Trying Out Bikram Yoga

I’ve been wanting to try out yoga for a while now. I’ve always heard that it’s a great combination of workout and stretching with some meditation elements thrown in. So when a friend invited me to try Bikram yoga, I jumped at the opportunity. Of course, I did run away from the first class I was supposed to attend with her, but that’s another story. This morning, at 5:30am, I showed up for my lesson of Bikram Yoga.

For those who are not aware of it, Bikram Yoga is similar to other yoga in that practicioners go through a variety of poses.  Some of these poses resemble stretching while others are pretty intense resistence bearing exercises that come very close to being a weight workout.  The only differences with Bikram style yoga is that it’s done in a room heated to 105f degrees.  That’s slightly lower than sauna temperature if you’re trying to do the math.  According to the originator of this style, the heat is conducive to both the physical and mental aspects of the exercise.  I’m not so sure about the mental part but the heat definitely had me straining physically.

The Poses

I’m not going to go through a description of all the poses but I will give a few examples.  About half the poses fell into a category I would define as intense stretching.  Things like standing straight up with your hands reaching above your head and then bending to the right at the hips.  Many of these poses were quite difficult and required much more flexibility than I have.  However, I can see how, with time, I could achieve the same level of flexibility a few of the other students had and that’s encouraging.  The second category of poses were what I would define as load bearing exercises.  For example.  Stand up straight, reach your hand forward and then slowly bend at the knees.  When you are in a position resembling a seated one only with no chair beneath you, hold that position for ten second.  Essentially this is a slow motion squat with the hardest part held for a lengthy period of time.  Doesn’t sound like much compared to my usual dumbbell squats but believe me, it’s challenging.  Especially when you have to do these things on one leg.  Post workout, my body felt like I had just gone through a moderate weights workout.

The Heat

This aspect is unique to Bikram Yoga and is not shared by other yoga styles as far as I know.  For me, it was a bit difficult to stay focused on the poses because of the heat.  I sweat a lot and the heat combined with the exercising had me dripping sweat by the 10 minute mark.  The last 30 minutes were uncomfortable for me as I stood there dripping sweat but trying to focus on my breathing.  However, the first 60 minutes did feel good, possibly due to the intensity of the heat.   I’m not sure to be honest, but it was a very different feeling to work out in this intense dry heat and, until I got to the point where I was totally soaked, I was enjoying it.

Is It Worth It?

For me, the answer is no.  The cost of a yoga class is around $10 to $20 and I can get the same benefits at the gym or on the track.  Still, I’m glad I tried this class.  It was an interesting experience and taught me some good lessons about my body and stretching.  For someone with less inhibitions about spending money or for someone looking to work on flexibility, this class would be very valuable.  Also, if money is an issue, you can find a variety of yoga instructions online or in book format.  All you need to practice them at home is a mat and some patience.

If you’re in the South Bay, this is the yoga studio that I took the class at:  Bikram Yoga San Jose

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Next up on my list of workouts to try?  Spinning!

Boxing Workout

As owner and author of 60 in 3, I tend to get various offers for free stuff.  Most of the time they’re for things I’m not interested in.  Things like diet pills, weird workout gadgets, energy bars and so on.  On rare occasions though, someone comes through with an offer that’s interesting enough for me to look at.  That’s what happened to me last week with LA Boxing.

LA Boxing is a string of gyms spread all around the US which specialize in boxing and boxing related workouts.  Their PR rep made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.  “Come down to one of our gyms and try out a boxing workout.  Then tell us what you think.”  This came at a perfect time for me since I’ve been thinking about buying a punching bag for my house and I’ve been wanting to try out boxing for a while.  So last Saturday morning I went the local LA Boxing gym in San Jose and spent an hour training.  Note that this was not some special class that they set up for me.  This was their normal Saturday morning class with their regular customers.

First Impressions

My first thoughts as I entered the gym were “huh, this is not what I was expecting.”  Maybe I’ve seen too many boxing movies, but I was expecting a run down gym filled with men hitting one another.  Instead, LA boxing has just one ring, a few exercise machines and class workout area filled with punching bags.  Everything was clean and well maintained.  Also, the customer base included a lot of women and children.  The ratio of women to men was actually a lot higher than any other gym I’ve been to.

Equipment

Each participant picked a punching bag and had boxing gloves.  That was all the equipment necessary.  Gloves were provided by the gym if you didn’t have any.  I would also recommend hand wraps since without them, you’re going to scrape some skin off your knuckles.

The Workout

I’m not sure what I expected from a boxing workout.  A lot of punching a bag I suppose.  What I got was very different.  We started out with the gloves off doing a bit of calisthenics to warm up.  Jumping jacks, push ups, crunches, lunges, jumping squats and so on.  Fast sets with the instructor urging us on.  After 5 or so minutes, we stretched for 5 more minutes and then the workout began in earnest.

The workout alternated boxing combos with calisthenics.  For example, the instructor would show us a 6 or 8 move combo and have us repeat it multiple times using either speed or power.  Speed means you punch fast, power means you punch hard.  Either way, the workout was very fast paced and much more demanding than I expected.  After each 5 minute punching set, Tony (the instructor) had us do 5 minutes of other exercises like crunches, leg lifts and lunges.  These sets worked out muscles that the boxing parts of the workout did not.

The combination of boxing and calisthenics had me sweating in no time.  Now I’m in pretty good shape but I have to say that I found the workout very challenging.  I got caught up in the boxing parts and was enjoying them so much that I didn’t notice how much energy I was pouring out into that bag.  By the end, I was sore and covered in sweat.  Still, it was a good kind of sore, that kind you get from a great workout.

Notes

Dexterity - This is one of the few workouts that I felt worked on dexterity as well as physical conditioning.  The various combos and moves you work on will improve your hand eye coordination as well as your overall agility.  That’s a benefit I have not seen in any other workout.

Full Body - I expected a boxing workout to only work out my upper body, but the combination of boxing and other exercises made sure that my whole body participated.

Boxing High - A few weeks ago I spoke about a runner’s high and mentioned that it’s something you can only get when running.  Well, now I’ve experienced something new, a boxing high.  It’s not the same as a runner’s high but there’s just something about punching that bag.  Maybe it’s a guy thing, I have no clue, but wow.  I wasn’t just physically tired at the end of that workout, I was emotionally spent as well.  Any aggression, hostility or other kind of negative emotion, it all went into that bag.  It felt good.

Recommendation

Would I go back?  Definitely!  LA Boxing is a bit far away from my house but still.  I enjoyed that workout so much that the trip back would be worth it.  In the meantime, I’m definitely thinking of installing a punching bag in my garage and doing some boxing workouts of my own.  If you have a boxing gym anywhere near you, sign up for a class and see if you like it.  I think you will.

Thank You

Thank you to Monica and LA boxing for giving me the chance to attend a class.  Thank you to LA Boxing San Jose for being my hosts.  And thank you to Tony Johnson, my instructor, for an incredible workout.  If you’re in the San Jose area, you can contact Tony and LA Boxing at (408)729-5269.

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And thank you to Me-Ander for including a 60 in 3 article in their debut weight loss carnival.

Five Things To Do This Weekend

Ahh yes, every fitness site does this. They all give you these lists of things to do on the weekend. Things like rock climbing, salsa dancing and competitive caber tossing. And there you are sitting in your chair, reading the article and going “are you serious?” You’re not looking for salsa dancing or caber tossing, you’re just looking for good ideas for physical activities that fit well in your lifestyle. So instead of the usual list which you can promptly read and ignore, here are the specific things that I am going to do this weekend. That’s right, this isn’t some hypothetical list, it’s my actual schedule.

Saturday

Take Dog For Walk - 30 minute walk in the morning with Daisy, the amazingly cute super puppy.  Don’t have a dog?  How about borrowing one.  I’m serious, my neighbors have a dog and they don’t mind at all when I take him for a walk.  In fact, I’m pretty sure your neighbors will thank you for this.  Don’t like dogs?  How about taking your kid, your partner, your sibling or your parent for a walk?  You don’t have to go hiking in the hills, just walk out the door and start walking around the neighborhood.

Work On Yard - I thought about hiring a gardner and then I thought “wait, am I crazy?”  I am NOT going to pay somebody else to do something I enjoy and which provides me with a great workout.  I love my garden and I love working on it.  Don’t have a garden?  How about working on someone else’s?  Get involved in a community garden, volunteer to landscape your local school, ask your mom if her lawn needs mowing.

Walk To Store - Speaking of the yard, I need some new garden sheers as well as some seeds to plant.  So away I’ll go on Saturday morning to purchase these things at the local hardware store.  It’s about a mile away and a really great walk.  On the way, I’ll call up my lazy friends to see if they’re awake and want to grab lunch at the local farmers market, which is another great walking destination.

Sunday

Walk the Dog - What, did you think she only walks once a weekend?  Actually, she walks twice a day.

Help Brother Move - My brother is moving in with me and I’m going to help.  Two hours of moving furniture, bags and other household items.  Again, why hire people to do this for me when it’s a great workout plus a fun time to spend with my brother?

Summary

So let’s see, this weekend I will walk a total of about 12 miles, spend two hours doing moderate exercise in the yard and another two hours doing more moderate exercise moving stuff.  I’ll save the $100 I would pay the gardeners and my brother will save the $500 or more he would have paid the movers.

What’s the point?  I guess my point is that most people complain that they don’t have time or money to be physically active but then they go and pay other people to be physically active for them.  They hire dog walkers, gardeners, movers, house cleaners and so on, just so they can spend more time in front of the TV.

You don’t have to be a professional rock climber or a competitive salsa dancer to enjoy an active weekend.  You just have to be willing to get off your butt and move.  It’s that simple.

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So what are YOU doing this weekend?

Does Yoga Count As Exercise?

A common question I get here at 60 in 3 is “does X count as exercise?” X can be anything from martial arts and team sports to house work and horseback riding. A relatively frequent topic for this kind of question is Yoga. So today I thought I would address the topic.

What Is Yoga?

For those of you not familiar with Yoga, I would suggest reading the Wikipedia article on it HERE. Basically, it’s an Asian form of stretching that combines various poses with a slow transition between them. My apologies for the Yoga experts in the crowd, I realize that my two line summary just butchered thousands of years of depth and detail but it’s the best I can do without devoting a lot more time and space. Also, please note that this article primarily focuses on the physical aspects of yoga. There are whole levels of spiritual aspects that I am not going to discuss. Again, if you’re interested in those, I would suggest the Wikipedia article as a good start.

It Seems A Bit Slow For Exercise

Well yes, Yoga is not going to be your cardio alternative, but it can definitely be a good way to build up muscle tone and stamina. Some of those poses are hard to maintain and hard to move through. You’d be surprised how difficult it might be even if you’re a regular gym goer.

Additional Benefits

• Flexibility - Yoga will do wonders for your flexibility, especially if stick with it for a long time.
• Stress Relief - One of the things I did not mention is that Yoga has a meditative component. Now you can ignore that if you want and just focus on the physical aspect. However, if you choose to add it in, Yoga can be a wonderful stress reliever.

Downsides

The only downside to Yoga is the cost. Since most people practice yoga with an instructor, that means you have to pay for classes, instead of a simple gym membership. I have yet to find a reasonable Yoga studio with inexpensive sessions. An inexpensive option might be to obtain some instructional videos and then try to practice yoga at home, but I think you would get less out of it at that point.

Summary

Yes, yoga absolutely counts as exercise. It’s basically a low intensity resistance training session that will tone your muscles and work on your flexibility. I would recommend combining it with some cardio work and some higher weight resistance training but this even on its own, it’s a great part of a healthy and fit life.

Actually, I would highly recommend yoga for those who are looking for a place to start. It’s social, relaxing and low intensity, making it a perfect option for people who are not too familiar with exercise.

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Got a good recommendation for a good yoga studio? Please feel free to post it in the comments.

Cardio Pole Dancing

Well, it had to happen some day and I guess today is that day. I got an email asking my opinion on stripper fitness courses.

Huh?

In case you’ve missed this odd little trend, stripper fitness (also called cardio pole dancing and a variety of other names) is a type of exercise where women imitate the moves of strippers. Yep, you heard me, dance like a stripper and call it a workout. Yes, it’s a bit silly and yes, it was probably thought up by a man (really honey, dancing like a stripper is good for you!) but is it healthy?

So Is It A Workout?

Depends. Most of these are too slow paced to be real workouts. They don’t get your heart moving and they don’t really challenge your muscles the way a real workout should. I’m sure that some of them do but the majority do not.

So We Should Avoid This?

Not at all. While it may not be a complete workout, these kinds of courses do get your ass off that couch and moving (quite literally) and that’s a good thing. If you think this is fun then by all means, enjoy. Anything fun and physically active is great.

Any Downsides?

Are there any harmful side effects to this? Not really, unless you count looking silly at times as a harmful side effect which I don’t. The only word of caution I have is that some of these courses have ridiculous requirements like wearing high heel shoes. That’s just crazy and is practically begging for injuries.

Summary

I don’t know if it’s a fad or something that will be around years from now, but if it gets people moving then it’s alright in my book. Just don’t mistake this for a real workout.

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There are just so many jokes I could close out this post with… However, I will exercise some amazing will power and refrain.

Gone Fishing

Sorry for the lack of weekend update yesterday, I happened to be out most of the day and came back exhausted, which is actually the topic of today’s post.

Every weekend I try to find fun physical activities to do which don’t cost much money, are really enjoyable and provide a good amount of exercise.  Well, this weekend I found a perfect such event, fishing!

What We Did

Sunday morning, at about 4am, my wife and I left our house and drove to Half Moon Bay.  That’s a town about 30 minutes from our house with a beautiful harbor and lots of sport fishing charter boats.  We joined my sister in law, her husband and about 13 others on a boat called the Tigerfish.  We launched at 6am and 3 hours later, we started fishing.  We stayed out for hours and only came back at about 6pm.

Cost

Each person needed a ticket which cost about $80.  Each of us also needed equipment rental which was another $30.  Add in gas and you have total cost of about $120 per person or $240 for both of us.  Sounds a bit steep, but keep in mind that we also brought back about 30lbs of fish fillets which we would have to buy at the market for about $150.  So total cost is about $90 for two people which isn’t too bad for a full day of fun for two adults.  We could further lower that cost by having our own equipment and by catching bigger fish, but we’re amateurs. 

Oh, and as a bonus to all of this, we got some amazing looks at whales and seals.  Seeing a whale literally jump out of the water 20 feet from the boat was incredible!

Fishing as Exercise

I always thought of fishing as a past time.  You cast your line and then you go to sleep.  Maybe lake fishing is like that (I really have no clue so if you’re a fisher, let me know), but relaxed ocean fishing?  Hell no!  First it was 8 hours of being out there constantly trying to steady myself as the boat rocked back and forth.  Then came the wind which is not the warmest thing in the world and even with a good jacket your body is going to burn some calories staying warm.  However, the real exercise was in the fishing.  Yes, it’s A LOT of work to cast that line, reel it in (either empty or with a fish) and do that over and over and over for hours.  My arms hurt, my back hurt, my legs hurt and my fingers were numb from exertion.  Was it a weight lifting workout?  No, but it was a really good day of physical activity.

Bonus Fish!

As a bonus to that exercise, we got lbs and lbs of fish.  Fresh fish we caught ourselves.  Unprocessed, no chemicals, not fried and not shipped thousands of miles to get to our market.  It’s fresh, it’s tasty and it’s all ours.  So we got a day of exercise AND a dozen meals worth of fresh, organic fish.

Notes

First of all, as many of you know, I am a bit of an environmentalist.  Also, some of you may also know that salmon fishing has been canceled in California due to a population collapse.  So I was a little worried about what we were doing and its impact on the world around us.  Before we went fishing, I did some research.  I picked a captain that was known for environmentally friendly habits like not overfishing certain spots and not going after prohibited fish.  I also checked with the Monterrey Bay aquarium to make sure that the fish we were going to catch were being fished sustainably. Everything checked out good.

But Wait, Aren’t I A Vegetarian?

Actually, to be more accurate, I’m a healthy eater.  That means I usually try to minimize the amount of meat in my diet, especially processed meat, and since processed meat is most of what you find in stores, that means I usually just tell people I’m vegetarian.  It’s just easier to explain.  By the way, I also try to limit non meat processed products in my diet but that’s a whole different post.  So yes, I will eat some fresh meat, if it’s healthy, non factory farmed and sustainably raised, which this fish is.  I have no moral issues with eating meat and I believe it can definitely be part of a healthy diet.

So Is Fishing For Everyone?

No.  There can be a lot of reasons why fishing is not for you.  Maybe you’re sea sick or you have a moral issue with killing living creatures.  Maybe you live in Phoenix, Arizona and have no oceans near you or maybe you think it’s a bit too expensive.  All of these reasons could be valid.  All I want you to do is to start thinking of weekend physical activities in a different light.  The weekend doesn’t have to be about BBQ’s where you over eat or movie marathons where you sit on your ass for hours.  Fun activities can be healthy.

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Anyone got a good recipe for cod fillets?  I have about 40.

Workout At The Beach

One of the misconceptions about workouts is that they have to happen at the gym or at home. I sometimes wonder why that is. I’ve often blogged about workouts at other places such as a hotel room. So why not extend that a bit further? If I can workout in a hotel room, can’t I also work out at the park? How about at the beach?

It’s All The Same

All of these places are excellent for working out. They keep us interested and motivated. Even better, many of them come equipped with exercise machines. For example, the local park around my work has an exercise track with 12 exercise stations set up along it. You can run or walk from station to station and simply follow the directions at each station that will explain what you need to do.

Bring Equipment

How often have you seen people go to the beach and bring a whole car load of “stuff”? It can be anything from towels to beach balls. Well, why not include a few small weights, a resistance band and maybe a jump rope. It’s not that much compared to that hibachi grill you’re lugging around.

Change It Up

Change is one of the key ingredients for a healthy life. You don’t want your body to get used to a routine, even if that routine does have some exercise in it. That’s why it’s great to change things up every once in a while. Do a calisthenics workout at the beach, do the track workout at the park. Whatever it is, take a break from your normal routine and challenge your body in a different way.

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This weekend I’m planning to go hiking. If you happen to be in the same park and see me doing some pushups in the middle of the trail, now you know why.

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