It hurts to laugh today: a workout recommendation

I mentioned this video in a favorites round up several months ago but was finally able to try it out yesterday. Result: my shoulders and abs are soooooo sore today. Which I take as a good thing :) Means I worked some muscles!

In LA I tried to workout 3 times a week: 1 evening yoga class and 2 quick trips to the gym located in our building complex for 25 minutes of cardio and a little stretching. It was working out pretty well. But now that we've moved I no longer have a great yoga studio in walking distance and a gym in my courtyard. So I'm been trying to figure out how to get in my exercise. There are great trails right out our front door but I don't often have the time for a long hike (and it's also hard in this summer heat!). My plan has been to find ways to do my workout at home. My home office is large so I have the space for it. The question then becomes what to do. I'm not very good at taking myself through fitness routines: I get lazy and take short cuts! Thank goodness for the internet and online videos.

Yesterday I tried out this 30-minute dance workout and I started off skeptical but this thing ended up kicking my butt. I consider myself in good shape and by the end I was having to sit some poses out. So for those of you needing a effective at home routine this is a great one. I'll definitely be doing it again (and might even run through it once a week). But I do recommend doing a little stretching afterward as they don't incorporate that into this video.

And yes, that's the choreographer from Sia's amazing "Chandelier" video.

My relationship to fitness

I wrote a little bit here about my lifestyle and how fitness plays a part. But it's definitely changed over the last year or so with the addition of the Pepper to our family. 

D was actually the one who got me to devote myself to regular exercise. When we met he was going to yoga regularly while I was just relying on my youthful metabolism to keep me in shape. After watching him leave the apartment to go workout enough times, I finally decided to join him. And I loved it. I also started talking to people and doing a little research. The amazing thing is that exercise helps the body in so many ways. Not only does it make you look good but it helps with depression, anxiety, sleep issues, stress, PMS, etc. I decided that I wanted to reap the benefits and so I committed to getting regular exercise. It helped that I thoroughly enjoyed yoga class, and that D and I were doing it together.

Over the years D tried to get me into running (not my thing), and we did a stint where we incorporated swimming into our fitness routine. But mostly it was yoga. I would go to yoga 4 times a week, and then 1 day a week I'd do some straight cardio usually using the machines at the gym. That means I was working out 5 days a week which sort of sounds like a lot. But I believe it was keeping me healthy, and my body responded. I started feeling stronger, and more flexible. It was worth the investment.

Well, after a few years of that I got pregnant. While pregnant I kept up with my workout schedule. I still went to yoga 4 days a week and the gym 1 day a week. But, my workouts were different. I was taking it easy so that my workout time became more about moving and stretching. I had a fairly easy pregnancy and I don't know how much was because I exercised, but I like to think it had something to do with it.

After the Pepper was born I waited the 6 weeks and then got the ok from my doctor to start exercise again. Luckily D supported me in this effort and would watch the baby while I went to a yoga class or quickly popped out to the gym. I knew it was important for me mentally and emotionally to take that time to myself to get the blood moving and reconnect with my body. Over the last 9 months it's been hard to keep up with the yoga from a schedule perspective. Since I work I hate to take time away from the Pepper to go to yoga. So, currently I try to go to the gym 2 times a week, and yoga 1 evening a week. It's not as much as I would like but I know it's still a good amount. 

For me, exercise and fitness is about more than how I look or if my heart is healthy, it's about helping my emotional state. Even if you do just a little bit to start I highly recommend finding something physical that you like to get those endorphins going ;)

Photo via.

My thoughts on the "post-baby body"

 

I've seen a number of articles on the web lately about post-baby bodies. There seems to be a trend of woman posting their amazing looking post-baby bodies, and then a wave of discussion about if it's fair or if it's fat-shaming. I don't know how I feel about the trend. But I can share how I think about the female body during the changes it goes through when creating, birthing, and then nurturing a baby.

The way the body handles pregnancy and then post-partum differs for everyone. There really are 2 factors that contribute: genetics and lifestyle. One you have no control over, the other (to be honest) you have minimal control over once you also have a baby to take care of. I suppose medical issues would be considered a 3rd factor though not having experienced that I won't touch on it. To speak to genetics...