Ruminations on Yoga

Mike Robertson, of Magnificent Mobility, argues that "Yoga is Overrated"

I like his critique. I like that he acknowledges what is good about the system as well as identifies weaknesses. If I were to take it a step further it might be to call into question the entire notion of "Instructors" whatever the movement. Something about our society inspires us to look for systems and teachers rather than being a learner fabricating our own knowledge. Mike talks about one of the weakness being Yoga Instructors simply teaching within the parameters of the system -- cult like -- as it were. We could level the same criticism at other movement systems, martial arts, perhaps, some versions of CrossFit, for examples.



The kind of instruction we see in most dojo's resulted from the massive demand for instruction that service men in Japan placed on the martial arts schools. Standing in ranks and rows, doing calisthenics and basic movements is an industrial model of teaching. It is efficient and economical, but, is it really the best? Yet we see it time and again in our gyms, practice rooms, dojo's because it serves the profit model of these organizations.

So, when I look for workout partners, I'm looking for self-reflective, analytic, curious, skeptical--but open minded, and skeptical of themselves and what they "know". I look for someone who demonstrates that they are serious about learning. I look for persons doing things differently, or doing things with perfect form, and then I ask them about themselves and what they are doing. Now, "You can't always get what you want." So, Mike offers some tips that can help a person be an informed consumer. But, the distinction is that I, or you, have to be in control of our process. If you don't resonate with the "teachers" and "classes" available locally no big deal. With the tonnage of DVD, book, and on-line resources you can if you want it badly enough teach yourself all sorts of techniques and attend to the particular details that interest you, breathing for example.



One of the things I hate about yoga is all the blah,blah,blah. All the new age jargon and twinkly chanting music. Basically, I use the measure that runners do, if you can carry on a conversation you are not working hard enough. Shut up and get to work.

Now, if we went back to the roots of Yoga, if we went to India and sought out some masters, my money says we would have an altogether different experience with the movement system. I think the cultural, and linguistic distance that mapping a system from one culture to another introduces a lot of noise and distortion. That said, the Indian Yogi still has stinky shit and we should be as suspicious of him/her as we are of any other teacher. Being respectful of a tradition is not the same as blindly consuming it, rather, a master worth his/her salt, would despise such a stage in a learner, and would take steps to get them past it -- think of the Zen Master, the stick, and the impossible koan. Figure it out for yourself.

Foam Rollers

This guy knows his stuff!

I'm always looking for resources to learn from and this guy is amazing. I've got his blog feeding here, "Mobilitywod", but, check out his youtube channel, too.

October 23, 2010: ram: Typical week

Very busy week made it tough to keep to the schedule of alternate strength/aerobic and yoga/stretching days. Company this weekend prevents using the workout area, so activity will be walking/hiking, resuming the base plan sunday or monday.

I am not a careful yoga practitioner, but really like to stretch between the workout days. 8-10 yoga like movements at my pace, focusing on stretching my back half and rotating around my spine. It really relieves tightness and monor cricks that develop from more exertive exercise.

Started it as a young guy with serious lower back pain. Thought it would help but ultimately solved the problem by giving my wife the checkbook and asking her not to tell me where the money goes. Anyway, the two moves are a strong combination for relieving stress and muscle tension.

October 22, 2010, Sisyphus

Work-out #1

2 miles on the elliptical thingy, 1 mile on the dreadmill

3 rounds
Standing cable crunches, 160# x20
Dumbbell dead-lift, 50# 8 on a side

3 rounds
Diagonal dumbbell raises, 20# 10 on a side
Cable Push Pull, 30#,x12 40#,x10, 50#x8

2 rounds

internal rotations, 5#x10
beer pours, 3#x10

1 mile on the rower

Went down to say hello to the Crossfit crew but the room was packed, I couldn't even get in the door.

Work-out #2

Yoga. Felt pretty good today.

October 21, 2010, Sisyphus

Work-out #1

1 mile on the dreadmill, 1 mile on the elliptical thingy, 1 mile on the rower, 1 mile on the beastmaster. Blah, blah, blah.

3 rounds
Good mornings, 135#,x 10
knee roll outs, 3
Standing cable crunches, 150#, x20

Work-out #2

Row 1 mile

Back Squats, 135#x12, 185#x10, 205#x8, 335#x3, 335#x2, 315#x2, 275#x8
Ham Raises, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

Squats felt terrible today, I couldn't get the bar seated right, my form was sloppy. No need to beat myself up.

4 rounds
Blast offs on a 18" box, 10 on a side, 5 split squats on a side

3 rounds
OHS 89# with chains, 8
Standing Cable Crunches, 150#x20

1 mile on the elliptical thingy

October 20, 2010, Sisyphus

Elliptical thingy for a mile, and rowed for a mile.

3 rounds
Hang Cleans, 135#, 8, 6, 4
Chin ups, 5,5,5
Assisted pull ups, 10, 10, 10

3 rounds
Roll outs, 5
Standing Cable Crunches, 20, 20, 20
Good Mornings, 135#, 8, 8, 8

3 rounds
rear lateral raises, 30#, 8, 8, 8
internal rotations, 5#, 8,8,8

Stair-master 1 mile

October 19, 2010 and New Author on board

So, as "ram" noted in the previous post I've invited him to contribute on this blog. First, and foremost he is, at 61, one of my fitness/wellness hero's. Second, he has a thoughtful, self-reflective, and philosophical bent that I think is a good fit. For the few of you who read the blog, please be patient while we sort out, how we contribute, how we organize posts, and so on. I hope the joint effort will create a richer and more interesting read.

5:30 at Littlefield's

20 minutes on the dreadmill, and 20 minutes on the elliptical thingy

Bench Press, 135#x12, 185#x8, 205#, 2x6, 185#x6, 135#x6
Wide grip pull ups, 3x5

Over in the corner of the pit I found a strong man log, so, on my way out I asked Wes, if it was ok for me to use it and he was good with it. So, I'm interested to try that monster out.



Work-out #2

Yoga.

Getting started

Ok, so I have been invited to post to Erosion Control and have accepted. My goal is to take the issues of staying active and working out outside of my head hoping that I will be more honest with myself and more regular in my "program". We shall see.

I am 61 and love feeling good. I believe that staying active is central to holding on to this feeling and am committed to keeping it going, whatever that means, for as long as the spirits give plus whatever I can eke out beyond that.

I think all activity counts. Yesterday, I took a 2 hour hike with my pup through a local state game land and wrapped up with some bodyweight stuff: crunches, pushups, pullups, dips, curls, and 20 minutes on the treadmill, during the Eagles game. A good day for me.

Can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds.

October 15, 2010

Yoga.

Why do I squat heavy before yoga? I suppose I'm thinking that I can stretch out and warm up and it is all good. But, it never really is. Also, I can say that some folks write smooth flows, and others, write awkward flows.

October 14, 2010

Work out #1

1 mile on the treadmill (a little faster), 1 mile on the elliptical thing, 1 mile on the stair-master, 1 mile on the rower.

3 rounds
Good mornings, 135# x10
roll outs, 5

Work out #2

1 mile on the treadmill

Back Squats, 135#x10, 185#x8, 205#x8, 315#, 2x3, 295# 2x4, 275#, 2x6
Ham Raises, 9x8

Dumbbell Snatch, 75#, 2x5 on a side
Cable Crunches, 160#, 2x10

1 mile on the elliptical thingy

October 13, 2010

Ran 1 mile on the treadmill, 1 mile on the elliptical thingy, and 1 mile on rower.

3 rounds
Good mornings 135#, 10
Standing cable crunches, 160#, 10 neutral stance,8 left foot forward,8 right foot forward
Twisting things with a dumbbell held at sternum, saw it somewhere don't really care for it
Role outs, 5

October 8, 2010

Work-out #1

@Littlefield's

1 mile on the treadmill, 2 miles on the elliptical thingy, 1 mile on the rower. Went down to see the Crossfit Crew in the pit. They were working up 3 rep max on Bench, Back Squats, and Power Cleans. M, powered through 3 with 355#. I saw K go for what looked like 265# but, missed number 2.

Work-out #2

Yoga.

Friday is supposed to be "Power Yoga" but, A has been sick, and L has been filling in. Up front she indicates her trouble with the notion of "power yoga" which I appreciate the honesty. She does fine with her compromise.



I can't do much of this.

Read an interesting article by Michal Boyle (Mr. Functional fitness guy) on the Anterior Chain I recommend it.



Neither can I do full length role outs.

So there something to work on.

October 7, 2010

1 mile on the treadmill, 1 mile on the elliptical thing, 1 mile on the stair-master.

I then messed around with Good Mornings, and Roll Outs, and Standing Cable Crunches, and Hanging Knee Raises, oh my!

October 6, 2010

So, I'm conflicted, shoot me. The fact of the matter is that with time constraints, and with winter approaching, my ideals, are bigger than my stomach, and so I like everybody else make compromises. Picked up a membership at Littlefields' yesterday. In all honesty, I like the folks there so, as compromises go, it isn't bad.

Point in fact I'm having to adjust intensity, and when you reduce one variable, you can, and probably should adjust others upward. So, less intensity, means, more frequency and more duration. I'm struggling with a couple of elements of aging, and I've hit the point where I can't pretend they don't matter. One, is pelvic rotation, that gets irritated when I do really heavy squats and dead lift. I just have to admit it to myself and adjust.

Work-out #1

1 mile on the treadmill, 2 miles on the elliptical thingy, 3 miles on the bike, and 1 mile on the rower.

Work-out #2

1 mile on the treadmill, 1 mile on the elliptical thingy, 1 mile on stair-master.
Standing Cable Crunches, 160#, 1x30, 1x20
Hyper-extensions, 1x20, 1x20

October 5, 2010

Yoga.

I wasn't all blissed out, but, it wasn't bad. A, is recovering from a cold, so while she did fine leading us, I suspect she wasn't having fun.

October 1, 2010

Yoga. I thought I'd talked M into going but he stood me up! S was there before I was.

Today was humid, so again, I did yoga in a puddle. It was pretty ok. I have to say that after squatting heavy last night the soreness and fatigue made things interesting.