Category Archives: Fitness and Yoga

Yoga is good for you despite what the newspapers seem to think.

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The New York Times published an article with the sensational headline, “How Yoga Can Wreck your Body” at the beginning of January. Great timing when many people are looking to start a New Year with a determination to get fit. What a great way to put off anyone considering Yoga as their resolution. The article naturally caused outrage amongst Yoga teachers and many rebuttals have appeared since.

Yoga is good for you

On 29 Jan The Sunday Times published their own version. Since then I have seen Internet forums flooded with questions like, “Is yoga really safe?” or,  “Is Yoga dangerous?” People have even stayed behind after class to voice their concerns and seek advice.

Should they be worried? No – yoga is good for you but let’s be clear. Newspapers love sensational headlines. They also love to scare us. The Daily Mail is always running stories that one day claim something causes cancer and then next day that the same thing prevents cancer.

When you see a headline claiming that eating a certain type of food increases the chance of cancer by, say, 78% naturally you think that is a worrying figure. But they never publish the base statistic. If the incidence of that form of cancer is one in a million. Then a 78% increase means the incidence is still pretty close to one in a million. But it scares you none the less.

The Yoga article quotes 46 people who have suffered back problems, spinal issues and joint pain. Oh my God so every one should stop practicing Yoga immediately then, just in case. At the same time we should stop eating, drinking, going to the cinema, riding bikes, flying kites, taking dogs for walks, stroking cats, playing football and having sex. In fact curl up in a dark room and shut out the world.

There is risk associated with everything we do in life. And I mean everything. You may sprain your ankle running for the bus. You may trip and fall down the stairs and break your arm. It’s possible you might burn your hand severely whilst cooking your dinner.

Now consider what that 46 injuries really means in context. In the UK in 2010 nearly 2000 people died in car accidents. 22,600 were seriously injured. 184,000 were slightly injured. But newspapers don’t recommend you stop driving even though the fact remains that you are many more times more likely to be hurt driving to a Yoga class than you are to be hurt in one.

“Yoga is good for you.”

As long as you have a qualified teacher who gives you clear instructions, doesn’t over exert, extend or stretch you, then yoga will be of amazing benefit to your body’s strength and flexibility. Like any form of exercise take it at your own pace, grow in confidence, and enjoy it.

Don’t worry about what you read in the papers. Yoga is definitely, really good for you. Come along to a class and feel the benefits.

Over to you: If you are a yoga teacher what do you do to make your clients feel good, safe and confident? Are you a participant? Do you ever feel that yoga is not doing you some good?

6 Ways to sculpt your core with CXWorx

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I finally got to try CXWorx, the 30 minute core work out class recently launched in the UK by Les Mills the creators of Body Pump.

CXWorx for your core

Many clubs run classes sporting titles such as “Ab Attack” or “Core Extreme”. These too run for 30 minutes and feature endless sit ups and oblique curls. On paper CXWorx promises a similar experience but with the added Les Mills standard accompaniment of the hottest musical sounds from charts around the planet.

It is not the same believe me. The creators of this class have crammed much variety of exercise into the allotted time to work your core from every angle. You start by realising your core is not just the abs. As the instructor said, “What is your core? Well chop of your head, your arms and your legs and what is left is your core.”

So it includes the shoulders, the glutes, the obliques, and the muscular slings that criss-cross the body creating the X-shape of muscles referred to in the class’s title.

I was already tired having just taught a very busy Body Combat class but I promised myself I would stay as the CXWorx instructor came in. She started by giving out resistance tubes. There are three levels and I inadvertently chose the hardest one. They have handles because you need to hold on tight. Another optional extra is a weight plate.

We got started lying down on mats on the floor as the music kicked in.

  1. Warm Up: A rapid combination of leg extensions, crunches and oblique crunches. Even as early as this you learn the importance of a flat back against the floor and a strong belly and how easy it is to lose technique and arch the back. Don’t. It stops the exercises or from working.
  2. Core strength 1: Here come the hovers. This is tough stuff. The instructor introduces arm and leg movements but you have to keep the hover strong and centred. It only takes a few minutes for this to start burning.
  3. Standing strength 1: A series of lunges, squats and stretches using the resistance tubes and weight plate to heavily work the glutes and top half of the legs. I had started to shake by now.
  4. Standing strength 2: The resistance tube becomes more of a focus in this one. Range of movement is small but the tubes make it hurt. By now, only 20 minutes in, I am starting to struggle.
  5. Core strength 2: More hovers, side planks, and leg raises test you almost to the limit.
  6. Core strength 3: Lying on the belly or up on hands and knees, we finish with diagonal pointers, leg extensions, shoulder and leg raises with moves that tighten the butt. A few quick stretches and your half hour is over. And you feel elated but broken.

The people in the class were of all ages and all shapes. Judging by the moans and groans and pools of sweat, everyone was happy with their performance and would be feeling the results the following day.

“A great work out for your core.”

I loved the class. Will it take off all over the UK? I imagine there might be resistance initially from clubs. They won’t want to pay another licence fee when they can convince themselves that their PTs can produce a similar experience for free. I think ultimately their attitude might change as people hear about CXWorx through word of mouth.

So CXWorx is a great express workout, not at all sure about the name though.

Over to you: Have you tried CXWorx yet? How did you feel afterwards? Have you seen results in your core? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Can you turn your NY fitness resolution into a habit you won’t break?

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As a fitness instructor I love the New Year. Loaded with resolutions to get fit and to eat more healthily, people flock to the gym and classes are jammed packed full of people desperate to burn calories.

Old hands stand alongside new members and all of them give it 100%. I love the sounds of exertion. The moans and groans brought on my a particularly tough abs routine, or the pained looks as the leg conditioning phase seems to last forever. Faces become beetroot red. Sweat pours down and off the end of noses. And most satisfying of all, everyone looks happy if a little dishevelled.

Body Combat as part of your fitness resolution

The problem with resolutions is that they don’t last. By February the frequency of attendance starts to dwindle. Eagerness is replaced by complacency. Which is a shame. If only that January buzz could become a year long habit rather than a resolution to be broken after a few weeks. I will certainly try and motivate my clients to stick to the January habit. In fact I like the word habit much more than the word resolution.

Calorie burn is the main focus for members during this time. The desire to shed Christmas pounds is strong. But I also encourage adding a holistic session to the cardio blitz. That’s why I love to teach the Body Combat and Body Balance double. One hour of high energy, fat burning martial arts mayhem, followed by one hour of deep Yoga based stretching and strengthening exercises. This is the perfect combination for it promotes weight loss and improves flexibility.

“Turn a fitness resolution into a habit.”

So let’s turn a fitness resolution into a habit. Stick with it all year long and combine your breathless cardio work with some Yoga based exercise as well. Just wait until you see the results and I guarantee the January excitement will continue throughout the whole of the year.

body balance as part of your fitness resolution

Over to you: What are you doing to keep your resolutions this year? How do you stick with it when the temptation to lapse begins? Please leave a comment.

Is there a Modern vs Traditional Yoga argument?

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There was a fascinating article in The Guardian this week looking at the development of “modern” yoga classes which are abandoning the spiritual and the mental elements and focusing on entirely on the physical. The headline posed what seems like a simple question.

Is this still yoga? A new generation of teachers is replacing traditional spirituality with plain-spoken simplicity.

Of course the answer is far from simple.

Having qualified as a Level 3 Yoga Teacher last year – I experienced quite a bit of snobbery on my journey. There are those who insist that Yoga has to be the full Physical, Spiritual and Mental experience – and in extreme cases will not tolerate dissension. In answer to that view we know that from the success of Freestyle Fitness Yoga and Body Balance that there are many people who simply want access to the physical side of yoga. Indeed for those people the Spiritual and the Mental aspects can be barriers to them trying traditional yoga out.

I’ve seen some church halls ban yoga classes because they perceive the spiritual side of it to be some affront to Christianity. This is wrong too because Yoga isn’t a religion despite its spiritual overtones. I’ve seen some people put off yoga classes because they think they are going to have to chant and ring singing bowls. So for those that predominantly want the physical experience why not give them that aspect alone?

In the end it is all about meeting the needs and expectations of your clients. When I teach yoga I do use the ancient names for the poses where appropriate, and provide more focus especially around meditation. If your clients are more into the full traditional experience then they will expect it of course.

But if someone is only interested in the physical aspect – does it matter whether it is a Virabhadrasana 2 – or a position in which one leg is bent at 90 degrees and the other is straight, the hips are forward and the arms are at shoulder height? Even if we use the English version of the pose names, does it really need to be a Warrior 2 or what I have just described.

I would like to make yoga accessible to all and if the entry point to that is the physical experience then fine. Personally I would like them to then consider the other aspects if and when they feel comfortable. But starting from the point of view that it has to be all or nothing is likely to keep the barriers up.

Ultimately traditional and modern can exist harmoniously and that has to be a good thing if it benefits the lives of more people.