Height: tall enough to know what's on top of your refrigerator
Good morning everyone!
Mel, I'm sorry to hear about the time share. Maybe you'll find one that is a better fit for you and your family. Glad you had fun skiing, though!
Alena, thanks for thinking of me. I love yoga. I haven't tried hot yoga, though. I admire you for getting an AM workout in with plantar fasciitis looming over your heel. How do you get up at 5AM?!? Take good care & don't let PF flare up again!
Rabbit, are you in Singapore already?
Silver, how are you doing? I hope you are feeling better.
I am still scratching my head at how far some of the people in the hot yoga class can bend. This morning, I was amazed by a young lady who stood to the left of me so I had a nice view of her in the mirror.
The class begins with a breathing exercise where you start with fingers of both hands interlaced under your chin and as you inhale, you keep lifting your arms up (fingers remain interlaced under the chin). See the first pose from the left). She was able to make her folded arms completely perpendicular to the floor (even more so than the girl in the picture here).
So please everybody do me a favour, try it in front of a mirror and let me know how far you get yours. I think my elbows were (at best) somewhere a bit higher than 45 degrees, but that was about it.
That's your exercise for today.
P.S.
Denver, it is not that hard for me to get up early - I used to get at 5:25 a.m. once a week for years to go swimming. Easy in summer, not so easy in winter but still doable. I am a morning person. Also I did have to talk myself into it this morning as I slept poorly and I was up around 3 a.m. for a while.
Alena - I can't even vision how to get from step one to step two of that pose, but will definitely work on it when I get home.
I have had a big flat no workout four days - nothing since Wednesday. Going to shoot for an easy run today, as it is I guess my taper week for th half marathon coming up this Sunday... Unless I bail out because I'm totally intimidated by the process of getting down there at 6:00 am on Sunday...
Good day everyone! I'll be back to chat more later!
Shannon,
Don't worry about going to Step 2 - I am only asking how far everybody can get their arms in Step 1.
Nice to know you are alive. I was worried that perhaps there was a problem with your DH's surgery and that's why you didn't post.
Alena, about 45 degrees here as well. Hurting in strange places if I attempt to go any further.
Can I at least plead not warming up, advanced age (almost 51) and RSI affected shoulders for this performance???
My feet are killing me again today! Again one almost solid standing session from 9 - 17.45. Let this be a lesson for the future to pack a spare pair of FLAT shoes!!! (I'm only on a 1 inch heel here, never knew this would turn out to be sooo strainfull !)
One of the things that CrossFit really showed me was how inflexible I was from doing a standard body builder workout for years. To do a proper front squat of squat and clean, you really need to keep your elbow high when the bar is in the clean position. The first few weeks, my forearms were the sorest part of me!
I can't get into the elbow position of the picture, but I'm about 1/2 way between parallel and my ears.
Around 45 degrees here, Alena. Should I be aspiring to go further?
Birchie,
I caught your post just before going to bed last night and at first, I thought you were talking about weather. I must have been half asleep already.
Thanks for indulging me, guys. I love you!
I planned to go for a swim today and then perhaps to a Pilates class in the evening but then I realized I have another physio session today. Much to my surprise, my back is ok today (I was a bit worried after yesterday's hot yoga). I still feel that pesky SI joint occasionally, when I twist or move (although there is no specific position where it happens, it seems to be random - as we in the software industry say "I can't replicate it" (when talking about bugs).
I think I will start slowly returning to my P90X workouts - cautiously - to see how it will go.
We expect a nice warm and sunny day today, so I will be taking the dogs for a well deserved walk after work. They look a bit chubby after winter, Beetle Bug mostly, and there is nothing worse than a greyhound that does't show ribs!
Alena
Edited to add:
Holly cr@p, Shannon, I just reread your post and realized you are running a half-marathon on Sunday. You are amazing! Tell me what time it starts - we (me + the dogs) will be keeping all our fingers and toes crossed for you!
Good morning everyone! Yesterday was day one of my taper week in prep for the half-marathon on Sunday. 3.15 miles at the park, broken up into 6 400 meter sprints at my 10k speed, mixed with walking, ended with a slow half mile for cooldown, some ab work when I get home. Planning some light strength training when I get home with some easy stationary bike. I'm not sure how I feel about the taper week concept - they say to decrease your miles and exercise output by 15-20% depending on where you read. Everything I've read says that during the week you will feel sluggish and heavy from the decreased exercise, will have phantom pains pop up, will feel unnaturally hungry and will start to feel anxiety over the race itself. I achieved the decrease in training time with my four unanticipated days off last week, and already feel sluggish, so just waiting for phantom pain and unnatural hunger to kick in.
Alena - I can get to about 45 degrees, maybe between 45 and 40, just above halfway between parallel and my ears. And the half starts at 7:04 am on Sunday... Which is also seriously freaking me out a little... that is very early for me... I'm glad your back is okay, any more flare from the PF?
Mel - I never think about standard lifting workouts adding to the lack of flexibility, but I have noticed that when I do more standard workouts v. the crossfit style ones I feel less flexible when I get back to yoga. Hm. Sorry about the timeshare...
Rabbit - always pack flats. My weird foot ick last month came from a less than one inch heel, standing for about three hours. Can't imagine how uncomfortable you must be after 8! Take care of yourself over there!
Denver - how is the back today? Hope the doctor or chiro can help with it...
First off, Alena, like Shannon I can get about halfway between parallel and my ears, but I can feel it in my upper arms just below my shoulders.
Rabbit - OUCH! can you stand barefoot some of the time?
WHenever I try yoga, I feel very inflexible, plus I have short arms (and legs) so some of the poses are very difficult or require the use of a block. I swear I was constructed from surplus parts!
Yesterday was a total do nothing day (well, went to book club in the evening) so I shifted my workouts. Did lower body today, and my hamstrings are saying nasty nasty things to me, which means I've finally gotten the single-leg ROmanian deadlift right. I was very shaky and sweaty when I finished today - and I fear I'll be paying for it tomorrow. Zumba at 9:30am followed by upper body, and I'll be back on track. I wouldn't say I am an addict, Alena, but it's the least boring cardio alternative right now. I'm looking forward to riding my bike in another 6 weeks or so.
Still adjusting to DST here as well. But we've had lovely sunny days since the weekend, and it was near 40F here today.
I'm going to plead age too. Old Mama shoulders. They were both probably a tad better than 45 degrees and the left better than the right. Might be chiropractor time.
This would be hysterically funny if it didn't apply to me also!
Shannon- How is the taper going? That part panicked me too. You need it though. Hang in there and don't let anxiety get the better of you. I bailed on the last marathon I registered for because I was too freaked out about having to be ready to stand in line at 5 am. That was AFTER doing all the training and buying airline tickets and paying for a hotel room in Florida! dumb....
Alena- Glad nothing is really wrong with your back. You've had more than your share of injuries!
Rabbit- Still in Singapore? Just the flight time gives me the creeps!
I have a day off today as a comp for working a miserable systems conversion test on Saturday. Today is supposed to be gorgeous. I have a lot of errands to do to get ready for my job change on Monday (buy train tickets, get quarters for parking at station, dye hair, etc), but I'm hoping to get out in the garden and see what's up and assess the winter damage before the deer inflict the spring damage
No cardio today- CrossFit WOD includes two 800 meter runs with 30 snatches in between. I think that's enough!
I have to give myself some public spanking. Yesterday, I got home late, walked the dogs (who, by the way, think they had died and gone to heaven - over a week, their kibble was enhanced by a very generous portion of soup made from beef heart, celery stalks, carrots and celery root. They will be very disappointed tonight to find out that the source has dried out) and then I had to sweep a ton of dry leaves and other debris from the patio (we had lots of strong winds on the weekend). That took me some time and afterwards, I just didn't feel like doing any exercise. [Oh, and to add insult to injury, I ate some WHITE pasta salad at work, that had lots of oil andcheese on it - we often get leftovers from catered meetings etc.]. I realized that Pilates class starts in 15 minutes so I quickly changed and did at least the Pilates class. But we started 5 minutes late - the previous class did not finish on time - so it was only 40 minutes of not-too-strenuous exercise yesterday. Uggh.
The surplus body parts cracked me up, too. :-)
Mel, enjoy your day off - what a lovely day to be off (even with the errands). Susan, Pat, thanks for testing the yoga pose for me!
Alena - after doing an hour of pretty solid yoga last night I could get my arms up a little higher, but still not much over the midpoint between parrallel and my ears, so maybe I got to 30 degrees this time. Left went higher than the right this time, too...
I'm totally feeling the surplus parts reference myself... I haven't done any serious yoga in a while, since I blamed it for my initial shoulder ick. Last night was 50 minutes of pretty hard core activity. Yoga Fitness Plus w/ Elise Gulan on Exercise TV. I lost count after the 14th chattarranga, and that was only about halfway through... Did okay, but boy my arms are achey today... Legs handled it pretty well - must be from all the running in the last six months. i do have to work on balance, though. I still have tight hips and hamstrings, so have a hard time lifting my leg for things like standing splits and warrior III....
Mel - the taper is going fine... plan for the day is a 'light' 3-5 miles on my treadmill. Funny that I find myself thinking that a 5 mile run is a light day. A little worried about the fact that they are now calling for cool temps and thunderstorms on Sunday - only rainy day for the next ten after today. Darnit. So, might end up calling it off and running 13.1 on the treadmill on Sunday instead...
I read your list of things to prep for job change, and was amused to see 'dye hair' on the list. Made me stop and think to myself that I have now been coloring my hair for over ten years.... I don't remember what color it used to be! Enjoy the off day, and CF today sounds like plenty of cardio to me!
Oh, and Alena, consider yourself flogged for the pasta salad. Now, that is out of the way, good job getting the Pilates in! Sounds like a long, dreary day yesterday.
Susan - shoulder opener yoga sequence #1 from Yoga Downloads.com was really helping my shoulders, until I did something stupid and unscripted and fell. When I was following the program it was great.
Pat - Single leg Romanian Deadlift. Still haven't done that one... I did follow Lydia, or maybe it was Mel's, suggestion and try my Bulgarian Split squat with the standing foot on Bosu. That was a near disaster. How are you feeling today?
I was very shaky and sweaty when I finished today - and I fear I'll be paying for it tomorrow. Zumba at 9:30am followed by upper body, and I'll be back on track. I wouldn't say I am an addict, Alena, but it's the least boring cardio alternative right now. I'm looking forward to riding my bike in another 6 weeks or so. 
Enjoy the off day, and CF today sounds like plenty of cardio to me!
Now, that is out of the way, good job getting the Pilates in! Sounds like a long, dreary day yesterday. 
