I kicked off 2014 yesterday with a niiiice well deserved sleep in. Considering I almost pulled an all-nigher staying out ’til 2AM on New Years Eve, the sleep in was much needed. By the time I was up and ready to workout all my favorite classes at the gym were over so I did my own little strength workout. After warming up I focused on burning out each muscle group with roughly 3-4 exercises for 15 or so reps. This is an idea I got from the strength classes at Uplift Studios where each song is a different body part in a similar fashion to body pump. I like this approach because once you’ve done chest presses, you’re done with chest presses for the whole workout.
I also worked on arch nemesis, the pull-up, for a bit.
Some day I will be able to do 1 unassisted pull up. Some day…
When I’m strength training on my own I usually listen to a Jillian Michael’s podcast instead of music. Her podcasts are 45-55 minutes long so they make the perfect workout companion. The episode I listened to yesterday focused on whether or not more people should be going gluten-free. One interesting thing that was brought up is that when people cut down on gluten it means that they start reading ingredients of the food they eat, which is why people often times lose weight when the cut out gluten. In some cases it might not necessarily be the gluten but instead the awareness that is created by cutting out gluten. I noticed this in myself when I started eating dairy-free to help with my frequent stomach aches– it forces me to read the ingredients while I food shop. Not only do I look for products without dairy, but also with a simple ingredient lists. That being said I think everyone should be reading ingredients whether you’re gluten free, dairy-free or whatever, but it’s an interesting thought.
This morning I woke up to a winter wonderland in Westchester
I went back home to NYC this afternoon to avoid the impending blizzard that’s supposed to hit New York. Ugh, snow.
Once back in the city I was feeling pretty lazy and not very motivated to workout. I had some nice (and honest) friends remind me on twitter that I would feel so much better after working out, especially if this blizzard really does hit NYC and leaves me cooped up in the apartment alone. I decided to hit up a heated Yang Ying class at Modo Yoga since I’ve been saying I want to try out Modo for years and I want to get back to practicing yoga as part of mission to focus on flexibility in 2014.
Hot yoga isn’t something I have a lot of experience with and I’ve always been a bit intimidated by the concept. I took my first bikram class this summer but besides that have only been to one or two classes that were slightly heated. This class was supposedly heated to 98 degrees and had two components- the yang and the yin. The yang section was similar to a vinyasa class and followed a sequence of movements– “flow”. The yin section was a relaxing and restorative portion where we held poses for a long time. We ended the class with a glorious shivasana. Sweaty, sweaty bliss. I left the studio very happy with my decision. Hot yoga isn’t that scary if you listen to your body and don’t push beyond your limits– pinky promise.
The downside of hot yoga in January– walking home in the bitter cold. While I was in class it started snowing making for a very wintery walk home.
Since yoga I’ve been enjoying a nice lazy evening in my warm apartment 🙂
I’m thinking this snow storm is overly hyped up and won’t be so bad. My biggest concern is that temperatures are predicted to be in the single digits- YIKES! If you’re in New York, stay warm!
What’s your favorite type of yoga to do?
Hot Yoga- Love it? Hate it? Terrified of it?
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