FitSugar

Stretch It: Crossing Child's Pose

FitSugar — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:00:00 PST

If you suffer from a tight lower back, Child's Pose is one of the best stretches. Give this variation a try and it adds a nice stretch to your shoulder and the side of your body.

To learn how to do this relaxing stretch

Sit on the floor with your knees bent, and your tush on your heels. Then walk your hands out in front of you, lowering your torso so your belly is resting on your thighs.
Extend your arms as much as possible. Keep your right hand where it is and lift your left hand up and place it to the right of your right pinky. Lower your head and just breathe. Actively press your hips down toward your heels to lengthen your spine and intensify the stretch.

Stay for as long as you want (at least 30 seconds), then bring your left hand back to the starting position. When you're ready, cross your right hand over to the left side of your left pinky. Remain here for at least 30 seconds, and then bring your right hand back to center. Repeat this stretch again on both sides.

Breathe Deeply, Improve Your Running

Susi May — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:40:24 PST

Breathing. You're doing it right now without even thinking about it. Put a little thought into the action, and you just might find yourself soaring through your next tempo run. When you're going the distance running, swimming, cycling, and even rowing you need to power your muscles with fresh oxygen. To do this, you need to breathe deeply. Unfortunately, most of us are just breathing into our chest and not fully utilizing our lungs. Cross-training with the noncardio workouts of yoga and Pilates can help. Along with strength and flexibility, these forms of mind-body exercise help you learn to breathe deeply and effectively.

Basically, your lungs are just a bit smaller than your rib cage, but we all tend to breathe in just the top third of the lungs. One reason is that, like all muscles, the intercostals, which run between the ribs, can get tight and inflexible, limiting the expansiveness of your lungs. With a little training and some stretching, you can breathe to your full potential and increase your endurance.

Learn a supersimple breathing exercise, simply read more.

Tips For Surviving Sweaty Summer Yoga Classes

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:01:12 PDT

Summertime heat means practicing yoga in an extremely hot and humid room that can make breathing unbearable - especially when the guy next to you forgot his deodorant. Who can focus on their drishti when sweat is pooling in their eyes? If you're not used to practicing in super high temps, you'll need to take some precautions to get through the 60- to 90-minute class without passing out. First, make sure to drink water throughout the day to prevent dehydration and bring an insulated water bottle with ice water with you to class. Sip your chilled water every 15 minutes or so to cool yourself down and prevent overheating.

Make your yoga outfit work for you and wear clothes made of lightweight, breathable material designed to wick moisture away from your skin. You'd think sporting less clothes, like spandex shorts and a sports bra, would be the perfect outfit for a sweaty practice, but you actually want material to cover your body. Slip on your regular tank top, but wear leggings on the bottom that cover your calves. Loose shorts or pants tend to trap heat, so make sure they're skintight. Pants or capris won't make you feel that much hotter than shorts, and they'll help absorb your perspiration, keeping puddles of sweat off your mat.

Speaking of your mat, some types become dangerously slick when wet. When it's really hot and humid, sweat may pour off your body like a leaky faucet, so invest in a rug or towel designed to go on top of your mat. It'll absorb dripping perspiration and offer a stable surface you can grip without slipping. Don't forget to bring along a hand towel to wipe sweat off your face and arms.

For more tips on enduring your hot and sweaty Summer yoga class, keep reading.

Strike a Yoga Pose: Boat

FitSugar — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 04:00:00 PDT

Recently, I posted about vinyasas - the 5-movement sequence that links poses together. In order to be able to lift your body back from seated and get back to Chaturanga (this is called a "jump back"), you need to have some serious core muscle strength.

This pose called Boat is great to practice if you want to tone and build up your abdominals. The increased strength and control you gain will help you get closer and closer to getting the jump back.

Sanskrit Name: Navasana
English Translation: Boat Pose
Also Called: Boat

Want to know how to work your core? Then

Begin sitting on your mat. Lift your knees up to your chest and work on balancing on your sit bones (the bottom of your pelvis).

The most important thing here is to keep your spine as long and straight as possible. Keep pulling your knees into your chest and at the same time, keep lifting your chest up as high as you can.
Keep your shins parallel to the ground (as shown), draw your navel towards your spine, and work on slowly straightening your legs up. If your back starts to hunch, bring your shins back down. Your legs don't need to be straight - the action of keeping your spine long and drawing your belly in is what works your abs here.
Wherever you are, hold for 5 complete breaths.
Now you are ready to take the lift. Cross your legs just below your knees, point through your toes and pull them in as close to your body as possible, without letting them touch the ground. Plant your palms firmly beside your hips, spreading your fingers wide. On an inhale, hold yourself together like a little ball, press your palms into the ground, engage your core and try to lift your body off the ground. (If your body won't cooperate, then touch your toes to the mat and work on lifting your hips off the ground. After you practice this for a while, I'm sure you'll be able to lift everything up.) Exhale, and slowly release your body back to the ground.
Come back into Navasana (Boat) for 5 breaths, then take the lift again. Do this three more times for a total of five reps of Navasana. Take a vinyasa and flow to your next pose, or take Child's pose to release your lower back.

Continue practicing this sequence and you're guaranteed to notice a difference in your core strength.