Karmic Seeds Body Mind & Spirit

   BY  KAT HEAGBERG         Whenever I ask my students if there's anything in particular they'd like to work on in class,  pigeon pose   and "core work" are requested most frequently. But while there's generally a certain sense of excited anticipation that accompanies the pigeon requests, I sometimes notice that core work is requested with some resignation, or even dread. Much like eating raw kale or going to bed at a reasonable hour, we hear that core work is good for us, but it doesn't exactly sound like the most exciting way to spend our time. This may be partly because for many people—even in the yoga world—"core work" is code for "crunches" (or worse, sit-ups!), evoking memories of high school fitness tests, sore necks, and a repetitive movement that's, honestly, pretty boring. Still, we believe the "burn" at the end of a marathon crunch session indicates they're "working," and we r...

Mistake #1: Doing Isolated Exercises Doing isolated exercises like bicep curls and tricep kick-backs will NOT get you any significant results. These one-muscle-at-a-time moves simply don't stimulate enough muscle fibers to build lean muscle or expend enough energy to maximize your calorie burn. If you want to build lean muscle while burning fat so you can get serious definition, you need to perform exercises that stimulate as many muscles and expend as much energy as possible at the same time.  EXERCISE 1 BARBELL SQUAT 1 SET OF 8-12 REPS The king of exercises for the lower body, the squat is at the top of the list as one of the best compound exercises. The squat works all the major muscles including your butt, thighs, and calves. The squat will also strengthen your stomach and back muscles since you are using them for balance. EXERCISE 2 DUMBBELL LUNGES 1 SET OF 8-12 REPS Along with squats, lunges rock at ruling lower-body development. Lunges are another excellent multi joi...

by   Tony Nunez, MS   and   Len Kravitz, PhD   on Oct 23, 2015 Suspension exercise combines body weight and anchored, seatbelt-like straps to provide an alternative to free weights and machines. The question on a lot of trainers’ minds is whether these strap-based training systems work as well as more traditional resistance training tools. Though research into this question has been somewhat sparse, studies are starting to paint a picture of effective ways to integrate suspension exercise into a workout program. ( Note:  Suspension Training™ and Suspension Trainer® are trademarked terms owned by TRX®. This article uses the generic terms  suspension exercise  and  suspension exercise device. ) A Brief Overview of Suspension Exercise Suspension straps are usually anchored to a fixed point about 6 feet above the floor or higher. Research studies often call them “labile” straps, denoting their unstable nature. Though suspension ex...