For the past several years or more that I’ve been doing bodybuilding in the gym, I’ve mostly done workouts on the machines and free weights. I did a lot of dumbbell workouts over the years. When I got into boxing several months back, I’ve been doing kettlebell workouts more which I’m liking. Honestly, I am actually liking kettlebell workouts more than dumbbells. I think I’m gonna do kettlebell stuff a lot more at the gym. Before I discovered boxing, I never did kettlebell stuff before. Starting this week, I’m going to do research on how to do kettle bell workouts for each body part. I’m going to experiment with kettlebell stuff on each bodypart. Yeah, I know you don’t want to do each body part all in the same day… I’ll just do my regular weekly routine like I always do. I’m just going to do kettlebell stuff instead of machines & dumbbells for a while to see how that goes.

I can start by learning kettlebell workouts through bodybuilding.com which is a great site:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kettlebells.htm

I’m sure I can find plenty of stuff in youtube. Kettlebells are awesome. Thanks to the boxing class at the Y, I want to do kettlebell stuff a lot more and I will this week.

Kev

So I’ve been onto Yoga for a couple of months or little more now. It may seem like Yoga is a women’s only workout but not really. Anybody can get into Yoga. Yoga is most popular with women of course but there are guys that get into it too. Even though, I’m just a beginner at Yoga for now, I’ve noticed that I am getting a little more flexible. I can’t do a full leg split yet but I am noticing that my legs can spread wider than ever before so yoga definitely works. I am getting a lot better with the balancing too. I can’t do head stands yet but I’m gonna learn.

I’m already addicted with Yoga and plan to stay committed to it throughout 2017. I’ll try not to take too many breaks either ’cause I really need a flexible body. I’ve just learned that if you want to get into bodybuilding, weightlifting, boxing or martial arts… you need a flexible body for that stuff so you can prevent injury and all that stuff. Plus, Yoga is good for your health and you can improve your life. Yoga not only does things for your body, it does a lot of things for your mind too. Yoga is a great stress reliever, helps get your mind off of everything, can help you become a more positive and confident person. Will definitely make you happier too.

Yeah, I have become quite a Yoga fanatic already. Pretty soon this year, I plan to buy my own yoga strap, yoga blocks and maybe I’ll buy a few yoga DVDs too so I can have my own yoga sessions at home. Some mistakenly believe that you’re too old for Yoga but Yoga can be for anybody of any age. I’m 40 now and it’s a good time to get into it. Yoga is actually great for those who are getting older. I am feeling it each time I do a yoga sessions at the Y and already am feeling a little “flexibility”.

Yoga is awesome and I’m planning to stick with it. Some may think it’s kind of weird for men to get into yoga but it’s not weird at all. Men need to do it whether they want to admit it or not. THere’s a myth out there that Yoga is a women’s workout but please… guys just say that ’cause they are too lazy to get into yoga. They think Yoga looks boring to them which is why a lot of men don’t get into Yoga. Instead they would rather hang in the weight room building muscle. Nothing wrong with that but flexibility is important with bodybuilding too. With flexible arms, that’ll help you lift weights better too. I have noticed a little improvement when lifting weights myself in the gym.

I don’t really need to lift weights in the gym much ’cause Yoga and boxing will workout your whole body anyways. I still do lift weights but I only do that like once or twice a week now that I’ve gotten into yoga and boxing ’cause I don’t want to do too much.

Yoga is an amazing feeling, though. You gotta give it a try. It may look boring but once you do it, you’ll love it. As a matter of fact, I like yoga more than bodybuilding now. Yoga is brutal which is why I like it. You can get a sexy look body doing yoga, not spending a lot of time in the weight room. Bodybuilding is kind of overrated, I just wanted to try something different and am liking yoga a lot more. Yoga will get you in good enough shape too.

Kev

I went to the gym for yoga class last night and saw that there was no Yoga but instead “pilates” class was scheduled. So I stayed and gave pilates a try ’cause I needed the workout anyways. I found that pilates is awesome. “Pilates” and “Yoga” are both very similar… just slightly different. With “pilates” you can still get a flexible body ’cause that’s what it’s for. If you want a flexible body, you either take “yoga” or “pilates”. “Pilates” definitely feels a little different than Yoga, though. After my “Pilates” session last night, it made my legs feel a little weird. Maybe a little sore walking around but that’s good! You want to feel like that. I’ve always felt that if you’re not feeling “sore”, you didn’t get a good workout in like the old saying goes, “No pain, no gain” is so true if you think about it. I really liked pilates a lot and would like to do a lot more of it.

I really want and need a flexible body ’cause it’s important. Of course, with my scoliosis might be a bit challenging ’cause my back can’t bend forward or backward at all (I have the harrington rod) but I can get a flexible body with the legs and arms, though.

I still don’t have a very flexible body yet ’cause I have a long ways to go. I am feeling it as I improve little by little the more I do these things. It should take me about a year or so to get a flexible body but I’ll get it. Soon I’ll be able to do leg splits and all kinds of cool things which is what I want.

Kev

I’ve been onto Yoga for a little over a month now. Been taking yoga sessions like once a week at the Y. I’m gonna have to start buying Yoga DVD’s so I can start doing my own yoga sessions at home for a couple of days a week. I’m really loving Yoga. It’s really awesome and feels real good. I am getting better at balancing ’cause I practice that everyday. Getting good with balancing does take a lot of practice and work. Same with getting flexible. I don’t have a flexible body at all but I want it, though. It’s gonna be a long while for me to get real flexible. If I keep at it, before you know it, I’ll be able to bring my leg high up above my head and will be able to do splits and all that stuff.

Yoga is a great feeling ’cause it’s a great stress reliever. Probably the best stress reliever out there. It helps make you happy, more confident, more positive and all that stuff.

Once I start getting good with Yoga, I’ll videotape myself doing some poses for ya. There are only a few certain poses I can’t do ’cause of my harrington rod ’cause metal can’t bend but I’m able to do most Yoga poses just fine.

I hate most fitness style workouts like zumba, hip hop dancing, spinning and all that crap… I feel that Yoga and Boxing is best for me. I love doing both.

For the past month I’ve been doing both, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten stronger and feeling a bit of a change. I don’t have to lift weights in the gym as much anymore ’cause Yoga and boxing will get you in shape pretty good. I only lift weights in the gym like once or twice a week now.

I suck at jump roping but getting a lot better at that too the more I practice. Not bad for someone who is about to turn 40 soon. I plan to stay dedicated to boxing and yoga for a pretty long time. Will stick with it throughout 2017. As for boxing, that’s going real good too. I really want to learn to fight better and the boxing teacher has been teaching me a lot which I feel grateful. Hopefully someday I’d like to do some sparring when the time is right. Would be fun.

I just felt I had to do some different kinds of workouts, ya know? Lifting weights in the gym can be boring after a while and I want to do something more exciting and fun. Boxing and yoga is fun and I’d rather stick with those.

Kev

I’ve been going to boxing and yoga classes at the Y for the past 4 or 5 weeks now. Both are becoming a little easier as I go along. I improve at both. My boxing instructor seems to be pretty impressed with my boxing skills already ’cause he teaches me new things as we go along. I learned a few new things in boxing last night. Pretty soon, I plan to get my own heavybag and a speedbag for home ’cause I really need ’em for practice. I feel I’m already a pretty tough boxer. I hit the heavybag pretty hard and fast so if you ever decide to fight me, watch out, lol. During the boxing class, I would practice my punch skills while the instructor wears the mitts. I practice boxing with the mitts which is fun. I make a few mistakes now and then but not that bad. I pay attention and I take boxing very seriously. The other students in the class seem to be impressed with me ’cause sometimes I’ll see a few of them watching me. A few of them would look over to see what I’m doing. I’m even impressed with myself ’cause I didn’t think I could do all that. I love boxing. I take it very seriously and don’t mess around. I’m not training for a boxing match, just wanna learn to defend myself just in case some tough guy wants to pick a fight with me, ya know? I really want to get my own heavybag soon, I really need one.

As far as yoga goes, that’s going really good too. Yoga and boxing are both good together ’cause you need the flexibility for boxing too. I’m still struggling a lot in yoga ’cause I’m not that flexible yet but I’m getting there, though. I’m starting to feel a little flexible the more I do it. Still having trouble with balancing but I’ll get good at that too. It’ll be a long while for me to get real good with yoga. Yoga takes time and patience. The other people in the class are way better than me at yoga ’cause they’ve been doing it way longer than I have. The other women in the class can do some pretty impressive poses. I’ve seen them doing head stands and leg splits and all that shit. I hope to do that stuff as well.

What I like about going to these classes at the gym is that you get to meet new people. I have been meeting new people through these classes which is awesome. Ya know, I don’t think I’m shy being around people anymore. I have no problem talking with complete strangers now which is what I need to do more often. I’ve met some cool women through these classes too. Not sure if they’re single or not but it don’t matter, these classes are good for meeting new people and possibly make new friends too which is another reason I go to these for. I need to be more outgoing and stop being such an introvert and I’m trying my best.

Kev

I’ve been having boxing class for the past 3 or 4 weeks at the Y I go to in my hometown of Greenwich. For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to find some kind of fighting lessons whether it’s martial arts or boxing. Finally, I found there’s weekly boxing classes at the Y. I don’t have to pay anything at the Y ’cause as long as you subscribe to the Y monthly, the classes there are free along with membership.

I want to learn how to fight better so I can defend myself just in case, ya know? If someone wants to try and kick my ass, I’ll be able to defend myself. So I took on some boxing which I’m really loving.

After doing boxing for the past couple of weeks made me realize that Floyd Mayweather Jr. was a genius in the ring. I really mean that too. Boxing may look like an easy sport but it’s not. Boxing is actually very challenging and technical. I used to hate Floyd Mayweather Jr. like everyone else but I’ll have a change of heart with him. People like to think that Floyd Jr. is a cheat and doesn’t play fair but I think he absolutely knew what he was doing. Floyd Jr. was a great fighter. It takes a lot of skill to avoid getting hit ’cause that’s what boxing is all about.

I do like boxing, I just haven’t watched it all that much over the years. I used to watch a lot of Mike Tyson fights back in the day, though. I think I’ve seen a few Floyd Jr. fights too. I should watch boxing a lot more. I’ll have to look through the sports channels on TV to see if they have boxing on them ’cause I can learn a lot more about boxing just by watching other fights.

Will I ever get myself in an actual boxing ring in a real match someday? I don’t know. That will probably never happen but who knows though, if I keep it up, who knows what may happen and I could get their attention if I keep doing good. Other than that, I just want to do boxing just for fun for the most part. I don’t think a real boxing match would happen for me ’cause of my scoliosis and “eyesight”. I don’t have good eyesight and wear glasses. Boxing requires good eyesight. It is a blast to do. My boxing teacher seems to be impressed with me ’cause the more I do good, the more new boxing moves I learn. He just taught me the uppercut and taught me how to slip a punch. You know slip a punch, you move out of the way when your opponent jabs at you.

Boxing is very challenging ’cause you have to keep an eye on your opponent at all times. Watch the arms to see if he will strike you. If you make even one mistake, you’re done so you got to make sure you know what you’re doing at all times.

Like I said before, I’m planning on buying my own heavy bag and I’m gonna buy a speedbag too so I can practice on my own at home everyday.

So some of you ask, am I planning to fight someone? No. I just want to learn to defend myself just in case as I said above. I know martial arts and boxing are used for self defense only. I know violence isn’t the answer but if I’m hit first, I’ll have no problem hitting back. I’m doing okay in boxing but still got a lot more work to do, though. Still a beginner. I take boxing very seriously. Nothing is stopping me from what I want to do in life.

Kev

Well, I’m so glad I got into Yoga. It’s already been like 4 or 5 weeks I’ve gotten into Yoga and since then I’ve been feeling really good. Yoga is great for a lot of things. Are you a weightlifter and bodybuilder? Well, Yoga will definitely help you lift weights whether working out on machines or free weights, flexibility will help you lift better. Yoga will also help make you stronger enough to lift heavier weights too and it has helped me already I’m noticing.

Yoga will help you on so many things. It’s crazy. Yoga not only does things for your body, it also does things for your mind. Yoga will make you happier, more positive and will help make you love yourself more. In other words, Yoga will help your self-acceptance. If you hate yourself and feeling depressed and all that stuff, Yoga will help turn your life around into a more positive person. Yoga will also help you get more confident in life. Yoga did help me become less shy and more outgoing. Yoga is a big time stress reliever for sure. Yoga is the best stress reliever out there.

There’s so many things that Yoga will do for you. You’ll get a lot more respect from people for getting into Yoga and people will feel proud of you and stuff. Yoga will also help improve your posture — it’ll help improve the way you stand or sit. Due to my scoliosis, I’ll admit that I don’t stand perfectly straight but Yoga will help me stand straighter and it will help me to walk better too. Yoga will also help get you less body pain. Yoga will also help you live longer in life. It’ll also help you get smarter and have better muscle memory.

4 or 5 weeks into Yoga and I’m already getting a little better. Still struggling on balancing but I’m slowly getting better at that too. It takes a lot of practice and patience to get good with balancing on one leg. I gotta get good with arm balancing too ’cause Yoga does a lot of that. I’m not that flexible yet but I will be the more I keep at it. I just gotta keep doing the stretches and practice.

I love Yoga, though. It’s definitely the best style of workout out there. If you want to have a sexy as hell body and look great, take Yoga. That’ll do it to you. Sure, you can get a sexy and hot body through bodybuilding but that’ll take a long time and hardwork. Yoga will get you built quick ’cause it’s a tough workout, trust me. Yoga is brutal. Yoga is definitely a great muscle building workout and a great fat burner workout too. You want to have a great body and ripped abs, Yoga will do that. That’s why you see so many hot women in Yoga ’cause they have nicely fit and toned bodies for years of doing Yoga, they’ve been doing it longer. These women in my Yoga class every Wed. night, wow. They have incredible bodies from doing all that Yoga.

Yoga is an awesome feeling for sure, though. I can’t do leg splits or head stands yet but give it time, I’ll soon be able to do some incredible poses. That’s my goal, pretty much. I know Yoga is very popular with women but I wish more guys would get into it, though. I’m sure you don’t see many guys get into yoga. Probably ’cause they think Yoga is for the ladies. It’s not. It doesn’t matter who you are to get into Yoga. Anybody can get into it. Doesn’t matter the age either. In my Yoga class at the Y, I’ve seen people over 50 who are beginners and just starting out so take that if you will.

If you have a gym membership and if they have Yoga class, I’d recommend you give it a try. It’s an awesome feeling.

Kev

… I just don’t have the body for it. I’m too old to fight professionally plus even if I did try to fight in actual boxing matches locally, they wouldn’t let me in ’cause of my scoliosis. I have all kinds of other issues with my body so I wouldn’t be able to fight in an actual boxing ring which would be fun. I could do some “sparring” though, that’s probably as far as I can go. When I do “sparring”, I wouldn’t get hurt ’cause you’re supposed to take it easy during “sparring”, you’re not supposed to hit hard during “sparring”. Even though I will never fight professionally in boxing or MMA, I just do boxing just for fun and that’s it.

Boxing is just a good workout and I want to learn how to fight better to defend myself and others. I just had my 2nd boxing lesson last night at the Y and it was fun. My boxing instructor seems to be real impressed with me too ’cause I hit hard and fast. Maybe sometime I’ll video tape myself doing some boxing. Boxing is just a great workout and makes me feel real good. Boxing is just a new hobby of mine that I just discovered. I’m really loving it.

Each time I mention to someone I’m getting into boxing, someone will say, “You’re gonna get into a boxing ring and become a fighter?”. No. Not really. I do want to become a fighter but not professionally. It’s just something fun to do.

I’m still planning to buy my own heavy bag for home so I can practice everyday on my own. Boxing will definitely help get you in shape and so will Yoga. I love doing both boxing and yoga. I plan to stay committed to both. Some say I shouldn’t do too much but that really isn’t a lot, though. I can do both just fine. If I’m gonna do boxing, I need to do Yoga ’cause you need a flexible body for boxing too. So doing both is real good. I did cut down on the weight lifting though ’cause boxing and yoga will get you in shape good enough anyways. Each time I do a boxing or a Yoga session, I feel really good after. That’s what’s amazing about doing them.

I’m not a violent guy at all ’cause I know that violence is not the answer but I will punch back if I’m hit first. That’s probably the main reason why I want to get into boxing so I can defend myself. I still want to get into martial arts and karate too. Just gonna start off with boxing for a while.

Kev

One thing I love about Yoga is that it also helps you build more strength and also lose body fat the same time. Yoga is not only exercises for building a little more muscle, it’s also cardio, I’m noticing. You wanna lose weight and lose body fat, Yoga will do it. Yoga is probably the best style of workouts to get you in the best shape of your life. Each week I do Yoga, I get a lot stronger. I get a little better with balancing too.

I’ve been onto Yoga for a couple of weeks now and had about 5 yoga sessions. I love Yoga. Wish I discovered this a long time ago.

Again, since I have scoliosis and the harrington rod, some may say Yoga might be risky for people with scoliosis but not really. Most Yoga is actually pretty safe for me. Only Yoga poses I can’t be doing are backbending stuff ’cause metal can’t bend. Other than that, I can do everything else just fine.

Yoga is pretty fuckin’ awesome. Loving it so far. It really is good for your health and good for your body. Good for your breathing too. There’s too many reasons why Yoga is good.

I plan to stick with Yoga and stay dedicated. Yoga may look boring to you but once you actually do it, you would find it fun and enjoyable. I’m glad I got into it.

I may not be all that flexible yet but give it time and I will be soon.

Kev

So I’ve been on Yoga for the past 3 weeks now and had three Yoga sessions. I’m really loving it. Yoga is amazing. Each time I go, I improve little by little. Just a little at a time, ya know? I may suck at it for the first day but don’t worry. You’ll get better for each session you do. Each yoga session, you’ll get more flexible and get more strength. Each time I do a yoga session, it does kick my ass each time and when the session gets over with for the night, you feel like you’re out of breath. You’re all tired and beat.  You’re body will be very sore after too but that’s good. Yoga is gonna be very tough for me for a while but the more I keep at it, the easier it will get.

You know how they all say “practice makes perfect”? It’s the same with Yoga. I’ve been learning some stretches for flexibility and I’ve been practicing my balancing at home everyday too. I’m also getting a little better with balancing.

While I do have scoliosis and the harrington rod in my spine, some maybe a little worried that yoga is a little risky for someone with scoliosis. It’s not really. I did a little reading on it. I’ve read that Yoga is actually great for the back. There are a few poses that I won’t do ’cause they might be risky for the harrington rod like any back bending or headstands I probably won’t do but other than that, Yoga is pretty safe even for people with scoliosis. So far, I can do most poses just fine.

I got into Yoga for a flexible body ’cause I need it. I need flexible arms and flexible legs.  Once I get flexible arms and legs, I’ll be able to do leg splits soon which is what I want.

Should I become a ballet dancer or get into aerobics? Nah, lol. I’m just doing Yoga for fun ’cause I enjoy it. On a serious note, I do want to become a better dancer though ’cause I enjoy that too.

Kev