My Super-Yin Exercise Routine - Fun Fitness Without Fatigue

exercise hormones pain relief

Exercise is personal. What works for one person doesn't necessarily fit another body. What works for me, you may hate!

And vice versa. I'll never run a marathon. I know they say "never say never," but also, know thyself.

Hey, I don't want to do what I don't want to do. Simple as that.

What works in my routine -

1. I prioritize fun. If I'm not enjoying a workout, I don't do it! If I don't feel like doing something, even though it's offically "time for it," I don't do it. The top priority is listening to my body.

2. I rotate the routine to keep things balanced.

I've had phases where I only do one type of exercise. For nearly 10 years, I only did martial arts and running for fitness. That was when I ended up with muscle imbalance in my legs and glutes, a string of hamstring injuries, and chronic knee pain.

Now, I'm gratefully pain-free. What works: I rotate between active stretching --> bodyweight exercises --> walking --> yoga --> calisthenics --> dancing --> rest --> foam rolling --> swimming --> etc. / repeat

3. I keep the purpose of it intentional. It's to stay fit, flexible, strong, and to have good Qi flow. It's not to look a certain way or to be super-thin. Not for me anyhow.

I'm not sure how useful this will be for you, but I kept as detailed track as I could of my own workout regimen for 4 weeks. This month happened to include a rest week that I take every 3 months.

* Not included in here is that I take at least 1, sometimes 2, long walks with my dog every day.

Week 1

Monday: Calisthenics

Shoulder work with stretchy bands - external rotation; lat pull-downs; triceps - done to fatigue, when you can't do any more. (When I recorded this, I was still recovering from a shoulder/neck injury, so nearly every day included shoulder mobility work and deep neck stretches.)

Back-ups / (Supermen/women? what do you call them?) - up and hold 10 seconds, 3x

Hip cars - done from tabletop position, full range of motion activating the glutes and external/internal rotation; 2x slowly in each direction, both legs

Plank w/ back leg lifts, 10x each leg

Hamstring active stretches; leg lifts, 10x each leg; leg pull-ins, 10x

Clam shells, 10x each leg

Core - dead bug; legs up and lifting to ceiling, 2 minutes

Standing leg raises, with control, 10x each leg, front, back, and side

Elbow stand practice - I like to put some upside down stuff in my workouts because ... fun.

I finished with these shoulder thingies where I'm standing, shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, core engaged, arms extended above my head. My torso is a 90-degree angle from the ground. Then 10 controlled pulses of the backs of the hands up toward the ceiling. 10 pulses with the arms out wide. 10 more with the arms in a "w" shape.

I woke up the next day with my shoulders feeling great.

Tuesday: Calisthenics

30 minutes of stretches -

I just wanted to lay on the floor. So I started there. Hamstring flossing both legs, point to flex and flex to point, 3-5 times each. Leg scissors, up and down, and in and out with control, 10x each.

Core - (one song, ~3 minutes) "drawing" on the ceiling with toes, 10 v-sits (haven't done those in a while - need to get more regular again), flutter kicking, 10x. Glute bridge, regular and single-leg, 30 seconds each.

Butterfly stretch with activation. Side stretching in a straddle (say that three times fast) 60 seconds each side. Forward stretch in a straddle 60 seconds each side. And the middle.

Face down, arms streched up overhead, tops of hands pushing toward ceiling. Slowly moving in an arc until max rotation, flip hands palm up and finish at lower back. Return the movement. Repeat 3x slow. My shoulders needed that.

Plank moving into downdog with floor slide and back, 10x

Wall pushups, all 5 directions.

Wednesday: Calisthenics & Rolling

Active neck stretches (At the time, part of a daily routine. They fixed my neck and shoulder issues that plagued me since April of last year when I fell, and then August of last year when I ran into a tree 😳 and the pain returned with a vengence.)

Sitting on the floor again, lol. MOST of my workouts start on the floor so I can actively stretch into my hamstrings, hips, calves, feet.

Hamstring stretches with leg activations: pushing into the ground; bending and straightening the legs.

Leg lifts from straddle. 10x each leg, 10x both legs.

Side stretches - keeping both sides of hips on the ground. I'm starting to think that a lot of people with back pain don't focus on the flexibility of their waist.

Butterfly stretch - pushing the legs into the hands and the elbows down into the legs, then release, 3x.

Core - legs up to the ceiling, back flat on the ground, writing on the ceiling; dead bug; V-sits; etc for ~3 minutes (1 song).

Plank with shoulder shrugs to fatigue.

High lunges - with core activation, leg activation, arms up. 2 minutes each side.

Low lunges - with back knee touching the ground, 10x each leg.

Between sets, dancing around a little bit. Just for fun.

15-minute (this is pretty quick to go through the whole routine) foam rolling set: lower traps, glutes, hamstrings, quads, IT bands, calves. It's not so much "rolling" back and forth as it is finding a tense spot, breathing, pushing into it, maybe a little rock back and forth, up and down, then moving to the next tight spot.

I thought about going out salsa dancing tonight, but decided to stay in. It's a school night.

Thursday: Yoga

10:30 am yoga class. Both of my fave yoga teachers at Black Swan left the studio in the last month. But I found a new teacher there I like so I try to make her class regularly. I like her for many reasons, but first on the list is that she's doesn't have "yoga teacher voice." Do you know what I mean? YTV is kind of a fake sounding voice - like, "now, take a deeeep breath innnnn.... feel it all the way to your toesssssss..." I hate it.

My shoulder is doing better w/ tiny vinyasas, not going all the way down.

Friday: Rest

I was wiped when I got home. Instead of a workout, I had a magnesium party. Got out magnesium gel, my theragun, and a lacrosse ball. I mixed up a magnesium drink. Then I got started with some dry-brushing while watching Bringing out the Dead. How had I never heard of this movie before? It came out in 1999. Directed by Martin Scorcese, starring Nicholas Cage and a young Patricia Arquette with cheekbones that could grate cheese.

Saturday: Tango

Sometimes, when I go to a Milonga (Tango social dance) I dance a lot, like 3 hours in a row. Sometimes, I mostly sit around, sipping wine. Since it's not always the most reliable workout, before I go, I usually put some music on and move around at home first.

This night, I didn't stretch or anything beforehand. I danced for about an hour at the Milonga, and went home around 10:30. I always sleep sooo good after I go out dancing. (below: my tango friend Inga. Her and I always end up wearing the same thing, completely unplanned. For example, here's the night we both wore red dresses. Not shown: when we both wore animal print or the time we both wore indigo skirts and black tank tops.)

Sunday: More Dancing

I didn't go to my usual 5-rythyms dance thingie since the time change put me behind. I put on their playlist, though, and danced at home instead. It always starts off slow and mellow, so I'll do some deep stretching, lunges, low squats, side bending, etc. to warm up. It hypes up from there, gradually, song by song, until you're jumping around, arms in the air. Then, a gradual cool-down. It's about an hour.

Week 2

Monday: Rest

I'm just tired. I'm taking a rest day. Sunday will be one too. Planning ahead. Most weeks I aim for 2 rest days a week. Some weeks it's one; others it's 3.

Actually, all next week is a rest week. It's been 3 months now since the last one. Every 3 months or so I get a sign that I need a whole rest week. That's about how often I do that. Also, it's spring break and I'll be traveling. The timing is perfect. I'll still walk, hike, and stretch, but no regular workouts.

Tuesday: Dance

I felt restless, so put on an ecstatic dance track and moved it out. Started with rolling around all the joints (neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, ankles,...), active stretching, core. Then I progressed into aerial dance, which is basically like gymnastics. It was fun, but my shoulder was SORE when I finished. I'm out of aerial shape due to the injury. It's been forever since I've been able to do any of this stuff. I'm excited to be back to it.

Wednesday: Mobility

Shoulder mobility work with the stretchy band. These are speeding along the healing so much.

Stretchy band leg extensions too, all directions, both legs.

Planks, all directions, ~1 minute each.

Active stretching and nerve flossing, espcially the neck, waist, shoulders, and hamstrings.

3-minutes of core work.

Balancing on a yoga brick, bringing one leg up, 3-5x. Reaching down to touch the floor with one leg extended back, 3-5x.

50 minutes total. I may go salsa dancing tonight so I don't want to overdo it.

Update - didn't go salsa dancing - again. Played tennis with my daughter for 30 minutes instead.