The best way is movement.  Get the body moving.  There are two types of warm-ups and many ways to do either.  The first is just a full body warm up something like easy jumping jacks, or jumping rope, or jogging in place, or lunges.  This gets the heart pumping, and the blood to the entire body.  The other type is more exercise specific, say you were warming up before a golf game, then you would just mimic the movements you would do while you were playing golf but at a slower pace and a lower intensity level, and stretching the muscles in a dynamic stretch.  If tennis is the exercise gently swinging the racket and/or hitting a few balls get the body ready for the task it is about to undertake.  The dynamic stretch is where we are extending the muscle but gently as it moves, whereas a static stretch is stretching the muscle and holding it.

Whichever method you choose the idea is to gently warm up the body and the muscles.  Movement is the best way to get the body ready to move.  The practice of static stretching before a workout is being proven to do the opposite.  It is stopping the body’s motion.  Moving the entire body or concentrating on the muscles are about to work is now the preferred way to warm up before a workout. 

In Nia classes we warm-up doing both methods to get the entire body warm.  We might start the Nia workout using one body part – dynamically stretching – as we sense the music, but most often, by the time the first song is over we have warmed up the entire body; muscles, lungs, and heart.  The blood is starting to move in preparation for the get moving portion of the workout.  Nia also employs a bit of strecthing in the cool down and floorplay to assist in giving the body a well rounded workout. 

So where are you in the warm up arena?  Do you participate in the latest idea for warming up?  If you move to warm up what type do you do, the general or the exercise specific?

With advances in exercise technology and body knowledge, it is now a popular belief that this type of stretching, static stretching could actual harm the muscles or in the very least keep them from operating at their peak.  Some researchers believe that stretching before exercise actually causes the muscle to contract and tire, therefore not perform as efficiently.

A study done by the University of Nevada found that athlete’s muscle strength was decreased by as much as 30%.  If a muscles strength is decreased you are either going to be able to do less or injure yourself trying to do more than you muscle is able to do at the time.

So many of us have been taught to warm up this way for so long it is difficult for us to let go and to move on to the correct way to warm up.  This type of stretching — static stretch — is best left for the purpose of improving flexibility (and strength in the case of asanas) and is best done after a workout (unless it IS your workout as in the case of a yoga).  What type of warm up do you do?  Do you stretch before or after a workout?

Timer says 43:26 total time and 3:51 for the warm-up

Warm up starts at about 3:24.  And all the warm-ups that I have seen are basically the same.

“Roll them shoulders”.  Then some bobs and weaves and punches and jabs.

Then there is the “Punches & Wheels” section for 7:12 minutes.  Then for 7:28 there are “Squats & Kick”. 

Then the next portion is called “Speedbags” and that is a series of movements, punches, hips, and a variety of things including speedbags for 7:18.

Then the “Turbo” is clocked at 1:30 including 15 seconds of jumping rope.  The Turbo is where you really push it and give it ALL you have.  It is moves that you are familiar with but done at high speed!  The break is 21 seconds.  A break does not mean stop, it just means get water and mop off — but KEEP MOVING.  And Chalene reminds you of that.

The next section, “Recovery Dance Party” is timed at 6:04.  This section goes into the next a bit. 

The timer shows that the “Finale” starts at about 4:44, but, it really doesn’t start until about 3:44.  So at about 3:44 you start the “Finale” which is not anaerobic like Turbo, but it is the final little push before the DVD takes you through the cool down. 

The next to the last bit times at 3:00 Finesse / Cool Down.  Chalene calls it a “stylized way of doing kicks and a few stretches.”  So you do a few steps starting with one leg then you do it on the other side.

The next section is called Tai Chi / Stretch and timed at 1:38. 

So with this DVD you really get about 35 minutes of Cardio if you don’t count the warm up.  To me it is good to know how much cardio or aerobic workout you are going to get so you can plan accordingly.  If you want to get 45 minutes of cardio in and you grab this DVD thinking, “Eh, 43 minutes is close enough.”  Well you are actually only getting about 35.  It is important to warm up and cool down so it is great that these DVDs contain that.  I just like to have a breakdown of how long the warm up and cool down is.

I really enjoy my Turbo Jam DVDs.  I hope my descriptions will allow you to make an informed choice so that you will know what you are getting and enjoy them as much as I do.

–Chest press with dumbbells lying on stability ball
–Wall Squats with stability ball

–Flyes lying on stability ball
–Air bench (“sitting” back against wall)

–Triceps Dip
–Side Step Drill using BOSU

–Triceps Kickbacks using bench
–Calf raises on BOSU (standing on the rounded side)

This is just a generic sample of a push workout.  There are so many ways to do push ups you should do them however you safely are able and however best fits your goals. 

Squats on the BOSU can also be done standing on the flat side, which would be more of a challenge.

With the chest press and the flyes on the stability ball you are keeping your upper back supported by the ball, but to get a bit of lower body in there and some stability practice your hips are off the ball and level with the floor.

Wall squats can be done with one leg.

The side step drill can be timed.

This was initially created for the exercises to be done in pairs as listed; one set of push-ups, one set of squats, then back to push ups, then squats, then on to the next pairing. But just like the Pull Workout, the weight used, the reps done, the speed in which do it and how many times you do it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Try squeezing a workout in between all the Holiday Happenings and New Moon risings, even if you have to do it during the twilight hours.

–One arm dumbbell row (on bench alternating sides)
–Hamstring curls using stability ball

–Kettlebell swing
–Stability Ball Hand/Foot Pass Sit-up

–Back extension on stability ball
–Straight leg deadlift with Kettlebell alternating legs

–Wide grip row on Machine
–Single Leg Squat using bench

As you can see the first two exercises prove that the generalization of push muscles being on the front and pull muscles being on the back is not great, but for some it is helpful although not entirely accurate. You use your back muscles and your biceps to pull. With most movements more than one muscle or more than one muscle group is being used, but usually we say the exercise works which ever muscles it works the most. As with the Lat pull down, it is called a Lat pull down because the Latissimus dorsi is responsible for most of the effort, however in most cases your biceps are assisting. There are other muscles in your back that are putting in some effort too and it depends on which kind of lat pull down you are doing. Yes, there are different kind.

Usually when the exercise being done is with free weights there is less muscle isolation. Some machines do a great job of muscle isolation. Sometimes an exercise can be considered both or neither and it is add to a workout to work a “popular muscle”. The sit ups were added because most of the time people want to work the abs. I think of the single leg squat as either a push or a pull because sometimes I really feel it in the glutes and sometimes I swear it is all quads.

This is just a sample of what a “pull workout” could look like. The weight used, the reps done, the speed in which do it and how many times you do it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. This can be done different ways. It could be done all in a row as listed or done in sets. Depends on what you want.

The picture is of the Cable Cross Machine at least Freemotion calls it that. I call “the Machine”.  It lives at the gym in San Jose.

In this post I am going to give you a breakdown of the workout times for the “Learn & Burn” and the “20 Minute” (Workout).  First let me say that I bought my DVDs a few years ago.  Then, not long after I bought mine, a co-worker bought hers and while I think the workouts are the same hers were arranged differently. She had one DVD where I had two.

1) Learn & Burn

The DVD cover states the “Learn & Burn” portion of the DVD is “approx. 25 min.” It states that in the burn portion you will get a 15 minute workout. So that would be 10 minutes of her explaining the “Elite Eleven”. My computer timer shows the “Burn” portion starting at 12 minutes.

Now learning the moves might not be a cardio workout, but it would be a short toning workout if you are actually participating as Chalene Johnson suggests. Then when you get to the “burn” part the timer on the bottom* (something I LOVE about the Turbo DVDs) shows that there is 16 minutes and 54 seconds (16:54) to the “burn” portion.

There is about 4:40 minutes worth of warm-up.

Then there is 6:00 minutes worth of “Knees and Punches”.

Then there is about 4:50 minutes of “Kicks”.

Lastly there is about 40 seconds of cool down.

This is a great little start to learning Turbo Jam, I think. I think that it is one of those workouts that you can do when you want to move, but don’t want to go all out. And you can do it twice to make it about 30 minutes of movement.

2) 20 Minute Workout

Timer shows 19:18, but you start the workout at about 18:50.

You get about 3:25 of warm-up.

About 3:30 of “Upper Cuts & Punches”.

Then 4:00 of “Crosses and Kicks”.

Then you have your “Turbo” which is the anaerobic portion of the DVD. She says it is 1:30, but the timer shows 1:30 and the first 15 seconds is jumping rope while she talks. (About 1:15 of “Turbo”)

After the anaerobic portion there is a 25 second break. So remember that when you want to quit the Turbo portion, just power through it and then you will have a water break after. During the break keep moving, but you made it through the anaerobic part and the rest is a piece of cake.

The next part is 3:55 of “Recovery Dance Party”. Which is Turbo twists, jabs, crosses, knee lifts, punches and kicks.

Then the timer says 1:58 “Finesse / Cool Down”.

I have to say that watching this to get the break down as I type on my computer makes me want to get up and do it. I actually haven’t looked at this DVD for a long time. I seem to gravitate toward Cardio Party Mix 2. But in all of the ones I have, Chalene makes me laugh every time. 

Do you have any Turbo Jam DVDs?  If so, which ones?  What is your favorite?

*The DVDs show a timer in the form of a “grow bar” at the bottom of the screen.  It shows you the full time as a count down.  As the video progresses through each section it indicates the time of each section.

P.S. Regarding the photos: It is really difficult to take a photo of a DVD cover because of the plastic.  Without a flash it is blurry, with a flash you get the bright flash spot.  So, these photos are not great, they’re just to let you know what the cover looks like. 

Like me recently, my husband and I were going to go see a play at the last minute at a little theater in downtown San Jose, but before we went I wanted to do a workout.  I pulled out a few of my videos to see the “total workout time” and did a few quick calculations.  I decided on Turbo Jam Cardio Party two.  But it got me thinking about how I love Collage Video because they do a great job of breaking down the “total workout time” on a DVD. 

Do you know what I am talking about?  Has something like the following happened to you?  You want an Aerobic workout DVD  because you want to get your cardio done at home, you buy a DVD and that states it is a 60 minute workout. You put it in your machine and what it actuually turns out to be is 15 minutes of warm up and 15 minutes of cool down leaving you really with only 30 minutes of an aerobic workout.  When you were expecting 60 minutes or at least 50 minutes and you only get 30, it doesn’t make for a satisfying purchase (or workout).

Unfortunately you can’t get Turbo Jam from Collage Video so you can’t see a breakdown of workout cycles of those DVDs, but Collage Video has hundreds of other DVDs.  One way you can pick the DVD is by workout type: Aerobics, Muscle Toning, Both (Aerobics & Toning), Stretch/Yoga/Tai Chi, Pilates, Interval training, Dance, Kickboxing, Latin & Salsa, Bootcamp.

Collage, then gives a detailed breakdown of the total workout time, just as I had mentioned before.  Which can be really helpful, when planning your workouts.  If you want to get a combo DVD with Aerobics and toning it is good to know how much you will get of each.  Here is an example.

The above shows you will get 4 minutes of warm-up, 37 minutes of floor aerobics, 11 minutes of standing toning, 6 minutes of toning, and 4 minutes of stretching.  This allows you to plan both your purchases and your workouts better.  You can see exactly how much time you will be spending on each cycle.  I think that is very important. 
 
If you are going to be able to make it to your favorite class, do you have a favorite workout DVD that you do instead? 

What if instead of saying “bad” we identified it a little more clearly?  What if instead of saying “bad” we said “unhealthy”?  I keep hear “health” lately, so what if we actually said, “unhealthy”?  Do you think that would make a difference?  Do you think if we actually used a word that is a little more clear and can actually be associated with a huge topic right now, that we might actually NOT eat that unhealthy food item or that extra unhealthy portion? 

Do you think people might actually pause and think, “Yeah, that is unhealthy, maybe I won’t.” Instead of giggling because you were “bad”? 

Now instead of saying “bad” as you did previously, say, “unhealthy“.  “I was unhealthy because I ate a half dozen cookies.”  “I was unhealthy because I ate my chips with my sandwich.”  If we start saying it differently do you think we might start eating differently?

Maybe the same can go for working out.  Haven’t you heard someone say, “I was bad because I didn’t workout.”  What if we started saying, “I was unhealthy today, because I didn’t workout.”  I’m just wondering if changing how we say it might help us change and care about our health.

1.  Nia increases the pleasure of living in your body.

2.  Nia creates weight loss and proper weight maintenance.

6.  Nia increases grace and flexibility.

10. Nia enhances sensory awareness.

11. Nia heightens sexual function.

12. Nia builds reservoirs of chi.

14. Nia improves circulation of blood and improves lymphatic drainage.

Please remember that these are benefits that people practicing Nia have had.  I invite you to share your experiences and tell me what benefits you have gained from Nia.  You can post a comment here or send me information through my site (you can scroll down the drop down menu to “share my benefit(s) of Nia”). 

Nia is a journey where you are invited to discover the wonders of your own Body. 

Nia is practiced in the Bay Area (San Jose, Mountain View, Cupertino, Los Gatos, etc.) and the East Bay (San Ramon, Oakland, Walnut Creek, etc.).

Well, I believe, from what I have been hearing around San Jose and the Bay Area, that the last of the schools are finally out.  And if not, they will be this week and everyone’s schedule is all in jumble.  Well, since a new schedule is going to have to be instituted into your life, you might as well schedule in some exercise.  Right?  It is a perfect time.  If you are having to change things anyway, just shove some movement in there.  Now, of course, honestly, I would like you to add MY classes or something with me into your schedule, that would be awesome.  But I am really more interested in you getting healthy, so I think anything you add would be great. 

Most parents pick up their kids from school now-a-days, right?  Why not just keep that time that is allotted for picking up the kids and add a walk into your day.  You can even walk with your child (if it is a teenager you will probably have to promise to stay a few feet back).  Or workout to a DVD, do some calisthenics, run, jog, do yoga, anything.  Now is the time add it.  Then it might even be a smooth transition since you are already having to rearrange your day, it won’t be that big of a deal.  Ha!  How do you like that?  Doesn’t that sound totally logical?  Isn’t that a good idea?  Wouldn’t you call that perfect timing?

So this tactic can work for any change of scheduling, right?  Be it school letting out, or a new work schedule, or school going back into session, whatever, if you are already changing why not take the opportunity to add some change for the better?