A Kind of Cross-Training

Most of the time I'm a big Yoga nut, but that doesn't mean that I don't spend time moving my body in other ways.

I love love LOVE lifting weights.  I have a hard time mixing in the two (yoga and weight-lifting) because I always feel like I have to big or go home.  This might sound funny when speaking of yoga on the mat, but holding postures for longer breaths, flexing & tightening muscles and/or moving deeper into stretches beyond initial limits is actually really difficult and if I go really vigorous, it's taxing on the body to throw another workout on top of that. 

So I've been doing the every other day thing, rigorous yoga one day and a weight-lifting workout the next day.  And my weight-lifting workout typically consists of moving the whole body to create agni (fire), then focusing on legs or arms (my yoga practice is a little more evenly distributed, but even then I will push arms or legs harder at times).

I've actually fallen in love with the Oxygen Magazine sequence because it holds me accountable to my own ability to push through to the other side.

I also love that I'm moving toward failure using my own strength, not just pounding out a number of reps and sets.  Let's face it, our lives our too encumbered with numbers (weight lifted, calories, scales, etc.) so it helps release that OCD sensation of counting (or am I the only one that gets wiggy about having to count everything?!).

I've only been following this sequence for a couple of weeks now, but I can already feel the difference in my legs.  I also throw in kneeling donkey kicks too, or some Pilates-Ballet style moves that help me stretch my legs in a slower & more controlled movement.

For those of you who do several styles of working out/cross-training, how do you find balance?  Do you switch every other day?