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?

Hatha Yoga Video – Revolving Lunge Pose

Originally uploaded by myyogaonline

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.