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Yoga Poses for Ankle Injury Rehab

Are you struggling with an ankle injury?

Yoga may just be your best rehabilitation modality.

However, before taking a Greenville yoga class, it’s mandatory that you allow your body an adequate period of rest. Follow the old RICE regimen: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. However, keep in mind that too much rest can actually stunt your ankle’s healing process. After the initial pain and swelling have subsided, it’s time to get going on your recovery. To avoid losing mobility and flexibility, gradually begin creating gentle movements in the ankle and exploring ankle stretches.

Poses that are awesome for maintaining flexibility include hero pose, frog pose and child’s pose. When practicing hero or child’s pose, you might consider rolling up a towel and placing it underneath your feet to subdue the pressure placed on the ankles. Another option is to tuck the toes and sit back on your heels. This provides a pretty intense stretch, so explore this option later in your healing process.

To increase ankle mobility and re-build strength, try out chair pose. Don’t hesitate to use the wall or a chair to support you if your balance is wobbly. Also, downward facing dog is a great pose to recover your ankle’s range of motion. Really press the heels down into your mat to receive that sweet ankle opening.

Finally, once your balance is solid, you can introduce balancing postures into your recovery plan to really strengthen and stabilize the muscles supporting the joint. These poses include eagle pose, half moon pose, dancer’s pose, and extended big-toe hold.

Once you are in full recovery mode, commit to a Greenville yoga class, which will surely introduce a combination of these ankle-healing postures. If you can’t seem to squeeze in a class, explore these yoga poses (asanas) before, after, or during your typical Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym workout.

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8 Simple & Strengthening Yoga Poses for Gym Enthusiasts

Amidst your strenuous workout routine at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym, you probably don’t feel like you have adequate time and energy to get in that yoga or Pilates class that you have been pondering. That’s cool. I feel you. We can’t do it all. The good news: You don’t have to get in a full-blown yoga class to reap the powerful benefits of a yoga practice. Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym does, however, offer yoga and Pilates in the mind and body room. So, if a full-blown class is what your heart desires, we’ve got you covered. If not, get wild with this handful of highly accessible, total-body strengthening, and core-enhancing yoga poses while you’re working it at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

  1. High Plank
  2. Low Plank (Plank on forearms)
  3. Side Plank (Each side on forearm or arm extended)
  4. Downward Facing Dog (To amplify Down Dog, try bending your elbows at about 45 degrees so that they are hovering right above the ground)
  5. Dolphin (Downward Dog on forearms with option for Dolphin push-ups)
  6. Crescent Lunge (Each side)
  7. Boat Pose
  8. Bridge Pose

You can sprinkle these poses into your circuit-training regimen or practice them as a sequence post-workout. Hold each pose for 30 seconds to one minute. If you find this too easy, set your timer for 2 minutes per pose. The more the merrier. Also, after you have practiced these very fortifying postures, it’s nice to enjoy a few restorative poses to relax, cool down, and reboot the system. Try Child’s Pose and/or Butterfly Pose to experience a juicy stretch and release.

See that? Your Greenville yoga doesn’t have to be so hard to get in. Just hop on an exercise mat post sweat session, cycle through a few poses, and there you have it. Boom. Yoga made easy for Greenville gym going enthusiasts!

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Even More Benefits of Yoga

Last week we discussed physical and mental benefits of yoga. You might think that covers the spectrum, but it’s really just the beginning. This form of exercise offers psychosomatic improvements that are linked by body and mind.

Physical + Mental Benefits

In yoga, unlike many other forms of athletics, there’s no reward for overexertion. And there’s no competitive element to this form of exercise. This decreases risk of injury and helps you understand when your body needs to rest so that you aren’t pressuring yourself to achieve more beyond your means.

Additionally, yoga classes are typically relegated to hour-plus blocks so that you go through the proper distribution of time from warming up to cooling down. With instructor-led courses, you don’t have to worry about your form or what series of poses to perform to make the most of your workout. Your knowledgeable trainer will correct your posture and help you improve each time you meet, while coaching you through a series of exercises at your level of performance. There’s also an element of group support and understanding in a classroom, so even though you concentrate mostly on yourself during classes, there’s a very social element. But there are also relaxation and concentration benefits to practicing yoga at home by yourself once you’ve mastered the techniques.

Other Benefits

Did you know that yoga can also help you fall and stay asleep? If you’re suffering from sleep disorders, yoga might do the trick to help you channel and calm your energy before bed to conquer some of those insomniac tendencies. Another byproduct of yoga is that it improves your balance, flexibility and posture. This not only refers to external balance, but also internal balance – ranging from a smoothly operating immune system to a stable metabolism. It also gives you a greater general awareness of your entire body, which can help you control your weight, notice physical changes and manage your overall health.

We hope you enjoyed reading all about yoga over the past few weeks! If you have any additional questions about how it can improve your body and mind, contact a Pivotal Fitness Greenville yoga instructor for tips, info and, of course, a class schedule.

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Greenville Yoga Classes

Yoga is an exercise that originated in India which allows you to combine physical and mental disciplines. At Pivotal Fitness we offer a variety of yoga classes to help you get in shape, increase your flexibility, and reduce stress and anxiety. As follows is our list of yoga offerings:

  • Yolates – PiYo blends together workout techniques from Pilates, yoga and more in a group exercise environment that can challenge all levels of participants
  • Sampoorna Yoga – Sampoorna yoga focuses on helping you to balanced state so that your self can shine through. At Pivotal Fitness’ Greenville yoga classes this group class incorporates pranayama, sun salutations, poses, and deep relaxation.
  • Vinyasa Flow Yoga – A dynamic form of yoga that connects postures and creates a flow between traditional Hatha yoga postures. You will take yoga to a deeper level by integrating rhythmic breathing with conscious movement.
  • Yoga – Our traditional yoga class focuses on the Hatha yoga discipline, allowing you to focus on the mind body connection. Lengthen and relax while strengthening.

If you are looking for a Greenville yoga studio, join Pivotal Fitness and get the best of both worlds. You can attend as many yoga classes as you would like for one low monthly price and also get access to our state of the art fitness equipment and a variety of other classes. Sign up for our free 7 day trial membership today at www.pivotalfitness.com.

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Boot Camps Will Take Your Fitness To The Next Level

Exercise boot camps are all the rage these days for good reason. These high intensity exercise programs guide you through a variety of exercises that provide core strength and conditioning, enhancing your overall level of fitness. At Pivotal Fitness’ Greenville health club our boot camps incorporate a variety of weight lifting, aerobics, body sculpting and core training activities.

The great thing about the boot camps at our Greenville gym is that it is appropriate for all fitness levels. Whether you are beginning a fitness routine or are trying to take your fitness to the next level, boot camp classes at Pivotal Fitness will help you reach your goals. No class is the same! We will constantly be mixing up your classes so you can work out your entire body without boredom.

At Pivotal Fitness’ Greenville fitness center, we strive to provide all of the latest fitness classes so you can incorporate some variety into your workout routine. Many companies now strictly offer boot camps or yoga classes, but at Pivotal Fitness, we have it all. Your monthly fee gets you access to great equipment, a variety of fitness professionals and group training classes galore. So stop wasting your money paying for separate classes all over town and let Pivotal Fitness be your one stop Greenville fitness facility!

Helpful Tip: If you miss a class, you can visit the blog of our Group Fitness Coordinator, Lisl Windham, where she posts the latest exercise routines from the boot camp classes and much more!

Visit http://www.lovetogetfit.blogspot.com/

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