Stretch, Hydrate, and Watch Out For Tree Wells

Topic: Pre season conditioning
Type: Bikram Yoga
Where: Bikram Yoga U-District in Seattle, WA
Conditioning Buddy:  Chainsaw (names are changed to protect the innocent...but jokes on him because I'll still post pictures).

Hi Folks!

Now seems like as good as time as any to talk about pre-season conditioning.  Chainsaw and my normal pre-season conditioning routine has been comprised of watching a lot of snowboard films like, The Art of Flight or just recently the art meets prayer flag utopia meets some really authentic 70's urban outfitters catalog wardrobe film, Valhalla.

"Hello Dah-lings!  I've got food for 20 winters...if you like herring. I looove herring"

But recently I've added a new component to my film watching routine and started doing Bikram Yoga.  If you don't know, Bikram yoga is a style of yoga where you do the same 26 postures each class with a breathing exercise at the beginning and end (each class is 90 min long).  

A young Jason Bateman (left) with Bikram himself.  

Apparently Jason Bateman thought Birkram yoga was pure hell.  This pic has little to do with my blog other than it's a fun fact and Jason Bateman is one of my favorite actors.

What Bikram Yoga is most known for I think is the heat.  The room is heated to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 C), with a humidity of 40%.  Yes, yes it does seem hot and it IS very hot.  But if the studio is heated probably it can feel amazing.  The heat actually protects your muscles and gives you a deeper stretch (which I really need...typically I can barely touch my toes).  Yes, you do need to drink a lot of water before and after class but that's something we should be doing anyway.  Practicing Bikram yoga has helped me to become more mindful of not only my water intake but also about what I'm putting into my body (bu-LEAVE me there is nothing worse that practicing with a stomach full of frozen yogurt with chocolate sauce and gummy bears...I really didn't think it was going to be a big deal...but it was!  It was).

I started doing Bikram yoga because I had/have THE WORST BACK IN THE ENTIRE WORLD OF ANYONE ON THIS ENTIRE PLANET.  I remember being 8 years old and saying more or less like a pirate, "Argh me aching back!"  I figured if I wanted to still be walking by the time the U.S. got a female president, then I better start doing some sort of yoga.

My dear friend and part-time spirit guide was going to a Bikram studio that was right by her work, so I went too.  At first I couldn't care one way or the other WHICH type of yoga I was going to but after learning more and trying different styles of yoga I realized Bikram was the the right style for me.  Why? Well actually it was because it was really hard.  

Normally I'm like any other person who wants to put the least amount of work  into my workouts while still giving myself the illusion that I am exercising.  Oh I've spent many an hour on an elliptical while watching marathons of America's Next Top Model on a mounted TV.  

But Bikram yoga has been different.  The fact that it's a structured 90 minute class makes it so you can't leave.  Well some people leave but I can't leave. My pride is just too much to where I couldn't handle having people watch me drip out the doors in the middle of practice.  In the class, I go in knowing that I'm going to have an hour and a half dedicated to just ME and just improving my body.  Nothing else is going on in that hot room.  No TV, no music, no gossiping with friends.  Just your body, your mind, and not as much water as you wish you had brought in.

Chainsaw usually closes his eyes and scoffs whenever I try to get him to come to Bikram yoga class with me.  He says,"That's just stretching".  But it's not just stretching! It also builds your stamina big time.  On our first day of the season Chainsaw's legs were ready to go home after the first run but even I was surprised that my quads felt like they could keep going for...well...forever I guess.  What a treat.

Me not doing a very good job demonstrating Triangle pose.  I mean, come on, it was really hard in those boots...and the snow was uneven, so.  

Thanks to poses like Triangle, that you hold for a mere 60 seconds at a time, your stamina truly does build. And honestly it's also a mental thing.  

There have been times when I've been hiking up some side-country and thought, "Right here is far enough.  I could just drop in right now.  Who needs to go all the way to the top?" 

After you get into the routine of Bikram yoga regulary and you can spend 90 minutes in a hot room making your body do things it doesn't want to do...well other things just don't seem that bad.  And the pretty helpful Birkam phrase will go through you're head, "If you can, you must".

So I end up hiking all the way up to the very top of the run and get to take glory pictures like this.

The posture series is designed so you get a full body work-out.  EVERYTHING is exercised from your bones to your skin.  I started doing yoga for my back but I was also concerned about my knees.  After snowboarding for 15 plus years I had put a lot of wear and tear on my left knee in particular.  A couple seasons back I really did question how many years my knee had left in it.  But now with the Bikram I think the ol knee has a lot of life left in her yet.

Ok, ok, ok I'm just about done talking about the Bikram yoga.  All I have left to say is that any sort of pre-season conditioning is great.  With stronger legs it helps you stay in-control, helping everyone right? (I've been run into by Chainsaw onnnnee too many times to the point where I'm a little OCD about out of control skiers).   Plus the more stamina you have and the longer you can ski then the more money you're getting out of the purchase price of your left ticket or season pass.  

Pre-season conditioning = Good economics

Whether you choose to do Bikram yoga or not I hope you remember to stretch, stay hydrated, and watch-out for tree wells.  It's a long season and I can't wait to see everyone still skiing at the end!