February 27, 2013

Fitness Routine Progress at Just Over One Week

A typical scene from one of my yoga workouts. Getting a tooth or nose inspection while stretching requires extra concentration!

I have been faithfully exercising with the DDP yoga set. So far, I am really enjoying it!

The basic concept is to combine yoga with dynamic resistance. The only time I have seen anyone use dynamic resistance in an exercise routine was in a martial arts class I took once. If you don’t know what dynamic resistance is, it involves using your mind to create resistance for your body. For example, “Move your arm from your side to above your head but pretend you are moving through concrete or thick mud.” Your imagination in essence drives how hard your workout will be. The better you can visualize swimming through mud or trying to pull a ball that is attached to a thick cable the harder the exercise is. If you disengage your mind, your muscles just don’t respond as strongly as they should.

In general, this DVD set has exercises that are harder than they look. Yoga tends to be that way for me in general. You may look at a pose and think, “How hard can it be to just stand there with your arms above your head?” But then you actually try it and find out that it IS hard because you are using your balance muscles or bending one knee in a way that requires a lot of strength or holding your arms in a way that gets tiring after a short while or some other subtle movement. Once you add in the dynamic resistance factor, you can raise your heart rate and get a good muscle workout even though it looks like you are just standing still!

It isn’t a traditional yoga workout but it is not completely alien to yoga either. It is a good compromise to create “yoga for the masses.” There is some breathing and the meditative aspect is there in terms of the dynamic resistance concentration but there is also a lot of masculinity and not getting too cute with the metaphysical aspects.

This DVD is excellent for beginner to intermediate exercisers. Anyone who hasn’t exercised in quite a while can easily get started. There are three workouts on the first disc: “Energy,” “Fat Burner” and “Red Hot Core.” Diamond Dallas Paige gives high and low options to modify the workout to meet your fitness needs. He uses actual users of his fitness programs as demonstrators in the videos. Arthur Boorman of YouTube fame even makes an appearance!

What I really love about these beginner workouts is that you could seriously be in good shape if all you ever did for the rest of your life is one of these beginner workouts and then take a short walk or run. They are not so exhausting that you can’t sustain one a day for a very long period of time. There is also enough in the workout in terms of muscle building and flexibility to provide a comprehensive workout.

After one week, however, here is my status:

Even though each workout is only about 20 minutes long, it is really hard to fit this in while children are around. My son is constantly climbing on me or pulling my hair while I am trying to do the positions. However, a great side effect is that he now knows how to do “Down Dog!”

"Down Dog" - toddler-style — “Down Dog” – toddler-style

I had a slow start where I was exercising only every other day but have now gone to every day. Still I managed to GAIN one pound since beginning the workout series. I attribute this not to my exercise but to overindulging in a new cookie recipe I found. My waist measurements have altered since beginning the program. I am now smaller in some areas and larger in others! I hope this is some sort of muscle alignment going on!

My muscle strength is building and I feel that I am getting gradually stronger. I feel it mostly in the core muscles which is terrific and also feel that my back is becoming more flexible too.