Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet!

floor.

LIE DOWN
    Lie on your back and place your hands, palms down, under your glutes.

FISH
    Now lean into your elbows and lift your chest and head up off of the floor. Squeeze your shoulder blades toward each other, straighten your legs, and lean your head back.

AB WORK
    If you want to add some ab work, lift your straight legs slowly up and down for a ten count or try to keep them raised for a ten count. This will burn your abs and strengthen your core while you traction your neck.
    HOT TIP!
    Don’t worry if the crown of your head does not touch the floor. Just keep leaning back and squeezing it all together. If you would like to let the crown of your head touch the floor, just slide your hands down toward your feet a few inches. If your crown does touch the mat, press it into the floor while lifting your chest.
    Thunderbolt to Forward Bend: Strengthen Your Core and Raise YourHeart Rate
    This is another easy sequence that can both raise your heart rate as well as release low back, shoulder, and neck tension in a New York minute. Thunderbolt strengthens and stabilizes you from head to toe. It’s all about engaging and flexing each muscle to your bones and watching your breath. Repeat this sequence five times. As you do Thunderbolt, it’s important to inhale on the way up and exhale on the way down; it will definitely raise your heart rate.

TOUCHDOWN
    Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Inhale and reach your arms up into Touchdown.

THUNDERBOLT
    Exhale and slowly squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Lift your chest, squeeze your shoulder blades back, and look up for one to three deep breaths.

FORWARD BEND
    Exhale, straighten your legs, and lean into the pose for one to three deep breaths.
    Repeat this sequence five times.
    Shoulder Stand: Mother of All Yoga Postures
    Shoulder Stand is not the easiest position for the Regular Guy to just pop up into, but do the best you can. You can receive many health benefits by simply lying on your back and placing your legs up the wall. You can work yourself into the full Shoulder Stand position in good time.
    YOGA-DOC SAYS …
    The Shoulder Stand is called the “mother of all yoga postures” because of its many health benefits. It has been reported to help balance the thyroid and parathyroid glands. It helps to gently recirculate tired veinous blood back to the heart while also helping to reset the lymphatic system. Shoulder Stand is said to calm the nervous system, which can help with insomnia, colds, headaches, asthma, and digestive difficulties.

LEGS UP
    Lie on your back and raise your legs and hips off the floor and up toward the ceiling.

ELBOW PROP-UP
    Place your hips in your hands, with your elbows placed firmly onto the floor. Press the back of your head onto the floor and lift your chin slightly to activate your neck muscles and stabilize your neck.

SHOULDER STAND
    Press your hands into the middle of your back for more spinal support. Only your head, shoulders, upper arms, and elbows touch the floor in this position. Breathe deeply and fully for ten to thirty deep breaths.

LOWER DOWN
    When you are ready, place your hands back on the floor and slowly lower the back, hips, and legs to the floor. Rest for three to five deep breaths.

ON TIPTOES
    Stand with your feet hip-width apart and get onto your tiptoes.

ON TIPTOES
    Inhale, remain on your toes, and make your way back up to standing, for 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1.
    Repeat five times.

REHAB FOR TIGHT HIPS
    Okay, guys, without these babies, DDP would never have wrestled well into his late forties. For starters, every single time I drop someone with the world-famous “Diamond Cutter,” I land on my right hip—so needless to say, I have some seriously tight-ass hips. Without the exercises from this section of the book, I would be screwed. Now, if you sit on your ass all day, you’re pretty much equally as screwed; your hip and back muscles will tighten and shorten. If you are a runner, a tennis player, or a hoops guy, then the continuous pounding on your hips also keeps you tighter than a drum. Stretching your hips can prevent injuries by keeping your lower body open and ready to deal with any physical challenges that your work, sports, or sex life might throw at you.
    YOGA-DOC SAYS …
    If you’ve ever sprained an ankle, injured a knee, or have flat feet, it is more than likely that your low back and hips have tightened in an attempt to stabilize and compensate for long-standing