The end is near...

The end of NROL/W, that is. TOMORROW will be my last workout. Wow. I'm sure I'll have a ton of shit to say about it once it IS done, but right now I just can't wait to get to the gym to actually DO the workout. I'm somewhere between proud of myself, relieved that this high rep stage will be over, and thrilled at the outcome of the project. But, I'll yammer on about that when I'm actually done.

In the mean time: I said I'd been playing around with a few things. I actually got very curious about a couple of new DVDs - curious enough to actually buy and try them. Yes, me, actually doing a DVD workout! Hard to believe I used to do them all the time. For all I know I'll do them again in future, but for now, these little add-on things are probably all I'll be trying. The first thing I tried is Tracie Long's Focus: Lift Higher (and yes, that link takes you right to Amazon... I'm trying out the Amazon Associate thing, and if I like something, I'll link to it - for your convenience, of course. :p ) Because the glutes are my new plaything, I figured I'd try this WO. I have a lot of respect for Tracie, even though I generally have not gotten heavily into her workouts. I believe she constructs her workouts with a lot of forethought; she's very pre-hab/rehab focused, and as a result, if you're used to maxing out weights and blasting through workouts (and I am), the result can be a WO that feels light and unsatisfying. If I were using Lift Higher purely as a leg/glute workout, I'd definitely feel that way, but as an occasional change of pace from my usual glute stuff, I like it, believe it or not. There's a ton of variety in the workout, which makes the time fly by. One of my criticisms of Tracie's style has been that there is almost too much variety, to the point where you never really have a chance to get into an exercise; she just jumps to the next thing. LH isn't free from that, but for whatever reason (perhaps because my legs were already tired) it didn't bother me too much.

LOL, I don't know if that counts as a ringing endorsement, but it's as positive a review as I've ever given one of her workouts!

I've also tried something called V-Core, but haven't done the whole thing so that review will wait for another day.

My major project, however, has been the addition of a near-daily yoga practise. (Yes, me, yoga.) I tried something like this before, a couple of years ago. I did something called a yoga sadhana, or 40 days of yoga. For me, that looked like me trying to cram in a yoga DVD or part thereof on a daily basis. By the end of it, I was so sick of yoga, I'm surprised I ever went back to it. However, I've really come to enjoy my live class, and I just wanted to play with it a bit more. So, I got a book: Moving Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee. It assumes you are a complete yoga newb, and while I'm not, in the sense that I've done DVDs and taken classes, I have no problems with calling myself a beginner. The book is, as suggested, an 8 week program. The first day goes through the poses/movements of the week, all of which you practise (this winds up taking a good while, but isn't very intense). The next four days, you do a practise that sequences you through the poses, and the sixth day is devoted to relaxation and meditation. (There's one day off each week.)

I must say, this has been a revelation for me. I can go at my own pace, move in my good time, play with what I want to play with, not listen to what for some instructor passes for good yoga music (my regular instructor uses a waves and windchimes track, and I can take that - but some of her subs... yuck!)... It's not what I'd call a strenuous practise, but that's not what I'm after in yoga. I run and hit the gym and hit the dojo - I'm not looking for more intensity, and this is just perfect for me.

And speaking of intensity, a major storm is rolling in, so I'm going to end now in case the power cuts out. I'll post more tomorrow, after the end of NROL/W.