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OK I admit “Breezy” here stands for easy more so than refreshing or cooling off  🙂

Breezy Booty that is! Vacation or summer BOOTY schedule!

Either way, this schedule will keep you in top shape while being very gentle on your body. Every so often we need to take easy for a few weeks without completely letting it all go and losing all of our hard gains. I love doing a schedule like this quite often. Probably it adds up to a third of the year for me. If we do maintenance schedules like this when we travel, when we are under stress, when we have a lot of extra activities or when we are very busy that ensures that we are supporting the body and giving it enough rest while still keeping the muscles strong and our cardiovascular endurance on point. We do not need to lose what we have worked so hard for.

Some signs that you might want to do a breezy schedule:

• lower immunity- frequent colds, infections, frequent flu.
• poor sleep
• slow recovery, muscle aches, joint pain
• moodiness
• exhaustion after a workout

I am all about working out throughout the entire year. What I do is I add varying intensity to my daily classes and my weekly schedules so that I ensure that I can workout daily and my workouts are energizing. Of course, I like my hard classes when I feel good. But in order to make sure that I can keep doing them I mix them with light days.

I vary a breezy schedule with a stronger one depending on how I feel and how much sleep I have gotten (that’s something I have to consider as a mom of a toddler). You get my point – everything fluctuates and so should our yoga schedule. We have to listen to our body. No one can tell you better than you can yourself how you or your body feels.

A proper schedule leads to :

• an improved mood
• better muscle tone, digestion
• higher energy
• a strong immunity
• a feeling of well-being
• etc

I am not a fan of taking long breaks from my fitness routine because that can lead to strength loss, decreased endurance and mood fluctuations for that period. I swear when I skip my workouts I feel similar to how I feel when I am underslept. My mood is a bit off. I get more aches and pain in my body due to increased inflammation. All in all I can work out smart and that leads to working out daily all year round. Rest days are part of that schedule. When I workout I am positive, inspired and the world seems so amazing.

There are studies done on intensity vs length of exercise and a lot of new findings coincide with my own personal feelings on the subject. We need to do maximum or 80-90% intensity once a week at the most. Lower intensity for the rest of the week. Using bodyweight with certain jumps can substitute lifting heavy weights (plyo, HIIT). Using light weights during certain compound movements can be as beneficial or more beneficial than using heavy weights in simple moves.

Certain Russian competitive athletes instead of lifting heavy weights at a regular speed can lift 60% less weight at a fast speed and build the same muscle strength. You see there are many approaches to working out smart vs working out hard. Working out smart leads to better results and a long sustained practice.

CONSISTENCY is far more important than INTENSITY!

We can totally get the maximum benefit from our exercise by doing compound moves with moderate intensity most of the week; all done in a short amount of time.

Even in the world of professional jiujitsu fighters, there is a benefit of lower intensity training.

Firas Zahabi (professional MMA trainer) says:

“I teach at a muay thai & boxing gym and enjoy watching the striking sparring. The higher skilled the strikers, the more relaxed and fluid their movement. I rarely observe the boxers or muay thai guys going more than 60 – 70% power. The exception is when one fighter has a fight coming up soon.”

Without further ado let’s jump into the schedule for times when you need to take it easy.

MONDAY NEW CLASS!!!

An 8 1/2 minutes moderate intensity HIIT:

TUESDAY

Be YIN (Yin here implies a quality rather than a style of yoga. Yin is the dark night, the feminine, the non structured fluidity)

WEDNESDAY

we repeat the 8 1/2 min class. An easy breezy day. Done before you know it. More time to spend with your loved ones, read, garden, walk, be in Nature, watch your favorite old movie or simply more time to just BE.

THURSDAY

A class that will require some weights. 3rd eye meditation. Moderate intensity. Give 60% of your max effort.

FRIDAY

A similar class to the Monday – Wednesday class. Repetition of the moves will ensure strengthening the muscles that are targetted by the moves – such as squat variations, side planks, linge variations.

SATURDAY

Last workout for the week. We will again do a variation of the same moves we have been working on since Monday. A very welcomed repetition as this was the intention for this week. Perfect those moves :). Focus on your form. Focus on awakening the glutes.

Enjoy your SUNDAY!

Hig a tree, walk barefoot (unless there are fire ants where you are at haha), look at the stars, smell some garden herbs and kiss your loved ones.

SENDING YOU ALL MY LOVE.