July 31st Yoga Challenge

We have come to the end of July! Although I loved the Yogangsters challenge, I am excited for a new month. Because today is the last day, the creators of the challenge thought it would be a great idea to take the opportunity to meditate and rest in our pose. So of course we are doing the 'Lotus'. 

Everyone's pose looks a tad different with the lotus because of flexibility and the differences in the lengths of our limbs. So don't over-extend yourself or worry that you are not doing it right.

Stay tuned for our challenge for next month, and a chance to win an Eights & Weights t-shirt :)

Cheers Eights & Weights!

July 30th Yoga Challenge

I can't believe July is almost over. One more day for the Yogangsters challenge! Today is the Garland (a.k.a. the Prayer Squat). Squat as low as you can with your heels still on the ground, bring your palms together into a prayer stance, and use your elbows to push your knees out wider for an extended stretch. 

This is one of my favorites even though it is pretty painful.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

July 29th Yoga Challenge

So the challenge for today is another upside-down "on your elbows" type challenge. Sorry... I didn't make these up. The Yogangsters challenge today is a variation of the forearm stand. I know... I know... but the more you challenge your body, the more it would thank you. Try this pose bending one leg behind you, and having the other straight out in front of you.

With today's challenge, I'd like us to actually do some reflection. If you are going through one thing or the other in life, try to channel that into your workout. Let it help you calm your mind a little and realize that life is okay and you can get through anything.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

July 28th Yoga Challenge

The Yogangsters challenge for today is a variation of the bow pose. Hold one foot with the opposite palm, and either pull the foot towards you, or use your upper body to pull the foot away from you. I prefer the second option as I usually feel more of a stretch in my butt when I do it this way. Then lift your upper body a little off the ground and stretch your other arm forward.

Cheers Eights and Weights!

July 27th Yoga Challenge

The Yogangsters challenge for today is the standing forehead to knee bend. Stand, hold one foot and extend that leg straight forward while keeping the other foot straight. Once you are comfortable and have got your balance, slowly bring your forehead to the knee that is raised. Both legs should be as straight as possible at this point for a great stretch through your legs, your neck, and your arms. Repeat on both sides. Here is an illustration.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

July 26th Yoga Challenge

Today was difficult for me with the yoga challenge. My muscles are so sore that I think I need a massage or some more yoga to get them loose. The Yogangsters challenge for today is the Baby Visvamitrasana (also sometimes called the Baby Flying Warrior pose in English). There is also another pose sometimes called the flying warrior so it's easy to mix them up. Anyway, here is the pose. Make sure you warm up your entire body before you try this.

Try to get your hips to lean more forward than I am doing above. And try to twist your upper body a little more so you are facing the ceiling.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

July 25 Challenge

Fast Paced: I like to follow Tumblr fitness blogs, and so I came across this today. Try it!

July 24th Challenge

Fast Paced: TribeSports released another great round of high intensity exercises. How many of these can you do?

July 23rd Challenge

Fast Paced: Today, we're focusing on the legs, so here is a great overall workout for your bottom half. Do it as many times as you can.

July 20, 21, and 22 Challenges

The weekend's gone, and our challenges with it. Sunday was a rest day for the fast-paced challenge, but we did have the yoga challenge every day. For more up-to-date posts and updates, please check out the Instagram page "@eightsnweights".

Fast Paced: Since we have not been very consistent with the posts for the fast-paced challenge, feel free to mix it up as you like. This was the challenge for Saturday, July 20th.

July 19th Yoga Challenge

Today's yogangsters challenge is the wide legged forward bend. You can do this touching the mat, but if you can't quite reach as far down, intertwine your fingers behind you to get a great stretch through your shoulders. Hold each stretch for about 30 seconds to get the flexibility benefits.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

July 18th Challenge

Fast Paced: We have one again! I know it says Day 13, but this will be our challenge for today.

July 17th Challenge

Fast Paced: So we're going to take a little turn and try some other challenges this month because of the challenge we've faced getting the daily challenges in time to put up. Today, we'll take a trip back and do the upper arm and abs challenge I had put up a while back. 

TribeSports Substitute for the July Challenge

Due to a lot of technical difficulties, Fitandfree_forall has not been able to post her challenges as frequently as she'd like. So I thought for today, I'd give you a substitute fitness challenge to take on. Do this as many times as you can.

Late July 13th to 14th Challenges

Ugh! I hate when I have technical problems. I'm sorry I couldn't put these up earlier as I had planned. I hope you still managed to get your workout in this weekend.

Fast Paced: The following were for days 11 and 12 (July 13th and 14th). You can mix them up and do what you can.

July 12th Challenges!

Fast Paced: Woo hoo! Today is a rest day! We have gone halfway through, and will continue tomorrow. Put your feet up, relax, recuperate and get ready to get back in it on Saturday.

July 11th Challenges

Fast Paced: We are halfway through! This challenge is for 20 days, and we've successfully hit day 10! Clap for yourselves :)

July 10th Challenges!

Fast Paced: It's day 9 of the fast paced workout. Have you been having trouble? Are you enjoying the workout? Let us know!

July 9th Challenges!

So today is the 9th, and we have been getting these challenges in! Please share with your friends, family, colleagues, etc. Let's get people to start moving in July.

Fast Paced: As you know, there was one rest day on Saturday, so this is day 8. We're going for 20 days.

July 8 Challenges

Because the "dates" may not always be consistent with the "days" on the challenges, I´m labelling the title by the date. The fast paced challenge is only 20 days and so there are rest days in between. The yoga challenge goes every day.