Week 7: R&R
by Tanja Djelevic | May 22nd, 2008 | Comments (2)
topic: Fitness | tags: breath-work, recovery, rest
When I demand that my clients incorporate REST into their intense workout schedule, I’m always met by googly eyes and a surprised “You want me to do NOTHING??!!” But it’s a matter of fact that no workout plan, or anything else for that matter, works to it’s fullest potential if you don’t rest properly. And to be quite honest, after implementing all the new work out movements in your routine, having rest and relaxation on the schedule is like getting an unspected gift!
As with everything else in life, there are huge benefits to finding the right balance between active exercise and recovery. During the rest and recovery time (which of course includes enough hours of sleep every night) cells heal, your body re-boots, and energy restores in the right places to mobilize the body for that next exciting event of output and exercise. If you are on a plan which has you working out almost every day of the week, it is extremely important to let the body heal back one or even two days per week so you can reap the benefits of your actual training!
On a mind level, it can be very challenging for many of us who are trying to fit everything into our lifestyle (and OH how proficient we become at multitasking) to take a break. Many of us have to LEARN how to slow down, and actually maybe even plan to do absolutely nothing.
A corner stone in training and recovery is breathing. Studies say that Breath Work has the power to influence and even reprogram the nervous system. From increasing energy, lowering blood pressure, improving circulation and beating anxiety disorders without the use of drugs, and those are only a few of the important benefits. It’s common knowledge even in the Western world that the art of Yoga with it’s breathwork has healing powers, but I dare to say that whoever you are and whatever type of exercise you practice, you can incorporate your own style of Breath Work into your daily life.
This week I would like you to challenge yourselves with scheduling some time for breathing and relaxing. RECOVERY exercise can be Yoga, focusing on stretching your muscles, using the foamroller to do some myofacial release while breathing deeply. Or simply taking a walk in the woods, and sitting down in nature to inhale the scents of whatever that is which is around you. My rest and relaxation in the big city is taking a bath, doing some deep breathing, and my favorite is to do some Tai Chi just to slooooow down…
Live Life Loud and let me know how it goes!
Tanja
Hi Tanja,
I’m 32 now and have been overweight since adolescence. 2 years ago, just after my 30th birthday and approaching 250 lbs., I decided to do something about it for better health (and so I could meet and face my now fiancé who’s 11 years my junior :D ), so I solely began a low-fat diet. Within about 8 months I had lost around 80 lbs! No exercise, no other dietary changes and I’ve kept that off for almost 2 years… but now I wanted to think about some exercise to keep progressing.
I haven’t exercised at all since high school gym class, so I knew I would have to ease into it. I thought the Balance Ball looked fun and not so stressful on my body, so I purchased my pink Balance Ball & Band in a kit at Target with your DVD in it and started using it 2 months ago. I have been very impressed with myself that I have stuck with this and now it’s become something I need to do as often as I can. I do the Total Body Challenge in it’s entirety 3 times per week and have noticed the toning and strengthening benefits very quickly… things are going back to where they belong after losing the weight! I feel good while I do it and I feel great when I’m done (I did hurt my knee the first time I used it and I figured out eventually that I should be wearing shoes haha, it’s better now).
I came to this website today to look for other DVDs by you. I was happy to find some more to do with the Ball, and the 8 minute clip here online is going to be great for those days I don’t have an hour to work out. You absolutely rock. I love working out with you because you have a very calm yet energizing personality (not annoying :) ), you explain things well and even in what must be a beginner video for your skill you don’t “show us up”… meaning you step back and go at our pace with us.
I am getting any other of you DVDs I can get my hands on. THANK YOU so much for doing what you do, you must love it because it sure shows in your work!
Kimberly
KImberly
I first have to thank you for all the kudos!
Secondly: how amazing are YOU!!!!????? I would like to have you by my side as a role model when I teach my classes, because the fact is (and you know this girl) with all the help you are getting, it is still YOU making all the changes, and YOU are doing all the work!!! I will hopefully be able to offer some more DVD’s to you soon, so that you can keep making that progress, and remember: take some time and celebrate yourself and the fact that you are loving and respecting yourself so much that you are taking time to Transform to the best that you can be. Yes I truly LOVE what I do, and what you just did with your email is the way I get back…Keep up the amazing work!
Best
Tanja