5 Yoga Poses You Should Do Everyday
If you want to get your fittest, there are some exercises or yoga poses you should do everyday. Keeping yourself limber and strong no matter how old you are is important. Many of the poses in yoga are similar or exactly like a Western alternative, but often done more slowly. In Alexandria, VA, I create many of the workouts that include these yoga like exercises to stretch the body, increase flexibility and strength.
Start with a pose that is a combination of two poses.
Start your day encouraging great circulation by doing the combination of the cat/cow pose. They’re a perfect combination since the poses massage and stretch the muscles in all directions. For the cat pose, you’re on your knees with your palms flat on the floor and elbows straight. Arch your back like a cat as you lower your head and exhale. Now it’s time to move back to starting position and then into the cow pose. In the cow pose, you move your head to look straight ahead as you drop your back toward the floor, leaving it with a dip mid back.
Do you want to work all major muscle groups? Do a warrior two pose.
Start by inhaling with your hands over your head. Take a large step to your right side as you exhale. Turn your right foot to the front of the mat as you lunge down with your thigh parallel to the floor and your knees over your ankle. Press down the back foot and lower the front knee toward the outer side of the right foot. Extend your arms so your right is pointing front, left toward the back. This pose stretches the body.
The forearm plank is also called the phalakasana forearm movement.
This pose starts kneeling on all fours. Bringing your elbows to the floor directly under the shoulders, clasp your hands together. Move one foot back and straighten the leg, followed by bringing the other foot back. Push your heels backward and lift up your kneecaps. Hold the position with your body straight for 30 to 60 seconds then slowly lower your body back as you reverse each step.
- You can create a variation of the forearm plank by straightening your arms, rather than resting on the forearms.
- Stretch your body to the side with the Vrksasana or tree pose. Lift one leg and place it on your inner thigh and you press your palms together in front of you. This pose, once learned is a relaxing way to stand.
- The locus pose or salabhasana builds muscle strength. Lay on your abdomen with hands straight in front, then lift your arms and head as you lift your feet and legs. Hold.
- There’s a lot of yoga exercises that are similar to Western workouts. At The Worx we ensure you get a great workout that includes all types of exercises. Come in for a free small group training session and see for yourself.
Everyone has heard of someone that wants a breast implant to get a Hollywood looking bosom, but most people aren’t aware that there are women whose bust size is so big, it causes pain and discomfort. If you’re one of those people, you don’t have to go under the knife to get a bust reduction. There are methods and exercises to reduce breast size naturally.
Working out for beginners can be tough. You need to first find a program you like and then identify how much to do and how hard to workout. Too big of an effort early on can cause injury and stop the entire program before it starts and too little effort won’t bring the results you want. While I promote a formal exercise program that ensures you get all types of fitness training, strength, endurance, balance and flexibility, you can start simply by choosing an activity you enjoy that’s active and doing more of it.
If you come to The Worx in Alexandria, VA, you know that working out can make you feel great, both physically and mentally. There’s a reason for that. Whether it’s boosting your cognitive functioning or raising your spirits, fitness helps with mental health in a number of ways. One of the biggest ways is to burn off the hormones created by stress, which can clear your mind and help you to think better. Those stress hormones are for running or fighting if there’s danger and the changes they make in your body cause health issues and mental fog if they’re not burned off with exercise that simulates running or fighting.
When you hear the term muscle confusion you might envision arms and legs flailing everywhere, but that’s not how it works. Muscle confusion is a way to keep you burning more calories and avoiding a plateau. When you do physical activities, your body is always seeking efficiency and ways of saving calories. It happens when you do a workout for a long time. Not only does that lead to burning fewer calories, it also leads to fewer gains in strength training.
I love to see the changes in my clients at The Worx in Alexandria, VA. While all of them came expecting to see changes in their body, they never realized how good it would feel to be fitter and stronger. In fact, many start with one small goal, which they actually change as they see the changes in their body. Maybe their goal was just to get a little curvier or lose ten pounds, but once they start seeing their muscles tone and the changes in how they feel, they can’t help but to continue long after they’ve completed their goals.
There’s still time for fun this summer and time to help steer your family toward a healthier lifestyle. After all, summer means family fun and what a great time to add healthy food and an active lifestyle to the agenda. How are your weekends spent? Sure, some of them are devoted to getting things done that you can’t do during the week, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking time for fun with the family. Get the kids involved with chores with their reward being a fun outing, since the chores are done faster.
We’ve recently experienced extreme temperatures in Alexandria, VA. Those high temperatures combined with the humidity made it feel like 110 to 115 degrees outside. That’s just too hot for anything. Exercising outside in the heat requires more caution and some extra care, just as exercising in extreme cold does. While many clients prefer to stay in an air conditioned gym during excessive heat, if you’re going to workout when the temperature’s turned up, you need to follow some precautions.
While there are many healthy restaurant options in Alexandria, VA, there may not be ones near your work. That means you either have to carry your lunch or opt for an unhealthy option. You might consider the second choice, especially if your morning is hectic. However, my suggestion is to make lunch the night before to avoid the hassle in the morning and stick with your program of healthy eating. Most of these can be made on the weekend for the whole week and even stored in the freezer for those super busy weeks.
Water is the magic elixir for health. In fact, in my family, we call it healthy water, our good luck elixir or our super duper energy boost—even though it’s just plain tap water. Luckily, we have pure well water that’s absolutely delicious. If we didn’t, I’d buy bottled water, because it’s that important to my health and the health of my family. So when you’re working out, don’t forget your water bottle and don’t forget to sip frequently.