Jessica Smith and Friends 2021

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Ugh - it is Monday and I'm not at all ready for it....

This morning was a gentle one:

Ellen - Pilates Mix - this is a 20 min workout and is new to her streaming site for this month. It is Ellen's take on Pilates, so it isn't for the purist.

I enjoyed it though and will try to fit in some other activity in later today - either a walk or maybe I'll go back to Lucy's Summer Challenge.

Sherry - I'm glad that your friend seems to be in good care now. I hope that she does get the vaccine, it just isn't worth taking a chance. our mask mandates have been lifted per the CDC guidance - those who are vaccinated don't need to wear masks, but, I'm sure plenty of unvaccinated people will also join in on that. I still will probably wear mine in settings where I am forced to be close to other people.

Pam - I think at one time I had all three of Kathy's yoga videos - the beginner, intermediate and advanced one that she did w/ Rod Stryker. Rod did a voice over in the video I did yesterday which I think was the intermediate one (New Yoga). The one she did w/ Rod is challenging I think that one is New Yoga Challenge. I don't have New Yoga Basics. I have these now on a compilation DVD w/ Lower body firming. Kathy is a classic! I do want to work some of her workouts into my routine....it is fun to re-visit her.

Hope everyone has a good day!!!

Donna

[Pam61]

Hi Ladies,

I did Dean's Yoga Charge (Rise) practice today. It was so good and a great way to begin my morning!

It's very odd for me but now I've got the yoga bug and it's all I want to do! Especially Dean's yoga! The only other yoga program that I've ever followed consistently was Travis Eliot's 90 Day program, but that was a long time ago!

I'm gonna have to add in other stuff....eventually. I may finish out the month of May with Dean and then see where I go from there.

Have a good day everyone!

[lizh]

Hi all,
Just a quick check-in because I promised myself I'd go to bed before midnight! (staying up late is one of the hazards of working from home)

For the last few days I've been doing Margaret Richards, went back to Pahla for one day and tonight did a Classical Stretch. I may rotate the 3. I am really liking Margaret Richards. She is a hoot! But she fried my triceps yesterday. She was working with 8 pounds and I was dying with 5s. Feels good to get some muscle going!

I'll be back tomorrow with personals.
waves to all,
Liz

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday afternoon as a break from my desk I did Lucy Wyndham Read's Summer Challenge Week # 2 - Day 1 - which was a 10 min cardio/tone plus an 8 min ab/waist routine. These are nice to add in as some extra activity during the day.

Today, so far, was Ellen - Lengthen, Strengthen and Breathe.

Will try for a walk or more Lucy later.

This is my busiest time at work and I'm basically going crazy and sitting too much.

Liz - I like the way MR burns the muscles! Her stuff is so low dread for me, too and somewhat relaxing...

Pam - tell me more about Dean!

Waves, Sherry and wishiwasinhawaii!

Donna

[Pam61]

Hi Ladies,

Just a few words about Dean Pohlman.....

He's on YouTube (Man Flow Yoga) if any of you want to try his stuff out. His DVDs are also available on Amazon.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ManFlowYoga

His practices are targeted towards men, and the sets sometimes have a gym vibe. But his workouts are especially good for someone new to yoga, the aging population, people who sit all the time, beginners, and everyone really.

His Back Care Yoga has a practice for stretching with blocks and straps and he's very detailed in his explanation. The strengthening practices work on (Extension or Flexion) and so good for people who sit and need that opening up (Extension) or just on spine mobility with (Flexion.) He's very good, though doesn't mirror cue. This one is very gentle, easy going and slow paced holding stretches for a long time (stretching segment.)

Yoga Boost is excellent, too! There are four practices (Sharpen, Strengthen, Sweat, Stretch) on this DVD and each are about 20 minutes each. I've done Sharpen and Strengthen recently and liked both. I'll try the others this week and let you know.

Yoga Fix has Five Days of 20 minute gentle practices, all with a slightly different focus. Love this one, too!

Yoga Vitality is a chair yoga practice aimed at older, injured or inflexible beginners. They move slower and are a little more rehab and restorative in nature. There is a modifier who does everything standing, also.

Yoga Charge has four daily 20 minute practice meant to be done throughout your day into evening. My most used will probably be the Rise AM practice, as well as the PM practice.

There are a number of other workouts (all reviewed very highly) on Amazon. One is geared toward Athletes, Power Yoga, Yoga Max, Yoga Edge.

He has a very gentle nature and there's not the ego that so many male yoga instructors have. His explanation is top notch and he does so much for hips and lower body that are my favorites.

[Pam61]

Back again to report my daily workouts!

Today I did the Rise workout again from Dean's Yoga Charge DVD. I also added Days 1 & 2 from his Yoga Fix DVD. Day 2 was especially great for opening up the hip flexors with modified pigeon. I like that he has you use blocks so you're more upright in the pose when hips are tight. Mine always need to be stretched from having cats on me all night and my body all twisted every which way. I'm actually feeling more benefit from using the props in Dean's workout. No sense in trying to stretch further, when I haven't done yoga in a long while.

[Leonana]

Yesterday I did more touch up painting, and house cleaning, so that was my workout. After reading Pam's description of Dean's channel, I did 20 Minute Morning workout. That was tough! It was low impact, bodyweight. I almost kept up with him, but was slower on the pushups, and didn't do the last two minutes. I enjoyed it though, it was the more athletic moves that I like.

I also went to Goodwill, probably 2 1/2 hours of walking around three stores. I found Valerie Bertinelli's Losing It by Jenny Craig. It sounded good from the description.

Our bedroom still isn't quite finished. DH took the baseboards off, and taped and mudded underneath them. He has to patch some areas of the concrete floor, then texture and paint the wall under the old baseboards, and then put new baseboards on. He also wants to replace the outlets, since they are the grungy old beige plugs ins, and we want the fresh, newer white ones. We did order the laminate flooring, and it will take two weeks to come in. So dh has some time to finish it all. I'm excited, the room already looks better freshly painted. I was also glad to get rid of our 15 year old carpet.

My friend might get out of the hospital tomorrow, if her oxygen levels are high enough. Unfortunately, her husband will be going in to the hospital tomorrow, as he has been getting worse. Thankfully, the treatment has worked for her, and hopefully will work for her husband too. Apparently, her doctor told her that while no time is a good time to get Covid, she was more fortunate to have it now. In the early days, they didn't know as much about treatment, and unfortunately more people died. However, now they know more about successful treatment for Covid, and the recovery rate is higher.

Pam, your description of Dean's yoga made me want to try it. I liked the look of his videos on you tube. I enjoyed the 20 minute outdoor workout this morning.

Donna, I hope things ease up at work for you soon. Good job at getting in the workouts.

Liz, I've always wanted to try Margaret Richards. I don't have any of her dvds. I remember doing one of her workouts years ago from PBS.

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

I am struggling a bit w/ my workouts - I just don't have the energy or motivation lately, I think it is b/c I just have a lot going on - work is busy/crazy and my mind is cluttered w/ a lot of items related to my DD going off to college - things to arrange, do, etc. which are mostly for her to do but as a parent you can't help but worry about it all, too. I know things will work themselves out, but just a lot of mind clutter about it.

Anyway as a result of those factors I just haven't been overly motivated to workout lately and w/ work being so busy right now I'm finding it hard to even carve out 20 min to do a short video or walk mid day.

Yesterday DD and I ended up taking a very short walk, so that was good. It is a darn shame I'm so busy b/c the weather this week has been perfect.

This morning, so far, I did:

Yoga w/ Adriene - Yoga for Upper Body Strength - this was tough - a lot of planks and push-ups! It was only 13 min so I wanted a little more and added on her 12 Min Core Conditioning which was also tough! I modified the Core work to move at a slower pace and even substituted some of the exercises.

Anyway it was nice to re-visit Adriene. I think I prefer her monthly calendars to her "challenges".

I looked at this playlist today:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...qrciUPc9O6zkJG

She does a monthly playlist every month.

I hope to walk outdoors today or maybe get in another day of LWR's Summer Challenge.

Pam - thanks for the info on Dean - I subscribed to his channel!

Sherry - it sounds like things are coming along on the home improvements.

Hope everyone has a good day!!!

Donna

[wishiwasinhawaii]

Sorry I haven't been posting. My nephew's graduation turned into a 3 day celebration and I was too tired to workout or post! It was fun, but bittersweet. I also ate way too much, so it's time to get back to reality! I did go for two walks outside yesterday because the weather was perfect.

Today I did my TG workout early because it's going to be hot today--close to 90. I don't think I'll be walking outside, although I may go to the beach after work and walk there where it's cooler. Not sure yet. We'll see how it goes.

I have to go back and read through everyone's posts from the past few days and get caught up on what you're all up to!

[Leonana]

I have some DOMS from yesterday's body weight workout. My arms, chest and shoulders are really sore! I need to add more pushups into my workouts. I had to get my Jessica fix, so did her Power Up from the 15 Minute Walk dvd, which helped with the soreness. Then I tried Fitness with PJ's Total Body Mobility & Flexibility for Recovery for Women Over 40. It had some nice moves for the shoulders, which I needed. The moves were new to me, I don't think I've done them before. It did a good job working out the soreness.

Donna, thanks for the yoga link. She has a nice playlist, I'd like to try some of them out. The one for social anxiety looks good. Good job getting your workouts in, even with low motivation and little time. I'm sure things will get better when work slows down.

wishiwasinhawaii, a three day celebration with family sounds like fun. Your Total Gym posts, and noticing Fitness with PJ's TRX videos, has made me want to do more with bands. But I don't have anything to hook them on. I was thinking of getting rid of my Booty Kicker, then checked the website. You can hook bands onto the Booty Kicker, and do pulling exercises. I didn't notice that before, sometimes I'm so slow, lol. I'm going to try that, once my room is set up again.