I’ve heard so many horror stories about yoga teachers and personal trainers (or not) taking their students or clients to unsafe territories in their bodies.

Working out isn’t supposed to make you want to throw up, and yoga isn’t supposed to hurt. Practicing it is supposed to make you feel better, but doing it wrong is just dangerous.

After being a personal trainer at Equinox in Santa Monica and working as a yoga teacher at several studios including a gym, I’ve seen it all. Students wobble into class injured, saying they can hardly walk due to an injury from their last class. I’ve had students not come to my class for months because of an injury they received after going to another yoga class that took them far beyond their capabilities. Obviously, this is all subjective and students/clients should monitor their own bodies. But seriously, some teachers are out of control. I’ve heard about a certain incredibly famous power yoga teacher actually popping a students rib out of place from pressing too hard on his back. Some teachers assist and have no proper training in how to do so. Not cool.

Weekend Warriors

Often times people get hurt because they assume that yoga is simple and that anybody can pretzel himself or herself on demand. Edward Toriello, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says, most of the injuries he sees are sustained by “weekend warrior” baby boomers who being yoga or work outs without realizing that their bodies are no longer what they used to be.”They think yoga is an easy way to start exercises, so they go to class once a week, not stretched out at all and they get hurt.”

Same goes for cardio and especially for weight lifting. I had many clients who insisted on benching more weight “because it’s what they did in college” but what they don’t realize, is that they aren’t that person anymore. That’s when they get injured and then have to lay off exercise for weeks to properly heal.  Functional strength training is much more effective for optimal results.

Legit?

Part of the problem is that increasingly, the people teaching yoga don’t know enough about it. Yoga was traditionally taught one-on-one, over many years. Today’s instructors can take a yoga teacher training course in just one weekend. Luckily, to be in the Yoga Alliance (formed in 1999) has set a minimum of 200 hours for instructors to be certified. Unfortunately, only 16,168 of the over 70,000 yoga teachers are actually in the Yoga Alliance. This is a very pertinent issue, especially when it comes to injury.

Wherever you chose to practice or work out, studio, gym or with a personal trainer at the beach, just make sure you listen to your own body and take care of yourself. If you don’t, nobody else can be expected to. Warm up before activity/exercise, then stretch when muscles are warm, and stretch for a longer amount of time after activities. For Weekend Warriors, if you can’t get to the gym other than weekends, be sure to stretch during the week for 10-15 minutes… it will make a world of difference! And If something hurts... stop doing it!

I’ve heard so many horror stories about yoga teachers and personal trainers (or not) taking their students or clients to unsafe territories in their bodies.

Working out isn’t supposed to make you want to throw up, and yoga isn’t supposed to hurt. Practicing it is supposed to make you feel better, but doing it wrong is just dangerous.

After being a personal trainer at Equinox in Santa Monica and working as a yoga teacher at several studios including a gym, I’ve seen it all. Students wobble into class injured, saying they can hardly walk due to an injury from their last class. I’ve had students not come to my class for months because of an injury they received after going to another yoga class that took them far beyond their capabilities. Obviously, this is all subjective and students/clients should monitor their own bodies. But seriously, some teachers are out of control. I’ve heard about a certain incredibly famous power yoga teacher actually popping a students rib out of place from pressing too hard on his back. Some teachers assist and have no proper training in how to do so. Not cool.

Weekend Warriors

Often times people get hurt because they assume that yoga is simple and that anybody can pretzel himself or herself on demand. Edward Toriello, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says, most of the injuries he sees are sustained by “weekend warrior” baby boomers who being yoga or work outs without realizing that their bodies are no longer what they used to be.”They think yoga is an easy way to start exercises, so they go to class once a week, not stretched out at all and they get hurt.”

Same goes for cardio and especially for weight lifting. I had many clients who insisted on benching more weight “because it’s what they did in college” but what they don’t realize, is that they aren’t that person anymore. That’s when they get injured and then have to lay off exercise for weeks to properly heal.  Functional strength training is much more effective for optimal results.

Legit?

Part of the problem is that increasingly, the people teaching yoga don’t know enough about it. Yoga was traditionally taught one-on-one, over many years. Today’s instructors can take a yoga teacher training course in just one weekend. Luckily, to be in the Yoga Alliance (formed in 1999) has set a minimum of 200 hours for instructors to be certified. Unfortunately, only 16,168 of the over 70,000 yoga teachers are actually in the Yoga Alliance. This is a very pertinent issue, especially when it comes to injury.

Wherever you chose to practice or work out, studio, gym or with a personal trainer at the beach, just make sure you listen to your own body and take care of yourself. If you don’t, nobody else can be expected to. Warm up before activity/exercise, then stretch when muscles are warm, and stretch for a longer amount of time after activities. For Weekend Warriors, if you can’t get to the gym other than weekends, be sure to stretch during the week for 10-15 minutes… it will make a world of difference! And If something hurts... stop doing it!

The best way to burn calories and morph your body is to move quickly and with intention. I like to combine powerful yoga poses with strength moves for my personal training clients.

Here’s an example of a routine- you can do these exercises at home or at the gym, combining yoga and strength, with or without added weight!

*this is a great strength and toning work out… If you haven’t gotten cardio yet, I would suggest this as a starting point before a jog or right after wards to cool down.

1. Push Ups with Core Work: Stand with your feet together, arms at your sides. Bend over (it’s okay for knees to be slightly bent) and place your hands or fingertips on the floor in front of you. Walk your hands forward into plank position and do 3-5 push ups. Crawl your hands back to your feet, using your core every inch of the way. That’s one rep. Continue moving until you’ve done 6 to 8 reps.

2. Walking Lunges: find a long hallway or big room. begin doing walking lunges lengthwise across the floor. Go slowly at first, paying careful attention to your front leg. Make sure it is around 90 degrees, with your knee over your ankle. then again, slowly, step the back leg up to meet the front. If you have weights you can do a bicep curl while lunging and step up with your arms by your sides. Continue for 50 on each side, back and forth across the floor until your legs are burning. (*you may not feel this burn today but you certainly will tomorrow!!)

3. Downward Facing Dog: Come into a plank pose (upward push up position). push your butt up in the air until you form downward dog position. Arms are long, strong and straight. Hands are parallel in front of you, arms shoulder with apart. Focus on the L shape of your thumb and pointer finger, pressing into the floor. Now bring your attention to your legs and feet. Try and ground your feet, focusing on all 4 corners of each foot. Try and get your heels as close to the floor as possible. (this is a great stretch for your back and legs. hold this for 1-2 minutes)

4. Mountain Climbers: From downward dog, get into plank position with your hands directly below your shoulders and your feet together. Bend your left knee and draw it toward your nose. Extend back to plank. Repeat with your right leg. That’s one rep. Do 20 to 30, moving quickly. *Be sure to keep your back flat and tuck the belly!

Drop down, flat on your belly and rest your head to one side for 30 seconds. then switch to the other cheek for another 30 seconds, taking deep and long breaths in and out.

5. Airplane: From the laying down position, put your arms out to the sides as if you are an airplane or making a T with your body. take a deep inhale through the nose, and lift everything up-your arms, legs, feet, chest and head. Hold for 10 seconds, then come down and rest for 10 seconds, closing your eyes.

6. Swimming: Stay on your belly, this time kicking your legs behind you vigorously and move your arms in front of you, moving them up and down, opposite leg to opposite arm. Do this for 30 seconds-1 minute.

7. Child’s Pose. Stretch the lower back by resting in child’s pose. 

Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips.

Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs. Broaden your lower back across the bottom of your pelvis and narrow your hip points toward the navel, so that they nestle down onto the inner thighs. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of the pelvis while you lift the base of your skull away from the back of your neck.

Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso, palms up, to release the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor. Feel how the weight of the front shoulders pulls the shoulder blades wide across your back.

*If you have the time, do the entire routine one more time!! You’ll find each exercise is easier since you’ve already been there before and your muscles are prepared for the positions.

If you don’t have the time or feel ready to end, take a few minutes on your back to close your eyes and bring your knees into your chest, releasing the tension in your lower back. Slowly release the legs onto the floor, and take a few minutes to just be quiet, letting go, sinking into nothingness. Savasana.

As a personal trainer, I hear my clients ask and worry all the time about running. It’s as if there’s this huge amount of weight attached to running: pressure, anxiety, fear.

Running can be for everyone, you can run, too!

If you can walk from the couch to the refrigerator, you are not too heavy or slow to run. If you can go to a 45 minute spin class, you can run outside for a few miles.

Running doesn’t imply that you are running a marathon. It doesn’t mean you have to run everyday. Having an aversion to running just for the sake of it is only limiting yourself. I move through so many emotional and psychological blocks when physically running.

Here are my suggestions if you are open to the concept to running:

• start on a treadmill or the dirt, jogging slowly for a 30 sec-1 minute, walking recovery for 2 min.
  
• after 5 to 10 minutes of this, take your jog speed a little faster to a light run, increasing your interval from 30 seconds to a minute or a minute to 90 seconds. Walking recovery for 90 seconds.
• after 15 to 20 minutes, stop.
• walk for another minute or two, slowing the heart rate and letting the muscles relax
• stretch AFTER your run, not before.
• Do these stretches:
  

1. take your right ankle over your left lower thigh (above the knee) and bend your knees as if you’re sitting in a chair. you can hold onto the railings of the treadmill or hands and back against a wall.
2. take your left ankle over your right lower thigh and repeat above directions. These two exercises stretch the hip flexors and glutes.
   
3. stand up straight, legs strong, cross right foot over left foot and begin to lean over. you can slightly bend your knees so you can get deeper into the position. This will stretch the IT Band.
   
4. stand up straight again and repeat the above, crossing the left foot over the right foot and leaning over.
   
5. stand erect again, this time grabbing your right foot or ankle behind you, bottom of the foot to the glute, stretching the quadracept.
   
6. repeat number 5 with the left foot.
7. stand up straight and take your arms to the sky, reaching and stretching from your hips.
   

• remember that every single run after the first is easier
  

If you get shin splints easily, it means you have overworked the tibia and you definitely want to start on a treadmill or dirt. Also, avoid going downhill, and avoid sports that have a lot of back and forth movements like tennis or basketball. Shin splints can also be caused by a person running to long, too hard or training to intensely.

to stretch the shins after a run:

• stand flat foot, knees slightly bent and lift the toes with the heel of foot on the ground. Do both feet until you can’t do it any more.
• Find a step and hang the heel part of your foot over the edge. Great shin stretch.
  

• if you have a little more time, the lunge is great too for your legs in totality.
  

Here are a few more questions commonly asked:

Q. What shoes do I buy? do I need to buy expensive running shoes?

A. A pair of light, good fitting sneakers or walking shoes works fine. You don’t want to waer old sneakers that don’t fit or are worn down. but you don’t need to buy new shoes. you’re not going to be doing high mileage. If you DO begin to run more often, and further, you can go somewhere that isn’t a specific running store/ specialty and you can find cheaper shoes. I like ascics a lot and bought my last pair for 45 dollars.

Q. I can’t run because I’ll get hurt and have to stop.

A. True, runners get occasional muscle and joint aches, but these should go away quickly. Treat muscle aches with ice or an anti inflammatory gel or cream like Traumeel (homeopathic).  Jeff Galloway (running coach, marathon runner) began teaching beginners in 1974, he was worried about some of the participants. “But everyone finished the class,” says Galloway. “you don’t get inured if you follow the ‘no huffing, no puffing rule.” Also, take it slow starting back into a running regiment. Take a few days in between running to let your body recover. And *listen to your body!!!!

Why is outside training better than being in a gym?

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Being outside at Fusion Fitness Training Camps are an incredible way to spend your work out time! Not only are you getting a work out, but you are on the beach, you get the ocean view and breeze and the palm tree’s surround you.

Look, if you have been at a gym training all winter and spring your body has probably stopped getting results. It is time for something new: outside training- throwing weight and dragging tires.

This is just a piece of what you can get if you come down to the beach and train with Fusion. We have had dozens of clients that have started training outside and have seen results in the first week, just due to changing up the workout and the environment. It is time for you to make that change and start getting results again with Fusion Fitness and Yoga.