Week 7

Warm up

To begin, I started off with 10 minutes of the sun salutations we do in class.

Reach up and go down and touch toes. Breathe in half way up until your knees then lie down flat on stomach and move into cobra pose. From there move into downward dog and then stand up halfway, go down, and stand up to full height.

After that, I Started off in table top pose, arch and round back for 1 min. C-stretches (left and right side) in tabletop position for about a minute. Then move into cobra position and shift into downward dog position, do this for 1 min.

Flow 1-Build your heat

Start in downward dog position then lift leg for 3-legged dog; bring leg that is in air to nose for cheetah pose.

Shift into a lunge position, place right after on left thigh and twist. Then go back into a lunge and then straighten out both legs, keeping them the same distance away from each other as in lunge position, and then lean forward or shin, stretching out your back.

Do a sun salutation and then repeat the same process over again, but this time doing it on the left side of  body (I started with my right side so now I’m doing my left)

Flow 2- test your balance

3-legged dog position to cheetah, then step into a lunge. From lunge, stant into warrior 2 pose, lean right arm on front thigh (right thigh) and reah up with left arm. Then, lean left arm on back leg and reach right arm up. Shift back into warrior 2 position. From there, straighten both legs and shift into triangle pose, then reverse triangle pose. From reverse triangle, move into half moon position. Once agai, go back into warrior 2 position, the shift onto a side plank. Shift into downward dog and repeat the process on the opposite side of your body. Then once again, do another round of these exercises on both sides of your body to complete a total of 4 times.

Flow 3 – test your edge

Start in 3-legged dog position and shift into lunge. Bend back leg and place knee on ground. Grab back foot with right hand and pull until you feel a sensation in your quadricep. Shift back into a lunge and straighten both legs. Lean your upper body forward over shin of front leg. From there go into a standing split position. Hold for a moment then bend leg that is in air to your nose and hold it back up. Repeat the movement for a few breaths. From there, move into a standing position, raise hands above head and then go into a squat. From the squat position, do a twist, placing your left elbow on your right thigh. From there stand up, reach your arms upward, and then go back into the lunge position. Repeat these exercises on the opposite side of your body.

Cool Down

For a cool down, I stretched my arms, hamstrings, quads, and core. I then did another 10 minutes of the sun salutations we do in class every week.

Finally, I proceeded to do stay in the Savasana position for a few minutes.

Week #7 Questions

Yes I do feel like I need to revise my goals seeing as I find it easier and more convenient and comfortable for me to workout at home, and since I don’t have a treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical available to me at home (machines I would like to use at a gym to help me improve my endurance), it would be much more challenging for me to increase my cardiovascular endurance to a point where I could run, nonstop, for an extended period of time like I originally hoped.  Based on this, no, my goal doesn’t still seem realistic based on the workouts I have been doing the last few weeks. I will still try to workout at a gym if I can find time to do so, therefore, my goal of increasing my endurance by the end of the semester is still my goal but not my primary one. My new goal is to increase the flexibility in my legs through yoga and Pilates workouts. I would like to be able to easily be able to rest my head on my knees/thighs while touching my toes. I still find that doing my workouts after I finish my homework is still keeping me motivated to workout. However, as mentioned before, I need to change where I workout. I need to workout at home rather than at the gym because it is hard for me to find the time to go to the gym.

It is recommended that a person eats 2-3 cups of vegetables everyday (All About the Vegetable Group, USDA). No, I am not getting enough, I normally eat only 1 serving of vegetables each day. To ensure that I do, I can set alerts in my phone to remind me to eat more vegetables. My three favorite vegetables are carrots, broccoli and sweet potatoes.