Posts Tagged ‘Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2012
This year my husband was really on the ball. In July he started asking me what I wanted for my birthday. Since going out of town isn’t something we have in our budget, I thought about it for a bit, then decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. I wanted to go to a bed a breakfast place on the coast that we both love. So I got my heart set on a weekend at THAT particular bed and breakfast. When I looked it up on the internet I was happy to see it is still there, however, it is no longer a bed and breakfast establishment. The house is for rent as a vacation rental, but it is no longer a place to rent a room for the weekend. I was sad. I was so bummed that one of our places is gone. Plus I was bummed because I had to come up with something else for my birthday. He asked me every month. I thought I had found something, but then circumstances changed and so that didn’t work out. Then I remembered there was a time when I entertained the thought of one of those super blenders. But really, to me that is an outrageous purchase unless you are really going to use it. Having it sit in my cupboard would be a waste. In my opinion there are a lot of things that are outrageous if they just sit and not get used, but when I use things often I feel I get my money’s worth. I would like to include more vegetables in my diet. I like to serve a green salad every night and a vegetable, so I was thinking another way to add fruits and vegetables would be to make green smoothies. I don’t drink fruit smoothies so I really wanted to TRY a green one before I had my hubby make the investment. I hear that green smoothies are an acquired taste and I don’t just want to blend fruit. I want more veggies than fruit. But then I started looking at some recipes online of other things I could make in a “super blender”. I think I have posted about how my hummus is not smooth. I made a joke about being the inventor of “whole bean” hummus — which is basically just chickpeas. So I thought I could use the power of a super blender to make hummus. So I decided to ask for a blender for my birthday.
When I received my blender I didn’t have any greens, but I was going to get some delivered the very next day. In my box I received a new-to-me veggie. The box contained Rainbow Chard and so I thought I could put that in my first smoothie. I think of it as a fruit smoothie with some green since it really didn’t have that much green. I am breaking myself in slowly — as has been suggested.
Another suggestion that I have seen on various website is that if it is an “ugly” green smoothie put it in a mug and if it is a “pretty” green smoothie use a pretty glass. I think that is just the type of silly suggestion I can follow. It makes an odd kind of sense.
Well so far I have used my blender four times. I am sure you are going to hear about each time in future posts. Well, perhaps not all four times . . . but maybe, we will see.
So my first fruit/”green” smoothie was:
1 Cup water
1/2 of apple chopped
1 banana (sliced)
1 leaf of rainbow chard (cut up)
My blender has a smoothie button so I just used that and it worked great. There were NO chunks at all. What I really love and was somewhat surprised to see is, it comes out frothy!
I think my first “green” smoothie was pretty good. Although, I think that one leaf of green and 1.5 “fruits” is a larger fruit ratio than I want to stick with. I am going to work my way up to more greens and less fruit. My idea is to like and drink the more-veggie-than-fruit smoothies, but also enjoy the more-fruit-than-veggie smoothies when I feel the desire.
I am thinking I might have a smoothie before Nia, but I am not sure. I usually try not to drink so much liquid before class. 🙂
Have you heard of these blenders that blend SMOOTH smoothies?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: birthday present, Blendtec, chickpeas, fruit smoothie, green smoothie, hummus, Nia, Nia class, rainbow chard, vegetable smoothie | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 22, 2012
Since I am still busy with my Nia classes and I have my Zumba teaching debut coming up, it really helps to have produce delivered. I know Nia and Zumba instructors that can learn a routine in an afternoon and teach it that night. I am not one of those teachers. It takes me a long time, so something that saves me a trip to the store is awesome. But then I do spend a little time trying to figure out what to do with the new-to-me produce. I also like to look up the nutrition. One thing I didn’t remember when I received my beets is that the beet greens can be eaten. I forgot about my own post Borscht Is Beets and I just chopped them off and threw them away. Now I know. I do have faith that beets have more nutrition than dirt, but I don’t actually know the nutrition value of dirt, so I really am just going off of faith.
As a reminder beets have anti-inflammatory affects along with antioxidant properties. According to World’s Healthiest Food website here are some numbers on a cup of raw beet:
1.00 cup raw
136.00 grams
58.48 calories
folate 148.24 mcg
manganese 0.45 mg
fiber 3.81 g
potassium 442.00 mg
vitamin C 6.66 mg
tryptophan 0.03 g
magnesium 31.28 mg
iron 1.09 mg
phosphorus 54.40 mg
copper 0.10 mg
The website states that the phytonutrients in beets are called betalains and the longer the beets are cooked, the less there are in the root. They “recommend that you keep beet steaming times to 15 minutes or less, and roasting times under an hour.” So some of the nutritional value is higher the less they are cooked. I had mentioned something similar in my Borscht post.
The paper that comes with the produce I have delivered states that the beets were gold beets. Being unfamiliar with beets I say, “Ok.”, but they were not yellow. They were deep red/purple — as you can see. And I KNOW, I have seen yellow beets before. I had a co-worker who loved beets and she would eat them in all the colors. Maybe the yellow ones aren’t called gold beets and these really were gold beets? I don’t know. The red and yellow pigment in beets lose their “super powers” the more the beets are cooked.
Since I have had my first foray into cooking beets and making something with beets I think I can do it again. I know I just made a salad, but it wasn’t terrible. I think I need to move onto something my husband just loves. In fact when I asked him if he liked beets he said yes and he reminded me that he loves borscht. I forgot he loved borscht and I forgot I posted about it. So I think I will actually purchase some beets and give it a try.
This is exactly one of the reasons I chose to have a produce box delivered. I never would have bought beets — obviously since back in January 2011 I talked about them and STILL haven’t done it. So now it is one of the things I can add to our list of vegetables for us to eat. I have the tendency to buy the same vegetables over and over even though I know variety is good. I just don’t buy it if I don’t know what to do with it. But when it lands on my doorstep, I feel as if I have to find something to do with it. I am so excited to be expanding my produce horizons. I also love that so many people have ideas on what to do with these new-to-me items.
Do any of you like Borscht? Do you have a recipe for it?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, beets, borscht, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia instructor, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, organic produce, teaching debut, World's Healthiest Food, yellow beets, Zumba, Zumba classes, Zumba instructor, Zumba teacher | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 13, 2012
Zumba is astronomically popular. The marketing and “it’s a party” advertising has attracted MILLIONS of people. My first few Zumba classes were fun but I left feeling as if Zumba was not a very safe product. Not all the classes contained a warm up and a cool down. Most had no instruction, just the teacher pointing and making other hand signals I was not familiar with. After having taken the required Zumba Instructor Training, I see that the Zumba Fitness Program is constructed to be safe and meets with the general fitness guidelines. It could have been that the classes I had taken were not following the program with the prescribed class format.
A standard guideline for fitness classes that is considered safe for the general pubic is 10 to 15 minutes warm-up and at least a 5 minute cool down. Since Zumba is marketed as being something everyone can do, the program incorporates these guidelines. Zumba instructors are trained to follow this set formula for the safety of all participants. It is understood that many people who attend a workout class come in “cool”, it could even be that their muscles and bodies have been in one position for most of the day. Muscles need to warm up and get blood flowing in order for there to be less risk of injury. A warm up is necessary for the body, it is also nice for the brain so that one can “shake off” the happenings of the day and embrace the workout that is ahead.
In addition to the Zumba Fitness Program following the standard fitness guidelines in regards to a warm up, a “formula” for the warm-up section of the class was created. The formula has three components, and if they are used correctly they should allow for a nice smooth transition into the remainder of the class. The warm up is built into the Zumba Fitness class model to prepare you for the bulk of the class. The bulk of the class, as you may know, has a very unique formula.
Zumba was not created to be an elite fitness class, it was meant for everyone to enjoy themselves. There are moves and steps to follow, but each participant is allowed to add their own style and their own “flavor” — as it is called in the Zumba world. That means not everyone will be doing it the exact same way. Not everyone can shake their hips as the instructors do on the training DVDS and I don’t think anyone is as loose a Beto.
While I was taking the Zumba Instructor training I kept wondering if the creator of Zumba, Alberto “Beto” Perez and the co-creator of Nia, Carlos AyaRosas know each other, even though one is from Columbia and the other one is from Mexico. Some of the same ideas and philosophies are in both exercise/fitness programs. To me they have a lot of ideas in common. I had no idea how similar the programs were until I attended the Zumba Instructor training.
I have posted a bit in the past about Zumba because people are familiar with what Zumba is but not with what Nia is so they often ask me for comparisons so they can understand. Well, in the past my answers were coming from the perspective of a Nia Teacher who had taken a few Zumba classes. Now my answers and my comparisons will be from an instructor of both Nia and Zumba. So I will be posting more about Zumba in the future. I will be sharing and clarifying a bit about the actual Zumba Fitness Program. I will also be doing my best at delivering the Zumba Fitness Program making my Zumba Fitness classes fun and accessible for everyone.
I’ll see you in class!
Posted in Zumba | Tagged: Beto Perez, Carlos AyaRosas, class format, class model, exercise program, general fitness guidelines, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Teacher, Zumba, Zumba cool down, Zumba Fitness, Zumba Fitness class model, Zumba Fitness Classes, Zumba Fitness Instructor, Zumba Fitness Program, Zumba formula, Zumba instructor, Zumba Instructor Training, Zumba party, Zumba warm up | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 1, 2012
At the end of July I thought it would be nice to switch things up during the month of August. My idea was triggered by comments from people talking about the scale not changing. It seemed that the scale not budging at all for one day affected the people’s moods. So I thought perhaps a break from the scale would be something some people would benefit from. I planned the challenge to be 21 days and 30 days so that both timeframes would land on a day that I post. I post on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I managed to post about the challenge on the 21st, but I didn’t post about it on the 30th. On the 30th I thought about it, then forgot about it, then thought about it when I was more than halfway done with my post about one of Nia’s 52 Moves – Knee Sweeps and didn’t have time to measure. It takes more time to strip down and measure than it does to hop on the scale, huh? Well, how did you do if you did? Did you see a change in your measurements? Did you also keep track of your weight at day one and day 21/30?
For me it turned out to be necessary to go the 30 days. At 21 days, I wasn’t seeing a good change, but by 31 (as I said, on Thursday the 30th I didn’t measure because time got away from me) I saw a good change. What I didn’t do at 21 days was get on the scale, I was thinking the point was to avoid the scale, but now I am thinking it might have been nice to have a comparison. Perhaps you thought of that option. I did not until today.
I also learned that I need to be a little more specific on my notes of where I am measuring. I know I made a point to instruct you to make notes, and I did, I just need to make better notes. For one place I said something like, “3.25 inches below the dot.” Well, when I wrote that note I must have had a clear idea on what “the dot” was, but 20 days later I had no idea. I laughed at that and hoped you make better notes on the “landmarks”.
So here ends the challenge, but of course you are free to stay off the scale and/or add measuring to your routine. The real point is to not let the scale frustrate you and to remember it does not always tell the whole story. There are other things to help complete the story; mirrors, measurements, clothes, people, etc. Of course, not everyone allows the scale to frustrate them, I understand that, I was trying to present a way to help some from getting frustrated. And maybe just another way to see things.
So how did you do? Did you see a change via measurements? Did you learn anything (as I shared with you what I learned)? Would you rather use a scale or a tape measure? Or both?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 30 day challenge, Knee Sweeps, measurement change, measurements vs. weight, Nia, Nia routine, Nia's 52 Moves, tape measure, weight change | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 30, 2012
Now, I know that I’ve been doing the knee sweep a lot longer than I have been doing Nia. So it is true that Nia’s 52 moves are not necessarily unique to Nia, but they are part of the core of Nia. You will find a large portion of Nia’s 52 moves in every routine. There are correct ways to do them, but Nia allows for the body’s way and also, I believe Nia allows for the move to be incorporated into the dance. For instance, The Nia Technique book states that the starting position for a knee sweep is the sumo stance. I am sure that I have done a knee sweep from a sumo stance at one time, but the first dance that pops into my head where we do the knee sweep it is not from a sumo position. But the by the book (oh, yeah, that reminds me, “BUY THE BOOK!” 🙂 ), anyway, the by-the-book version of the knee sweep starts from a sumo position, complete with arms in ready position and everything. Then the body rises as you come up on one leg bringing the other leg up with a bent knee. The knee crosses the midline of the body, the opposite hand “pushes” the knee out. The knee swings out so the pelvis is open. Then the leg comes down and the foot lands on the earth. That is the knee sweep of Nia’s 52 moves.
The book does not indicate that when your foot comes down it is in the toes-to-the-front position, but that is how I teach it. I don’t want my students landing on their foot with their knee out to the side. If we are just doing knee sweeps as an exercise, maybe I would have them do that, because they would be aware of the torque in their hip, but probably not.
When I was first doing this move in Nia I was trying to do it as the book shows and as many of the people on the Nia instructional DVDs do and as the instructor does (whether it be Debbie Rosas or Carlos AyaRosas). And that was with the knee out to the side very wide. REALLY opening the pelvis. But when I did that I noticed a “something” – I don’t know what it was, but it was something – in my lower back. So I decided that opening my hip that wide and having my leg out that far was not MY body’s way, so I do not do that. I share with my students that I found the comfortable spot to be about as far as my forearms can reach. I “glue” my elbows to my sides and hold my forearms out to the side. As far as they can go is as far as I allow my knee to go. That is what works for me.
Some of the time that we are doing the knee sweep it is at the end of a “up-two-three-four (knee sweep), back-two-three-four (knee sweep)”. So that would not allow for the sumo position to be the start. Other times we are standing upright. As I said, I am sure I have done it from the sumo position because I bet it is in a routine I am not thinking of. But the ones I am thinking of it is done from a walking or standing position.
The amazing thing about the knee sweep is that it calls for the knee to cross the midline of the body. So that means that if you were doing a left knee sweep (with your left leg) your left knee would enter into the right hemisphere of your body. If you were doing a right knee sweep (with your right leg) your right knee would enter into the right hemisphere of your body. It is a great thing when your limbs cross the midline. It helps stimulate the brain. So there is a reason in many exercise routines and cardio classes that we have you do “cross overs”.
The knee sweep is one of those moves that requires balance. Since at one point you are standing on one leg, you will be able to improve your balance or practice what you have. Also the moving of the leg helps with that stability. Standing on one leg helps with strength and opening the hip helps with mobility and flexibility. The knee sweep of Nia’s 52 moves does a body and brain good!
Are you familiar with this move? Have you done it before in your exercise class? Did you give it a try?
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: Cardio classes, cardio dance class, Carlos AyaRosas, cross the midline of the body, dance, Debbie Rosas, exercise routines, flexibility, improve balance, Knee Sweep, Mobility, my body's way, Nia, Nia instructional DVDs, Nia routine, Nia students, Nia's 52 Moves, stability, strength, Sumo Stance, the Nia Technique books | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 25, 2012
I cannot believe it has been over a month since I was driving around to the Community Centers of San Jose that offer Group Ex classes checking out their floors! Since we do Nia bare footed I wanted to see what community centers have dance studios. While I was looking for the community centers is when I first noticed the painted utility boxes around. I can’t believe it has been over a month since I was driving from my Nia class in Willow Glen and I noticed someone painting the utility box that I pass all the time. Over a month ago! Wow. Time goes so fast. I was hoping to have more pictures of more boxes, but I haven’t seen any since then. I must not be in the areas where there are boxes — could also be that I am a little distracted and not noticing the boxes. Sigh. Anyway . . . I think the artist might have completed painting these boxes in one day. I am not certain because I didn’t drive by again until the following Monday and I didn’t stop to take pictures until a week after I first stopped. I was just waiting to post because I didn’t want to have the utility box posts right in a row. I don’t mind having Nia posts, or exercise posts, or food posts consecutively, I just didn’t want to have utility box posts one after the other. Before I knew it, it has been a month. Wow.
The first picture is a shot of the front of the boxes together straight on. The next “picture” is a collage (obviously) of pictures of different angles so you can somewhat see the side of the boxes. The second collage is pictures of the back of the boxes and the little label disclosing the artist and the sponsor.
Looks as if the birds are driving around in San Jose. These boxes are on Bird Avenue so I think it makes total sense that birds are driving cars, vans, motorcycles, sports cars, and delivery trucks.
You might have noticed that the artist incorporated the vent on the back of the box painting it as if it is the back of a truck. Cute. You may also have noticed that one truck seems to be carrying eggs. I think Mr. Willis is showing his sense of humor by having a bird drive around as either an egg delivery service or perhaps a pickup service.
It is quite a cheery little mural. Also very responsible. You might not be able to see, but all of the birds on scooters or motorcycles have on helmets. It is a law in California that you have to wear a helmet, so it is good of the artist to have legally correct drivers. I am not sure that any birds have been ticketed for not doing so, but it is still a good idea!
So what do you think? Cute, huh? Have you seen any painted utility boxes in your area? If you have I would love to see. Send me a picture with some information and I can post it.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: art box sponsor, City of San Jose, City of San Jose Group Ex, community center classes, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, dance classes, dance floors, dance studio, Group Ex Classes, Group Ex teacher, helmet law, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, San Jose Art Project, Scott Willis, Utility Box Art, Willow Glen, Willow Glen Nia | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 23, 2012
S
o tomorrow marks our fourth box of produce delivered. Since I have been subbing Nia for a lot of other classes this month, I really appreciate not having to go to the store every other day. But it seems like two of the boxes I was too busy to cook/eat/deal with right away. But for the most part we go through the veggies and fruit rather quickly. I haven’t really received too much that is new to me. We received some tomatoes that were an odd color to me. They were red, but they were a very deep red. Except for the one that had a big moldy hole in it, they were very good. I realized a while ago when I started trying to eat tomatoes that I don’t like the jelly part with the seeds. I like the firm fleshy part. These tomatoes had more fleshy parts then “jelly” part. They were very good. So far, despite some quality that I would not have picked from the grocery store or a farmers market, I am really happy with the Farm Fresh To You deliver.
The two things I had a problem with was the moldy hole in the tomato and the lettuce that was already wilted and was so “on the verge” that it left a green ugly smudge of itself on the box that the produce comes in. Any fruit delivered is always finished first – YUM! I love the plums I get from my in-laws, I don’t know what kind they are, but they are dark and sweet. But I loved the ones I got in the second box too. They had a flavor that brought back childhood memories of summer fruit. The nectarines were good too. Aside from the wilted lettuce I love their lettuce. It is soft and not bitter. But I could use a lettuce delivery more than once a week, so once every other week is really not enough. I believe one week the list said we would get a lemon cucumber. I was looking forward to that, but I didn’t get it. I did get the broccoli rabe which I had never had before, but it didn’t any different that brocoli. A little more tender, I suppose.
The third box had pluots in it. They were good too. I even shared one with my husband. The pear you see was a substitute. We were supposed to get a lemon delivered and we did not because I asked not to received any lemons. We have a lemon tree and while the one they were going to send was a different kind I don’t use lemons as it is so I didn’t need another one. My husband likes pears so that works. The cucumbers were awesome. So crisp and flavorful. I really like their cucumbers. Unfortunately I forgot about the eggplants, so while we ate them we did not eat them at their peak and I did a little disguise technique on them, just in case. Now those peppers, Shishito peppers . I don’t even know what those are. I looked them up online to verify that they were not hot before I tried one. They information said “sweet” so I tasted one. That has got to be one of the most bitter things I have ever tasted. So they are still sitting on my counter. They will probably sit there until I have to throw them away because I don’t know what to do with them. I will keep an eye out for those on the list and if they pop up again say, “NO THANK YOU!!!!”
So that is my produce delivery update. I am a little bummed that I have not received anything out of the ordinary. I guess I could just got BUY something myself at a Farmer’s Market that is out of the ordinary, but I am really not included to do that. So I was hoping to get if “forced” on my. Anyway, every time I cook or make something and my husband says, “This is REALLY good.” I point out that it is most likely because of our yummy organic produce that we are having delivered. He had even suggested we get it delivered more often. I have been entertaining that idea. But there are a lot of options so I have to think about it. Could be awhile before I decide. I mean it took me years to get this far, but now that I did it I am glad I did.
How about you? Any exciting summer fruit or veggie make it to your table this season?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Farm Fresh to You, Farmers Market, lemon cucumer eggplant, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, organic fruit, Organic produce delivery, organic vegetables, pluots, Shishito peppers, substitute Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 18, 2012
I’ve written a few posts having to do a bit with chakras. I’m still not all that familiar with chakras. I believe them to be energy points in the body. Points from which energy flows, both into/out of, to/from. I read a site that said “the area of interconnection between the body and the spirit”. I find that to be an interesting idea. There is a lot of information out there about chakras —- a lot of information! Not all of it matches up or is in agreement so I tend to look at a bunch of information and different sources and go with what I see the majority of and disregard the rest if I can’t find another source to corroborate the information. Some information claims there are seven chakras, other information claims there are more. I can see there maybe being more, but I am just focusing on learning about just seven since there is so much information out there. Most information is in agreement with a few facets of chakras. Most agree that there is a color associated with each chakra. Most information agrees that there are other things associated with each chakra; a sound, a tone, a stone, and a symbol. Some say a flower and/or a plant. Most even agree with the idea that the chakras are associated with parts of the body and/or functions of the body. But even though the information might all concur that there are all of these things associated with specific chakras, the information does not always agree with the details of the association.
I’ve seen that there is usually one color associated with a chakra. But I have seen that there are many gemstones associated with each chakra. Sometimes the gemstone will be the same as the color, but sometimes not. It could be that the stone is associated with the chakra but the different color is thought to do different things. I posted about my pendant I purchased that is made up of the different chakra healing stones. Those are not the only stones associated with the chakras.
A chakra is thought to be balanced or unbalanced. An unbalanced chakra could be either open or closed. With an unbalanced chakra the energy does not flow properly. The energy being out of whack could cause physical ailments, symptoms, or actions. In my post about the heart chakra I touched upon information that the heart chakra is associated with “the heart, the circulatory system, the entire chest area, lungs, breasts, the diaphragm, the thymus gland, the immune system, and some say the endocrine system.” The chakras are often associated with feelings and emotions. When I wrote that post I was sensing my lungs, they seemed to tickle and itch. I believe since the heart chakra is affected by grief my lungs were being affected because that was shortly after my mother-in-law died. It is even more significant that the heart chakra is located behind the sternum.
I think it is interesting to entertain the idea that there are chakras and these energy points are associated with body parts and body functions. And if you have an unbalance in a specific chakra you could have physical issues. As I was saying for me, I believe grief equaled itchy/cough lungs. One of the challenges with chakras is, as I said, there is a lot of information out there and sometimes there is such a large association it is difficult to even really believe that it is the chakra that is unbalanced and that is why there is an issue. Sometimes the list of things a chakra is associated with is just too lengthy to comprehend or the information contradicts itself. Never the less I think it is interesting and for me it is something I think about when I am having a physical symptom. I think is this a chakra imbalance manifesting itself as a physical issue. While I don’t think chakra balancing is a substitute for medical attention when needed, sometimes it is still nice to know.
With all these thoughts about chakras it reminds me that I love to use chakras as the focus in my Nia classes. I think I will us one as the focus in my next Nia class!
How do you feel about the whole chakra thing? Are you a believer? Do you know much about them?
Posted in Chakras | Tagged: balanced chakra, Chakra, chakra colors, chakra sounds, chakra stones, chakra tones, energy points, gemstone, Healing stones, heart chakra, Nia, Nia class, unbalanced chakra | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 14, 2012
I had to cancel a Nia class recently. Not permanently cancel, just one Saturday class. If you know me, you know it had to be serious. While I was away I wrote the “More Foam Roller Coolness” post. A couple of days later a few things occurred to me. The first thing that occurred to me was that the progression of exercise difficulty could be totally different for everyone — depending upon where they were physically. Of course you know that but I always feel it is important to state it. I was thinking that horizontal to vertical was the more difficult progression because it was difficult for me at that time (my ankle has been getting my attention recently). But for others, maybe even most others, it would be the other way, from vertical to horizontal. Another thing I thought about that made me chuckle was the term horizontal and vertical. I didn’t describe that at all. I guess that is what I get when I am out of town because of some medical situation for my mom. I had other things on my mind and wasn’t thinking too clearly and so I didn’t think to clarify. And it did not help that my dad kept popping in the room telling me about more information he found on the internet about some of the medical procedures. Sometimes having the internet at your disposal to see medical procedures is not really all that great! So this post is to correct or remind readers that the horizontal to vertical progression, might actually be vertical to horizontal – depending upon the situation – and to explain what “horizontal” and “vertical” is.
If you were to stand with both of your feet facing front and you placed the roller on the ground so that each end was on the opposite side of your feet that is an example of the “horizontal” position. To clarify when using the roller in the horizontal position you could place it wherever it is required to be for what you are doing as long as the roller is more or less positioned with the length going from left to right (or right to left).
If you were to stand with both of your feet facing front and you placed the roller on the ground so that the length of it went along the side of your foot, that would be the “vertical” position of the foam roller. For a moment I had pictured people imagining setting the roller on its end and trying to figure out how to do exercises from there. That is what had me chuckling. So no, in this case, “vertical” does not mean stand it on its end!
Again, where you place the roller as you are going to use it depends on what exercise or stretch you are going to do, but the “horizontal” means from left to right (or right to left) and “vertical” means if you were to stand near it is would be parallel to your foot. It would also be called “vertical” when you place the foam roller on the ground and are going to lie on it with one end at your head and the other end at your tail.
Does it all make better sense now? Do you understand you don’t have to be a Cirque du Soleil acrobat to do stretches or exercise with the foam roller in a “vertical” position?
Posted in Foam Rollers | Tagged: Cirque du Soleil, Cirque du Soleil acrobat, exercise progression, Foam Roller, foam roller exercise, foam roller stretches, medical procdures, Nia, Nia class | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 9, 2012
It has been over three years since I posted about foam rollers. I know I post a lot about Nia because I teach it, but I am surprised I have not followed up with some additional posts about foam rollers. I think they might have become more common since my last post. I have seen them in gyms now, whereas I had not seen them there before. They have moved into mainstream exercise and are not just for the more therapeutic type of movements forms. It is nice to see them being used more frequently because they are a great piece of exercise equipment. They are affordable and portable. A great combination for exercise equipment. Typically they are 4 inches or 6 inches in diameter and they are 12 to 32 inches long. They are used in their whole form – round – or cut in half length wise. The different lengths are used for different things . . . obviously. So goes for the whole round or the half round.
Since the foam roller is a great tool to use for people ranging from “new-to-exercise” to serious athletes it is nice to have a variety of them. The halved rollers can be used in the beginning of an exercise program to allow the body to be accustomed to standing on a rounded surface. The flat sides would be placed on the ground while you stand on the rounded sides. This could be used as a first step in a conditioning progression. Flipping the rollers over and using them on carpet could be used as the next step. The halved rollers flat side up on carpet. The carpet would help keep the rounded side of the rollers from being really slippery. Then the progression could be the halved rollers on a hard smooth surface. The smooth surface of the floor would provide the additional challenge. Next graduating to the long halved roller. You could start on carpet then once mastered move the roller to a smooth surface. Eventually moving on to the whole roller.
That is just an example of how the foam rollers can be used for more than just stretching. Standing on foam rollers in the aforementioned progression would be a way to improve core strength and balance. And that was just a quick and easy example. There are many things that can be added to the information above to either make it easier or more difficult and/or to lengthen the progression.
So foam rollers are not just for stretching and improving flexibility and mobility they can be used for improving strength, coordination, and balance. They are a great thing to add to an exercise program. There are a lot of different exercise you can do with them. I am not going to wait another three years to share some of them with you. I am going to be posting some in my next few posts. So stay tuned.
Have you seen foam rollers in your gym? Have you seen people do exercises with them? Do you exercise with a foam roller?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: exercise program, foam roller exercises, foam roller posts, foam roller stretches, Foam rollers, foam rollers in gyms, improve balance, improve coordination, improve core strength, improve flexibility, improve mobility, Nia, Nia Teacher | 1 Comment »
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