Sports Fitness

Archive for February, 2011

Of the buzzword yoga, chair yoga seems to have taken the western world by storm. While archaic images of a girl sitting cross legged with hands on her knees are common, chair yoga can radically alter these.

Here are 8 Best Office Chair Yoga Exercises:

All benefits of yoga can be achieved by practicing yoga from the comfort of your own office chair.  Now isn’t that easy and awesome. In fact, you don’t need to limit your chair yoga practice to work.   Try chair yoga exercises when flying, in a bus, on a train, watching TV, sitting at someone’s bedside for long periods or even in a waiting room.

A hot favorite is the “twist”.  When you actually do this pose, after sitting for hours, you will realize just how stiff your back has actually become.

1 – Twist

Place your palms on the arm of the chair and turn your chest and abdomen to the right, moving your left shoulder forward and your right shoulder back.  Expand your chest fully and feel your body detoxifying.  Twists are great for the spine and your abdominals. Repeat on the other side.

2 – Eagle Arms

Sit erect and place arms in front of you.  Cross your arms so that the right arm is above the left.  Interlock your arms and press your palms together with the tips of your fingers pointed upwards.  Feel yourself contracting.   This is a good preventative measure against carpal tunnel syndrome.

3 – Lotus Preparation

Lotus is the traditional pose for meditation.  You can just sit comfortably in your chair, with your neck and spine straight and erect. Place your hands palms up, with the thumbs and first fingers touching in each hand.  This helps free your spine from the stress of sitting at your desk all day.   Traditional Sanskrit texts claim that Lotus (“Padmasana”) , destroys all disease.  Lotus is a two-sided pose, so be sure to practice both leg crosses.

4 – Mountain Pose

Sit erect, clasp your hands, and extend your arms forward.  Turn the palms away from you and raise your arms until the palms face the ceiling.  Stretch and feel yourself growing taller .This posture strengthens your sides.  If you want, add to this posture by bending your arms to each side.

5 – Lunge

Put your hands on the chair, take your left foot back, and sink into a low lunge.  This is a great stretch for the hamstrings and it also strengthens the calf muscle group.  Repeat on the other side.

6- Thread the Needle

Sit in your chair and cross your right leg over your left knee.  Flex both feet and lift them off the floor.   Thread the needle is done by clasping your hands around your left leg, just under your knee. Repeat with the other leg.

7- Scale Pose

Place palms on the arms of your chair and cross your ankles.  Exhale, contract your abdominal muscles, and lift your buttocks and legs away from the floor.  Hold the position for about five breaths.  Lower yourself uncross your legs, and repeat the motion with ankles crossed the other leg up.  If you can’t lift yourself, change the cross of ankles, and repeat the motion.  

8– Restorative Poses

Before returning to work, give yourself a few minutes to relax.  This relaxing pose is simple, and is very effective in reducing stress in your facial muscles and helping prevent fatigue.   Simple cross your arms and place them on the surface in front of you.  Then rest your head on your crossed arms.

Has anyone tried a Zumba Class? It is one of the most popular intense dance-aerobics workouts. It is something that about 1 million Americans have tried. So I set out to figure out why it is gaining so much popularity, is it actually beneficial or is it just hype.

This dance fitness program was designed by dancer and choreographer Alberto Perez in Columbia during the 1990’s and was promoted and marketed by entrepreneur Alberto Perlman who made the concept popular through dance classes and branded merchandise.

One of the Zumba fans quoted on yahoo It’s a party," Jones said in trying to describe Zumba (pronounced ZOOM-buh), which is Colombian slang for "fast." "It emulates being in a nightclub without the drinking, the smoking, the bad pickup lines."

Here is exactly why this dance intensive workout has become a rage

1. Fun Workout

There can be nothing better than working out and enjoying every bit of it. The lively music and the laid back atmosphere at Zumba classes ensure that it never becomes a workout session but a fun group activity.

2. Burn Calories

And yes while you are having all the fun, your body is burning about 600 to 1000 calories in every single class.

3. Happy workout

Anyone who has fun and burns calories is sure to come out happy from the class.

4. It is nothing complicated

Lot of people do not attempt this, as they shy away from dancing. Zumba is based on easy steps that most of us can easily master.

5. It’s a full body workout

Zumba with its simple Latin dance steps helps strengthening down the core including arms, legs and abdomen.

If you are too lazy to hit the gym every day or too busy to take out an hour everyday for working out, then maybe you should try jumping rope. Jumping rope might remind of you of many childhood memories, but it is also a great workout and you hardly need any space for it.

This sport is also comprehensive that it can easily find space in anyone’s lifestyle. The best thing about this work out is that it is highly enjoyable and something that you can do alone or in a group.

Benefits of Jumping Rope

Easy to Learn

Jumping Rope is very easy to learn and people with all kinds of fitness level can learn this. And you don’t need a trainer to teach you, you can easily learn it on your own.

Effective Workout

Jumping Rope is great work out, on an average it burns between 800 to 1000 calories per hour, making it one of the most intensive workouts. Jumping rope is a great cardiovascular workout which optimizes your athletic skills by combining agility, coordination and endurance.

American College of Sports Medicine recommends this for body’s aerobic conditioning. It is even considered a great workout for heart and lung health. Jumping rope for 3 to 5 times a week, for 12 to 20 minutes will get heart rate into training range.

Selecting Jump Rope

Jump Ropes are inexpensive; a decent quality jump rope can be bought for about $10. When selecting a jump role, stand on the rope with your feet on the middle of the rope, the ends of the rope or the handle should be reaching up to your armpits. Handles should be comfortable to hold.

Surface to Jump Rope

What makes jumping rope so popular is that you can do it anywhere. However always look for cushioned surfaces, such as carpeted floor and avoid concrete surfaces.

Use athletic shoes, the ones that you use to walk or run to jump rope.