A long time ago I started doing Bikram yoga. If you're not familiar with it, that's a series of 27 poses done over an hour and a half in a very hot, humid room. I liked it OK; it was challenging but not impossible, and I could feel some benefits from it fairly quickly. Then I let myself get talked into doing a Bikram Challenge: For $60, you could attend 60 Bikram classes – six times a week for 10 weeks. The catch being that if you attended fewer than six classes in any week, you were out, and your money forfeit. My friend and I figured that even if we did it for a couple of weeks, we'd get our money's worth (classes were normally $12 per session).
My friend dropped out after three weeks. Somehow I managed to do the whole 10, including one hellish week where I doubled up on classes three days in a row because I was going out of town.
Oh my god, I had six-pack abs. And my skin looked great. And I had no more lower back pain from hunching over a computer all the time. And I was so friggin' sick and tired of Bikram yoga that I pretty much never did again.
I've been reading another blogger's account of doing a similar challenge, and it's interesting to see a different perspective on it. I'm thinking, hmm, I really need to get back into some kind of disciplined exercise routine (beyond walking the dogs). Yoga is possible, but it's not going to be Bikram. Maybe pilates? Or maybe I should try a mix of weight and interval training.
What do you do for regular exercise?
I pull my hair out.
ReplyDeleteI thought that was your hobby!
ReplyDeleteThis summer, I have been roller skating, swimming, and I joined roller derby (one day per week). I also vend at farner's markets, which is only moderately strenuous, and become less and less strenuous over the season.
ReplyDeleteMy legs are still sore from derby on Tuesday. I recommend mixing things up. And roller skating is great exercise on it's own, even if you aren't knocking anybody down.
A friend just recommended BY saying she has never felt better in her life - emotionally, physically and spiritually. I'm interested but I don't think I'd ever do a $60 for 60 over 10 weeks. If it was for 60 meals at The Kitchen, I might consider it.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing. I know for sure that I would not even attempt to try. I did some yoga before, once a week, but I lost interest in it, I can't remember how and why.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Kitt!
No bikram yoga for me, thankyouverymuch. In theory, it sounds great. Clean out those pores! Flush out those toxins! Make that heart pump! In reality, it sounds like hell. So I do wussy yoga, once a week, the kind of yoga where you spend a lot of time in child's pose. My favorite pose.
ReplyDeleteIf I had gone 60 I'd have had an entirely other experience of it. I sure about that.
ReplyDelete