Keeping fit in on the Road.

I am in Germany this week for work.    My cure for jet lag is to just walk, walk and then walk some more as I tend to tire out (and want to sleep)  if I sit down too long or stay in my hotel room.     Thanks to my Fitbit, I know that I was able to walk 11.67 miles (about 18.8 km) from when I landed until I went to bed a very exhausted 12 hours later.    I even got to practice 45 minutes of Yoga yesterday which given the pounding walking on concrete and paving stones causes for my back, is quite necessary.   I think I earned my fries with mayonnaise that I lunched on yesterday. 

Again, thanks to my Fitbit,  I am able to see that even without doing massive walking around Cologne,  my walking pace outstrips what I would normally do (without a lunch time walk) back in the US.   Walking from my hotel to the train,  then from the train station to the office and then walking out for lunch has taken me about twice as many steps  I would normally do going downstairs,  hopping into the car and then going into my office.   

It is nice to travel to a place where you can walk forever and still not see everything.   Travel in the US is so much more of staying in a suburban hotel near a strip mall where walking is an impossibility.   It is nice to have this chance.

I cannot forget my Yoga practice.   My little travel mat  (really thin and folds down to the size of a t-shirt from Giam) is really great for hotel room practice as long as their is enough space in the room.    One problem with Europe is sometimes even expensive hotels have really small rooms and you have to use their Gym to practice.  The travel mat really only works well on a soft surface like carpeting.

Finding vegetarian food is actually much easier here than in Japan or China.   Even the local canteen where we eat has a special vegetarian offering each day.    There are plenty of Thai,  Italian and Indian places to choose from.   The Donner Kabab places also all offer Felafel,  which is not too easy to find where I live.  Now I just have to resist bakeries and Gelato.  Kölsch on the other hand,  is never to be avoided..

Namaste

My new Fitbit

About a month ago, my employer offered a pedometer called a Fitbit to anyone who wanted one as part of a fitness program.    It is a nice little perk.   Fitbit offers a few models (wristband,  clip on) and mine tracks steps,  distance walked,  stairs climbed and estimated daily calories burned.    Like anything technical these days,  it includes a IPhone app that syncs to the Fitbit and then updates a website so you can track your progress.   It even emails you "stickers" when you hit milestones.   It is a nice little package

The daily step goal Fitbit is encouraging is 10,000.  According to the Fitbit website  "10,000 steps a day is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon General’s recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week. "   For me, this  means that sometime during the day, in order to hit 10,000 steps,  I need to get in a 2.5 mile (4.1km) walk in in addition to the regular steps  that I take during the day and on top of my Yoga practice.   10,500 steps is about 5 miles (8km) for me.   

A study tracked the steps of 1,136 adults around the United States who wore pedometers for two days in 2003. The results were compared to similar pedometer studies in Switzerland, Australia and Japan. The data collected showed that Americans, on average, took 5,117 steps a day, compared to the averages in western Australia (9,695 steps), Switzerland (9,650 steps) and Japan (7,168 steps).  It also tells you how sedentary we are as a nation.  We need some motivation. 

The people that I know who have gotten a Fitbit seem to be really motivated by the feedback that is provides.   I have walked about my home trying to get the last 500 steps to hit 10,000 for the day.  

I have always used long walks (2-4 miles) to supplement my Yoga practice.  It is easy now that the weather is nice but during the winter,  it is hard to get out after work in the dark to take long walks.   This is good motivation to keep it going during the winter. 

It is nice to see my company encouraging fitness  and there is a sense that this has motivated a lot of people where I work.   So, if you are looking for a little encouragement,  I suggest trying this out.

Namaste

Yin Yoga Asana Sequence

A co-worker of mine was complaining about tight legs from her power yoga classes.  I talked to her about Yin Yoga and how it really is great for stretching your hips,  hamstrings,  abductors, lower back etc.  I thought about sending her a  primer I have but decided that a post would be better.

A yin practice is one where you hold poses longer and allow gravity and not active muscles to stretch.  It really gets deep into the fascia and ligaments in addition to your muscles.  All poses are generally either seated or lying down.

I  find it quite relaxing as you quietly move from asana to asana.   I really love to do it with Tibetan Singing bowl music.   When I am done,   I have a great feeling of peace and calmness that lasts for a while. 

I pretty much practice the same Yin sequence at home on the days where I do not do an Ashtanga or Vinyasa flow and after I take long walks in the park with my dog.   It really does a great job.    So, here it is.  It is not patented,  and I am not trained to tell you how to do the poses but I think the photos will be enough.   There are lots of sites with instructions on how to do each pose.   With the exception of Dangling and the final twists,  I hold each pose for 3 minutes  ( I use a timer on my cell phone) .  I follow this sequence in order.   It generally takes about 1 hour with awarm up and meditation.

Warm Up
Dangling (5 minutes)

Janushirasana - Head to Knee (both Sides)
Pigeon (Both Sides)  or Shoestring (both sides)  -  both are great hip openers
Bodhakonasana 1 -  Butterfly feet together far from Pelvis to work deep hip. Your forehead should be in line with your heels.
Bodhakonasana 2 - Butterfly,  feet together close as possible to pelvis to work abductors (inner thighs) 
Bhekasana - Frog Pose - Great for abductors.. 
Parivrtta Janushirasana - Revolved Head of the Knee Pose  - Both sides
Upsvistha Konasana - Seated Wide Leg Forward fold  - 
Seated Forward Fold 
Seal / Cobra -  This has two names
Seated Twist on each side for 1 minute
Breath Meditation (10 minutes)  


One thing to note is that I used to hate Seated Wide Leg Forward fold because to be honest,  I really could not fold at all.  That has not stopped me from practicing it and while I will never put my head on the floor, I can still feel it working.


Namaste..
 

Dangling.

Shoestring

Pigeon

Butterfly

Frog Pose

Revolved Head of Knee

Wide Leg Forward Fold

Seated Forward Fold

Cobra - Known as Seal in Yin

Seated Spinal Twist