This Week in Workouts- Let's Eat!

Happy Sunday, I hope your Valentine's Day was fantastic!! This week I read a great article on Houzz about how to get them most out of your weekend. There are a few things on this list that we are planning to do today! The hubs and I have some friends who buy us tickets to a show every year for Christmas and this year they got us tickets to Once. So, tonight we are going to Once and meeting up with said friends at their favorite new eatery beforehand. Oooo, I cannot wait for some serious fun and serious eating tonight.

If you follow me on instagram, then you know this week has really been all about eating for us. Our first Hello Fresh order came this week and our third Blue Apron. There has been lots of cooking and tasting and reviewing of said meal plans. Hopefully, there will be a very in depth review article with a very clear winner in the following couple of days.

But now, to the workouts!

Sunday: Recovery day from Barry's Bootcamp and an evening of dancing

Monday: Easy Yoga Flow that I will have to post soon followed by a 10-minute bridge workout

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 2-mile workout followed by this Ali K Yoga Flow for Core in the morning, then, Hot Yoga in the evening.

Thursday: Easy Yoga Flow, again.

Friday: 5-mile run followed by a Yoga Flow for Flexibility

Saturday: Aerial Yoga Strong- which is pretty much massive muscle toning in a silk sling... Quite fun!

What is Aerial Yoga and The Benefits

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This weekend I attended my first ever aerial yoga class. In case you have never heard of aerial yoga (which many have not), it is yoga that combines aspects of pilates and gymnastics in an elevated hammock-like swing. Some people also call it anti-gravity yoga.

The class was super fun! So much so, that I was convinced it was not much of a workout at all. Sure, down dog and cobra are completely different when your feet are suspended above the ground, and sure, the balance work was definitely a core exercise, but it really was more fun than work. At least, that is how I felt until I woke-up the next morning with sore buns, sore lower abs, and sore upper arms. The beginner aerial yoga class I attended ended up being a great workout with very, very little of the traditional yoga environment.

It makes sense that aerial yoga was different from any other yoga class ever taken since it was created by gymnast and Broadway choreographer, Christopher Harrison. Aerial yoga is meant to give a whole body workout while also decompressing the spine. Some of the benefits include:

• Cleansing the body of toxins through inversion
• Reactivating the circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems
• Decompressing the spine- Anti-gravity yoga actually guarantees that after the class is the tallest you can be.
• Toning more muscles than the same positions done without the hammock
• Improving flexibility

Just like other yoga classes, shoes are not needed and tighter fitting, comfortable clothes are recommended. This is especially true for your top since many of the poses are inversions or nearly so. Almost anyone can take an aerial yoga class and get something out of it. In fact, one other first timer in my class was a 50+ year old man who had only done yoga once before. He sincerely enjoyed the class and looked pretty proficient while doing the poses!

For me, the class was very freeing and extremely fun. It honestly felt like I was five again and playing on the jungle gym in my back yard. The fact that this is a workout method is pretty impressive. Although the class is not your ohm-centric yoga fest, it does have similar mind-over-matter benefits and will definitely help improve traditional yoga poses. For those who do not usually do yoga, you may sincerely enjoy this class. Yes, there are yoga poses, but really, you get to play on a swing for an hour and call it a workout!