Sweat it, pop it, drop it, work it

Okay, so, I've been trying to write this blog post for about two weeks. I just haven't had a moment o finish it! But, behold, here it is!

My mom brought me to CorePower Yoga to experience the one hour sweat session of Yoga Sculpt with weights. It can, and is intimidating walking into a yoga studio, especially if you see people's legs up by their ears, and they're standing on their heads. Let this go. Walk in with confidence. You're here to workout and be healthy, right? Be you.

This yoga sculpt class starts with a mellow warm up, dynamic movement session, followed by a combination of sculpting moves with free weights and a high-intensity vinyasa flow + bursts of cardio. You can expect some high energy, beat dropping music, and when you leave you'll be exhausted from the full body workout.

You'll work your biceps, triceps, shoulders, rotator cuffs, quads, calves, mid-section and more. You'll start feeling muscles you didn't even know you had.

However, I am leaving out one of the key factors to expect from a yoga sculpt...it's hot. The room is usually heated between 95 - 100 degrees. A few side notes: If you're used to working out in the heat, it will give you an advantage over those of you who may workout in an air conditioned gym or room. The heat in this yoga studio is (usually) bearable and feels much better than working out in the heat outside. I'm not sure why that is.

The class finishes with dynamic stretching, and of course, relaxing and breathing. At this point, you'll be sweating so much that you'll feel as though you've showered in a hot, moist room. It sounds gross, but CorePower Yoga studios keep their rooms very clean. You can even hop in the shower if you need when you're done.

After attending the class several times, I began to learn the pace of the class and my body has adjusted a bit more to the temperature. My muscles are immediately warmed up and easy to stretch out, and already started to see results a week later. Of course, you do loose a lot of water weight, which will be put back on once you drink, so don't think about how much you weigh. You'll see the difference in your body shape. You'll tighten, tone and be defined, granted you are watching your kitchen habits...if you know what I mean.

Be prepared to focus on your breathing and form. Do not be concerned about how other people look, if they're staring at you, blah blah. No judgement, really. If you want to talk about it later, go for it. But in there, let it all go and focus on your workout and pushing your limits.

Tips for newcomers & some reminders: 

1. BRING your water bottle. You will need it for hydration and energy 
2. Bring (or rent) a towel. You'll be slipping, sliding and dripping all over the place if you don't have this. Plus, please keep your area clean.
3. BYOM: Bring your own mat (rent if you don't have). You will not be able to do much if you don't have a mat. This sticky surface will help to keep you from falling on your face. 
4. Take  a water break whenever you need it. Don't wait for the instructor to cue in a break.
5. Don't worry about others. Don't do it. I know you'll want to look around and watch other people. If you really need to, only do it when you aren't quite sure what you're doing. Focus on you. This 60 minute workout is for you.
6. Modify. If you're completed exhausted, don't feel shameful if you need to stop, take a break, or even modify the move, you'll end up compensating if you don't. Example: if you're doing push ups, drop your knees. 
7. BE AWARE OF YOUR FORM. Do not slack on form. It's not safe and you can injure yourself. If you aren't sure how to do a move, raise your hand for assistance. 

There are benefits to working out in the heat, check out the most recent, 17 Days To Superhuman blog post, "How to Workout in the Heat and Why you Should Embrace It!" This post will give you the ups & downs of heated workouts in detail.

Caution: Working out in the heat can be very dangerous. Be careful and always be smart. Know your body and listen to it. Thirsty? Drink. Tired? Rest. Need to step out? Do it. 

Try these at home

Stretching is one of the most important things to do before and after your workouts.
It gets your muscles all warmed up and helps to prevent injury. IF something does happen, being stretched out could help the injury to be not as serious as it could have been.

Stretching releases the lactic acid from your muscles. It's a good release. It can cure headaches, if your shoulders are tight, stretch out your hamstrings and it'll loosen them up, as well as relief for headaches.

Here are two basic easy stretches that can really help and can not only be applied to just these two parts of your body, but can be easily morphed into a more intense full body stretch.

Hamstrings: Stretch these big muscles out.

Hamstring stretch: Make sure your back is straight as you lean over. If you can reach for your toes and pull them back towards your body, and you'll add in a little calf stretch as well. (Keep in mind, you don't have to touch your toes.) DON'T bounce up and down when you stretch, your muscles will be very tight at first if it's been a while since you've stretched or you've just worked out. Just hold the stretch for at least 10 seconds, breath, release than repeat it several more times. You can soon add in a routine if you want too with different stretches.

Quadriceps stretch: you can also do this stretch laying on the floor.

Quad stretch: Especially after a hike, run or anything during the day, these muscles work hard and get tight. Brace yourself on the wall with your opposite hand that won't be holding up your quad. Stand up tall and don't bend over or slouch, keep good form.

Tips: When you release stretches, GENTLY release, don't hop out of it.

Fight bad breath

It's not that attractive going to kiss someone or just hanging out with friends and your breath stinks...

Here's a list of a few things that can help you fight bad breath from RealAge.com


Lemons- suck on a lemon, chew one or even get some lemon hard candies. If you're at a restaurant and there are no lemons in sight, just order lemon with sparkling water.

Apples - really?!? yep, this crispy fruit and some friends, like pears have bumps on them and make your saliva work, give a kind of scrubbing action in your mouth.

Yogurt and berries - if you're feeling for something sweet in your mouth, pick up a half a cup of plain yogurt of Sugar free yogurt twice a day. this can help to lower that rotten egg smell, or hydrogen sulfide mouth levels. Yay! that sounds great, I surely don't want to be walking around with rotten egg mouth.

Breathing in some good

Sometimes it's hard to think of breathing as something that can calm you stress levels down significantly. It's strange...But when you really think about it, breathing properly in a stressful situation can bring you a feeling of peace and put your body at ease.

Again, faithfully the Ellie Krieger articles have saved my stress levels and reminded me to breath properly.

After all, Ellie mentions that it's important to breath properly so that all of your cells get oxygen, and don't forget your brain too.

I don't know how to illustrate this post, so I hope it's not too wordy, but challenge yourself to a five minute breathing session. Be aware of your breathing and see what happens.