Hip Hop Yoga and Foam Rolling

Happy Sunday everyone and welcome to my new readers!

Last Wednesday I tried out a new class that I wanted to tell you all about. I bought a Living Social deal for a local Yoga studio and while perusing the class schedule, I saw a listing for Hip-Hop Yoga. I just had to see what the class was all about. I got to the class a little late but at the beginning we were just going through various Yoga poses. The instructor had a R&B, Pop, Rap mix playing in the background so that was the first thing that was different. It definitely gave the class a more upbeat vibe. As we progressed, we still did poses but instead we were now holding them for shorter periods of time. We would get into a stretch and alternate between two different positions. There were a couple of finger snaps and "hands in the air" thrown in there and the poses were slowed down versions of popular hip hop dance moves. The class ended with a long savasana. Overall I liked the class and I will go back (I have four more classes left in the deal that I bought). It kept my interest and got my heart rate up quite a bit during some of the moves. There was just one problem...

The next day my legs hurt soooo bad. Now, this class seemed very harmless; as I said before, my heart rate increased, I got my sweat on a little but nothing seemed super challenging or painful so why on earth were my calves and hamstrings DONE the following day? I mean, I was doing some cardio and I was hurting so bad I was praying for the DVD to be done. The only reason I didn't quit was that I was too determined to finish it. I followed that cardio session up with a date with this bad boy:

My Foam Roller

I bought this foam roller a few months ago and had never used it until last week. I went to You Tube to look up some exercises for calves and hamstrings and then threw in the IT band exercise for good measure. I cannot tell you how much this helped. I mean I was dang near crying while I was rolling out the different muscle groups (especially my IT band which I didn't even know was tight) but the next day I was good to go and had minimal pain. After a second session, I am now pain free. This foam roller is truly like having a masseur/masseuse on hand- I think we will become great friends.

Learn more about Foam Rolling or Self Myofascial Release here.

Have you tried or considered using a foam roller? Have you been to a Hip-Hop Yoga class? Please share your experience below.

Bikram Yoga

One of my teammates in the Holiday Hoedown Challenge posted this pic and a huge "Yay!!!"on one of my comments in the forums over at "The Hood". I thought it was really sweet of her so I posted it here. What did I do to deserve it?

I completed my FIRST Bikram Yoga class!!!!! Yay me! I am pretty excited about it and it made entire rest of my day because like the 5K, I tried to talk myself out of this one too. Every excuse in the book-- "It snowed and the roads are messy." "I have to dig my car out." "I can do it next week...." Not to mention the "What ifs" ---> "What if I am not ready?" "What if I get dizzy or even worse PASS OUT?" I kindly reminded myself of how I felt after the 5K and when the opportunity presented itself this morning (I got out of class early), I seized it. I went to the noon class because I figured there would be less people to embarrass myself in front of it wouldn't be as crowed and sure enough there were only five of us there. The people at the studio were really nice and a very friendly lady showed me the ropes after I told her it was my first time. I appreciated that a lot since it made a whole lot more comfortable. She also practiced beside me and checked on me throughout.

When it was all over, I couldn't believe I made it. I never got dizzy and was able to get through the poses. I was starving at the end though and my tummy made that known to the entire class during the last savasana. I am so happy that I talked myself into it and look forward to my next session.

P.S. Remember to be nice to the new person in class. It helps :-)