. Until next time…

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Got in another yoga abs workout today. I really should be doing pilates abs workouts, but it’s a slightly longer workout, and better suited for having a bit more time before bed, in my opinion. Which is a problem with the way I’ve been scheduling my time, but I’ve been over that. I really need to change that, but I haven’t been doing very well so far. Maybe I’ll manage in the next couple of weeks.
The workout itself again felt fairly easy, but still good. I do think that I’m undervaluing this workout a little… it’s also good for calming down and achieving mental balance, and I haven’t been really noting that in my critiques. Part of the problem there being that it isn’t overly effective for me, but nothing is. I’m sure if I were more receptive to it on a deeper level, it would be quite effective, and quite possible a good way to enter into a meditation session. Anyway, just some thoughts that have been occurring to me. It’s probably fairly unlikely that I’ll manage a session tomorrow, but perhaps another late night one.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: Kristi

I tried this workout this morning, and I really like it. I still have a ways to go as far as remembering to breathe correctly and not tensing up my throat as I do some of the things, particularly the half boat pose. But like Rodney says in the interview, the good thing about the workout is that when you’re trying to focus on the breathing and the senses in other places, you don’t notice the workout your abs are getting. Except, of course, when you have to keep your legs straight, move them off to the side and hold them 2 inches above the ground for a while. That made it difficult to focus on much other than trying to hold my legs there. I’m looking forward to switching back and forth between this one and the back care dvd, as Rodney suggests. Although, at some point I really need to do some power yoga again. I don’t know how Chaos does two workouts in one day … I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep after doing that!

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: Kristi

I woke up this morning with only a bit of pain in my abs. And that really only when I move :). Anyway, so I kept my resolve to do a workout today and decided to go with total body workout. It went well. I had forgotten how much this workout makes me sweat. All of the positions went pretty well except maybe the upward bows which I didn’t hold for the full length. The half moon poses and the warrior 3s went well, and I felt like my form was better than ever on my triangle pose.

All in all, a good workout …

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

Just wanted to get a workout in tonight. Didn’t get one in last night, and we’re moving tomorrow so it’s quite likely that one won’t happen then, either. So I just wanted to keep up some semblance of the routine. Nothing too special, just a fairly solid routine. Tried not to overdo anything, since I certainly don’t need to be sore before tomorrow. Got a little stretching in, and perhaps cleared my mind a little. Going to get a shower and get to bed now, so I can get up way too early and lift heavy furniture.

Workout: Yoga for Back Care
Author: Kristi

That’s three days straight, for anyone who’s counting. Boo-yah.

Yes, I did back care again today. I did only 2 of the parts — the “Strength & Flexibility” and “Restoration”, skipping the “Exploration” portion, which seems kind of silly to me. It went well, though I am a bit sore still from yesterday’s Total Body Workout. Tomorrow, I’ll go for abs, I think.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: Kristi

I did the abs workout today. It was a little difficult to do some of the leg raises because my hamstrings are a bit sore from TBW still. Other than that, things went well, and the abs are feeling strong.

I like that this is a shorter workout so I can fit it in even though things were kind of crazy at our place today. My brother was visiting and then later we did band stuff with Tish, so it might have been tough to fit in one of the longer workouts.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Didn’t manage to get a workout in yesterday, and although it was quite late before I had the chance to do one today, I decided to go ahead and get one in. I’m really trying to avoid going multiple days in a row without a workout, and I’ve been fairly successful so far. Now that the moving is complete, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get back into a more consistent schedule. As always, we’ll see how that goes.
The workout itself was good, as usual. I’m still not getting the level of involvement in the workout that I’m looking for, though, which is a bit frustrating. I need to start taking some time to just relax in my day… I really haven’t been getting enough of that. Anyway, just a few thoughts before collapsing for a few hours.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Got in a rare morning workout today. This was primarily because I crashed last night from the running lack of sleep. But I really didn’t want to skip a day, so I decided to get one in before work. It certainly wasn’t one of my top workouts… I felt decidedly stiff throughout most of the workout, particularly in the beginning. I’m guessing that it’s most likely residual from moving on Saturday. I probably should have done a workout that night, but sometimes fatigue just gets the better of you, I suppose. Anyway, today’s workout wasn’t particularly inspired, but I think it was pretty helpful in working out some of the stiffness and whatnot, so I’m probably feeling better today because of that. Well, that and the decent amount of sleep. Anyway, I’ll most likely go with another workout tonight, probably trying to get in pilates abs, I think.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: Your Insatiable One

In an effort to be good again, I did the sun salutation portion and cooldown portions of the PY:TB workout. Since I haven’t been very good about yoga the past month & 1/2, I decided to take it light and do an abbreviated version. Asides from that slight bit of post-workout euphoria from abusing the body, I noticed that even the most basic poses tax the body since I went to those yoga classes a while back. I suppose having your form corrected does that to you.

I think I’m going to make an effort start going to classes again as well as do a work out every morning. Wish me luck peeps.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Pilates
Author: chaos

Finally managed to get the long anticipated pilates abs workout in. It was pretty much just as tough as ever. Actually, I think that I’m getting better at it still, but that makes it tougher. I got through the entire modified version today, although I don’t think I quite had full range of motion for a few things. Still, I did make it through, and I could certainly feel the burn. Man. I’m just glad that abdominals seem to recover pretty quickly, for the most part. This has a lot of good exercises, though, and I think that if I continue with it on a fairly regular basis I’ll really build up my abs. I’m going to start trying to get it in at least once a week, and more ideally twice a week. I think that will probably be frequent enough to really help build muscle. I think that every once in a while helps too, but not nearly as much as consistent use would. Anyway, I’ll probably end up doing something short tomorrow, like flexibility or maybe a shortened total body routine. Possibly even YfS:s2, but that’s less likely. Until then…

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

I attempted to enhance this workout with a bit of meditation before and after the workout. It helped a little, I think, but not as much as I would like. Of course, that’s mostly because I’m really not very good at meditating, so it’s difficult to get to the level of clarity that I’m really looking for. But saying that I’m not good is somewhat misleading, because I also haven’t been trying to get better, for the most part. So there’s definitely a large element of laziness coming into play there. Hopefully I’ll start picking up on my attempts in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, today’s workout went pretty well. Noticed a touch of fatigue in the muscles from yesterday, but it was pretty light, which is good. I still continue to refine the particulars of the poses, but the essence of the poses is really unchanged since the first few weeks, I think. I’d have to scan through the history to be sure, and I’m not going to do that right now, so I’ll just go with that assumption for now. Anyway, I’m hopefully going to manage to sneak a workout in tomorrow evening, but we’ll see what happens. Until the next time…

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

I wanted to get a short workout in tonight, but I didn’t feel like doing any of the normal ones that I have. So I finally decided that I’d just do the beginning part and some of the cooldown/stretching part, and that would be a pretty good short workout. I think it was… I was actually somewhat tempted to do the full workout, but I really didn’t want to because of the time commitment, so I stuck with my original plan. Nothing too special to note, other than that I was dozing off in relaxation pose, so either I was really relaxed or really tired, or perhaps both. Not really ideal for true mental relaxation, but it’s probably good for my back, anyway. Well, things aren’t quite ideal for yoga over the weekend, so we’ll see what happens. I hope to get a few good workouts in, anyway, but since the furniture moved last week has to be rearranged this week, we’ll see. I imagine I’ll probably get a short abs workout or two in, if nothing else.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

I ended up taking the weekend off after all. I’m not particularly pleased about that… while certainly circumstances made it easier to justify, laziness was the primary cause of the break. While full workouts may have been difficult, abs yoga workouts would certainly have been fairly easy to get in. Oh well. I’ve been a little frustrated with my practice lately, and I think that this weekend was really just an extension of that. I just have to keep moving forward, trying to get good workouts in and stay with the practice until I break out of the slump. Tonight’s workout was routine, nothing of real import to say. I considered doing pilates abs, but really wasn’t feeling up to it. I’ll probably try to get that in tomorrow, or possibly the day after if I’m feeling particularly inspired to a power yoga workout tomorrow. Anyway, getting back into the groove, I hope, and with moving completely finished now, things should be a little bit less busy.

Workout: A.M. and P.M. Meditation
Author: Kristi

I did the a.m. meditation which is a Rodney Yee thing. I had to return it to the library without ever doing p.m. meditation, but I took a look at it, and I don’t really think either of them is for me. There’s something about silently focusing on my breathing for 20 straight minutes that just makes me want to … I don’t know, do something, anything else. I guess that’s not very zen of me. I enjoy relaxation pose a lot at the end of a workout, but I don’t expect that I will be buying or using this workout again.

It may seem like I’ve been slacking, and I have, but it’s because I hurt my ankle. I can’t do anything that will require balancing on my right leg. I guess I’ll just have to modify some of the other workouts, because I need to get back in the swing of things.