A Fitness Collectible

And finally, after a long time, an update.

Because last weekend I found the Holy Grail--well, one of them at least--of the fitness world...

I found it in the grocery store, of all places, for the dirt cheap price of PhP190 (a little less than 5 dollars?)!

Reading it brought back memories of working out along to Jane's video, and reminded me that sometimes the simplest exercises really are the best and most effective. I love the fact that Jane provides a suggested playlist of music to do the exercises to.  She recommends doing the workout three times a week, and emphasizes the fact that the workout be done to music. Her suggestions are definitely retro, but it drives home the fact that music can sometimes make or break a workout. I am in total agreement on this. Music is essential. In fact, I have some DVDs that are great workouts, but I find them difficult to do, just because the music is so...for lack of a better word, meh.

I did the abs and buttocks section the night I got the book (after walking two miles). All I have to say is that there's a reason that Jane looks so good on the cover. The exercises are classic, straightforward, and effective. (I would not do the bouncing/pulsing/ballistic stretches however, although these types of stretches are still found in some dance classes...)

My sister says the unweighted arm exercises are similar to the kinds of exercises that "Teeny-Tiny" exercise diva, Tracy Anderson (Gwyneth Paltrow is a devotee) is doing now. Tracy advocates the use of no, or light weights for the arms to sculpt without bulking up. Check out this video online and see for yourself whether there's a resemblance. They look like dance moves to me (I admit I've never tried a Tracy Anderson workout before, and some of this looks rather strange to me), but look closely and you'll see some moves that would make Jane proud (plus, the music rocks.)

Just goes to show, good exercises never die.
They just come back with better music.

10K update: I ran the 10-K at the Condura Marathon on February 26. It was a tough route, but overall, I had a great experience, and took 14 minutes off my 10K time at the same event in 2010.

The Other Half of the Equation

This blog has mostly been about exercise and staying active.

Lately however, I've had to come face to face with the unpleasant truth that exercise is just one part of fitness. For me, luckily, it's a part I like. I enjoy moving and being active, and I've always been interested in different types of exercise: dance, yoga, running, weights, kettlebells. And there are so many other things I haven't yet tried! I have not tried TRX, I haven't tried the much talked-about Plana Forma, and although I have been exposed to different forms of yoga, I have never braved the heated room of Bikram. I love the idea that there is still so much to discover.

I wish that loving exercise and being consistent with exercise was enough to stay fit. Sadly, it's not. And the numbers that flash on my digital scale prove to me every day that I am not doing enough to keep the extra pounds from creeping on.

I have long tried to fool myself that I "earned" the chocolate bar, or the chips, or fill-in-the-blank-with-the-treat-of-your-choice by working out hard. As a result, I think I've sabotaged my workouts by not doing enough on the nutrition--oh, heck, I'll just use the word I mean--I haven't done enough on the DIET side.

Exercise is great: it elevates the mood, it's great for cardiovascular health, it strengthens and tones the muscles. But regular, even regular intense workouts, should never be used as an excuse to stuff our faces post-workout. Yes, I'm really talking to myself here. But feel free to feel spoken to as well, if it encourages you to make some important changes to your diet.


I've never been a diet-type of person. I enjoy eating too much, and I hate depriving myself of foods that I enjoy. At one point, I think exercise was enough. But now that I'm getting older (something I plan to do as gracefully as possible), I can feel my metabolism slowing down, and I realize that I can no longer eat the way I do and expect to not gain weight.


The numbers on the scale don't lie. And they aren't pretty. So, it's full steam ahead for Operation: Clean Eating. None of your South Beach or Atkins for me. It will all be about sensible portions, a lot less sugar, a lot less salty snacks, and more fruits, vegetables, and quality protein.


And a little chocolate, now and then. Just a little. I promise.


What's your diet strategy this year?

Feel Good Fitness

Although I've never really given it much thought, I guess my fitness philosophy is that it should feel good. I mean, life's too short to do workouts that make you feel miserable, and the truth of the matter is that if your workout doesn't make you feel good, then you probably won't do it enough to get all the benefits.

The only way to reap all the healthy benefits of exercise is if you do it. And the only way you'll do it is if it fits into your schedule, it's fun, and it makes you feel great! Exercise should make you feel energetic, not exhausted. At its very best, exercise should make you feel strong enough to climb a mountain, and it should give you the energy and love for life that will actually get you off your butt and do it! What's the point of exercise if it can't make you fit enough to go on all the great adventures that life has to offer?

There are so many fitness and exercise options available these days, there's absolutely no reason for you to force yourself to do something you hate. People who detested P.E. class in school--getting fit today doesn't have to mean wearing something you feel fat in, and being laughed at because you're the last to be picked for teams, or because you suck at a particular sport. Getting fit can--and should!--be a celebration of the body you were given, and how much it can do for you. After all, you got up out of bed today, right? You're healthy enough to go to work, you've got legs that can carry you all day long--these are all things to be grateful for. Getting fit just means doing a little extra, so you can be strong enough to do a LOT more.

I love it when people try something new, and realize they can do a lot more than they thought they could. I love hearing about people who push past their limits and realize that they're stronger than they thought they were. Fitness should not be about shame or insecurity. Fitness should be empowering!

Feel Good Fitness should mean being able to say, ya, I'm not a size two, but I can do this many push-ups in a minute. Or, I can finish a 5-kilometer race. And I feel great! Feel Good Fitness shouldn't be about competition either. It's cheesy and a cliche, but the only person you should be competing with is yourself. And, there's no way to lose if you're playing by yourself right? So be forgiving, be compassionate, have a sense of humor. Did you miss a day of working out, and eat a whole candy bar by yourself? Don't beat yourself up about it. It's only one day, and you can also get back on the fitness train tomorrow. Besides, maybe your body needed that rest day. (And, hey, chocolate is full of antioxidants, so don't cut it completely out of your diet.)

Of course, I'm not saying that you should be soft on yourself and never do a puke-in-a-bucket type of workout. I'm all for going to your edge, finding that fine line doing something that's INTENSE and doing something that's PAINFUL. But the "edge" is yours, you decide where it is, you decide when you want to play at that edge, and when you want to back off. The only way to do that is by getting to know your body.

Eoin Finn in his DVD, Power Yoga for Happiness, has a bunch of yogis demonstrating all different levels of skill and experience. In his voice-over, he gives suggestions about how far to push yourself. He says you're welcome to hold back, and stay at level 1, but if it feels right, you might want to try stage 2.

And if you want to go deeper, and have a very good reason for wanting to go deeper...

he invites you try level 3. I've always appreciated those reminders. Do I have a good reason for wanting to go to level 3? Do I want to do it, because my body thinks, yeah, I think I'm ready for that now! Or, is it just because I want to look like that great, advanced, super bendy, blonde girl in the DVD? If it's the second thing, then...well...is that what Eoin would call a "very good reason" for wanting to go deeper? And, if I did go deeper, would I feel good? Or would it just hurt?

Getting fit isn't it easy. Otherwise, everybody would be fit. There will always be days that you don't want to work out, and there will always be days where you feel more tired than usual. But I've never finished a workout and said, "I wish I hadn't done that." Sure, there are days when my workout has me beat, but I always have a great sense of accomplishment after doing it, the sense of having done something good for myself. And, that's a great feeling.

The bottom line for me?  Being fit feels good. Being fit feels great! Why should getting fit feel bad?

On the Run

Despite my running hiatus, I found I could not resist, and signed up to join my first (and hopefully not my last!) 10K this year.

I was actually set on NOT joining it, until I realized that I had joined the Condura Skyway Marathon every year since it began. Sadly, I won't be going up a race category as I had originally planned. I ran 5K in 2009, 10K in 2010, and should have been ready for a 16K this year. But...you know what they say about even the best laid plans.

I started running probably about 10 years ago, or something like that. I started out walking, then running and walking, then gradually developed enough endurance to run my whole route. I only started joining these so-called "fun runs" in 2007. My office used to be located inside a lovely university campus, making running not only convenient, but also quite refreshing. I found a kindred spirit in the office, who encouraged me to run, and the hour to an hour and half of pounding the pavement was also a time to commiserate with workplace woes or celebrate some office success.

Today however, I find it much more difficult to run, since I moved office and must contend with a one-and-a half hour commute from workplace to home. Theoretically, I could wake up early (and I mean early) to run, but my body will simply not tolerate the idea of running around in the dark. And by the time I've made it home at the end of the day, I'm often simply too tired to think of going out again to run.

Yes, I know, this labels me as "not a serious" runner. I don't mind. It's the truth.

But I enjoy it. And I wish I had the luxury of running more often. It's not the exercise that I miss so much, because I have a lot of other options for exercise. It's the meditative aspect of running that I miss. Unlike others, I don't run with an iPod, I much prefer silence and the sound of my breath to any other soundtrack. Yoga and running seem like twin pursuits to me, since the repetitive motion and the breathing make both these activities seem like meditation in motion.

I am currently reading "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami. He captures perfectly what I like about running:

What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue...I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void. But as you might expect, an occasional thought will slip into this void...The thoughts that occur to me while I'm running are like clouds in the sky.  Clouds of all different sizes. They come and they go, while the sky remains the same sky as always. The clouds are mere guests in the sky that pass away and vanish, leaving behind the sky...And we merely accept that vast expanse and drink it in.

Have YOU started working out this year?

...If you haven't, this is a perfect chance to start!

Total Fitness DVDs is having it's New Year's Resolution Sale, with over 800 workout DVDs at discounted prices!

So whether you're already a certified "vidiot" or just starting your journey with home-workouts, this is the place for you. Aside from the sale prices and the great selection, Mary is awesome to do business with.

So make sure your credit card's handy and get ready to start working out!

Ballet Bodies

I paid a visit to a ballet school the other day.

SIGH.

I love ballet. I mean, really love it. I love the music, I love the movement. I love everything about it.

I took ballet for six years, and though I had the coordination and the musicality, I didn't have any of the natural advantages a ballet student should have. I was more athletic than elegant, I was round where I should have been long and lean. And then of course, there's the flat feet.

According to eHow:

If you want a ballerina's body, the facts can be discouraging. A professional ballerina must be between 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-8, slender and limber, have a perfect limb-to-torso ratio, a long neck, a small head and perfectly arched feet with good point.

So, I really just wasn't cut out for it.

I totally understand though the current fascination with ballet-style workouts. I mean, who doesn't want a body that looks like this--

Ashley Bouder of the New York City Ballet

and can do this:

Ashley Bouder again, in Four Seasons

I've got two ballet workouts on tap that I haven't yet tried, but stay tuned for reviews. I hope I get around to trying them, sooner rather than later. (For those who are curious and want to know what exactly these videos are, they are the workouts by Jessica Sherwood, Ballet Boot Camp 1 and 2.)
Barre-style workouts, like Pure Barre, Lotte Berk, and the Core Fusions, are also workouts that I would classify under "ballet-style" or ballet-inspired. Interestingly enough, I have very little patience with barre-style workouts, so I wonder if a more ballet-influenced program, such as Jessica Sherwood's, will fit the bill. I'll let you know.

I love ballet, and I am in awe of those who have pursued their dream of becoming professional dancers. It's a hard life. And the demands of the art and of the audience are almost too much to bear.

As an example, late last year, a review of the New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker raised a furor. Alastair Macaulay said Jenifer Ringer, who played the iconic role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she had eaten "one sugarplum too many."


This is what Mr. Macaulay was referring to:

Jenifer Ringer as The Sugar Plum Fairy

She doesn't seem all that fat to me.

I admire dancers who look strong, who have beautiful expression, who are graceful, elegant, and yes, athletic. I look for spark and fire, for softness and delicacy. I love dancers with great musicality and of course, beautiful, clean technique. And I love the dancers who make it all look so easy.

But...it's a hard life. And dancers make a lot of sacrifices, not just to keep their bodies--their instruments--in shape, but, I imagine, a lot of personal sacrifice too, in order to be able to dance and perform the way they must.

In the documentary, Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, an incredibly beautiful dancer makes this this painful comment:

You are always working before a mirror, always examining what faults to work on. I don't know if a dancer can say "I like myself physically." It's impossible.

Many of us are fortunate that we can do these ballet-type workouts in the privacy of our own home, without a dance teacher barking commands at us. Having had that experience though, I can honestly say I have no regrets. And while I wish that I too could wear a tutu and dance on stage, I'm glad that I don't have to live with the pressure of being perfect.

To Rotate or Not to Rotate--That is the Question!

Many exercise plans and even workout DVDs focus on the idea of a rotation: using specific exercises or workouts in a planned schedule for a fixed period of time. There are some short rotations, usually around 3 or 4 weeks (21-28 days), medium-length ones (around 6 weeks, or 42 days), or long-haul rotations that last up to 3 months (90 days).

Some people need the structure that a rotation offers. And I have to admit, it takes a lot of pressure off to have everything decided for you beforehand. So for some people, it works.

Personally, I don't have the discipline it takes to stick to a rotation. And, I mean, what if I wake up one morning and don't want don't want don't want to do the scheduled workout? So, I am rotationally-challenged that way.

The one time I was able to stick to a rotation though, I have to say I got great results. I did a short one, 4 weeks of Leslie Sansone walking workouts based on her book, Walk Away the Pounds. And walk them away I did, losing seven pounds by the end of the 4 weeks. 

Hmm. That was pretty amazing. Hmmm. I might just have to do that again sometime.

The fitness retailer, Beachbody, presents many workout DVDs with these formats. Slim in 6 promised great results in 6 weeks, and who knows, it might have delivered...if I had stuck to the plan. I think I managed up to week 3 or 4...and then I gave up. Tony Horton's Power 90 is a three-month in-home bootcamp for those who have --and he has intermediate and more advanced workouts too, P90 and P90X, for those who want to take their fitness to the next...and then the next...level.

Kelly Coffey-Meyer offers six week rotations, cycling around her different video offerings. With her series of 30-minute videos, this is a great option for the time challenged. Plus, Lauren, one of Kelly's instructors, is a fantastic modifier who gives great options to keep things low-impact or less strenuous, while still getting a serious (and I mean, serious) workout.




Looking back on my patterns then, I guess, I could probably get better results by sticking to a rotation. Doing a rotation would likely give me the kick-in-the-pants I need to work harder and challenge myself more. I will probably do a more flexible type of rotation, with particular kinds of workouts: walking, dancing, weights, and yoga.


Some people experiment with yoga-only, barre-and-dance, classic strength-and-cardio. But in the end, I think the best and most effective workout schedule is the one that you will stick to, rotation or no rotation.