Whew, this 50 hour Rocket Yoga certification is coming up at the end of February. Basically, I still do Olympic weightlifting every morning since that is what makes me happy. I play with my Concept 2 Rower and Ski Erg a lot too. In the afternoons, I have been doing more specific Rocket training.

I have paralletes where I’ll jump to handstand and slowly lower to a forward fold. Then I slowly jump back to chaturanga and vinyasa. I have higher parallel bars where I’ll practice jump throughs to L-sits and then back again to chaturanga. And I do a lot of work on the gymnastic rings since I think that shoulder engagement is useful for strength and flexibility.

With dumbbells, kettlebells, and plates, I do a lot of front raises. Frontal deltoids take quite a load in Ashtanga. I do pressdowns on a cable machine, but I do them more like  a bar muscle up. Imagine doing a pull-up and then transitioning into a press-down with arms extended. It works the whole body for stronger bakasana, lolasana, and other rounding postures. Back extensions & deadlifts, sit-ups & leg raises, and loads of pushups and bench presses.

So far, I’ve noticed the difference when I am demonstrating asanas in classes and when I take classes. I have more strength and endurance than before. And because of this, I have much more focus and awareness of what I’m doing. It is a great yoga experience.