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Strike a Yoga Pose: Warrior 1

FitSugar — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:00:00 PST

All you runners and skiers out there are going to love Warrior 1. Not only does it strengthen your quads to build your endurance, but it helps to open your tight hips. This pose may seem easy at first, but work on holding it as long as you can to reap the benefits.

Sanskrit Name: Virabhadrasana 1
English Translation: Warrior 1

To find out how to get into it

Begin in Downward Facing Dog, with both hands and feet pressed firmly into the floor.
Then step your right foot forward between your hands. Turn your left heel in, press into your feet, and lift your torso up. You want your right foot to be slightly to the right of the center of your mat (not directly in front of your left heel). With this positioning, your hips can be parallel with the front of your mat. You can place your hands on your hips, and gently direct your right hip back and your left hip forward. This is called squaring your hips.
Once your hips are square, lift your arms up, and press your palms together. Draw your shoulder blades down towards your hips and gaze up toward your hands.
Stay here for five breaths. Then come back to Downward Facing Dog, step your left foot forward and do Warrior 1 on the other side.

5 Stretches: After a Run

FitSugar — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:30:00 PDT

We all know how important it is to stretch out our muscles, especially after a run, so here's a series of five stretches I like to do.

Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch - From a Down Dog position (this is a great stretch for your calves too), step your right foot forward between your hands. Lower your left knee onto the ground (make sure it's a padded surface - fold up a towel or use a thin block if you're on bare floor). Bring your hands to your front knee, pressing your shoulders back to increase the stretch in the front of your left thigh.

Take 5 or more deep breaths, then plant your hands down, step your right foot back, then step your left foot forward and do the other side.

Hamstring Stretch - Once again start in a Down Dog, then step your right foot forward about halfway between your hands and feet, so your feet are about 3 feet apart. Keep your torso low, and walk your hands back toward your feet. Place your hands on your front leg, ankle, or if you can reach, place them on the ground. Try to keep your front leg straight to stretch your right hamstring.

Stay for 5 or more breaths, then plant your palms, step your right leg back, then step your left leg forward and do the other side.

Want to see the 3 other stretches? Then

Hip and Inner Thigh Stretch (Butterfly) - Sit on the ground, bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together. You can use your elbows to press your knees down towards the ground to stretch out your hips even more. Stay here or fold forward to increase the intensity. You can keep your hands on your feet or reach your arms straight out in front of you. Take 5 or more breaths.
Hip and Hamstring Stretch (Head to Knee pose) - From Butterfly pose, keep your right knee bent and straighten out your left leg. Press the sole of your right foot against your left inner thigh. Fold over your left leg, trying to keep both shoulders parallel with the ground. Stay for 5 or more deep breaths. Then lift your torso up, straighten out your right leg, bend your left knee, and do the other side.
Double Hamstring Stretch (Seated Straddle) - From a seated position, straighten out both legs in a straddle (or "V") position. Place your hands on the ground in front of you and start to walk them out away from your hips. Try doing this pose with different distances between your legs - it will change the position of where you feel the stretch. Stay in each for 5 or more breaths.

Try this sequence the next time you go for a run. If I do these 5 stretches, I'm never sore the next day. If you feel really inflexible the first time you try them, just keep at it. Your muscles will respond and begin to lengthen and stretching will get easier. Who knows you may actually start to enjoy stretching!

Yoga Video: Sun Salutation B

FitSugar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:30:00 PDT

In honor of the summer solstice and the first day of Summer, let's do Sun Salutation B. This video will walk you through the entire sequence once, but I definitely recommend doing it about 5 times. That way you'll give your body a chance to warm up and stretch out.

Music: Solar Spirit by Asiatronic

Fit's Tips If you don't have much time, but still want to do a short yoga session, do 5 Sun Salutations A's and 5 Sun Salutation B's. It's the perfect warm up to begin your day or before a run.

Strike A Pose: Sun Salutation B

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:15:00 PDT

When you take an Ashtanga yoga class, it always begins with the opening chant, then 5 Sun Salutation As in a row, and then 5 Sun Salutation Bs. In other types of yoga, they usually do variations on these sun salutations, so parts of this series may look familiar to you.

Sun Salutation B has just a few more poses than Sun Salutation A. I love to do this as a way to warm up before a run or bike ride. It works the entire body slowly, so it gradually heats up your shoulders, back, hamstrings, core, calves, fingers, toes, and hips. After 5 of these Sun Salutations, my breath feels even, my mind feels calm, my muscles feel alive, and my body feels ready to do more intense poses.

Do you want to see what Sun Salutation B looks like? Then

Start at the front of your mat in Mountain pose, bringing your awareness inward, and following your breath. This is the pose you're in when you do the opening chant. It's a prep pose for Sun Salutation B.
Release your arms to the sides of the body. This is a variation of Mountain pose.
Inhale, bend your knees, drop your hips, lift your arms up overhead and gaze at your hands. This is called Fierce.
Exhale as you dive out and come into a Standing Forward Bend.
Inhale to look up and lengthen your spine.
As you exhale, step or jump back and come into 4 Limbed Staff pose.
Inhale as you scoop your chest forward into Upward Facing Dog pose.
Exhale into Downward Facing Dog.
As you inhale, step your right foot forward between your hands and come into Warrior 1
Exhale, release your arms down, step your right leg back and come into 4 Limbed Staff pose.
Inhale as you scoop your chest forward into Upward Facing Dog pose.
Exhale into Downward Facing Dog.
As you inhale, step your left foot forward between your hands and come into Warrior 1.
Exhale, release your arms down, step your left foot back and come into 4 Limbed Staff pose.
Inhale as you scoop your chest forward into Upward Facing Dog.
Exhale into Downward Facing Dog. Stay here for 5 complete slow breaths. Inhale...Exhale...1, Inhale...Exhale...2, etc.
After 5 breaths, on your next inhale, step or hop the feet forward between your hands.
Exhale into Standing Forward Bend.
Inhale as you bend your knees and come into Fierce.
Exhale your arms down. Sun Salutation B begins and ends with this pose. To do another one, inhale your arms up and continue through the entire sequence again. In an Ashtanga yoga class, they do it 5 times, but you can do Sun Salutation B as many times as you like.

Strike a Yoga Pose: Warrior 1

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:45:00 PDT

The last pose we need to learn for Sun Salutation B is Warrior 1. It is a powerful and grounding pose that strengthens your quads, calves, booty, and the muscles in your feet. Working these muscles together helps to build knee joint stability.

Depending on how you do this pose, if you actively arch your back, this pose increases flexibility in your lower and upper back. If you work on keeping your spine straight, this pose will strengthen the muscles in your belly and your back. Both ways will strengthen your shoulders and the muscles in your neck.

You can get into Warrior 1 from Downward Facing Dog.
Step your right foot forward between your hands, turn your left heel in, press into your feet, and lift your torso up.
You want your right foot to be slightly to the right (not directly in front of) your left heel, so that your hips can be parallel with the front of your mat. You can place your hands on your hips, and gently direct your right hip back and your left hip forward - this is called squaring your hips. Once your hips are square, lift your arms up, and press your palms together. Draw your shoulder blades down towards your hips and gaze up towards your hands. Stay here for 5 breaths. You can come back to Downward Facing Dog and then step your left foot forward to do Warrior 1 on the other side.

Healthy Dose Link Time: Flat Belly Secrets

Susi May — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:26:14 PST

The secret to a flat belly according to doc Travis Stork: never diet - Prevention
Holding that Warrior 1 helps build willpower off the mat - Yoga Journal
Borrow these seven habits of highly successful snackers - Real Simple
Get the skinny on finding (and using) your fat burning zone - HuffPost Healthy Living
When is the perfect time to work out? - Shape
Donkey kicks truly are a kick in the pants - Peanut Butter Fingers
Fat burning lunches! All under 400 calories a pop - Fitness
Was yoga the secret weapon behind the Giants' Super Bowl win? - Mind Body Green
Hit it! Boxing boosts self-confidence - Health
Stock options for all your wintry soups - Vegetarian Times

Ashley Greene and Charlie Bewley Talk Moving On From Their Twilight Roles

Lauren Turner — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:14:13 PST

The cast of Breaking Dawn Part 1 stopped in San Francisco as part of their promotional tour last week and we sat down with Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, and Charlie Bewley, who plays Demetri, to chat about the film. With only one installment of the franchise left after Breaking Dawn Part 1 hits theaters on Friday, the actors are already looking towards the future. Ashley talked about her upcoming roles alongside Miley Cyrus in LOL and Jennifer Garner in Butter, while Charlie shared details on his romantic part in Like Crazy and almost being cast in The Vampire Diaries.

Ashley on her fans seeing her in other roles: "I think LOL is really great, it's a completely different character than Alice. She's kind of a bad girl a little bit but it's a high school film so it's still relatable. It was a fun one to do, I think they'll like it a lot. Butter is a little bit older, it's a comedy but it's a little dark. It's about butter carving in Iowa which is actually a big thing I didn't even know existed and the cast is just incredible."

Ashley on working with Kellan Lutz in The Warrior's Heart: "That was really fun. Kellan is one of my best friends so I'm always game to be able to be on set with him. It's a really nice thing - I mean I love my job and I love what I do but to be able to be on set with one of your best friends is kind of the cherry on top."

Charlie on his role in Like Crazy: "I literally turned up for three days and shot my stuff. It was strange because I had to play this guy who had a girlfriend for six months by that time and when you have an improv script everything has to come from you. So I made the decision going in that I was going to try and fall in love with Felicity Jones and it worked so well that after three days of shooting I flew to Phoenix and in the middle of the plane journey I had this feeling like, oh no, I really fell in love with Felicity on set and I had to fall out of love with her."

Ashley on working with Harry Potter's Tom Felton in The Apparition: "There aren't a lot of people who have been a part of something like this and who are going through the same things and so he was another person that I could really relate to and talk to about the whole thing. It's always so nice to see people go through things and be a part of this massive phenomenon and still remain just so sweet and so down to earth. He's such a phenomenal actor and person, it was a pleasure working with him."

Charlie on auditioning for The Vampire Diaries: "I almost got cast as Stefan, very shortly after I got the Twilight role. Thank God I didn't, because to be honest I would never, ever want to do a long TV stint like that. It's like jail time for me since I'm not a nine-to-five guy and to me that's the closest thing to a nine-to-five."

3 Ways to Deepen Your Yoga Practice

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:59:59 PST

After you've had a few yoga classes under your capris, it's easy to get so caught up in the actual postures that you forget about other important details that can deepen your practice. While the physical aspect of yoga is important, not being aware of the mistakes you're making on your mat may hold you back from the emotional and spiritual benefits. During your next yoga class, focus on these three aspects of your practice and see how it helps deepens your awareness and sense of relaxation.

Scan the Body For Tense Muscles
When you're in a pose that challenges your sense of balance like Tree, or postures that challenge your strength like Forearm Stand, you can be so focused on holding the pose that you tense up every muscle in your body. Not only does this make for a stressful yoga practice, you could also injure yourself by overworking muscles that should be relaxed. In your next class, be aware of tension you're holding in common areas like your shoulders, face, or toes. Constantly scan your body each time you move into a new posture to ensure you're holding the pose with as little muscular effort as needed.

Continue reading to find out other ways to deepen your yoga practice.

Ch-ch-ch Chia Seeds: You Just Can't Go Wrong

Heather Dale — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:28:08 PDT

A close relative to our sprouting terracotta friend, the Chia Pet figurine, chia seeds are a dynamic ancient superfood. Once a staple food for the Mayans, Aztec warriors, and Incas, the term "chia" actually translates to "strength" in the language of the Mayans. Legend has it that one tablespoon of tiny chia seeds was able to sustain them throughout their long, tiresome days.

What have they done for me lately? Chia seeds are high in protein, fiber, calcium, antioxidants, and omega-3s. In fact, for women, the RDI of omega-3s is 1.1 grams (1,100 mg) a day, so if you're looking for a new source that's vegan, gluten free, and easy to consume, you'll want to pick up some chia seeds. One ounce of chia seeds (about two tablespoons) contains just 137 calories, one gram of saturated fat, 11 grams of fiber, four grams of protein, 177 milligrams of calcium, and 4.9 grams of omega-3 fatty acids.

Here's what else you need to know about chia seeds.

6 Little Instant Health Boosts

Prevention — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:42:05 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Minor moves that offer major benefits for your mind and body
By Alyssa Shaffer, Prevention

Brush and Floss
Health boost: Cut risk of head and neck cancer by 400 Percent

Take good care of your smile and you'll have more than just white teeth to show for it. New research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, shows that people with the chronic gum disease periodontitis have a fourfold risk of developing a type of head or neck cancer (which makes up about 5 percent of all malignancies in the United States), especially in the mouth and throat. The risk was increased even among patients who never used tobacco. Gum disease occurs when the bacteria that live in plaque infect the gums, so brush and floss regularly to prevent plaque buildup.

16 Amazingly Easy Ways to Dramatically Improve Well-being

Hide Your TV Remote
Health boost: Whittle 2 inches from your belly

When switching TV stations, put down the remote, get up, and do it manually. An Australian study found that people who did the greatest amount of light activity during otherwise sedentary behavior, such as watching TV, had 16 percent smaller waist circumferences than those who were inclined to stay put. Even the simple act of getting up and walking around for a minute or so was enough to make a difference, regardless of whether they had a regular workout schedule.

They also had lower body mass indexes and triglyceride and glucose levels, all of which are associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome. More ways to break up an otherwise inactive day: Stand up every time the phone rings at your desk; take the long way back to your desk after a bathroom break; do some stretches before reading a new e-mail.

Super Secrets For a Trim Tummy

Doodle During Work Meetings
Health boost: Improve memory by 29 Percent

People who doodled while listening to a recorded message had nearly one-third better recall of the details than those who didn't draw, according to a study published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. "Doodling acts as a buffer against daydreaming," explains researcher Jackie Andrade, PhD, a professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth in England. "It provides just enough distraction to stop you from drifting off, but you can still focus on what is being said."

Find more ways to boost your health after the break.