How To Avoid DOMS

Yesterday's HIIT class was (not surprisingly) a shock to my body. I did more jumps, squats, and lunges (with weight) than I have at one time in a lonnnggg time. I knew that if I didn't get proactive, I was going to be suffering from delayed onset muscle soreness something fierce. No fun.

Here are some of the ways that I have learned to beat DOMS:

Stretching
All day long. As soon as I got out of bed, I started stretching. The more I moved around, the more I stretched. During our morning walk, when my muscles were warmed up, I stopped and did some deeper stretches and held them for longer.

Staying Active

After the walk, I did some yoga. Yoga Camp day 25 focused on strength poses, but like all good yoga sessions, I came away feeling looser.

30 Day Pilates Body. Day 4. A HIIT workout. Oh, the irony. This 8 minute video was actually not that bad. Making my muscles work helped push out some of the soreness by getting my blood pumping. 

Foam rolling 

Owwwww. This was by far the most painful method of the day, but an easy way to release the tension in those sore muscles.

Protein 

Consuming extra protein is said to help our bodies recover faster. Breakfast: eggs and yogurt. Lunch: Quinoa and tuna leftovers. Hemp hearts on my salad. Berry spinach protein smoothie. 

How do keep DOMS away??

A Killer HIIT Class

I'll try almost anything once, and sometimes I'll want to go back for more even if I got my butt kicked.

But first. 30 Day Pilates Body Challenge 

Day 3 - booty
Lots of bridges, but the most intense variation? Feet together (not pictured) activates the glutes, hamstrings, and inner thighs! 

My goal for this challenge:

Keep up and keep in touch. Simple, right? It should be since the workouts are 10 minutes or less.

So today I tried another new fitness center and class. I left the apartment with plenty of time to walk to Vitality Fitness Center. Thank goodness they have a nice lounge area because I arrived for a 10:00 class that actually starts at 10:40. Oops. I was super early, but entertained by the videos playing and the Zumba class that looked like a group of professionals.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Class was the epitome of intense. The instructor (who had just led the Zumba class BTW) gave us a fierce mix of exercise circuits.  Squats to shoulder press to skaters. Mountain Climbers to pushups to jump squats. Jump rope to dead lifts to plank. Crunches, crunches, crunches! We never stopped moving.

My body. My legs. I'm pretty sure I haven't had a workout that intense since SurfSet and Boot Camp in the fall. I got my butt kicked and then I bought a 10 class pass.

When I got back to the apartment, I tried to keep my lunch healthy. Pineapple berry protein smoothie with quinoa and tuna. On the side I added one cup of dry Rice Chex cereal. I have a need for crunchy.

I was exhausted. And I loved it!

Do you like HIIT workouts?

Fitness Accountability and a Bike Ride

I started the 30 Day Pilates Body Challenge today.

The challenge actually started on March 1, so I had a couple of workouts to do before time zones start messing with things. By that I mean, when I wake up on day 3, it is still day 2 in the US and I don't have the day 3 email yet. I work out in the morning. Yada yada yada...you get the idea.

So today, I reached out to my BFF in the US to sweet talk her into joining the challenge too. She will be my workout buddy (aka accountability partner). My other accountability partner is YOU, my blog friends. I promise to share something from each daily workout to help me stick with the program.

Day 1 - legs
I honestly had a flashback to Booty Barre. In less than 10 minutes my legs were shaking and burning. Ah, I miss that.

Day 2 - arms

Ok, I have done triceps dips on the floor, but never while raising one leg into table top. Wowzer, that is hard and my arms are going to feel that later.

After my little Pilates workout I grabbed a quick breakfast. I am so excited that we found GF Cheerios at our favorite international store. These are perfect on days like today when I have a bike ride date with mrC.

We finally rode all the way to the Mangrove Ecological Park located on the Shenzhen Bikeway. 

Shenzhen is an interesting city with large districts that feel like they could be cities on their own. We left Shekou behind us, rode toward Futian and that's Lohou in the distance.

One of my favorite parts was the Coconut Grove, a perfect spot to escape the sun, have lunch and/or take a nap.

Because biking and selfies always go together, right?

Who/what is your fitness accountability?
Do you bike ride?

Practice, Practice, Practice!!

mrC and started the day with a walk before he had to go to work. Sometimes the environment just invites me to strike a pose. Even though I was just playing around, I noticed right away that doing this pose was A LOT easier than it was a couple of months ago. Consistent yoga practice really does work.

Speaking of yoga practice, I went back to my regular studio for a Flow with Alignment class. This studio has more space than the new one I found across the street. I tried to take a picture of the removable wall they use to open up the room when the class fills up, like today. I decided to get another pass even though it is more expensive, because sometimes I like to just be a part of the crowd. 

This class felt good. I was feeling a little sore from yesterday's yoga and Pilates workouts, but I felt strong. It also felt good to know what I was doing most of the time and I was able to keep up just by watching since the class was ALL in Chinese!

While scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across a new challenge. I've been talking about Pilates a bunch lately and I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I took this as a sign that I was meant to do it. 

What new challenges are you taking on lately?

Try It Tuesday: Mindfulness Yoga

This morning I tried a new yoga class at a new studio: PD Yoga. The studio is across the street from our apartment community, in an area called Sea Taste, so super convenient. It's a small studio with three small rooms and a variety of class offerings. The studio is clean, offers lockers for storing belongings and a changing area. More importantly, for expats, everyone I've met so far speaks English.

Mindfulness Yoga was a hatha style class that focused on poses that will help improve posture. It was perfect for me. The instructor came around many times during class to assist, correct, or challenge us in our poses. I didn't exactly work up a big sweat, but I loved feeling looser and relaxed when I left.

mrC met me after yoga class at the studio and we took a walk to pay some bills. It was such a nice day that we decided to have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant because we can sit outside. We always laugh at the portion size difference of the chips and salsa here versus the US.

Later in the afternoon after doing a little work around the apartment, we took our second walk of the day and picked up some clothes I had hemmed. The weather has really been perfect the last couple of days, so we have been taking advantage of it.

After our walk, I was hit with a wave of fitness ambition so I went to Booya Fitness for some more Pilates. One thing I love about the video selection is the variety. There are traditional classes like the one I did today, The Classic Pilates Body, where the workout format follows the time-honored routine (see Pilates 100 picture below). There are also classes that put a twist on tradition and create a high energy class like Cardio Pilates. 

Don't forget that you can try Booya Fitness classes free for 30-days (sign up here) Every workout you do until March 15, enters you into the Cardio Blast Challenge for a chance to win some great prizes!

What new fitness activity have you tried lately?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!

Mountain Monday & Leap Day Fun

Winter might be over here in Shenzhen. We officially sweated our butts off climbing the mountain today. We were met by our local park employee who loves taking group pictures for us. Getting to the top of Nanshan wouldn't be the same without a photo to prove it.

It was so nice to be greeted by such amazing weather on Leap Day. No one had to twist my arm to get my #OiselleLeap on and show off my favorite #flystyle for a chance to win a head-to-toe Oiselle outfit. 

Lately I have been really enjoying my Yoga Camp daily videos, but I've also been missing Pilates class at the studio. The instructor is having a baby, so they have taken the class off the schedule and I don't know when it will be back. This afternoon I popped over to Booya Fitness and found an awesome 30 minute Pilates video to do at home.

If you haven't tried Booya Fitness yet, now is a great time to do it. Today they are launching the Cardio Blast Challenge. Check out these great prizes up for grabs.

To enter all you have to do is sign up for Booya Fitness (free trial, monthly, quarterly or annual subscription) and complete a cardio workout! That's it. You're going to work out anyway. Why not enter to win an awesome prize too? I did!! Click here to sign up.

To round out all this fitness, I made another batch of my banana peanut butter protein bars.

How are you spending Leap Day?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!

Twisted Yoga Benefits

I love a good twisted yoga pose. Especially first thing in the morning and today my yoga camp video delivered.

Twisted yoga poses have lots of benefits. This is good to know because some poses are downright uncomfortable! Now, whenever I feel like bailing out of a pose, I try to think about how good my body and mind will feel after.

Half Twist Pose:

This one challenges my bad posture. I have to work hard to hold a straight back and open shoulders. It's good for your chest, spine and back. It strengthens core muscles and encourages internal organ activity.

Thread the Needle (Revolved Child's Pose):

One of my favorites because it just feels good. Good for upper chest, opens shoulder muscles, and gets blood flowing to upper body.

Revolved Lunge Pose:

There is so much going on in this pose that it feels good when I hit it. The lunge part of the pose both strengthens the quad and stretches the hip flexors. Adding in the twist engages the core for balance and stimulates those internal organs. I also feel a good stretch in my upper body because I have tight shoulders.

One of the best ways to celebrate a good yoga session? Go on a sunshine walk.

Morning walks are just so much better with skies like this.

What is your favorite/least favorite twisted yoga pose?

Sweaty Saturday

Back in January I posted about having a non-running back-up plan. Little did I know that yoga would become a big part of that plan. I've been doing Instagram yoga for years (the I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'll make myself look like that picture kind), but had only taken a few classes before moving to China.

As much as I would love to be back to running, I am loving my morning yoga. It's not the same as going out for a run, but it is invigorating. And, I love seeing my progress. Taking classes has definitely helped, but I've felt the most change since I started doing the daily yoga camp videos.

After yoga, some coffee and breakfast (prepared by mrC), we took a walk to see the Shekou School Maker Faire hosted by the Shenzhen American International School. If you are not familiar, a Maker Faire is a showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness in a DIY way. If you have chance, visit an event. It's pretty amazing.

On the way there I showed mrC a yoga studio that I have been trying to find for months. We walk past a billboard advertisement for this place all the time, but could never figure out the address. They let you try a class for free, so I signed up for one next week.

It was such a pretty day that after the Maker Faire, we decided to get our bikes out. We headed to the Shenzhen Bikeway hoping to reach the Futian Mangrove Ecological Park. It was very crowded so instead we turned around after 5 miles and headed back to the apartment. We'll try again on a week day.

Between yesterday's leg workout and today's 10 mile bike ride, my butt was feeling sore. Doing this version of a pigeon pose helped with that. I think it might be my favorite.

Ever been to a Maker Faire?
Favorite way to do pigeon pose? (Supine, seated, or prone)

Friday Favorites

It's the final Friday of February, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite things.

Food - I picked up some goodies on a recent shopping trip to Hong Kong (there are A LOT more options there). I figured munching on the Sweet Potato chips would be better than my usual choices and they're good. I love a little something sweet for dessert and these Organic Hard Candies just sounded healthier (50 calories for 3 pieces works for me!). I was hoping to find hemp hearts but could only find chia seeds...a good runner-up. And I've gotten back to making a daily smoothie. 

Fitness - I'm on day 22 of the Yoga Camp videos. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get to the end. I've been doing strength every other day (abs, arms, legs) and mixing up the workouts to prevent getting bored. My goal to walk at least 30 minutes feels really good, even without sunshine. Today I walked nearly 2.5 miles.

Fitness fashion - Loving my Aspire pants from Athleta, my new Apple Sport Watch, and the Power Y tank (with built in bra) and the design on the Enlighten Crop from Lululemon. 

Free fitness equipment - First, I love these little areas scattered throughout our apartment complex and the parks in the city. Mostly, I'm loving this leg press. Who needs a gym membership when you have this?!?

What's on your favorites list this week?

Captain Obvious Runs for President

It's true! Captain Obvious has registered for the Presidential Race...and he's got his running shoes on (I wonder which brand he wears?)! He announced his plans to run for President on Tuesday. Watch...

Hi 

Here is his training plan:

1. He's running all over the US and sharing his thoughts about each state...including yours!

2. He will be hanging out at the debate with the other runners (watch for photo-bombing) and tweeting live. Follow him to see more of this:

Join me on Thursday as I challenge the candidates on how far they actually ran this week. Tell the truth, guys. #GOPDebate #obviouspresident

— Captain Obvious (@CaptainObvious) February 25, 2016

3. He has all the right training gear.

4. His sponsor, Hotels.com is making sure that he has a place to rest his legs and recover properly.

Join Captain Obvious and his more than 300,000 followers as he advances through each stage of the Presidential Race. Follow his training and send him a cheer along the away. He'd love to hear from you!

Captain Obvious says, "I'm fit to run. The other candidates don't seem fit at all." 

I love a good race! Can't wait to see who wins!

Tweet: Run with the #ObviousPresident in the Presidential Race. @CaptainObvious http://ctt.ec/YHXcK+ #sponsored

Full Day and Full Body Workout

I could not get the China Internet to cooperate, so I missed my morning yoga session.

There was no time to dwell about it though. We hopped on the ferry and headed to Hong Kong for a little belated bday shopping!!

My bday gift from mrC!!! Of course the watch that I got had no charge...had to wait until we got back to the apartment to play with it.

Back at the apartment, I got in a full body afternoon workout. Abs, legs, arms.

3 minute Ninja abs. Still a favorite.

10 minute butt and thigh video. I'm liking this one.

Dirty Dozen interval style. 40 seconds work, 5 seconds rest. I did it this way since I have lighter weights, I could push the reps.

We made crockpot chicken for dinner and then went for an evening walk.

I can't wait to play with my watch!!!

What kind of sport/activity/running watch do you have?