Posts Tagged ‘cardio workout’
Posted by terrepruitt on January 11, 2011
As I was putting Christmas Ornaments away (yes, I am still putting “Christmas” away) I was reminded of Nia. My thoughts then morphed to working out and exercise. Ya see, I was trying to put an ornament in its box. I have trouble with this ornament every year. Do you have any of those ornaments where you store them in the box they came in? I have a lot of those ornaments and every year there are some that give me trouble. I try putting it in this way, then I have to take it out and turn it, then try again, and try again, and after a few tries finally get it in the right way with a resulting “Ahhh . . . . . .”
That is what made me think of Nia. Nia is made for everyBODY. The exercises we perform, the movements we do, the entire workout is designed around the design of the body. Often times people are not accustomed to moving their body in the way it was designed. Some people don’t turn their heads which can loosen the spine and muscles in the back or gyrate their hips which can loosen the hips and possible allow you to stand up taller. It might not be for everyONE, because in Nia participants are not told exactly how to move. It IS one of those things that you have to ACTUALLY try. It also helps to try it more than once. Try going to classes when they have different routines. Try it with different teachers. Try treating it differently; treat it as a cardio workout, treat it like an exercise, or treat it like a dance. Try all different ways. If you don’t love it instantly, then don’t give up, try again. You could find that when you keep trying and do it a different way you’ll be saying, “Ahhhh . . . ”
If not, Nia, there are so many other things that you can try. Find something you like. Keep trying. Don’t give up and think you don’t like exercise or working out because it comes in so many different forms, I am sure you can find something you would like. You can always contact me and we can talk about it.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio dance class, cardio exercise, cardio workout, Christmas Ornaments, dance class, exercise, exercise class, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia dance class, Nia exercise, Nia Moves, Nia particpants, Nia teachers, Nia workout, Working Out, workout class | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 4, 2011
When I first started teaching my Nia classes I was doing it three times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the studio in Willow Glen. Not every class had many students. I remember talking to different people about the low numbers. Some of them suggested not having that many classes in a week, not having that many dance lessons a week. Understandable. Most people didn’t know what Nia was. Since it is dance many people thought of it as a dance that you learn. But Nia is not like Salsa or Tango where you are shown steps, then asked to mimic them, then instructed to practice, then allowed to practice to music. Nia is not a dance lesson type of dance.
Even though Nia incorporates nine different movement forms, Nia is more comparable to Zumba or Jazzercise where the music is playing and the participants follow the lead of the teacher. No experience in or with any of the movement forms is required. Nia is a cardio dance workout, it is exercise so it is GREAT to do it three times a week. It is recommended to participate in a form of cardio exercise at least three times a week to maintain heart health. Depending upon your individual needs and goals cardio more often might even be in order. So Nia three times a week is great.
When I had the opportunity to hold a third class in a week that is exactly what many of my Monday and Wednesday students said, “Nia three times a week is great!” Now I have a third Nia class on Fridays in Los Gatos. (I know I have said that before, but I am excited. Plus I need to get the word out!)
Another point about Salsa and Tango is a partner is needed. Nia does not require a partner so it is often easier to actually do it three times a week since you are not trying to coordinate with another person to meet and dance three times a week.
Participating in Nia with any regularity participants will learn, but it might not be dance steps. There are many things to learn when participating in Nia, but it is not taught as steps and or patterns are taught in a dance lesson. Instead of Nia being a dance lesson, you will learn lessons as you dance Nia. 🙂
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio dance, cardio dance workout, cardio exercise, cardio workout, dance class, dance class Willow Glen, Exercise classes in Willow Glen, heart health, Jazzercise, Nia, Nia class, Nia Music, Nia participants, Nia Practice, Nia students, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Nia three times a week, Nia Willow Glen, Salsa, Salsa partner, Tango, Tango partner, Willow Glen Jazzercise, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Salsa, Willow Glen Tango, Willow Glen Zumba, Workout in Willow Glen, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 16, 2010
Nia is a non-impact aerobic exercise. I often get a quizzical look when I explain that to people. It is done to music so maybe that might make it a challenge for people to understand. It’s almost as if it is difficult to imagine a dance exercise class that is non-impact. Or maybe it is the idea that we have been programmed with–you have to jump to get a good cardio workout. But that’s when I need to remind them about:
—bicycling
—walking up hill
—elipical
—roller skating
—ice skating
—cross country skiing
—swimming
—rowing machine
—punching bag
All of these things can get your heart rate going without impact on the body. It is a matter of intensity. That’s what non-impact cardio is; getting your heart rate up with the level of intensity. With the aforementioned exercises eight of them involve your legs, four of them involve your arms AND legs. One of them doesn’t involve legs at all. intensity–enough to bring the heart rate up–can be done by moving your arms only. So, this is just a reminder, using exercises that most of us are familiar with, that you CAN have a cardio workout without the impact. So if you have knees that prefer not to jump, tender feet, or delicate ankles you can still find something to do that is a cardiovascular workout.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic exercise, aerobics class, bicycling, cardio workout, dance class, exercise class, Nia, Nia class, Nia dance class, Nia exercise, Nia exercise class, Non-Impact Aerobics, swimming | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 9, 2010
I teach Nia which is a cardio-dance type workout and I say cardio-dance “type” because it is a cardio workout that we do to music. Yet, it also allows the opportunity for strengthening of the muscles, increasing flexibility, improving stability and agility, and boosting mobility. All of this could happen without you even realizing it because it is all done to music in a type of dance. Or you could actually try to improve your abilities in progression. In other fitness modalities they call it progressive overload. You can actually decide to increase your abilities and work towards that.
Progressive overload is increasing the challenge in increments so that the body keeps adjusting accordingly to the new stress. As long as the body perceives it as new the system will continue to adjust. The challenge in Nia could be a variety of things; you could put your arms up higher to give you greater mobility in your shoulders, you could move them faster to increase your agility, or you could do all of this continually to increase your cardio vascular health. There is always an occasion in a routine where you can bend deeper which could strengthen the lower body and again this is a way to raise your heart rate especially if you do it at a great speed.
If you are doing something other than Nia the changes could be another wide variety of things; actually changing the exercise you are doing, doing exercises longer, doing more during a workout session, or increasing the amount of workout sessions. If using resistance increasing the resistance would be considered an overload. Whatever you want to improve you would increase the challenge in increments giving the body something new to learn and overcome.
Posted in Food | Tagged: cardio dance, cardio vascular health, cardio workout, Dance Workout, exercise session, improving agility, improving mobility, improving stabilitym, increasing flexibility, Nia, Nia exercise, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Progressive Overload, strengthening muscles, workout session | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 14, 2010
Presently I live in San Jose and teach Nia Classes in San Jose. I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area all my life. When I was growing up I used to tell people I lived in Santa Clara and they had no idea where that was. So I would say, “San Jose?” and if I still received that look then I would say “San Francisco?” and most of the time I would then see a spark of recognition.
When the dot com boom happened that kind of helped put “Silicon Valley” on the map and is comprised of a few places most notable cities are Cupertino, Santa Clara, San Jose, and Mountain View. A lot more people had heard of Santa Clara and San Jose after that. We weren’t known only in the shadow of San Francisco any longer. It was nice to not have to go through the entire San Francisco Bay Area to explain where I lived.
Now I find myself in that same exact “place” with Nia. I tell people I teach Nia and I get a look back. Most have not hear of it. So we go through the, “Is it like Zumba?” and I want to say:
Yes, Nia is EXACTLY LIKE Zumba: we get a workout via dance,we exercise to music, we sweat, we have fun, we work our muscles, we shimmy, shake, and gyrate, oh, except we do it in bare feet, to a variety of music, participants are encouraged to do it as their bodies allow, and there is a body-mind connection.
But most often say: It is sort of like a Zumba class and sort of like a Jazzercise class in that we move to music. Nia is a cardio workout with no impact. It is fun and unique because Nia incorporates moves and concepts from nine different movement forms a few being Tai Chi, Jazz Dance, and Yoga.
When they hear that, then they ask, “So it is Yoga?” 🙂
I was just reminded of the explaining-where-I-lived portion of my childhood when I was with a group of Nia Teachers recently. Made me laugh when I thought about the going through the same type of thing when talking about Nia. Yay, at least I am in a familiar place. 😮
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio workout, Dance Workout, exercise class, Jazzercise, Jazzercise class, Nia Cupertino, Nia in San Jose, Nia Mountain View, Nia San Jose, Nia Santa Clara, San Francisco Bay Area Nia Classes, San Francisco classes, San Jose classes, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Yoga, San Jose Zumba classes, Santa Clara Classes, Silicon Valley, Tai Chi, work out class, workout class, workout class San Jose, Yoga San Jose, Zumba class, Zumba classes, Zumba in San Jose | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2010
People always ask me how I found Nia. Here is my story: I had just begun exercising. I had found Turbo Jam and I liked it. I did the DVDs in my living room before work. At the time I worked in San Jose not too from where I lived so I would get up early in the morning and do it before work. The women I worked with always told me that they loved to dance, but they couldn’t get their partners to dance with them. They also would tell me that they wished they could find a dance exercise.
I was also seeing a lot of people — at that time — that were my age or even younger that couldn’t walk up the stairs or sit on the floor and get up again. Plus there were some young people around me that were going on High Blood Pressure Meds and experiencing other health issues.
So I started looking online for an exercise that was dancey. I thought maybe I could find something that I could learn to teach others. I found trance dance, but from what I saw and what I read, it said that you closed your eyes and just danced. It didn’t sound like there was ANY rhyme or reason. I sounded as if you were in a trance and you danced. The information talked of having people watch so the people dancing didn’t run into or hit each other. So that didn’t sound like what I would be interested in.
Somehow I stumbled . . . . literally, I don’t know how, just clicking on this link and that link . . . .I found Nia. I checked out the main site and it sounded interesting. I found a class that wasn’t too far. I went. I liked it. I bought the book. I went to another class. Then months later, I found another class at a different time and I tried that. Then months later, I talked my friend into going with me one more time*.
In between the second and third class I was thinking about taking the training that would enable me to teach. But I wasn’t sure. Nia sounded a bit “woo-woo” to me. So I kept reading. I really focused on the fact that it is based on science. It is based on research. The movements are movements that our bodies were designed to do. The movements tie into the way it is taught. Some of the words that are used might give the impression that it is really “woo-woo”, but it is not. There are also some elements of Nia that are like ancient practices. I kept thinking that some of these practices have been around for hundreds of years and they really have a basis in health and wellness. It was all very intriguing.
*My fourth class I attended was my “deciding” class. I went to make a final decision. I decided to do it. I decided to get sign up for the intensive that would allow me to teach. It took me so long to decide I was signing up within 30 days of the training.
I had NO idea what the training would entail. And that my friends is what another post is made of.
Nia. It is awesome. It IS an exercise. It IS a cardio workout. But I will not lie to you to try to keep you interested, it IS so much more. For some reason I cannot (nor can anyone else I talk to) put my finger on, it makes you happy. Try it and see for yourself. Try MY classes, or try someone else’s. Get a DVD, I don’t care. Just try it and then let me know what you think.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio dance, cardio exercise, cardio workout, Dance Workout, high blood pressure, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia exercise, Nia Intensive, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Nia training, Nia workout, San Jose cardio workout, San Jose dance workout, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, trance dance, Turbo Jam, Turbo Jam DVDs, woo-woo, workout DVD | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 8, 2010
I am using today to post My Easter in pictures.
I started out the day doing my Nia workout. . . . thank God, I got my workout in before brunch.
We went to a friends in San Jose. It was a small gathering so I thought it would be pretty causal, and it was, sort of, this was the spread that met us . . . . pretty fancy, but very relaxed.
We probably could have stayed there visiting all day, but we had to rush off to an early dinner.
We went straight from brunch to dinner in Milpitas. Since the family was done with dinner this is from dinner.
We had a good day. Good food and visiting with friends and family. Very nice. What did you do? What are your traditions?
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: cardio workout, Easter, Easter Brunch, Milpitas Cardio, Milpitas Nia, Milpitas workout, Nia, Nia cardio, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, San Jose Cardio, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout | 1 Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 5, 2009
Cardio Party Mix 1, this is the main workout that is on the Beachbody DVD by Chalene Johnson. Its the Turbo Jam DVD with five workouts on it.
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.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic, aerobic workout, anaerobic, Beachbody, cardio exercise, Cardio Party, Cardio Party mix 1, cardio workout, Chalene Johnson, finesse, Tai Chi, Turbo Jam, Turbo Kick | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 12, 2009
Today is “whatever” Thursday, I wanted to find some pictures to post, but nothing really struck me. I have thought about it all day and I couldn’t come up with anything. Then I thought of lists. People are always posting lists. In fact, my last post was somewhat of a list; a list of benefits of resistance training. On my short drive after class from Santa Clara to San Jose, I decided to post ten of my favorite exercise in no particular order:
1) Dumbbell Chest Press (especially on a stability ball)
2) Upright Row (on one Pilates DVD I have she calls this the “Zip Up”)
3) Lat Pull Down with Alternating Backward Lunge
4) Tricep Kickback (with a dumbbell)
5) Standing Tricep Pushdown
6) Heel Raises
7) Wood Chops
8) Bent-Over Row
9) Bicep Curl
10) Sit-ups (on the BOSU) (she did NOT just say that, oh yeah, I did)
Of course, I love Nia for my aerobic (cardio) workout and with that I get a lot of these same motions as some of my favorite exercise, but this is just a list of some of my favorite exercises I like to do with equipment and/or weights.
Comments? Questions? What are your favorite exercises? What do you like to include in your workout?
Share your list.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic classes, aerobic workout classes, Backward Lunge, Bent-Over Row, Bicep Curl, BOSU, Cardio classes, cardio workout, dumbbell, Dumbbell Chest Press, Dumbell Chest Press, exercies classes, exercise, exercise equipment, favorite exercise, Heel Raises, Lat Pull Down, list of exercises, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia workout classes, Pilates DVD, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Pilates, San Jose Workout, Santa Clara exercise, Santa Clara Nia, Santa Clara workout, Sit-up, stability ball, Standing Tricep Pushdown, Tricep Kickback, Upright Row, Wood Chops, Zip Up | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 21, 2009
I took my first Zumba class recently in Willow Glen (San Jose). I want to say it was fun. The instructor was awesome, just fabulous. She would do the move at least once slow so that we could learn it, then she would crank it up! Now don’t let that scare you. If you have been thinking about taking Zumba, but have been intimidated, don’t worry, it is very similar to Jazzercise, except it is to Latin music. Once you get the “Jazzercise part” down, then you can Zumba it up with all the moves that make it Zumba, like the hip gyrations, the Latin motion, the “Orange Julius”, the shimmy, the shake, the hip bumps, and all the things that make it Latin.
Since I have taken Jazzercise in my past and I am currently practicing Nia, I think I did well. Nia has actually helped me find the confidence to just go into a class and shimmy, shake, and gyrate!
The music is club-pumping loud, but the instructor either shouts above it or uses hand motions to try to get you going the right direction. I honestly hadn’t thought about blogging about it so I wasn’t paying attention to the other participants that much—aside from giving them enough space and trying not to run into them–so I can’t report much there, except they were having a good time. I was so intent on the instructor AND trying to make sure that I was doing it in “my body’s way” that I didn’t focus much on the others. Even though I was in a Zumba class doing Zumba I still wanted to make sure that I was doing what my body needed. So I have to say that the three minute cool down was not enough for me and that I didn’t follow it because I needed to stretch in different ways in order to properly facilitate my cool down and recovery.
As for the rest of the class, it is a great sweat inducing cardio workout. But I didn’t feel as if any of my muscles or my core got any work, but I did get very sweaty jumping around to the music. I want to get two for the price of one, so I want a workout to make me feel as if I have worked my muscles and did some cardio. So, it’s not what I am looking for in a regular workout, but I will probably make it to a class every-once-in-awhile to throw some change into my workout regimen. And like I always say, find something you like and do it. Zumba might be right for you.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: body's way, cardio workout, core, Jazzercise, Latin motion, Latin music, muscle, Muscles, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose, Willow Glen, Zumba | 4 Comments »
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