Category: Fitness
-
Physical confidence
By Jay Hiller, September 2, 2023 Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash When I’d only be doing yoga a few years, I went to a class where I was given this instruction for Warrior I: “You know, mmmmmmmm.” I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, and when I thought about that instruction, I…
-
Want a better life? Walk if you’re able.
by Jay Hiller, August 4, 2023 Photo by Arturo Castaneyra on Unsplash At noon yesterday in Austin it was over a hundred degrees and I had a lunch appointment at a restaurant half a mile from my office, a distance I would walk without thinking twice if the weather were better. I decided to walk,…
-
Morning Quarry Swim
By Jay Hiller, June 30, 2023 Photo by Christopher Coronado, Lifetime Fitness website My husband likes movie quotes. “I’ll take you someplace you’ve never been before,” he said the other day. (Do you know what movie that’s from?) I knew where we were going. He went about a week ago after clearing brush for a…
-
A conversation, not a wrestling match
By Jay Hiller, May 30, 2023 Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash In her book, Yoga For Bendy People, Libby Hensley recommends that foam rollering be approached as a conversation with your body, rather than a wrestling match. By that I think she means that we should approach foam rollering as an inquiry and not…
-
I need more mat Pilates in my life
By Jay Hiller, May 19, 2023 Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash A long time ago I attended mat Pilates classes once a week. The teacher, Amanda Avis, was exceptionally good. I learned so much and then…she moved out of state and I just haven’t made time for it again. I impulsively decided…
-
An ongoing experiment
By Jay Hiller, May 17, 2023 Photo by Alex Kondratiev on Unsplash It took me a while to realize that for many years I’ve been running an ongoing health experiment on my body. I try stuff, sometimes with good results, as in swimming, running, yoga, weightlifting, sometimes not so good, as candy bars advertising themselves…
-
The Don’t-Be-a-Pain-in-the-Butt-While-on-Vacation exercise program
By Jay Hiller, March 27, 2023 Do you have to be over 42 to recognize this brand? (Jersey City, NJ March 26, 2023. Photo by me.) I had a great weekend visiting family in New Jersey this week. At home, for the most part, I’m disciplined with my workouts and I avoid some foods for…
-
Aqua Workout
by Jay Hiller, February 26, 2023 The width of the blade across the top of these bells determines how much you drag you experience. If you look closely you can see a difference between the blue ones (widest) and the green ones (narrowest.) These are made by Aqua Logix This was new and fun After…
-
Shaking off the blahs: today’s upper body workout
by Jay Hiller, December 20, 2022 This is not me. Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash I felt lethargic when I got home from work this afternoon, which surprised me. I thought I could take a day off yesterday and shake things off. It would have been easy to sit on the couch today. Part…
-
I like the hex bar
by Jay Hiller, December 9, 2022 About 3 weeks ago, I had this idea that I thought would work well to squat using a hex bar. If you’re not familiar with them, you stand in the middle of them and hold onto the handles. The orientation of your torso changes whether you’re squatting or deadlifting…