From 2009-2011, I was in the greatest shape of my life and this was AFTER giving birth to my son in 2007.
I rode my bike across Maine, played on a women's soccer league, regularly partook in Bikram Yoga, completed the Central Park Biathlon and ran 4 miles (the most I had ever done before)! But then I guess I fell in love and became more busy with full-time work, and just like that. For the past 3 years, I've been trying desperately to get back to some kind of exercise routine and to eat more healthily. I tried going back to Bikram (made me feel like a loser), running (ouch), Weight Watchers (yuck) and thinking about the shame of seeing people I hadn't seen since I "let myself go," and none of it worked.
But, now I think I'm ready.
I've had a headache for a week, my back hurts, my stomach is hanging in ways I never imagined possible. It's time. I want to gracefully go into my 50s (in 3.5 years). I want to be that hot older woman who everyone is inspired by. I want to inspire myself.
Baby steps.
Today I made the decision. I have seen a bajillion ads on Hulu for Daily Burn (Click on the "Learn More" button for a video) and I'm just going to try it out for a month. Daily burn is an online workout site with hundreds of workouts, beginner to crazy intense and it's $20 a month after a free 30-day trial. You can add on things like diet plans for nominal monthly costs.
The Programs
- TRUE BEGINNER - Whether you're starting out or starting over
- CARDIO SCULPT - Lose weight and get toned with fun and easy workouts
- RECOVER - Rejuvenate your body through a series of mobility workouts
- 15 - Get fit in just 15 days, 15 workouts, 15 minutes each
- MOVE! All the moves you need to dance yourself into shape
- TOTAL CARDIO - Sweat and sizzle calories with fun yet challenging cardio workouts
- DBK - Master kettlebells for a complete workout
- YOGA - For a stronger and balanced lifestyle
- INTELLIBURN - Personalized plan that learns from your goals & strengths
- TACTICAL BODYWEIGHT TRAINING - Your body is your gym - no equipment required
- CORE - Strengthen your core and define your abs in only 2 weeks
- INFERNO - Intense workouts for intense results
- INFERNO HR - Inferno HR pushes you to the max!
- BEAUTIFUL BELLY - A completely yoga practice for your pregnancy
I am doing the yoga program and today's yoga workout was just what I needed. Surya is gentle, explains the poses in a way where you can "listen with your ears not see with your eyes," as she suggested. It made me pay more attention to attempt to follow the directions I was hearing, rather than constantly craning my neck out of position to SEE what was happening. It was a 37 minute segment of gentle stretches with a little sweat and lots of breath work and meditation by another name ("Stick your tongue out." "Darth Vader Breath").
Pros
This segment would be doable by most people, even those who have never done yoga before or people who are very overweight or not very flexible. I thought it was a great introduction back to yoga and would be a good first class for a beginner. I feel less tense in my neck and back and my headache seems to be gone for now!
Cons
At first I didn't like the idea that the remaining time was always present on the screen, but by the last 5 minutes I was kind of glad it was there. Some people might find this workout too easy, but for my purposes of relieving stress and gently getting back into working out, it was perfect.
Tomorrow's workout: Yoga 2 with Surya B: Warrior One.
Variety
The cool thing about the Daily Burn concept is that each of the programs is of varying length. For instance, Inferno HR is for 4 weeks, Core is for 2 weeks, Recover is 1 week, so you could definitely change things up for a long period of time and keep your body guessing! I'm looking forward to trying the programs, but for now, I'm going to ease my body in with yoga for at least a couple of weeks.
Questions
Not sure if you can do more than one workout a day. It seems as though you can't. Though I do think you can do the same workout twice. I will find out! Wish me luck!
