Dean Pohlman's Blog, page 49

My Personal 4 Strategies for Practicing Gratitude – Off The Mat

Everyone from Oprah to Ben Greenfield talks about the importance of gratitude, so with so many successful people talking about its importance to their own success it must be pretty important, right? But… if you’re anything like me, being open about gratitude and saying, “You know what? I’m really grateful for ____ and ____,” might just feel downright uncomfortable. Let’s be honest – it’s tough to be emotionally open as a guy in our society. Well screw it – if people think that’s weird, that’s just too bad. Practicing gratitude works, in the sense that it helps you be happier, more fulfilled, and succeed in your goals.

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Yoga Flow for Flexion Level 1

Learn the basic exercises for strengthening your spine if you have flexion-based Back Pain or stiffness. Flexion-based means that rounding (forward folds) your back feels fine, but arching (back bending) your back feels uncomfortable or painful.

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Yoga Warm-Up for Squats

The goal of a proper warm-up for squats (in particular weighted back squats) is to make sure your body is completely prepared for the extra weight you’re about to put on your back. We do this by (1) opening the hips, (2) activating the muscles of the hips, legs, and core, (3) working into your ankles, and lastly (4) opening your chest and prepping your body with proper posture. This is a quick routine, and even though it might be longer than what you’re used to for a squat routine, you’re going to get so much more out of your squats as a result! Try it out, and see the difference.

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The Scorpion Workout (Crash‑course tutorial)

This workout focuses on the Scorpion Pose. This challenging but rewarding arm balance is a combination of shoulder mobility, core strength, spine strength, and hip stability. This workout guides you through drills and postures to help you develop the strength and the mobility for scorpion pose. At the end of the workout, you’ll have the chance to try scorpion for yourself. Be warned - you may fall over! You’ll need a strap and maybe a block for this workout (optional).

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Six Signs You need Yoga At 45+

I confess. I’m not always as proactive and purposeful as OlderBeast articles make me sound. When it comes to fitness, I’ve often just learned from injury-driven needs that motivated experimentation, or by simply lucking into things. When I started yoga at age 46, it wasn’t because I’d thoughtfully concluded “hey, I have some ‘need yoga’ signs.” I started just because yoga’s a weekly part of the P90X home fitness program. Luck.

This article was originally published at OlderBeast, whose mission is to help 45+ guys “double down” on body-and-soul health for the 2nd half of their life.

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WTF does empowerment even mean? – Off The Mat

I'm sure you've seen this buzzword almost everywhere. Self-development groups. Sales pages. Speeches. Life coach advertisements. But if you're like me, empowerment doesn't really mean something specific - it's more of a vague reference to something to do with self-development. Broken down, it would mean "to give yourself power", but in what context? Until recently, I was still unclear about the meaning of "empowerment", or even what it was. Tools? Information? A concept? It wasn't until last week that the concept of empowerment finally clicked

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8 Minute Back Flow

Only have a few minutes? Use this quick flow to improve spinal mobility, strengthen your core, and make your back feel great.

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The Most Humbling Balance Exercise

Yoga is fantastic for many reasons. But one critical aspect of fitness mainstream yoga tends to forget is STRENGTH in end range of motion.

What is this referring to? By strength, I’m referring to the ability to control the muscle; to exert force. End range of motion refers to the maximum depth of a posture, or the deepest we can go into a stretch. Putting these terms together, strength in end range of motion, means being able to exert force when we are at our most flexible.

Yet…

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Engage And Recover

This is an active recovery workout to help you speed up your recovery, improve energy levels, and relieve muscle tension and tightness. It’s perfect for the day after an intense workout, or a day when you’re just not feeling up to a high-energy workout. The workout starts off with a few intense, full-body exercises, but within less than 7 minutes winds down to a stretch session. The goal is to get your muscles turned on so we can better stretch them, to help you recover, feel better, and get back to 100%. Enjoy!

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32 Minute Warrior

Check out this featured workout from the Man Flow Yoga Workout Library! This workout focuses on slow holds and a few select postures to develop total body strength and mobility, focused on your hips and upper-body. Improve mobility, increase strength and endurance, and even build your muscular awareness. You’re going to enjoy this one!

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