Fit Mom's Blog

Since I’m on the topic of weightlifting, I thought I should take a few minutes to tell you about what I think the absolute best poses for yoga are.  By the way, I do have a 200 hour Yoga Works certificate and do teach 10 hours of yoga a week!  During my training we spent hours on studying the human body, how they work and really analyzing a foot position, leg position in a certain pose.  This training has helped me learn how to get my body where it needs to be in a lift.

Weightlifting requires lots of squats right?  In fact almost every lift we do will end in a squat, so the possibility of having tight hips is likely.  Although, I bet you’d never believe that the top weightlifters in the world are super bendy!  Look at the overhead squat position, a sedentary person who sits in a chair 8 hours a day probably can’t even get into that position!  In fact, I’ve found that even doing a moderately easy yoga class with simple standing poses can unglue some of my tightness. {Although, I still need deep tissue sports massage regularly!!}

This post started as a Top 5 list, however, I’m finding it difficult to narrow down to just five.  For my tight hip body,  it will take hours of daily yoga to unlock all my problem areas and I find I love lifting more than yoga at the moment, so…which poses to do every single day you might ask? Handstands, Back bends, and Twists.  I enjoy teaching yoga to my students and also enjoy the physical benefits of getting to practice it daily.  Best thing to do is to work on your “goats’…the things you stink at.  For me, it’s a fully extended backbend!  And, wow does it feel good when I can do even a partial one.

For more information on yoga, please visit Yoga Journal and seek out a good teacher in your area.  I highly recommend for many reasons!

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During my Yoga Works training, we spent hours and hours studying the human body, how it works and why yoga can benefit every person– whether it be for stress management, exercise and just personal time.  Every single body is different and will have different needs, so for today’s post, I’d like to spend some time discussing the poses that I think weightlifters might benefit from.  No, I don’t think they need to go down and take a 1.5 hour power yoga class!  A power yoga class can be seriously intense and has hard on the body as an intense weightlifting session.   However, a few minutes spent either before or after a lifting session could be beneficial for the weightlifter.

This post is written from the viewpoint that anybody that is doing any lifting or high rep high intensity exercise will benefit from spending some time working on their tight areas.  I believe there are two areas in the body that will need the most help- the hips and back, particularly by doing the opposite of a squat.

In addition to working on your tight areas, most people doing any yoga would benefit from having certain props at home to enhance their practice.  Yoga Mad offers plenty of yoga blocks, straps and mats for you to check out.

The Five Most Important Poses

Garland Pose.   The pose looks and feels like the bottom of a squat.    It can help by opening working on the tight areas of the hip joint and feels really good.  I like to spend at least a minute or more in this pose.

High Lunge Position  This one, if done correctly, also looks like the bottom of the Split Jerk and for me it helps lengthen the front of my hip.

Strengtheners/Upper Back work such as Upward Facing Dog Pose, Locust Pose  These are highly valuable poses because they both strengthen the upper back as well as lengthen the front of the body.

Bridge Pose with it’s variations of a full backbend.  By far the hardest of all yoga poses for me is the full back bend.  I spend lots of time in bridge pose, squeezing blocks and pushing the top of my hips forward.  This pose along with camel pose can do wonders for tight hip people.

Questions, comments?

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alo sport has some of the best organic/bamboo cotton tanks I’ve ever worn. They are super soft, long lasting and well made. Check it out!

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Created by Kira Karmazin, KiraGrace yoga apparel offers something to yogi’s that many other brands don’t. That is…incredibly sexy, open back-style tops for all women.   I particularly liked the spaghetti straps/open back style of the Yoga Halter for handstands and arm balancing work.

As for the bottoms, I loved the Yoga Capri pants with the ruching on the side legs.  It’s just a nice little touch of sexy for a pretty standard style of yoga pants.

I would definitely recommend KiraGrace for any of you looking for new, unique and exciting yoga apparel.  The quality of the is equivalent or better than many other yoga brands out there and it’s always nice to support up and coming brands that have been created and designed by women for women (and moms).

One other cool thing about KiraGrace that I’ve never seen before is their styling sizing: For all Goddesses, there are the curvy, athletic and regular build women out there, and they have created a line just for you.  Venus fits you curvier ones, Diana fits the Athletic types, and Victoria fits the natural goddess.

P.S.  KiraGrace provided me with samples for purposes of review.  The opinions above are my own.

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Pictured above is the Nico Skirt, on sale for $38-58.  This skirt goes great over your workout pants and is designed to take you from the workout to “playout” in style! The Nico Skirt it could easily function as a cover-up at the beach as well! All the meSheeky skirts utilize a combination of bamboo, cotton and spandex that make for a really soft skirt that fits well.

I originally reviewed the Kiki Skirt in 2009 and have enjoyed wearing it both over my capri pants as well as alone as a skirt.  I also particularly love the Odette Skirt and the Trixie Tank!

meSheeky can be purchased online here or possibly in your local yoga studio.

FTC-A big thank you to meSheeky for designing such stylish yoga apparel and sending me out in style! {The skirt was free and these opinions are my own.}

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Love Be Present. Perfect clothes for daily yoga, pe, and mom wear out.

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Very helpful flash card style yoga cards that can be used in several different ways!


My students love these stories read aloud- then they love them more when they get to act them out with yoga postures!



The Yoga Kids has been an excellent resource for me as it comes complete with sequences, stories to read and music to listen to! I seriously carry these three books/cards around all the time when I am teaching yoga- I can always find something new in them!

Do your kids do yoga? What do they like best about it?

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Some of my best days of teaching, has involved nothing but yoga.  And, sometimes yoga with both the parent and the child has been even more rewarding for me…

You can read more on Well, Then…

Things I’ve learned Teaching Yoga to Kids!

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I am a yoga teacher.  Daily, I teach an average of 3 hours of yoga to children under the age of 12.  Every child at my school gets yoga.  I am lucky and I believe the children are lucky, too.  This is not the norm in California, nor is it the norm for schools in general.  On average, in our town, children get physical education in the public schools, once per week and it is NOT yoga!  And, this might change again as well! Budget cuts, etc..You’ve heard the news, you know.

I believe children should have many many opportunities to experience both yoga and outside play!  There is much to be learned about themselves and others through body knowledge!



Knowing both sides of the coin in this situation {as an ex-public school teacher}, it is going to take a MOUNTAIN of effort to even get yoga in schools. Test scores versus yoga?! Test scores will win, however, if the pressure for more physical education came from parents, teachers, administration and the community, together we might MOVE that mountain!


If you are passionate about yoga or even keeping kids active in school, please visit this website and check it out.

YOGA-RECESS in Schools

Fighting Obesity and Chronic Illness

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And, enter yourself to win free yoga for a year!

Click here to read about all the amazing things Manduka is doing for yoga and the community.

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