8 Stretches That Will Help You Touch Your Toes
Because you’re probably not stretching as much as you should.
Because you’re probably not stretching as much as you should.
The sweat drips down your back. Not knowing this was even possible, you look down and see beads of perspiration forming on your thighs. You feel slightly dizzy, but push through, taking a huge swig of water before heading into tree pose. Sounds like a typical hot yoga class, yes? Women everywhere swear by the warm practice, where rooms are heated to between 80 and 105 degrees. And while you’ve surely heard a girlfriend say how much she loves the toasty Vinyasa because she feels like she “sweats out all the bad” at her go-to studio, the question remains: Is it really safe? Is there such a thing as yoga that’s too hot?
Plank pose is sort of a magical pose. You do it during a yoga class as well as during a strength training class and fitness trainers often call it “the only exercise you need to train your whole body”.
This balancing, restorative yoga sequence encourages you to “drink” as you “pour.”
Everyone knows it’s better to bend than to break. These eight yoga poses will enable athletes to recover and function at peak level.
At Fit Radio, we have been focused on bringing more styles of yoga music into the app – allowing you to focus on your practice. Thanks to DJ Taz Rashid, this task just got a whole lot easier!
DJ Taz Rashid is a touring DJ who plays at Yoga & Music festivals around the world – bringing more variety to the Yoga station on Fit Radio, including themed mixes like “Vinyasa Flow-World Music”, “Rock Music”, “Core Power”, and more. More
When I first started yoga, I wanted a fast-paced, physical and sweaty flow class. After a few months, I tried other styles, but they were hit or miss. In one class I ended up in, for example, the teacher talked about philosophy and led us in chants for nearly half the time. I was confused, bored and in pain from sitting cross-legged. If that had been my first experience with yoga, I’m not sure I would have continued.
If you are looking to get into a yoga routine this fall, choosing from all the different styles can be overwhelming. Studios offer more variations of yoga than ever before, but don’t let all the trends and gimmicky classes distract you. Be clear about what your goals are before you choose your path. Once you know what you want, choose a program that fits you best. Here’s how:
Yin and restorative yoga are perfect for those who love being still and who just need to stretch, restore and relax. In these classes, you will hold just a couple of positions for long periods of time. Exercise is involved in either style. Sequences are slow-moving and you use props to set up poses in a way that you can hold them for five to 10 minutes and attune them to your breath. If you are already on a grueling workout regimen, this type of yoga is a nice way to recover. By finding stillness in the poses, it becomes more of a meditative practice.
If you are just looking to try something new and to not take yourself too seriously, there a couple options that are very playful and can be fun to try with a partner:
Find your flow and check out the latest Fit Radio Yoga mixes on our Yoga Station!
So, I know this isn’t really new or anything to most people or “yogis” but I have just recently been very interested in Yoga and the benefits it provides in strength and flexibility and the overall health advantages in general. I am not experienced at all and when I do practice yoga I realize I am not nearly as strong or balanced as I thought, a wobbly mess is more like it. I love the challenge though, so naturally I want to push myself to the limit. A girlfriend of mine invited me to join her for her next hot yoga class and I couldn’t be more excited! I think it will definitely be interesting and an awesome learning experience. Reading up on the studios in my neighborhood so once I am able to find time in my hectic schedule, I will be ready to make an appointment! Stay tuned for a follow-up post about my Bikram Yoga experience. Ps. If anybody has any tips or experiences they’d like to share feel free! I am going to need all the help I can get!
The premise of my blog posts will basically involve me morphing into a guinea pig and trying out any compelling articles that I come across while tweeting for FIT Radio. These articles feature fun undertakings, such as getting a workout while working at the office by sitting on an exercise ball (to improve posture and strengthen your back/core). This is exactly what I did for an entire week last week! I made notes throughout the process as to how I was adapting to my new fangled “office chair”, and (I have to admit) I am thrilled that the experience of the balance ball is no more.
Looking back at my notes from Monday, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake… maybe even a little fun. Psh! When I got to the office that morning, I pumped up the ball with excitement and looked forward to regaining the posture I had in the days I danced ballet. Dirk, our tech guy, was pretty jealous and kept trying to (unsuccessfully) steal my ball throughout the day.
Some notes I made included, “It might not be a good idea to cross your legs, Cari”. I also jotted down that my back muscles were definitely engaged after the first hour, and by the end of the day, I was convinced I was getting SOME kind of workout (my back was feeling pretty sore and as the hours passed, the harder it got)! The week went by just like the last couple hours of that first day, slowly. It worked my back from between the shoulder blades to all the way down my lower back. However, there were no feelings of soreness in the abdominal region (sad, I know). “TGIF!” We have a shorter workday on Fridays, so when 4:45 PM rolled around that day, I was pumped to trade in the ball for a chair with actual back and arm rests (you really don’t know how much you miss something until it’s gone).
Next time, I will just incorporate the balance ball every so often instead of multiple days in a row. I am happy to report my posture has improved! I sit up straighter at my desk and my posture is even better when I walk. Today, I finally let Dirk have the balance ball; he was already back in his chair after 2 hours! 😉 Ha!
Stay tuned for my next blog post and make sure to follow @FITRadio on twitter so you can give me ideas on what to try next! Also, please feel free to leave comments!! Actually, please DO! 😀