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Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Include Yoga Into Your Fitness

October 11, 2013 by drburt

Yoga is one of the more comprehensive types of exercise, meaning that it excels in terms of delivering a full-body workout and improving more than just one muscle group.

In fact, yoga is designed to benefit not just your body, but your mind and thought process as well by providing a variety of meditation and stretching exercises that help you relax. While it certainly improves muscular strength, flexibility and cardiovascular strength, yoga’s benefits reach far beyond what a typical workout can deliver.

So, even if you already have a workout routine that you’re happy with, you should consider adding yoga because of how broadly it can benefit your body.

Particularly for those who might struggle with their flexibility, yoga can really help to improve other aspects of your workouts by making you more flexible.

To give a clearer picture of how yoga can help, you here are five ways it is the most beneficial:

1. Flexibility: Since yoga is primarily a series of stretches, flexibility is an obvious and primary benefit.

As we’ve already mentioned, those looking to improve flexibility should consider adding yoga simply for that fact alone. The increased flexibility you develop as a result of yoga can then translate into other types of physical activity, like other exercises or sports.

You’ll also reduce your risk of injury in other sports, since yoga stretches will tend to address nearly your entire body.

2. Posture: Posture is something that doesn’t often get discussed in casual exercise talk, but it’s extremely important if you want to get the most out of your workout and properly develop your muscles while maintaining a straight spinal column.

Yoga can help improve your posture by maintaining a straight spine and working the muscles that are responsible for poor posture in the first place.

Some might call this type of exercise as “corrective,” and can incorporate yoga or strength training, though yoga moves are a particularly effective way to improve in this area.

3. Breathing: You might find it hard to see how a stretching move could challenge your breathing, but yoga combines stretching, isometrics poses and posture, which, together can increase your heart rate and even build muscle strength.

It also forces you to control your breathing while performing the moves, which can help you while running or when engaging in other heart-strenuous activities.

4. Stress Relief: One of the reasons that yoga has become so popular is that it has become an effective tool for relieving stress and helps the mind and body to relax. While part of that is up to of how much you’re able to focus and relax your own mind, the poses are designed to help you do that and to keep your mind clear while you’re working out.

Relaxing and clearing your mind is an important component of any workout, so adding yoga to help boost that aspect of your routine is certainly a smart move, especially if you find yourself stressed out by exercise, but you still want to stay in shape.

Boosting Your Routine

Yoga can give your exercise routine a pretty significant boost since it addresses the entire body, while improving it in areas that will help you during other workouts.

If you are not already actively doing yoga, just start by including a few basic yoga moves into your workout routine and go from there. The more you’re comfortable with, the more you’ll be able to work into your exercise schedule.

Keep it simple at first and then move onto the more advanced yoga poses when you’re ready.

Virginia Cunningham is a freelance health writer for NorthWest and yoga enthusiast in Southern California. She personally practices yoga every day not only to increase her flexibility, but to keep her mind relaxed and to improve her posture. It’s something that she enjoys doing on a daily basis, and her kids love to join her as well!

Mountain Bike Rider Down, Help with FundRaiser

April 19, 2013 by drburt

This is not a typical blog post about a health topic or a race course that I have recently participated in. This is a desperate situation for a friend who is fighting for his life and to this day is in coma. Please read to the end of this blog post.

More than 100 Mountain bikers came together this past Saturday at Anthony Chabot Regional Park in support of a fellow biker, Jerry Javier and his family.

Jerry was training for the Sea Otter Classic mountain bike race when he suffered a very severe head injury on 04/07/2013, after taking a hard fall and hitting his head . The course was challenging and rough but nothing Jerry had not ridden before. Although he was wearing a helmet, it was not enough to protect him. He lost consciousness immediately after the crash and had to be Air Lifted by a Helicopter to San Jose Medical Regional Center. To this day he remains in a coma. The doctors say they “are hopeful” that he will wake up, but only time will tell. As of yesterday’s MRI we have learned that Jerry was diagnosed with DAI(diffuse axonal injury), the prognosis is unpredictable, he may wake up in a few days, weeks or months. We just have to hope and pray for the best.

So Lake Chabot Riders (LCR) mountain bike club organized a “vibe ride” and fundraiser/auction to help support Jerry’s increasing hospital bills and his family’s needs. Numerous bikers around the area came together as a family to help support a fellow biker in need. These kinds of accidents hit close to the heart because it could be any one of us that crash and end up unfortunately like Jerry. The bikers all came together for a 20 mile ride to “send” their strength and positive vibes to Jerry while he is in the hospital. It was such an awesome experience to feel so much positive energy all focused on healing Jerry.

After the ride an auction took place which consisted of donations given from various bike shops including Endless Cycles right here in Castro Valley. LCR was also selling a “get well Jerry” bracelet for $5 which are available for purchase. The total amount of donations received at the event was around $2500 which will help out, but there is so much more money needed in support of Jerry and his family.

If you’d like to make a donation Jerry Javier Recovery Fund, please check a fund raiser link: Jerry Javier Recover Fund .

Thank you for supporting Jerry Javier Recovery Fund. He will ride again!!!

TBF 50 at Folsom Lake, Granite Bay – 2012

February 3, 2013 by drburt

TBF 50 at Folsom Lake, Granite Bay – 2012

We have arrived to Oakland from Denver around 10pm. My gear was ready at my house for the race of the year TBF 50 – 50 miles on a single speed mountain bike. With only five hours of sleep left I was hoping to catch some zzzzzzs at my friend’s car. We were supposed to meet at 6am in San Ramon and transfer my gear into his car. I have made it to our rendezvous on time. We have transferred my gear onto his vehicle and took off to Folsom. Marcelo and his son Nick were too caffeinated and wanted to talk nothing but bikes and race. Both of them were super excited and both of them were doing solo 50 miler as well in a different category.

We have arrived to a Granite Bay very fast. It took us about an hour and a half. Marcelo and myself both were racing our custom NTP bikes built by Dan. We opened our camp right next to our Titanium bike builder and avid bike rider Dan Nelson. Today I am racing a bike built by him – single speed 29er. Ultra light and super strong – XL size frame under 20 pounds. There were many other riders from LCR and Barangay who were racing solo and relay. Marcelo, his son(wearing +3 jersey) and Dan were racing 50 miler solo on geared bikes each in their own age category. It was actually great to see many avid riders in person vs. seeing their rides on Strava or Plus3network.

As time was approaching closer to a start time everyone seemed to be a bit nervous. People were sizing their competition from their ears to toes. I did not know till the end how many people were going to be in my single speed category. All I knew it was going to be a tough and very painful race before I cross a finishing lane.

The weather conditions were prefect that day. The sun was covered by the clouds and the air was crispy clear with a little bit of mist in the air. That would guaranteed the maximum performance with minimum hydration – about a bottle of a liquid per lap.

As soon as the race began everyone was rushing to a single track in order to avoid a traffic congestion and being delayed on their timing. I was one of those riders. Last year I have lost about 2 minutes there and was not going to do the same mistake again. During this push through to a single track I saw several riders from my category. They looked pretty slim and in great shape overall. The only thought that was on my mind that this was going to be a tough race. I was going to keep my pace at near the maximum heart rate with some nice recoveries of flat sections and down the hill sections. This kind of distance on a single speed and mountain technical terrain requires patients and strategy in order to have a successful finish. If you go too fast you will burn your glycogen level way too fast and will slow down at the end which will result in bad results. General mental fatigue and muscle bonk is another important issue to watch out for. Lack of focusing during a maneuvering a technical terrain can cause serious injury during a crash. About the crash a bit later in this post.

The first lap was fairly easy. I have discovered that organizers have added a relatively difficult sandy section with rolling hills. Going through this section during each lap would be very painful and difficult. During a second lap I have noticed that my front wheel was not holding air pressure. That probably happened when I hit a small bolder with my front wheel on my rigid fork. I took a risk by not stopping and pumping more air in. I had to wait 6 more miles till

I finish the lap and stop by an aid station where I can use stationary pump and save at least a minute. My gamble with a front wheel worked out and I was on my way to a third lap. During this lap I began passing quite a few racers on geared bikes. Two other guys from a single speed category caught up to me and three of us were fighting for a position. One of the guys has been dropped and never been seen again. The other guys took over and pushed forward ahead of me increasing the distance. I had to watch out for my heart rate and pace. I kept steady after this guy and was going to wait for a water tower climb which is a very steep climb. I have noticed that he was hitting his leg, which indicated he was bonking. Two thirds through climb he stopped and screamed because of the agonizing pain in his right calf. I passed him but this guy caught to me 10 minutes later again. I must say – strong guy. We have been rotating by pulling each other for the next 30-40 minutes and became so to speak friendly. However, on the next big climb the guy bonked again. I gave him a pack of GU with electrolytes and wished him good luck. I have never seen him again on a course.

I got my confidence back and began accelerating towards the end of a third lap. I have passed more and more riders as people began running out of energy. One can’t be too confident on such a technical course. On a third lap at the last downhill technical section I have crashed really hard. I will spare the explanation and instead you can just judge by looking at the photo. It took me about 30 seconds to shake myself up and check my bike first and then myself – fortunately nothing was broken. I continued on a third lap, picked up my last bottle of water and was on my way to a fourth lap. The tire pressure was holding up pretty good, considering that I have pumped 40 psi on 30 recommended.

Half way through a last lap I caught up with few guys who I knew from riding and racing together. The mental fatigue and muscle pain was growing from passing every mile. On a 44th mile of the race my right calf began its screaming concert. Every downhill section I was using my fist to massage it and give it some rest. I was really concerned about water tower climb. That is the last very steep section before the end of the lap. I began my climb to the top slow and steady.

Two thirds through a climb I have noticed a rider from LCR who was sitting down and trying coop with the pain. I have pulled over and told him that I will walk with him to the top, basically, providing him a mental push. It worked. He gained his momentum back and began pulling away from me. After the water tower climb it was straight shot to a finishing lane with some minor climbs and single tracks. I was very excited that this painful race was about to be over and I could not wait till I see my results. The last mile I was spinning as hard as I could possibly spin on a single speed. By that time my adrenaline rush took over and I could not feel the pain from my crash, muscle pain and mental fatigue. It was all about crossing that finishing lane.

After checking my results I have found out that I have finished 4th which qualified me for a podium. I was stocked. Overall my timing was better than last year’s timing, considering that terrain was a bit harder this year due to the change of the course by organizers. Regular chiropractic care, deep tissue massage, proper diet and of course steady training all played a great role in a successful completion of this race. Thanks to everyone who came along and enjoyed this awesome once a year event. I will be back in 2013.

Healthy Living In Denver Colorado

November 17, 2012 by drburt

Last month I had a chance to travel to Denver Colorado with my family. It was a mix of business and pleasure. We took our 5 year old son with us to explore something new. After living in the Continental USA for over 20 years I have realized that I have traveled more to see the rest of the world like Asia, Europe and Middle East and never really explored the life in the rest of the country. Besides living in Brooklyn, New York for 5 years and travel by car in four days to the West Coast – originally to Los Angeles area and then to San Francisco Bay Area where I have been living and working ever since. Last year we have visited New Orleans and this year it was time to explore a new city.

We have arrived to our hotel in Denver really late at night. It took a while to get a luggage, take air train to a bus took us to a rental car terminal and driving to a hotel. We woke up in the morning relatively early. Through the window of our hotel we were able to see the Mountains that surrounded Denver which were completely covered in a snow. I was trying to find the image on my camera of this amazing view but I was not able to. However, I have an image of the beautiful sky tat was all over the news that day.

The weather was really nice about75F and stayed like that pretty much the entire week, which was very warm for this time of the year for Denver, Colorado. We began our day by stopping at local Starbucks. Hot green tea and protein pack is our morning meal when we travel. Drive towards downtown Denver was nice and pleasant. The architecture along the way was very clean and modern. Most of the people in Downtown Denver live in multifamily buildings in spacious lofts or condo apartments. The city continues to expand its multi residential real estate with construction sites in different parts of the town.

Denver is full of life. Denver University brings in a lot of young people from all over the country and different parts of the world. I was able to hear people speaking Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Hindu and some other languages that my ear was not able recognize. Multiple restaurants and bar with tables outside attract many people to eat out. Denver is an extremely clean city. No matter what part of the town I was visiting it was still very clean. This is a photo from a zombie walk festival – one of the residents. A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes. Usually taking place in an urban center, the participants make their way around the city streets and through shopping malls to a public space (or a series of taverns in the case of a zombie pub crawl) in a somewhat orderly fashion.

Downtown has Bcycle station where you can rent the bike by an hour, day, week or a month or even get an annual pass. If you use the bike for 30 minutes between each Bcycle station it is absolutely FREE. All you need is your credit card to secure the payment and you are good to go. It is a great way to commute around downtown and avoiding driving a car and paying for very expensive parking for your vehicle. It is also an extremely healthy and green way to move around the town. Bcycle continue to expand its terminal station throughout downtown Denver.

LoHi, is the eastern section of popular Highland. Bordered by West 38th Ave, I-25, Zuni Street St and Speer. It’s home to young singles, urban professionals and growing families, who enjoy the quiet streets and proximity to neighborhood galleries, coffee shops and some of the city’s best eateries. This emerging area is home to exciting new modern architecture, which sit along side historic Victorian homes and brownstones. The Highland pedestrian bridge connects the ‘hood to downtown’ action.

There many things that little ones can do to entertain themselves. Denver Aquarium is an amazing place with great collection of fresh and salt water fish and animals. Children museum is another fun place for kids. I think fire truck and bubble blowing is the most fun our son have had while playing there. Hammonds Candy factory has a free tour for everyone every 30 minutes with fresh candy as a present at the end of the tour. Abundance of parks around the city with many playgrounds makes it easy for children to burn their energy and for adults to take a brake outside.

My family has really enjoyed visiting Denver. Perhaps next time we are in this neighborhood we will also visit the nearby towns such as Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Spring and the surrounding country sites. Next year we are planning for San Diego and Chicago trips.