Align Pilates® Minneapolis

In an attempt to avoid doing work this morning. I did a little shopping. Thus, I stumbled upon the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, the virtual workout buddy. Nike’s sport’s know-how and iPod’s technology genius come together in one smart little package. Stick one half in your special Nike footwear (or any footwear, for that matter) and the other half in your iPod nano or touch, and shazam! You’re tracking distance, counting calories, and even getting a little pep talk while you run.

It’s like a wee personal trainer that you can stick in your shoe. And at $30, it’s way more affordable than a real-sized trainer.

Right. Let’s admit it, some times it feels like there’s an abundance of guidelines to follow when we are trying to shed the pounds. One little exercise can be accompanied by scads of things to keep in mind. Take the simple squat: remember to keep shoulders back, belly in, work those abs, don’t lock those knees, check your position in the mirror, and no toe clenching! Now rest and repeat. Ai-yi-yi!

That’s why I liked this article: 9 Fitness Rules You Should Break. It told it to me straight—not everything the so-called experts have told us about how to exercise the “right” way has to be followed by the book. (Plus, what’s “right” today will surely change tomorrow. Leave it to the experts to confuse things.)

So go and break a rule or two. Just don’t break a bone in the process.

You will have this water bottle for the rest of your life. And he is everything you are looking for…worldly, dependable, strong, earth-friendly, fantastic sense of style, bacteria-free, very good looking. And he’ll hold your water while you work out.

SIGG bottles come in over 100 unique designs. Using 30 independent artists from around the world, SIGG Switzerland introduces fabulous styles every year.

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
- Sir Edmund Percival Hillary

Tomorrow marks the day for many to start fresh and new. Back to routine and full work weeks. Ambitions and resolutions for the new year in hand. Or at least lingering about in back of mind. The holidays are over.

No more excuses to eat two pieces of chocolate goodness before noon. The reasons to skip hitting the gym after work to have one too many glasses of festive cheer are null and void. The last minute Christmas shopping and  out-of-town friends will no longer stand in the way of that 7:00 yoga class.  I must say, it was fun while it lasted. Alas, it’s time to reel it in.

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On May 29th,1953, at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.

Mount Everest is a pretty admirable feat. I’m just hoping to kick my fell-into-the-big-black-hole-of-holiday-cheer butt back into shape. But after reading this quote from the (remarkably rugged and probably pretty hot in his day) Sir Edmund, I’ve realized that my body doesn’t need conquering as much as the thing that tells my body what to do does.