It’s been a tough decision: hot yoga or CrossFit? I can’t afford both and I can’t commit to both timewise. I’ve been relatively successful at hot yoga, often achieving 6 times a week over 18 months. After my back pain went out of control I had to stop. But now after 6 months of Spinal Decompression, Dr. Meadows has released me to exercise again, so I’ve been doing a few things to get physical again.
To recap my 6 months of spinal decompression, I started at 4 times a week and went down to once a month. My pain scale went from 8/10 down to my current 2/10, without pain medications. The treatment stretches the spine at the area of injury so that the discs can be re-hydrated and pressure on the nerves relieved. For me, the stretching was at 150 pounds of traction at L4/L5 for 30 minutes followed by 20 minutes of ice on a massage chair and 4 hours of wearing the ice pack in a “back brace” (disc distractor). At first I could barely walk after the treatments but I gained a good deal of movement and freedom from pain. I can now roll over in bed without having to grip the headboard for leverage. I can also roll out of bed in a single movement (instead of stages) and don’t have to ask my wife for a helping hand as she goes by.
As for Hot Yoga, my favorite studio is still West Coast Hot Yoga in White Rock, BC, Canada (or Yaletown) but until we move back to Canada that’s really not an option. Hot yoga gave me a lot of my flexibility back, and was really great for detoxing and weight management. Workouts burn between 800 to 1200 calories and the sweat just pours out of you. And as hot as you might think the girls and guys look in their Lululemon yoga outfits, notice that none of the pics ever show them sweaty and dripping. Within 30 minutes all the “hotness” melts into pools of sweaty clothes and hair – not attractive at all. Sweat seems to be the great equalizer and the shared experience of surviving 90 minutes of exercise in a steam room is a great bonding experience.
What I found lacking in my Hot Yoga experience was that my stamina never substantially increased, nor did my strength. I learned about CrossFit a couple years ago and they turned my concept of fitness on its head. You might want to reconsider your own definition of fitness, maybe write it down. Then, compare your definition with this article called “What is Fitness?”.
Learning from Crossfitters has been a great experience and not being able to join them (doctor’s orders) was frustrating. However, my son JP not only embraced CrossFit but is now a CrossFit trainer and coach, and is in his second year in the Physical Fitness and Trainer program at the local community college. I’m amazed that one of my kids actually took my advice. Now he’s my trainer and I start the “Spring Leaning” with him this week.
Our only obstacle is being married to a chef with a limited grasp on the Paleo Diet. She keeps trying to spice things up with French sauces. But now that she has joined CrossFit too there is hope for all of us. The simple description of paleo’s foods is meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and berries. More raw foods, minimal processing, high fiber. But Paleo isn’t the secret here — it just happens to be a great combination: CrossFit and Paleo. It’s not rocket science, it’s just exercise and diet.
Here’s the details of the contest I’m entering:
A contest to see the most dramatic appearance change in 6 weeks!
From Jan 10th (Sunday) until Feb 22nd (Monday) – 43 whole days.
Here’s how it’s gonna work, everyone pays $15 into a gender specific kitty. Then we take the oh-so-flattering “before” pictures (front, back, side, yikes). We then dial in our nutrition 100% and get back on track with our training!
On the 22nd, everyone will come in and get their phenomenal “after” pictures takes (front, back and side) and then we will have a LEANing meeting Saturday March 6th in the afternoon/evening to hang out and vote on who wins. We’ll put the pictures up on the projector and then have a silent ballot type voting process.
He/She who wins keeps the cash in the gender specific kitty!! This could be some serious cashola if we get into this! Also a whole lot of positive changes too!!
So now that my doctor says I can train again – I’m going for it. I’ve been doing some weight training getting my numbers back up at the “globo-gym”, but isolated muscle workouts are nothing like CrossFit so I’m not pretending that I’m “prepared” in anyway. I will just monitor my back pain (which is always there) and not get to crazy with the 1 rep maxes.
Thanks for listening and I will keep you posted here and on Twitter!
Pingback: ????? ????????
Crossfit!