Ashtanga Yoga Standing Series

12 Minute Full Body Workout
chili peppers

This is Today’s 12 Minute Full Body Workout.

Ate breakfast a little later than usual because the kids were both feeling under the weather, which changed the morning schedule somewhat. Got the kids to school, cleaned up the kitchen, changed bed sheets and put in a load of laundry so that I could do my workout without falling behind on chores AND before I would need to eat again!

Warmed up with 10 x flights of stairs (up by two’s – down by single steps). Each flight up and down equals 1 x + light stretches.

18 Rounds of two intervals:

10 seconds Rest + 30 seconds Maximum Effort

Complete the six exercises in order then repeat the sequence two more times to equal three times through.     (Hover over the exercise name to open a window to view the exercise description. I’m working on adding photos of the others.)

1.Dynamic Squat : 22 – 20 – 19

2.Reverse Push Up (w/ Dip Stand): 18 – 17 – 16 

3. Ninja Jump + Jump Tuck: 7 – 7 – 7

4. Feet Elevated Push Ups: 16 – 16 – 16

5. Sandbag- Alternating Leg Tap down                                     (start from top of step stool): 19 – 21 – 19

6. Straight Arm Hanging Leg Raises                                          (toes touch top of door frame): 9 – 9 – 9

A)  Incorrect  Do NOT Do This (left)

B) Correct End Position (below)

It is important to keep the knees slightly bent and initiate the movement from the abdominals. Tip the upper part of the pelvis backward causing the pubis to curl up towards your face, which in turn will cause the legs to move up toward the top of the door frame. This requires a lot of strength and practice. Initially, start by just hanging with straight arms from the pull up bar. Gradually, over days or weeks try to tip the pelvis as described without even attempting to lift the legs. Trying to achieve too much too soon can result in using the Psoas muscle to lift the legs as is seen in the first diagram (above left: A) – this is incorrect – Do NOT do this.

As seen in B) the correct movement shows a rounded lower back. Think ‘angry cat’ back except you are also curling your tail bone under in the direction of the pubis. Tail bone chases pubis -not sure how else to describe it at the moment. 🙂

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Cool down 4 x 100 skips w/ jump rope (legs parallel)

+45 Minutes Ashtanga Yoga Standing Series (including first 12 seated postures -a few vinyasa + 3 Backbends + close).

Transfered laundry and by 11 am, had my post workout meal (thankful for leftovers):

Fresh panfried Halibut with homemade caramelized onions on a bed of brown rice noodles. A side of roasted Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash w/ Lime Juice, Olive Oil, Cilantro, Ginger and Chili peppers. And Steamed curly Green Kale. Glass of Water. One Square of chocolate.

I haven’t stepped out of the kitchen since!

I’ve been preparing a different recipe for Lamb Stew, adapted from Beef a la Provencal from Lucy Waverman at the Globe and Mail…It is so amazing. I made it two weeks ago and it was delicious. Only draw back is that it takes so long to make. I will post the recipe another time.

However, during this food prep, I had my third meal – LUNCH at around 1pm…homemade turkey soup, except I had twice the amount shown in this picture below. I’ll share that recipe another time too, only, first I have to show you how to make your own Turkey Stock, which makes ALL the difference.

Today’s Time Challenge

When I first mentioned to friends and family what I wanted to accomplish with this site, I got a mix of reviews. I said that my goal was to help people to better understand how to exercise properly. Some told me that it wouldn’t work because “people” don’t want to know how to do things – they don’t want to spend time learning how, they just want the quick fix…show them what to do but forget about teaching them anything.

This hurt.

I didn’t want to believe this. And I don’t. I do realize that for many this may be true, but now, since having started this site I know that there are many who do want to know how and are willing to spend the time on learning. Even if this were to reach only one person, I will keep sharing.

Today I did Zuzka Light’s ZWOD II workout but made a modification to suit me. I find that a lot of the workouts I follow incorporate too many plank type exercises for me. You will understand what I’m talking about if you’ve read my post on how doing too many push ups can have a negative effect, click here.

In any case, the main thing is to find a way to get motivated to move and stretch our body daily, but equally important not to throw caution to the wind and do things mindlessly, just because someone says so.

Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you should.

We need to practice mindfulness and choose wisely.

Yes, I can do a lot of push ups, but that doesn’t mean I should do an excessive amount in one workout. I show my modification in grey (what I did in place of the 10 twisted push ups).

I had been doing house cleaning prior to my workout, while digesting my lunch – got to make the most of my time! So my official warm up was only 5x flights of stairs by two’s going up + single steps going down + light active stretching.

ZWOD II  – My modification in grey.

Complete three rounds for time. I finished in 15:54.

1. 5 Man Makers (I used pair of 10 lb. dumbells)

2. 20 Low Burpee Hops

3. 10 Twisted Push Ups

3. 5x [10 Reps Kick Ups + 1 Pull Up] (forward grip)

4. 25 Competition Sit-Ups

click here to see the video and how to do the exercises.

Exercises #1, 2 & 3 all involve a plank position. Recruiting the same muscle groups. For me this would have been excessive to have repeated three rounds.

Exercise #4 is a great choice because by dropping the knees out to the side with soles of the feet together (butterfly), the effect helps to cancel out the Psoas muscle. When we do a classic full sit-up, once we pass the crunch phase (the first quarter of the movement) the Psoas then engages and does the work to haul the torso up to sitting; this is not ideal since most people have chronically tight Psoas. In order to do this Competition Sit-Up exercise properly and effectively, it is important that the spine (especially at the lumbar region) be flexible enough to round into the ground as the body curls up to sitting. If the lower back (lumbar region) flattens out then I would advise the individual to stick with 1/4 crunches and work on increasing the flexibility of the lower back and psoas.

4 x 100 skips w/ rope to cool down.

40 Minutes Ashtanga Yoga Standing Series (including first 12 seated postures – no vinyasa – +3 Back bends + closing sequence)

People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness.

–John Wanamaker

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