As Alice said to the Caterpillar...

When we approach fitness, unexpected qualities can turn out to be useful.  We know that strength and speed and flexibility and balance come in handy.  A certain amount of grit gives us the traction we need to succeed.  And then there is… curiosity.

Curiosity leads us into that Zumba class.  It encourages us to find out how to keep our hamstrings from cramping or what to do to get definition in our arm muscles.

At a deeper level, it helps us explore what is happening while we move.  What does it feel like to keep our knees aligned over our toes in squats?  How do we breathe when we are contracting our abdominals in a plank?  What the heck do we need to do to relax those neck and shoulder muscles, whatever we are doing?

That curious attitude can also help when we get hung up on a particular kind of success.  Rather than obsessing about our limited range of motion in a yoga pose, we can explore what feels loose and what feels tight, what feels challenging and what feels easy.

Experiment!

Monday Workout: Stealth Abs

This week, we are sneaking in extra abdominal work.  It’s obvious in the plank jacks and the Russian twists, but by putting our step ups (optionally!) on the Bosu, we add instability that requires abdominal use.  Similarly, when we do pushups, the work we do with our abdominals enables us to work our arms and chest better.  Three rounds.

step ups/Bosu step ups	30
squats	20
pushups	10
mountain climbers	30
upright rows	20
dips	10
plank jacks	30
overhead press	20
Russian twist	10

Friday Book Report: Yoga Anatomy

I have read quite a few anatomy books.  Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews approaches the subject from a yogic perspective without neglecting the science.  They give an overview of the skeletal and muscular systems, discuss the anatomy of breathing, and then analyze what is happening anatomically in yoga poses.  One thing I particularly like about their take is this attitude toward improvement:  “Increasing flexibility and strength is a process of reeducating the nervous system through conscious attention and practice as much as it is about stretching and repetitions” (p. 63).

There is more detail than most people who show up to yoga class probably want, but there has been much food for thought for me as a movement professional.  I see lots to apply and ponder in this book.

Also, there are great illustrations.