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Exercise (and Steaming for Skin)

shawnieshawnie Raw Newbie

Just wondering how often most people here excercise and what type of excercises they do.

I haven’t excercised in awhile and I need to get back into it. I was reading some “Gwyneth Paltrow” excercise routine and it said she worked out every day for a couple hours. I would love to have this sort of detication to keeping fit (even though I know it’s part of her job to keep up appearances). I guess I’m in need of a little motivation.

I also read that a lot of celebrities steam lots (by sauna) for healthy skin. It makes sense as it would detox your body. Does anybody do this regularly or has seen good results?

Comments

  • lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

    I exercise daily in various amounts. A big day would be an 8-10 mile run followed by an hour of yoga. An easy day might be 90 min of yoga. My week usually involves 5 hours of cardio, 2-3 hours of Pilates, and 5 hours of yoga. I do sauna only about 1x/week and if i need a good detox, but not regularly.

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I’m trying to get back to exercising regularly myself. I’m doing 75-90 minutes, 4-5 times per week, mostly in the mornings when I wake up. It gives me mental and physical energy throughout the rest of the day. It’s mostly cardio right now, but I’m starting to add in some light weights and ab exercises. I’d like to add yoga as well, for flexibility and as a mind-body experience, but I haven’t been able to get myself to go drag myself to a class, LOL! I have a gym in my house, so there’s no excuse for me not to work out, but yoga is something that really requires an instructor’s guidance, so I’m reluctant to do it at home alone. I injured myself a few years ago doing yoga at home, and the injury still bothers me.

    I don’t think you should dive into 2-hour workouts. Start simple, with walking and a fun class, like yoga or some form of easy dance. Each week, add a little more time to your walks and walk faster. When in seems easy, you can either start jog-walking or else join a gym and have a trainer design a workout for you that you can tweak every 6 weeks, as you get stronger and more fit. The most important thing is to keep yourself interested in what you’re doing. If you get bored, you’ll quit. Set goals and work toward them. Vary what you do and the order in which you do it, to keep your body working hard all time.

    Saunas are good for opening up the pores and encouraging you to release stored toxins. If you have access to an infrared sauna, they are supposed to be excellent.

  • shawnieshawnie Raw Newbie

    Wow, that’s great that you guys try to keep fit regularly. My naturopath recommended I start Ashtanga Yoga so I bought some introductory videos a bit ago. The only issue I have is in the “downward dog” pose, my hands get all sweaty and I start sliding off the mat and can’t concentrate. Sorry that sounds gross, but does anyone else have that issue? I thought about powdering my hands before, but I don’t want to keep a jar next to the mat everytime I go into that position!

    1sweetpea – I know what you mean about needing an instructor for Yoga, whenever I do my video it’s hard to concentrate and I’m not sure if I’m doing the poses correctly. So far I haven’t had any pain though, but will keep a close eye on myself.

    I also bookmarked “8 minute abs and buns” from youtube that I’d like to start along with the Yoga. Are there any good workout videos that don’t put a ton of stress on the knees and back?

  • shawnieshawnie Raw Newbie

    Izhpt – a sauna once a week seems like a good call. There’s a spa not too far from here, I should call and see if they have any sort of packages for the sauna… I know they have a dry sauna and a wet come, I’m not sure about infrared though, I’ll have to ask.

  • FruginiFrugini Raw Newbie

    I’m taking Ashtanga through my University and my teacher told us that our mats come with some kind of factory slick layer, which is why you slip off the mat in downward dog. I had that trouble at first but never got around to washing my mat but eventually I stopped slipping. I think that I must have worn the layer off, in combo with strengthening my hands on the mat. You can find instructions for washing your mat online.

  • lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

    Valeria- if my hands/feet touch anything synthetic they fly right off the mat. most all poses become impossible. About 2 years ago, i bought an Eco mat. I think it was even www.ecomat.com. It’s just wonderful—there’s some kind of burlap fiber in there that gives me traction instead of the chemical sticky stuff, which smells bad anyway. A wonderful yoga DVD in Yoga Shakti with Shiva Rae. You can do one of the 3 pre-programmed series on there or you can create your own practice by going to the menu and clicking on the exercises you want for that day. It’s wonderful. Shiva Rae has an especially calming voice. The Basic Flow is very easy and just 30 min., for the beginner. This DVD can take you well into a high intermediate yoga practitioner.

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I know this seems like a splurge, but if you want to keep doing your ashtanga yoga at home, maybe you should hire a private instructor for a single session. You can learn a lot in an hour of one-on-one instruction. The instructor would correct your poses while you’re doing them, so that you’ll know what feels right. This is invaluable. It might cost $100 or so, especially if the instructor comes to your home, but it’s well worth it. I did it in Mexico a couple of years ago. It cost me $75 and the instructor came to my hotel room. I learned so much and got to try poses that we never got around to doing in classes. It was awesome.

    I bought a pilates mat at Lululemon Athletica. It is a tiny bit thicker than a standard yoga mat, which I find easier on my knees. I don’t slip on it, but my hands don’t get that sweaty. There is a shininess about it. A quick bath might cure it of its stickiness for you. It’s probably not a bad idea to be cleaning it every so often anyway. Lay it out on a towel to dry, then put in on another dry one when you flip it. It should help.

  • shawnieshawnie Raw Newbie

    It’s good to know I don’t have some sort of hand sweat issue haha. I’ll look into both the ecomat and getting a trainer to come for a few hours.

    I bought a video from Walmart (yuck) last night and it’s not what I wanted at all. It’s just a regular workout/cardio. The cover looked good and all, but when I popped it in it was all 1980s and terrible. I guess that’s what I get from buying from Walmart…

    Anyways, I think I’d like to switch up my workouts like Izhpt. Some yoga, biking and regular cardio.

    Thanks guys!

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I’ve bought some DVDs on Amazon.com. The ones by Gaiam are pretty good. Rodney Yee is quite a good host and insructor. I have a couple of ashtanga ones too. In fact, I have about a dozen DVDs (tae bo, cardio with weights, lots of different yoga ones, tai chi) that I hardly ever use. I wish I could unload a few. If you’re interested, let me know.

  • itouristitourist Raw Newbie

    I walk two miles in the morning and two miles at night, weather and schedule permitting. Last month I started taking the neighbor’s lab with me. He pulls with all his might at least 3 times during each trip. But he makes the walks joyful. I just have to watch that I don’t get injured in one of his pulling episodes, when he sees a cat.

  • I work 5 days a week, 8 to 5, then come home to homework and kids. Cook dinner, go over school work with the kids, study, read my Bible, etc….how do you guys make time to work out? I would love to work out and tone this tired body of mine. I’m glad you guys are finding the time to reenergize your bodies and spirit. Maybe I should try yoga?

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I realize that this requires an investment on your part, but you could buy or lease a treadmill or stationary bike and use it while studying and reading your Bible. Yoga would be great, if you can slip it into your busy schedule. I don’t know if it’s reasonable to suggest this, but if you could wake up a bit earlier in the morning, you could fit in a short workout then. I try to get up between 6 am and 6:30 to work out. Some weeks, I’m like a dedicated athlete, doing it 5 days per week, while other weeks I find it impossible to get out of bed and do it at all. I feel great all day when I’ve worked out first thing in the morning. I wish I could make it happen every day, but I’m grateful for the days I actually do it.

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    I mostly do a lot of walking. On Sundays I play soccer but otherwise I am walking. It plays a huge role in my lifestyle and I couldn’t live without it. I usually walk 3 times a day for around 45 minutes.

  • Valeria~ Where did you get the Gwyneth excercise routine? Sounds cool.

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