Believe it or not, this simple yoga pose has major benefits for your body. Something that’s easy to do, yet good for you?…..that’s something we can all be on board with.
To do a leg drain, also known in yoga as viparita karani (inverted action), simply find a wall, lay on your back and rest your legs straight up against the wall. You can use a folded blanket or towel under your lower back to take strain off of your lower back area. Stay in the position as long as is comfortable to you.
Lymph and other fluids flow away from the legs and into the lower belly. It provides a gentle stretch to the calves, back and neck. According to the Yoga Journal, the pose also gives blood circulation a gentle boost toward the upper body and head, which creates re-balancing after standing for a long time.
This move is ultra-relaxing to the central nervous system and completely clears your mind, calms the body, and improves your flexibility. It’s a perfect move to get your day started, or after a long day or work.
Want Jennifer Aniston’s body? Because you can have it. Did you know that? Okay, you can’t specifically have Jenn’s body, but you can have one that looks just like hers. Jennifer’s celeb fitness trainer, Mandy Ingber, dishes on how she trains Jennifer.
Tips from Mandy:
Start with cardio: Ingber suggests 30-60 minutes, three times a week. “Try running, cycling or even walking.”
Work thighs: “Temple pose is essentially a yoga squat. You plant your feet wide, then plie squat and hold for 30 seconds. Then plie deeply 8 times, followed by 8 quick shallow pulses. Repeat.”
Tone calves: “Lovely calves are underrated. Repeat this series slowly twice. Get on the balls of your feet, then lift and lower yourself 8 times followed by 8 quicker pulses.”
For more exercises, get Mandy’s DVD (and Jennifer Aniston’s workout), Yogalosophy.
Professional yogis don’t use yoga mats just to keep their feet on a soft surface during yoga postures, they use yoga mats because they are incredibly beneficial to help you stretch further. Yoga mats, sometimes called sticky mats, are thick rubber-like surfaces, about 4 feet wide, designed to be under foot while you are doing yoga or Pilates workouts.
When you place your hands and feet on a yoga mat, they almost stick (and sink) into the soft mat, keeping your hands and feet securely firm, with no worry of slipping out of your posture. They are also fabulous for doing stretches, enabling you to stretch deep into your stretches with your feet and/or hands essentially glued to the mat. It truly makes a difference in your workouts.
Also great to stimulate the spine. How to: Lay on your back, hold your bent legs to your chest, wrapping your arms around your bent legs, and rock in a boat pose from head to feet. The thickness of the yoga mat keeps it comfortable for your spine. It will feel like a back massage!
Kiss the carpet goodbye, and try using a yoga mat during your next yoga/Pilates/stretching session. It increases your flexibility by 25% to even 50%. (Those aren’t scientific percentages…it’s just what I can feel in my own workouts.)
Bethenny Frankel has been looking fabulous…even pregnant. I can promise you, that’s not easy to achieve. The 39-year-old, who is having her first child late in life, says she has always been obsessed with her body image.
“Since I was 8, I was obsessed with every single diet ever because I came from a very toxic, dysfunctional household with a complete emphasis and obsession with food and being fat,” says Frankel.
“It was absurd and moronic to be an adult and to be worried about dieting.”
Bethenny says she wrote her best-selling diet book “Naturally Thin” last year and finished her second book, The Skinnygirl Dish, filmed and made her her first exercise DVD this year.
Frankel says she works out up to three times a week doing Pilates, yoga and/or running. But the compulsive exerciser says she has learned to embrace moderation in exercise, with better results.
“I’m 10 years older [now] but 10 to 15 lbs. lighter [than I was in my 20s],” she says. “I used to work out obsessively five to six times a week. Now, I work out maybe two or three times.”
In order to achieve a killer physique like Bethenny, you definitely have to incorporate healthy eating into your regimen. Check out her book, Naturally Thin, to take a peek at what she eats to keep looking fab (again, even pregnant!)
You know the kind of books that you pick up and can’t stop reading until it’s completely finished? I had that experience with Chantel Hobb’s Never Say Diet this past weekend. She lost 200 pounds the hard way…naturally. Love that! I loved the book so much because of the great common-sense advice she gives in regard to diet and exercise. The key to her success (and to everyone who has ever stayed successful in fitness) is simply to reduce your caloric intake and exercise an hour a day. People seem to get caught up in trying to find the “secret” to weight loss. It’s no secret. Take in about 1500-1800 calories a day and workout for about an hour a day at least five days a week. Secret revealed! Whether you need to lose 10 pounds or 200 pounds, that’s the way to do it. Mix up your workouts with cardio and strength training …and throw in some Pilates and yoga for fun on other days. It’s really that easy.
Being somewhat of a health/fitness enthusiast, it makes me mental to read books about the “secret” to a great body. It’s no secret. Yes, you’ll need to embrace hunger a bit. If you are used to taking in lots of calories each day, you’ll need to embrace hunger a lot. At least at first. Not to worry, it goes away eventually. The feel good endorphins your brain will release from exercise will actually help curb your hunger pangs.
Nothing tastes as good as being fit and healthy feels.
This is one of my favorite yoga stretches, albeit, one of the hardest stretches. It’s an amazing hip opener. If you are a woman, you should be able to bend down further than the man in this video. We are just programed to be more flexible than men, so go down as far as you can…and breathe into it. Just when you feel like you can’t take it another second, take a deep breath and breathe again. Try to stay in the pose for a full 30 seconds. The more you breathe, the more you’ll feel your hips relax.
Not an aerobics fan? Consider this: Aerobic exercise not only burns calories, but also curbs cravings. Researchers at the University of Chile Clinical Hospital reported that people who ran or biked for 20 minutes three times per week for 10 weeks had reduced appetites due to increased levels of neurotrophic factor (a protein in the brain that may suppress hunger) from the workout sessions compared with when they were sedentary. Rev up your cardio routine and rein in your snack attacks.
One in 10 gymgoers checks her cell phone while exercising, hindering fitness focus and stress relief according to a survey by Standard Life Healtcare. Leave the Blackberry in your locker or car …out of sight, out of mind.
Watching incredible mind/body/spirit transformations are an excellent motivation to invisioning your own mind/body/spirit transformation. It’s a practice one should seek regularly.
“Women should never use more than 2 or 3 pound weighs because it bulks you up too much.” Tracy Anderson (fitness trainer to Madonna) on the use of weights in the gym.
(ed. note): It appears that 2-3 pound weights do a good job at bulking you up as well. Exhibit A: Madonna’s arms.
Do we like, or is this too bulky? You make the call.
