The Hidden Agenda of After Yoga Stretching

I'm going to be honest and admit that I have had a love hate relationship with my yoga practice for about 1 year now.  I really feel as if my practice has gone backwards, slightly, due to a number of reasons and for the first time in over 3 years my practice has slipped from 6-7 times a week (and more) to barely 3 times (M, W, F).  I haven't trained a "double" practice in months and since that time have felt a little guilty over it, until now.

Two, back to back, Bikram's yoga practices takes over 3 hours. 90 minutes per class with a 1/2 hour in between, so 3 1/2 hour minimum.  It was on my regular training schedule to do a "double" three days a week, (the same M, W, F) and a single on Sun.  That equals out to 7 classes per week, basically a daily practice.

I liked "doubles" for a number of reasons.  The first reason is that I'm incredibly tight and not very flexible, my ankles and hamstrings having the biggest restrictions, and I could use the first 90 minute class as a "warm up" allowing me to get into most of the postures deeper in the second class.  Good-ness what would it be like if I didn't practice some kind of yoga at all?  Crazy!  Also, I had the time to train, lucky me.  Most people, unless they are in the business of getting and staying fit, just don't have hours and hours to devote to training.

The second reason why I liked training double classes is that it allowed me to completely recover with a day off in between.  Kettlebells Tues/Thurs/Sat, yoga Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri...what a life!  So why and how did it change?  Well, I just found myself not being able to recover enough, and plan appropriately, to train 3+ hours of 104 degree yoga anymore.  And as I mentioned I felt guilty, maybe even "less than" because of it.

OK, back to the point of this post.....

This next weekend Mark and I are attending a "Primal Move" workshop created and lead by Master RKC Peter Lakatos (Hungary) and I didn't want to show up all tight, weak and immobile....hey whatever motivates, right?  OK, so I've got this workshop I'm attending where I have to be on all fours, knees, hands, elbows, and who know's what else! I'm an almost 50 year old former fat girl for God's sake!  I don't do this kind of stuff!

It's not just this workshop, but last year at Mark's Bodyweight Cert I did not participate because I didn't train for it.  I don't naturally flip up into handstands much less one armed pull-ups.  And really I don't think less of myself because of it, but it's uncomfortable being around people that have never been that fat kid sitting on the sidelines watching all her girlfriends do cartwheels and hang from the monkey bars.

Wow, really?  This has to do with a little extra stretching after yoga?  Yes, I guess it does.

A couple of months ago I considered trying to commit to an advanced Bikrams class at 12:00noon on Fridays, at my good friends Mike Mayle's Studio, (http://www.balanceyogacenteronline.com/), but I did not want to give up my early morning class so I asked him if I should try and do both.  The advanced class is 2 hours long, add that to a 90 min class AND schedule it for 12 noon would be a killer for me since I start my day at 4:00am.  He gave me some great advice....ready?

Mike suggested that instead of doing both classes simply stay after one class, for a full 30 minutes, practicing the poses that gave me the most amount of grief in my regular practice.  And you know what?  Good-ness, I so did not like it.....for weeks now, but I did it anyway.  And now I find myself looking forward to it!  Really?  I think so!

I've kind of come up with my own series of progressions to go into some of my most tight areas (ankles and hips).  Now that I have some order, something that makes a bit of sense, I just go through methodically, step by step until now its at the point that 30 minutes is not quite enough time, and they are practically throwing me out of the yoga studio!

OK, that's it for now.  I hope to post video of my own stretching progressions soon.  First I have to run it by Mark, "Master Stretcher" so he can give me his feedback and then I'll share it here.  Stretching is good, it's a must do as we age...as Mark says, "I don't make the rules, I just know 'em!"

Fig Monday

I'm happy to announce that one pound of figs has 336 calories (approx)....well, there's one meal for the day, lol!

1000 swing reps w/ 24kg

I start my Sat. mornings out early, 6:45am with an hour of my most difficult training.  By 'most difficult' I mean long crazy stuff like 100 rep snatch sets, 10 minute jerk sets with one hand switch,  and in this case 1000 swings because my two training partners have been training with me long enough to handle anything I throw down.  One of my TP's is on vacation leaving me and Meg to fend for ourselves....hmm...what the hell, why not?  Some of the "boring" stuff was in order!


(first two sets, battery in my Flip ran out!  I had to change them during 15 sec interval rest periods!  That sucked!)

Personally I do this kind of stuff every week and I rarely post it for fear of it being taken wrong.  I don't think this training is a big deal because I do it all the time.  I'm not challenging anyone, I'm not comparing myself to any body else. I don't press the 20kg and dble squat the 24kg's.  I don't do pull ups and pistols.  I don't deadlift or run a billion zillion miles....I swing, and I dig kettlebell ballistic endurance training.  Does anyone have to do a billion trillion swings?  Nope, but I like it!


(sets 84-100)

Since Meg and I were on our own this morning and I know she can hang with the "boring" stuff why not just crank out 100 sets of 10 w/24kg?  Sure, why not?  I've done it twice before it was probably time to try it out again.  To be honest the first 20-25 sets sucked the big one.  I seriously thought, many times, how I could get myself out of the commitment without looking weak.  That's the advantage of having a training partner and a video camera!

Lucky for me it started getting easier at sets 40-50, and after fifty it was all downhill...until set 70.  At 70 I knew I still had 15 minutes to go...15 minutes...that's 5 minutes x 3!  Mentally 10 minutes was pushing it but three more 5 min segments?  Bloody F#@$.  Whatever.

OK enough with the drama.  What was I focusing on?

Absorbing the weight of the descending 24kg bell with my hips and legs to help take the load off of my traps and shoulders....24kg is a lot of weight!  Contracting my glutes as quickly as I could, and keeping them contracted as long as possible, was my next priority.  NOT "rocking", instead "sitting back and down" was also something I wanted to pay attention to.  I'm not saying it didn't start to happen, but when I felt it, I was aware and tried to change it back to a more aggressive swing instead of a passive movement.  I wanted these swings to be solid and the strongest I could perform.  I wasn't willing to settle for "surviving" or as I often say, letting the bell "swing me".  What's the point of that?

I love what I do, that's why I do it!  My training partners can count on me, the same as Mark's training partners can count on him, and have for decades.  I've learned from the best.  Holidays, over worked, no sleep, sick, hungover, late afternoons, early mornings, show up!  It's barely 2-3 hours a freakin' week out of 168....seems small now doesn't it?  1000 swings, 50 minutes out of my 10,080 minutes a week...not a big deal.  I admit a few pull-ups and pistols wouldn't hurt....I'll get back to you on those!  lol

Should you, or do you need to, keep a Food Journal? Maybe not!

This post is inspired by a comment left to me that I just noticed yesterday.  I do not get notified when comments are left so if I have never replied to one of your comments it's most likely because I don't know you left it!

Anyway the comment is about how to keep motivation for a food journaling.

 Ape said...

I love to eat healthy, but food journals are where I struggle. I feel like all those programs are not made for people that eat rather healthy. They are made w/ bar code scanners because people aren't eating broccoli and carrots or a salad. I even recently tried writing down my journal w/ just a pen and paper, but I slacked off again--way too quickly I may add. I know I eat well, and I know where I can clean up i.e., ice cream and my daily piece of dark chocolate that can turn into a few extra dark chocolate almonds. Annoying. Can you suggest ideas for structuring a food journal or how yours typically looks?

First of all I want to address the first part of this comment about eating healthy, pretty healthy, or "rather healthy", and how it relates to why keep a journal at all?

If you are at a body weight you like then there is no need to change what you are doing...it's working for you.  If your body composition is where you like it to be, fat/lean muscle, then there's no need to keep a journal.  If you are feeling overall "healthy", then there's no need to keep a journal, and therefore no motivation to do something you really don't need.

If you want to change your body weight, and usually it's to reduce body weight, and you truly don't know, or you may feel perplexed as to, why you weigh what you weigh, then a food journal will put it all in black and white, and it will provide a wealth of information besides just calories. (although if that's all you are interested in then that'll work too)

Amount of food (calories)
Types of foods (nutritional content)
Times you eat / don't eat
Exercise you do / don't do

If you are interested in changing your body composition a food journal can be instrumental.  Most people wanting to change composition want to get "leaner".  There are many diets/theories/plans on how to get lean, but first let me remind you that you must first have muscle to "lean out"!  Otherwise you are just getting skinny!  If skinny is what you want then fine, "skinny" can be lean, but it's not muscular.  Getting "lean" is about building and preserving hard earned and trained muscle mass while losing only fat.  This usually means losing weight (fat) slower and over a longer period of time. I believe this is where the recommendation to not lose more than 2lbs a week stems from.

I'm not implying, or assuming that "Ape" is overweight, in fact I'm guessing not, but most people will say that they do indeed eat "pretty healthy".  But if you have lots of weight to lose, more than 25lbs, and certainly more that 40-50lbs, then regardless of whether or not you think you are eating rather healthy, you can't be. The very fact that you are that much overweight gives it away.  A serving of ice cream, or a handful of chocolate nuts, is not what will produce obesity, even if consumed daily (single portion).  So is it producing some other kind of effect you want to change?

OK, so you want to change your body, size, weight, shape, etc., for what ever reason.  How much you want to change it will determine your motivation!  Not so much?  Then not so much!  I can only share with you my opinion based on my own life and experience.

When I really, really, really, want something, I make it happen.  Right now my food journal is hit and miss because I really don't want to change anything!  I'll go a week or more of consistent journaling when I think I'm ready to change something, but then I don't change anything!  I already know why I weigh what I weigh, and I'm not seeming to mind enough to do something different.  I'm in the "wishing" stage right now, lol!  And that's fine!

Another reason besides just wanting to change the size and shape of your body may be that you are feeling sick, and you don't know why.  Tired, weak, maybe some kind of pain, whether muscle or joint pain, or mental craziness pain (mood)!  Food can be medicine as much as it can be drug.  Again, are you feeling miserable enough to look for possible food related reasons?

Lots of people, most people, don't keep a food journal, there's just no reason compelling enough in their lives to want to, or have to.  Journaling food, emotions, workouts, banking, mileage, is all the same thing.  A way of collecting data to keep track, stay on track, or find answers to questions that are relevant to living a kind of life you say you want.  If you have that life already, or your life is "close enough" (lol) then enjoy it!  Don't worry about something that does not have, or add value to you already good life!

PS I have years and years of my food journal on my original blog "Living My Physical Potential" in case anybody is interested in looking it over.  Nothing fancy, just data.  Since I was in the habit of blogging regularly I simply included it in my regular posting.  Maybe starting a blog, even if it's a private blog, would be beneficial...just an idea.

Carbs.....If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right

Good-ness!  Where do I even start?  Oh, well let's start with the main subject of this post, carbs!  I get it, carbs are bad.  How bad?  Well, it depends on who you are talking to.  Personally I refuse to believe that everybody should cut all carbs out of their diets and all will be right with the world.  Everybody would be thin, healthy and fit....but then again some people do truly believe this, and that's fine.  Seriously, there are books out there that will give you all the science, facts and studies to prove the authors theory, and a lot of them will make sense to you, and if it works for you then hooray!


I base my belief on living with someone who has never ever had a weight "problem" and eats plenty of carbs.  I base my belief on having friends that have never had a "weight problem" and they eat plenty of carbs.  I base my belief on the fact that I've traveled a bit to other countries, and have known people that live here from other countries, and a lot of them do not have weight "problem" and do not "track" their carbohydrate consumption.  They enjoy desserts, pasta, rice, bread...did I mention bread?

Do I think carbs are great and everybody should live on carbs? No, I don't.  From my own experience I feel better, and I think I look better when I keep all of my nutrients balanced.  Some days my carbohydrate consumption is lower than other days, and then some days I can't seem to get enough Grape-Nuts.  At the end of the day I have to ask myself what kind of life do I want to live?

Sure, I am confident I can live a life completely devoid of Grape-Nuts, that's a fact. I didn't eat Grape-Nuts for at least 5 years, no big deal, and except for a 2-3 month period when I learned how to make my own Kettlecorn I haven't had popcorn in the same amount of time and don't plan to start eating it regularly again. If I never eat another bagel it may be too soon, lol!

I can live my life without a lot of things except for joy.  Being overweight is not joyful.  Stuffing myself on a regular basis and overeating when I'm not hungry does not feel joyful.  Being weak and sick is not joyful.  Being obnoxiously obsessed with every morsel that passes my lips is not joyful....oh and then telling everybody about it is not joyful.

When I was writing the diet section of my book, "The Swing", I wanted to encourage others to find their own way based on what worked for me.  What worked for me?

Making my own foods., no eating out....never eating out. (feeding myself)
Not overeating. (calorie counting)
Putting my nutrients in order based on the physical effects those nutrients create by becoming an expert on how my body feels when I eat certain foods so I can make the choices I need to produce the results I'm looking for, at the time.(food journaling)

Sure, believe me, I can tell you exactly what to eat and when, and maybe it will come to something like that at some point, but I trust you.

I know the science behind different types of nutrients.  Science says that 1 gr carbs hold 4 gr water, versus 1 gr salt which holds 20 gr water.  Protein holds no water and actually sheds water.  So I get it.  I get that those who chose to exclude foods and nutrients based on how those foods make them feel, bloated and sometimes truly sick, I get it.  Personally I know that pizza does not make me feel good.  A whole bag of cookies does not make me feel good.  French fries rarely make me feel good...I get it.  If fish oil and protein powder makes you feel on top of the world then great!  Most people would not consider plain yogurt with sliced toasted almonds and lime a "treat" on the same level as ice cream, but I do.

I know what I eat and I feel dang good about my choices, in fact I'm proud of how I feed myself and my family.  Who could ask for more?  Carbs?  I am not cutting carbs completely out of my life today or ever, so if loving carbs is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

"No-Brainer" Swing Squat ladder

Only have 20 minutes?  Or maybe you need to tack on an extra 10-20 minutes and can't seem to get those squats in?  Well here is a favorite of mine, done uphill or downhill either way each set only takes 1 minute and you only need one bell...make it a good one!  Or use progressively heavier bells OR doubles if this is your only training for the day!  Rest periods interval and how many sets you do is up to you....but I took 1 minute rest and repeated the ladder 10 x (uphill w/16kg).



1 sw/1 sq
2 sw/1 sq
3 sw/ 1 sq
4 sw/1 sq
5 sw/1 sq
6 sw/1 sq

21 sw/6 sq per set x 10 = 210 swings/60 squats

Oh, and of course you can use dble bells too!

"It's a meal, not a party"

I started out my morning today, getting ready for my oldest son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter to visit later this afternoon and of course I'm excited to cook and feed them. My mind started racing about what I would plan for the menu.  Back in the day, serving bread was automatic, much like you'd get at a restaurant, but I don't ever buy bread so I'd have to go get some.  Thank goodness because I'd want to serve the best bread and that's 20 miles away, and I'm not going to go through that kind of trouble to serve something nobody needs 'extra' of.  Sure, bread is fine, I'm not trying to hate on bread, but what kinds of, and how much, food should we serve people we love and care about?  I'd also serve a platter of fruit, cheese, nuts, crackers (this is where the bread comes in too), etc as a start, but really, is all that necessary?  Let's not forget about dessert....I should at least have some fresh fruit, right?  But as Mark says, "it's a meal, not a party", and the special occasion is spending personal time with my family, not eating time with my family.  Trust me (I'm talking to myself!) nobody is going to starve!

I've got 3 huge, thick, one pound, New York strip steaks I picked up at Whole Foods yesterday, after that really who cares!  But since I'm going to grill them I thought I'd throw some veggies on the grill too.  For some reason I just don't feel like vegetable shopping on Sat at the FM, and Sunday is a crap shoot...yoga, or in today's case I've been 'picking up' and cleaning all morning!  I'd have to look and see what I already have.

I've got 2 large sweet potatoes I think I can slice thin and grill, as well as rainbow chard I got in CSA that I can also grill (it'll take about 2 minutes).  I also have my summer beans I pressure cooked two days ago, with roasted corn an zucchini, maybe as a bonus I'll reheat them with some crispy bacon!  Now what about dessert?  Yikes...I bought some apricots at the FM...tell you what, if they are still hungry, and I doubt it, I'll figure something out...maybe I'll sweeten some of my sheeps milk yogurt with maple syrup, slice up the apricots and toast up some granola?  Or maybe I've got some shortbread cookies hiding somewhere...who am I kidding, of course I've got some cookies hiding somewhere, lol!  (unfortunately I'm out of whipping cream until my youngest son gets home, otherwise for sure I'd whip up some cream....I'm not that much of a drag!  lol)


Gotta take those steaks out of the fridge now.....


(PS, FYI, when I chose to eat flour based foods I eat way too many cookies and crackers that's why I never buy bread!)