A paragon of fitness and flexibility...

BuckTheBMI
BuckTheBMI Posts: 106 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
.. I am not! I can't even touch my own toes! I had to hold my breath just to get down this far which caused me to nearly pass out.

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I would like to start doing yoga to help me be able to clip my own toenails again. I have access to the set of DDP Yoga DVDs... are they any good? What other yoga or Pilates related DVD content do you recommend?

PLEASE HELP ME! I WANT TO HOLD HANDS WITH MY FEET AGAIN!

Replies

  • BuckTheBMI
    BuckTheBMI Posts: 106 Member
    Sorry for the huge image... you can right click on it and open it in a new window to see my failure in all of its glory.
  • Kaylee_F93
    Kaylee_F93 Posts: 90
    Try some Blogilates. It is free on Youtube. so the flexibility videos by her and after a while you should be able to "clip your own toenails" haha.
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,789 Member
    Any stretching will help you. Hold stretches for 20 seconds or more. Do them everyday. For most people the hamstrings are the easiest muscles to gain flexibility. So you should see progress in a month or so. As far as form goes, I would suggest that you keep your legs engaged (work your quads), to stretch your hamstrings. They are antagonist muscles and when you work the quads, the hamstrings will release more effectively.
    Also, make sure your feet are parallel to one another, the picture shows your right foot turned out.

    I've never done DDP yoga - I have a hard time taking that guy seriously. My understanding of the video is that it's more the working side - the strength side - of yoga.
    I liked Rodney Yee videos as well as Patricia Walden and Suzanne Deason, back when I used videos.

    Hope that helps
  • Pirate_chick
    Pirate_chick Posts: 1,216 Member
    your sense of humor is wonderful. Get the sworkit app they have yoga program there. the bare bones edition is free, but effective if you want to youtube how to properly do the poses. However, for 99 cents you can get the premium edition that has videos, best part is it links to MFP and will upload your calories burned. :) hope that helps.
  • BuckTheBMI
    BuckTheBMI Posts: 106 Member
    Thank you guys for your replies and advice! I agree with you yogainmary about not being able to take DDP seriously... but I had heard good things about the videos. Maybe I will start with working on my flexibility and then branch out into strength and conditioning types of yoga? Weight lifting and cardio I understand... flexibility I have always been HORRIBLE at... even when in shape.
  • MscGray
    MscGray Posts: 304 Member
    I have never personally tried DDP yoga, but I have heard others having great sucess with it. As previously posted, check you tube for various yoga work outs, see how well you like doing it before spending money on something you might hate!! Also, if you have digital cable (at least time warner cable) has a work out on demand channel that has yoga "episodes" and other workouts. If I get bored with an exercise I'm doing I will try one of those! I have recently started attending yoga at my local YMCA, I only go once a week..but so far I love it! I just gotta get rid of my gut so that I can reach farther into the stretches..lol...all in good time!
  • MscGray
    MscGray Posts: 304 Member
    Oh and as far as other videos...I did slim in 6 a few years back (its by beach body, and I dont even know if its still for sale retail) but I enjoyed that....it was a cardio work out that incorperated pilates and yoga into it it was like a 45 minute work out that left you feeling a little taxed but good.
  • phantasmagical
    phantasmagical Posts: 66 Member
    Yoga is one of my favorite go-to exercises first thing in the morning, on days when I'm feeling slow, when I'm nuts from a crappy work day, or really just any time I want an endorphin boost. I started with a 30-day Bikram challenge, which I wouldn't really recommend (it's tough, but also expensive and a little too snooty for me), but which was a great workout and got me interested in yoga generally.

    Lately, I like both ashtanga and vinyasa...anything called "power yoga" is generally pretty good. Bryan Kest's power yoga collection is fun and a good combination of strength and flexibility training (http://www.amazon.com/Bryan-Kest-Power-Complete-Collection/dp/B0001WTWYC/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1397160794&sr=8-14&keywords=ashtanga+yoga+dvd). Shiva Rea's series is also pretty good, but just a little more touchy-feely than most of the power yoga stuff.

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