Hello workout fans! Thanks for stopping by the blog.
This week's workout is wonderful. It's "Yoga in the Gardens" at Salisbury House.
"We very much believe in aligning ourselves with nature," Brette Scott of Shakti Yoga in Des Moines tells participants, and in this class you’re surrounded by it. “Stretch for the sky,” and you see clouds overhead. “Touch the earth in front of you,” and you feel green grass under your fingertips. The outdoor setting gives downward dog an entirely different feel. "We thought of doing something outdoors with the popularity and curiosity about yoga and this seemed like a good fit." Scott says she was thrilled when event organizers at Salisbury House created “Yoga in the Gardens” this year. "The word yoga means connect,” she explains, “we're connecting with our community, our bodies and nature." And everyone is welcome. The people here are all ages and all abilities. "Generally you just feel better when you do yoga – no matter who you are. The body becomes stronger and more flexible, you breathe better, it decreases stress, and you sleep better." You have to put in some hard work to reap those rewards. "It wouldn't be yoga if we didn't get you a little pretzeled up, right?" But there are immediate rewards at the end of this class. A harpist plays live in the courtyard and wine and cheese round out the evening. "Yoga can be fun, “says Scott with a smile, “it doesn't have to be serious. If it's fun, people will want to do it." And that makes this the perfect combination for feeding body, mind and soul.
I'll be honest - the class started a six and I had to anchor, so I arrived just in time for corpse pose. That basically means I got a brief nap, interviewed Brette and had a glass of wine. Not a bad night of work, if you ask me!
In all seriousness, you should give this a try. Classes are the fourth Thursday of every month. And if you'd like to visit Brette before then - her studio is located in the Shops at Roosevelt.
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Paper plates aren't for eating anymore!
Hello faithful fitness followers!
In this week's installment, Sonya and I once again find ourselves saying, "What?!?" The "Workout of the Week" features paper plates, and it is super challenging.
I've known personal trainer Angie Gallagher for years - we used to teach fitness classes at the same club "back in the day." I told her to throw a workout our way that would be something really unique, and she did not disappoint. Before going to her studio Sonya asked me, "Do you think this is going to be really hard?" I just smiled and said, "All I know is Angie is a great trainer... so it probably will be!"
When we show up at the Urbandale location, Angie explains that all we're going to need for this workout is paper plates, weights and a mat. Then she tells us about the circuit she's created. "We're going to do one minute of cardio, one minute of upper and lower body, and one minute of abs," she says with a grin, "then we'll repeat from the top so it's eight cycles." Neither one of us is really great at math (it's why we chose careers in journalism) but we were thinking, "Each cycle is three to four minutes long, we're going to do eight cycles, that's roughly 25-35 minutes of work ... no problem!" Yeah, right! Halfway through this workout, we were dying!
Angie has us doing all sorts of cardio - jumping jacks, karate kicks, squat hops, burpees - ugh! But the most grueling part of this workout turned out to be all of the moves we did incorporating paper plates. There were lunges and squats where we placed one foot on a plate and slid it back and forth during the moves, pushups with plates under both feet where we had to pull up into a pike position, and a bridge with the plates under our feet where we first extended our legs and then curled them in (for hamstrings) - followed by pushing our feet apart and bringing them back together (for inner and outer thighs).
To be honest - it is really difficult to describe this workout, so I'd advise watching it online. What I CAN describe is how hard it was. Sonya and I were sore for days afterward. "It takes your muscles through a whole range of motion so you get double the benefits of a traditional strength training program," explains Angie. An added bonus - it was really fun!
If you want to give the paper plate workout a try - contact Angie. She's great!
Web: www.fitnesswithangie.com
E-mail: fitnesswithangie@gmail.com
Cell: (515) 710-6987
Here's to a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
In this week's installment, Sonya and I once again find ourselves saying, "What?!?" The "Workout of the Week" features paper plates, and it is super challenging.
I've known personal trainer Angie Gallagher for years - we used to teach fitness classes at the same club "back in the day." I told her to throw a workout our way that would be something really unique, and she did not disappoint. Before going to her studio Sonya asked me, "Do you think this is going to be really hard?" I just smiled and said, "All I know is Angie is a great trainer... so it probably will be!"
When we show up at the Urbandale location, Angie explains that all we're going to need for this workout is paper plates, weights and a mat. Then she tells us about the circuit she's created. "We're going to do one minute of cardio, one minute of upper and lower body, and one minute of abs," she says with a grin, "then we'll repeat from the top so it's eight cycles." Neither one of us is really great at math (it's why we chose careers in journalism) but we were thinking, "Each cycle is three to four minutes long, we're going to do eight cycles, that's roughly 25-35 minutes of work ... no problem!" Yeah, right! Halfway through this workout, we were dying!
Angie has us doing all sorts of cardio - jumping jacks, karate kicks, squat hops, burpees - ugh! But the most grueling part of this workout turned out to be all of the moves we did incorporating paper plates. There were lunges and squats where we placed one foot on a plate and slid it back and forth during the moves, pushups with plates under both feet where we had to pull up into a pike position, and a bridge with the plates under our feet where we first extended our legs and then curled them in (for hamstrings) - followed by pushing our feet apart and bringing them back together (for inner and outer thighs).
To be honest - it is really difficult to describe this workout, so I'd advise watching it online. What I CAN describe is how hard it was. Sonya and I were sore for days afterward. "It takes your muscles through a whole range of motion so you get double the benefits of a traditional strength training program," explains Angie. An added bonus - it was really fun!
If you want to give the paper plate workout a try - contact Angie. She's great!
Web: www.fitnesswithangie.com
E-mail: fitnesswithangie@gmail.com
Cell: (515) 710-6987
Here's to a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The workout gets wet!
Hello workout friends!
Thanks for stopping by the blog. This week brings another adventure - and a workout Sonya and I NEVER do. Water aerobics. If this conjures up images of your grandmother and her peers - forget it. This is tough stuff.
The class is called "Aqua Boot Camp" and the name should've given us a clue as to what we were in for. "Just the sound of it has brought a lot of people in, "says instructor Jill Reding, "because they want a really hard water workout." And right off the bat, she has us working hard. There is a lot of running and kicking to start with as we warm up our legs, and oftentimes Jill has us "go suspended" - doing the moves without touching the bottom of the pool. Before long we start interval training. At first it's twenty seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest, but Jill keeps adding more and more time to the clock - thirty seconds, then forty, and sometimes up to a minute - and of course the rest period stays the same! Jill is really great about constantly giving us cues, which is helpful since neither one of us does this type of workout. She's always reminding us to relax our shoulders, tuck in our abs, squeeze our glutes ... it's a lot to think about and you have to keep your mind and your muscles engaged.
We are working way harder than we imagined we would, and then Jill drops this bombshell, "OK! This is the part where we drag each other to the other end of the pool!" Soon we're connected by bungee cords, with one of us acting as dead weight for the other. Then we have to get to the other end. The method doesn't matter - you can run, swim, wiggle any which way you choose - but let me tell you, your heartrate goes through the roof on this drill!
Once we reach the other end, we do arm work. First bicep curls, then another length of the pool, chest presses, another length of the pool, triceps, another length of the pool ... you get the idea. It's hard. Really hard.
We're feeling really pooped, but Jill has more lined up for us. The next round is cross country skiing and our heart rates are jumping again. All of this takes more coordination and strength than we dreamed it would. "A lot of people think water aerobics is easy, they think it's just good for your joints," Jill grins, "but you get so much resistance in the water, you've got resistance in and out and up and down!" And ALL AROUND! Ab work is next and it's just a tough! First we do a V-sit move that also works our inner and outer thighs, followed by a fast-paced tuck and press. The last move is something Jill calls "humdingers" and they are as hard as they sound! "I always tell class members - it's what you put into it. You can work really hard or you can slough off, because you can't see in the water!" That's so true, but this workout is also a lot of fun and we're pretty sure you'll feel great about donning a swimming suit after doing this for a few weeks!
If you'd like to try Aqua Boot Camp, contact Prairie Life:
4875 Mills Civic Parkway
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-223-5999
www.prairielife.com
Keep sending us your workout ideas!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
Thanks for stopping by the blog. This week brings another adventure - and a workout Sonya and I NEVER do. Water aerobics. If this conjures up images of your grandmother and her peers - forget it. This is tough stuff.
The class is called "Aqua Boot Camp" and the name should've given us a clue as to what we were in for. "Just the sound of it has brought a lot of people in, "says instructor Jill Reding, "because they want a really hard water workout." And right off the bat, she has us working hard. There is a lot of running and kicking to start with as we warm up our legs, and oftentimes Jill has us "go suspended" - doing the moves without touching the bottom of the pool. Before long we start interval training. At first it's twenty seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest, but Jill keeps adding more and more time to the clock - thirty seconds, then forty, and sometimes up to a minute - and of course the rest period stays the same! Jill is really great about constantly giving us cues, which is helpful since neither one of us does this type of workout. She's always reminding us to relax our shoulders, tuck in our abs, squeeze our glutes ... it's a lot to think about and you have to keep your mind and your muscles engaged.
We are working way harder than we imagined we would, and then Jill drops this bombshell, "OK! This is the part where we drag each other to the other end of the pool!" Soon we're connected by bungee cords, with one of us acting as dead weight for the other. Then we have to get to the other end. The method doesn't matter - you can run, swim, wiggle any which way you choose - but let me tell you, your heartrate goes through the roof on this drill!
Once we reach the other end, we do arm work. First bicep curls, then another length of the pool, chest presses, another length of the pool, triceps, another length of the pool ... you get the idea. It's hard. Really hard.
We're feeling really pooped, but Jill has more lined up for us. The next round is cross country skiing and our heart rates are jumping again. All of this takes more coordination and strength than we dreamed it would. "A lot of people think water aerobics is easy, they think it's just good for your joints," Jill grins, "but you get so much resistance in the water, you've got resistance in and out and up and down!" And ALL AROUND! Ab work is next and it's just a tough! First we do a V-sit move that also works our inner and outer thighs, followed by a fast-paced tuck and press. The last move is something Jill calls "humdingers" and they are as hard as they sound! "I always tell class members - it's what you put into it. You can work really hard or you can slough off, because you can't see in the water!" That's so true, but this workout is also a lot of fun and we're pretty sure you'll feel great about donning a swimming suit after doing this for a few weeks!
If you'd like to try Aqua Boot Camp, contact Prairie Life:
4875 Mills Civic Parkway
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-223-5999
www.prairielife.com
Keep sending us your workout ideas!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Train like an athlete
Hello workout friends!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine meant great time with family, but several days of eating poorly and not working out. It's time to get back in the groove!
If you're feeling like you need a jump-start, this week's workout is a great one to try. Nick Rouse is the owner of Spartan Strength in Clive and he knows a thing or two about sports training. He's a former Drake football player and coach and now he's a personal trainer - or as he likes to say, a "performance specialist." However, Nick says you don't have to consider yourself an athlete to train like one. He starts Sonya and I out with basic lunges and then starts adding modifications to target our guads and hip flexors - areas that are often tight thanks to many hours sitting at our desks. There are also little changes that force us to work on balance and flexibility, and side lunges and squats that get work our glutes and inner and outer thighs.
Various forms of running are next. We do high knees and rear kicks and then move on to a funky little move Nick calls "Kid 'n Play." He looks like a member of a boy band when he does it, but we feel pretty goofy. "You'll be on Dancing With The Stars, next!" Nick says with a laugh. That's doubtful, and be decide to give speed and agility drills a try next. We're doing footwork on a cloth "ladder" that's stretched out on the floor and it's not always easy. "Geesh!" says Sonya, "Can't I just go run a mile instead?!?" But that's the whole idea - to get us to do things we normally don't - and that includes the next portion of the workout. Nick sets up four cones - one in each corner of the artificial turf. We have to sprint to the first cone, turn, sprint to the next cone, run around it and sprint back to the start. We do that three times through and then reverse directions. We are sucking wind and not at all prepared for the next cone drill. This time we have to shuffle to the first cone, turn and shuffle to the next, turn and sprint to the next, back pedal to where we started and finish with a sprint. BRUTAL! We feel like we are back in our hometown high school gyms during two-a-days for volleyball! "That's the benefit," Nick explains, "at Spartan we are constantly giving you a different stimulous, so you continue to see improvement."
Speaking of new stimulous - we're moving on to timed stations that include exercises we've NEVER done before. "That's a good thing!" Nick exclaims, "once you become accustomed to any kind of work, it becomes easy!" There's nothing easy about these moves. There are five stations and we spend twenty seconds at each one. We do a crazy mountain climber move with our hands gripping gymnastics rings, an exercise called "The Rock Singer" using a weight bar, high plank with an opposite reach, weighted ropes, and finally - some equipment that comes straight from the Rouse family farm. We get to use sledgehammers and pound the snot out of a huge tractor tire. This is definitely our favorite part! Nick usually puts clients through four rounds of this circuit, but for us he cuts it in half. "Everything is adjustable," he explains, "we can make modifications for anyone with any exercise." We're glad to hear it, and also glad this is the end of the workout ... except that it's not!!!
The last thing we do at Spartan Strength is what Nick calls a "finisher." We're pushing a weighted sled like you see football players use in practice and we have to do three laps, followed by three sets of shuttle runs. We are supposed to be sprinting, but our bodies are so tired we're mostly stumbling back and forth. We know we've burned a ton of calories and gotten a great workout, but we also feel like we've conquered a new challenge and that's what Nick likes most about his job. "My biggest pride is not seeing the body change - it's seeing the mind change," he explains, "that's what changes people's lives faster than any change in body composition." Amen.
If you want to work out with Nick - check out the website, drop him and email or give him a call.
www.spartan-strength.com
(515) 987-0341
NICKROUSE@SPARTAN-STRENGTH.COM
I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine meant great time with family, but several days of eating poorly and not working out. It's time to get back in the groove!
If you're feeling like you need a jump-start, this week's workout is a great one to try. Nick Rouse is the owner of Spartan Strength in Clive and he knows a thing or two about sports training. He's a former Drake football player and coach and now he's a personal trainer - or as he likes to say, a "performance specialist." However, Nick says you don't have to consider yourself an athlete to train like one. He starts Sonya and I out with basic lunges and then starts adding modifications to target our guads and hip flexors - areas that are often tight thanks to many hours sitting at our desks. There are also little changes that force us to work on balance and flexibility, and side lunges and squats that get work our glutes and inner and outer thighs.
Various forms of running are next. We do high knees and rear kicks and then move on to a funky little move Nick calls "Kid 'n Play." He looks like a member of a boy band when he does it, but we feel pretty goofy. "You'll be on Dancing With The Stars, next!" Nick says with a laugh. That's doubtful, and be decide to give speed and agility drills a try next. We're doing footwork on a cloth "ladder" that's stretched out on the floor and it's not always easy. "Geesh!" says Sonya, "Can't I just go run a mile instead?!?" But that's the whole idea - to get us to do things we normally don't - and that includes the next portion of the workout. Nick sets up four cones - one in each corner of the artificial turf. We have to sprint to the first cone, turn, sprint to the next cone, run around it and sprint back to the start. We do that three times through and then reverse directions. We are sucking wind and not at all prepared for the next cone drill. This time we have to shuffle to the first cone, turn and shuffle to the next, turn and sprint to the next, back pedal to where we started and finish with a sprint. BRUTAL! We feel like we are back in our hometown high school gyms during two-a-days for volleyball! "That's the benefit," Nick explains, "at Spartan we are constantly giving you a different stimulous, so you continue to see improvement."
Speaking of new stimulous - we're moving on to timed stations that include exercises we've NEVER done before. "That's a good thing!" Nick exclaims, "once you become accustomed to any kind of work, it becomes easy!" There's nothing easy about these moves. There are five stations and we spend twenty seconds at each one. We do a crazy mountain climber move with our hands gripping gymnastics rings, an exercise called "The Rock Singer" using a weight bar, high plank with an opposite reach, weighted ropes, and finally - some equipment that comes straight from the Rouse family farm. We get to use sledgehammers and pound the snot out of a huge tractor tire. This is definitely our favorite part! Nick usually puts clients through four rounds of this circuit, but for us he cuts it in half. "Everything is adjustable," he explains, "we can make modifications for anyone with any exercise." We're glad to hear it, and also glad this is the end of the workout ... except that it's not!!!
The last thing we do at Spartan Strength is what Nick calls a "finisher." We're pushing a weighted sled like you see football players use in practice and we have to do three laps, followed by three sets of shuttle runs. We are supposed to be sprinting, but our bodies are so tired we're mostly stumbling back and forth. We know we've burned a ton of calories and gotten a great workout, but we also feel like we've conquered a new challenge and that's what Nick likes most about his job. "My biggest pride is not seeing the body change - it's seeing the mind change," he explains, "that's what changes people's lives faster than any change in body composition." Amen.
If you want to work out with Nick - check out the website, drop him and email or give him a call.
www.spartan-strength.com
(515) 987-0341
NICKROUSE@SPARTAN-STRENGTH.COM
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