Did the yoga make you feel any more or less prepared going into your training session?[/quote]
Well, I did the yoga around 7:30 am and didn’t hit the gym until about 2:30 pm, so I wouldn’t say there was a direct relation or anything like that. I will say though that yoga in general usually compliments my lifting well. There are some specific stretches for my shoulders, hams and hip flexors that I get a lot of benefit from.
When I was really into doing yoga every day, I actually found that I didn’t seem to need as much warmup in general when I got to the gym, my form on all of my exercises was better, and I recovered faster.
I’ve actually been lax about doing yoga since this whole hip thing started and I’m now wondering if that’s one of the reasons why I had such a rash of nagging injuries and pains recently.
The main criticisms I hear about yoga are that there are some poses that aren’t the best for our back or that some are too extreme. There’s a simple solution to that: Don’t do them! I avoid any pose in yoga that I feel puts my back in a bad position and if a particular pose is too difficult, I either modify it to my current ability, skip it or replace it with something else.
I have several yoga DVDs and I just do them in my bedroom in the morning. Classes are good too.
[quote]Rattler wrote:
AngryVader wrote:
Monday 12/15 - Quads and calves.
This morning I did some SMR and then about 20 minutes of yoga. Yes, yoga.
Yoga eh?
Maybe I can summon the balls to go to Trish Stratus’ studio after all.[/quote]
Do it! You might actually get something out of the yoga anyway. Plus, even if Trish isn’t there, there is usually some talent in the class there with you. I’ve only gone to a few classes at dedicated yoga studios, but every time I’ve gone, there were always cute chicks in the class.
[quote]Flow wrote:
Good to see you hitting the weights outside of prehabilitation again.
I think I should check out yoga myself. . . Good idea[/quote]
Yeah, it’s good to be back. I’m going to be friggin sore tomorrow. I already have that achy feeling in my quads.
I do recommend yoga. Starting off with a class is a good idea, but they can be hit or miss. In my experience, you’re better off going to a legit yoga studio, than taking a class at the gym.
How I got started actually with just with DVDs. After I’d used the DVDs for a while, I then would take a class once every month or two as the instructors will make adjustments to you during the poses that make them more effective and then you can take that and make your home sessions better.
For anyone interested, I’d recommend DVDs by Rodney Yee. His Power Yoga for Beginners series is really good. Most of his DVDs are only around 20-30 min, so it’s easy to do a quick session in the morning or once you get home. That always seems to be about the right length for me. Once the DVDs go past about 45 minutes, I start to lose interest or I start to feel like it’s too much.
Baron Baptiste is good too. As well as anything Living Arts. Shiva Rea is also very good, but I think she’s a little more advanced for someone starting out.
I have like 20-30 Yoga DVDs (and I’ve probably tried 30-40 more) and those are the ones I keep going back to, especially when it’s my first session after a layoff.
You can rent most of them from Blockbuster Online or Netflix if you have those, so that’s another easy way to check out a few. If you curious about a yoga DVD feel free to ask, as I’ve probably tried it or already own it.
This was kind of a half assed workout. I started with the normal SMR stuff and Defranco upper body warmup. Then I did the following circuit:
Scap Pull-up: BW x 10,10
Scap Push-up: BW x 10,10
Band External Rotation: mini band x 10,10
Band Pull-aparts: monster mini band x 10,10
Band Dislocates: light band x 10,10
Band Presses: light band x 10,10
Then I did some weights to test the shoulder a bit.
Flat DB Press: 50 x 7, 60 x 8, 70 x 6, 80 x 6, 90 x 6 - My shoulder only bothered me on the last set.
Lateral raises: 20 x 12, 25 x 12, 30 x 12, 35 x 12 - These don’t bother my shoulder at all.
Because the presses didn’t feel 100%, I cut it short there. I’ll just have to train around this the best I can until it feels good again.
Also, I’m going to take the advice I’ve read in articles here and ditch the shoulder day. What I’ll likely do from now on is to train Chest with Front and Side Delts and Back with Rear Delts. Then on Saturday, when I would normally do shoulders, I’ll do Arms and Calves. So the new split would look like:
Mon: Quads/Calves
Tues: Chest/Front and Side Delts
Thurs: Hams/Calves
Fri: Back/Rear Delts
Sat: Arms/Calves
[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
I may try out that exact split but I’ll probably hit chest twice.
I’m with you on the 3x weekly calves, though.[/quote]
Yeah, my calves need the work. They have grown over the years, but are still too small for my liking. I do feel them pretty well when I train them and they are almost always sore after training. Lately, I’ve been responding well to pausing for 2 seconds in the bottom and top of the movements. I never really focused on anything like that before. I’d just crank the reps out.
The left foot numbness really set me back though. There’s still a little bit of numbness that hasn’t completely gone away still. That’s kind of frustrating that I’m still dealing with that. I guess I’ll keep up with the SMR for the calves and stretch them more. Eventually, I’m sure it will work itself out.
Now, if I can just get a handle on my other issues.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
PonceDeLeon wrote:
Aren’t classes expensive? There are tons of studios here. I should find a good one.
I’ve been wanting to check out Bikram yoga (hot yoga). Ever tried it?
Not really. Most studio’s I’ve been to only charge $15-20 a session. Even Rodney Yee’s studio in Piedmont is in that range.
I’ve never done Bikram though. I hear it’s great.[/quote]
I wrote about a Bikram yoga class in my log. It’s great for flexibility, but the way Bikram moves are structured, I didn’t think it was compatible with strength training. If they’d just let you go in the room and do whatever you wanted it would be fantastic.
Yeah, my calves need the work. Lately, I’ve been responding well to pausing for 2 seconds in the bottom and top of the movements.
Wait, you got that from the Tim Henriques Small Calf solution article, right? That article was golden for me.
[/quote]
For the most part, yeah. I’m doing the routine from Thib’s article now though. He also says to pause at the bottom and the top. I wanted to switch because I don’t think my gastrocs respond to higher reps. I’ll still probably do the Carl’s Calf Raise on my Saturday calf workout though.
