Monday, June 8, 2015

Rhianna, Kanye and Paul McCartney make pretty good cool-down music, as it turns out

Second week of cardio-yoga classes, and we're still going strong. There was a much smaller turnout, but I think that was largely due to it being the first week of summer vacay, and not that I had inadvertently scared people off. :-) 

For this week we skipped the extended leg kicks and went with JUST knees--especially on the roundhouses.

Here is this week's playlist and exercises:

(warm-up)
All About That Bass (3:06) - verse 1: knee touch into wide knee touch, bridge: forward lunges, chorus : cross-arm knee touch (opposite elbow/knee), verse 2: knee touch into wide knee touch, bridge: forward lunges, chorus: cross-arm knee touch
modifications: to "lower" the intensity, march instead of knee-touch, to up the intensity, hop into the knee touch

Song 2 (2:02) - alternating for approx. 30 sec a piece: jabs, cross, uppercuts, and roundhouse/hook punches (in succession)
modifications: to "lower" the intensity, punch every other beat, to up the intensity, march as you punch. leg positions can either be a squat or same leg forward

[brief rest]

(cardio)
Shake It Off (3:38) - verse 1: jab/cross combo, bridge: hook punch, chorus: chain punch while marching/uppercuts at "shake it off", verse  2: jab/cross combo, bridge: hook punch, chorus: chain punch while marching/uppercuts at "shake it off", walk during "hey, hey portion," cheerleader chant: knee/front kick, chorus: chain punch while marching/uppercuts at "shake it off"
modifications: to "lower" the intensity, keep a horse stance during punches, to up the intensity, scissor hop legs during cross punches and hop into the kicks

Uptown Funk (4:31) - intro: walk, verse 1: knee/front kick, bridge: side kicks, tag: chain punch to the beat (will get faster), chorus: thai knee/roundhouse,  verse 2: knee/front kick, bridge: side kicks, tag: chain punch to the beat (will get faster), chorus: thai knee/roundhouse, "funk you up": squats, chorus: thai knee/roundhouse
modifications: to "lower" the intensity, just throw knees and don't kick, to "up" the intensity, add punches to the kicks (same leg/arm)

(cardio/yoga):  
elastic heart (4:17) - sun salutation, modified variation: extended mountain, swan dive, forward fold, half-lift, forward fold, lunge, low plank, modified chatarunga (knees, stomach, chest lowered). From here repeat sequence of: cobra, table-top, child's pose about 8 times. Rotate to supine for a series of 8 "penguins" or oblique crunches/heel touches. Raise legs to ceiling for straight leg crunches (one set of 10). Lower to boat, hold series of 3 boat poses for 15 seconds each. Flip over and rest in child's pose before next song.
modifications: fists for wrists/dolphin pose for table-top, you can add/remove additional poses as needed to "up" the level.

FourFiveSeconds (3:08) - begin in table-top, and move between cat/cow for a series of 8, moving at your own breath. Extend alternating leg/arms for balancing tabletop pose, series of 4 (2 each side), holding pose for 15 to 20 seconds. Rest in child's pose for 15-20 seconds. Come up to easy seat, and then move into seated side bend position moving between sides using your breath (inhale on up, exhale into the stretch).
modifications: you can modify balancing tabletop to include a crunch by meeting elbow and knee on the exhale, and extending out to balancing tabletop on the inhale.

(yoga/cool-down)
Krishna rising (15:00) - I tend to vary this a bit, as I will tailor the stretching to problem areas for students. The important bit here is to leave about 3 to 5 minutes for savasana.

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