Moves & Workouts – French Fry Runner

Favorite Indoor Workouts

I’m linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia from You Signed Up for WHAT?!, and Mar from Mar on the Run. This week’s Friday Five theme is Favorite Indoor Workouts.

I really like a lot of different types of exercise, so I thought I would share a few that I’ve been loving lately as I try to own the day every day.

Body Pump. I’ve been going to pump classes for about a month and a half (I think), and I’ve fallen in love with it! It’s a great way to get started with weight training, and the class atmosphere is just fun and not intimidating at all. I’ve seen major results in my short experience with it, and I really recommend it to anyone looking to dive into more strength training.
Yoga. Well, I just love yoga. It’s a great workout, especially Ashtanga or power yoga, and it’s a great way to work on your flexibility and your attitude. Yoga provides a way to slow down and focus on the moment with no judgment and to just be where you are.
Treadmill. Yeah, I know. A lot of people hate the treadmill, but I don’t really, especially when I make my workout interesting. I like to warm up with 5 minutes walking and then move into my workout. Lately I’ve been doing shorter easy runs (30-40 minutes) and then picking up the speed by .1 mph each 30 seconds to one minute of the last 5 minutes before a 5-minute cool-down. Good stuff. It also helps that my favorite treadmill at the gym overlooks the pool, which distracts me from the feeling of not actually going anywhere. Nothing like watching older folks do Aqua Zumba, eh? 😉
Swimming. I’m a fairly new swimmer, so my workouts aren’t anything crazy. I don’t have a tri on my schedule right now, so I haven’t been swimming a ton, but I do love it when I get to the pool. I swim for about 30 minutes and call it good. It’s short but effective since I’ve been trying to focus on form.
Cycling/elliptical. I’ve been having trouble with my plantar fasciitis, so I’ve been interspersing cycling and elliptical into my training to cut down on my chance for injury. I just hop on the bike or elliptical crank up the resistance and go for 30-45 minutes. And the ellipticals at my gym have built-in TV, so it’s fun to watch The Chew or whatever while I’m plugging along. Good times.

Incline elliptical — How many times can I use this photo, I wonder.

Do you watch TV while you exercise?

Do you have a favorite treadmill/machine? Favorite running route?

Favorite dessert?

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Sharing my favorite indoor #workouts for #FridayFive with @eatprayrundc @yousignedup & @marmaone1. What's your favorite? Click To Tweet

I’m also linking up with Jill Conyers’s Fitness Friday and B.J. for #FitGeekFriday. Be sure to check out the hosts’ pages and find other fun blogs to read!

Strike a {Yoga} Pose: Tree Pose

It seems we have been focusing balance sequences in my yoga classes. One of my favorite balance poses is tree pose (or Vrksasana). I had a bit of a breakthrough in my last yoga class. We were facing away from the mirrors in the room the during whole class so we could focus inward and just be in our practice instead of being critical of ourselves–which I loved. I was able to go further in this pose than I ever have. Great moment for me. My favorite is to get into the pose with my hands at heart center and then raise my arms and spread out my arms and fingers. This brings joy to my practice.

The beauty of any pose in yoga is that you can be where you are. You can keep your toes on the floor, place your foot on the opposite calf or thigh or even cross your foot over the top. (I hope I’m making sense.) Check out the video below to learn this joyful pose:

Video by Yoga with Adriene. Find her on YouTube.

What Is This “Running” You Speak Of?

Yes, it’s true. I barely remember what running is anymore. I haven’t run for about 3 weeks–and then only like 5 times in the month before that. Don’t worry (not like you would); I’m not breaking up with running. 🙂 But I am working on strength training. With all the problems with my feet, I decided to ease back into running since my last half marathon. Actually, my first soiree with running after all this time is tomorrow. I think I’ll run about 2 miles and then slowly increase my mileage and time from there. I just really don’t want to hurt myself again.

I have been consistently doing yoga, though, and I’m feeling increased strength and flexibility. And my arms are actually toning up. I’m stoked about that. I think it’s all the downward-facing dogs we do in my yoga class. Funny how that pose used to be so hard for me, and now it’s a rest pose. 🙂 I love seeing improvement! Here’s a great video on how to do downward-facing dog correctly:

From Yoga with Adriene (YouTube channel)