[several seconds of silence]

John: This is, I mean, incredibly good footage. This is why there's no, like, Yoga Network.

[laughter]

Chris: Like, you think, like, the Golf Network's boring. 

[laughter]

J: [laughs] Right.

[100 Days intro animation]

J: [voice-over] Welcome back to 100 Days. So on Day 46, we had a workout with Laura, but rather than the usual exercises, she had us participate in one of her group sculpt classes. My left arm was still pretty sore, but I was ready for a good workout, so we started out with a warm-up.

One of the things that set this class apart from our usual 100 Days activities: we were allowed to listen to music, which makes everything So. Much. Better.

Plus, remember when I mentioned it was too bad that Chris missed indoor cycling because Carmen played his favorite song by Bruno Mars? Well, he finally got a chance to work out to it, because Laura played it.

But for copyright reasons, we can't have that music in the background, so you won't be hearing our hilarious quips from this day. Just imagine that I'm saying something incredibly clever right here, and now imagine Chris referencing a movie from 12 years ago that no one else remembers.

C: You want me on that wall! You need me on that wall!

J: [voice-over] We had a few pieces of equipment for our workout, like a pair of dumbbells, a slightly heavier pair of dumbbells, bands, and these steps. And we incorporated a lot of them into the first 15 minutes of class. At this point, I noticed that I was pretty tired, but I kept pushing through.

We also used medicine balls, and then more weightlifting, followed by a combination of jumping jacks, high knees, skaters, and then back to high knees. Oh my god, I am so good at high knees. I'm like an egret wading through a vast marsh. F*cking majestic.

Then we did some ab work and used the bands, and then some more weightlifting. And afterwards, Laura had us do stations. We'd rotate from balance balls to wall sits to TRX straps, and in between everything, we'd do a group activity, like burpees or squats or something else really fun. I used to call burpees fun sarcastically, but now they're kind of actually fun.

And then it was back to abs and some push-ups. This, by the way, was so painful. I mean, if that's how Zac Efron gets his six-pack, I'm not sure it's worth it. I wonder if I could still get a six-pack. Like, hypothetically is it even possible? I mean, entropy is the nature of the universe, right? Things are always falling apart. So at some point, there is a moment at which it becomes impossible for you to ever again have a six-pack, and I genuinely wonder: am I on the bright or the dark side of that line?

Anyway, to learn the answer to that question would require lots of ab work that I'm not willing to do.

Right, so, then we did some stretching, and we were done. It was really nice to mix up our routine and work out in a group, but I do prefer when it's just Chris and me. I find exercise to be kind of intimate, so after 100 Days is over, I don't think I'm gonna be doing a lot of the larger classes. I prefer to be with people I know really well. But lots of people really thrive in those group exercise settings — it's just like Aaron Carroll said, everything works if you do it.

J: Wasn't it wonderful to be able to work out with music?

C: With music, and somebody other than... [points at John]

J: [laughs]

J: [voice-over] On the food front, my Day 46 nutrition was pretty good. I had a salad and some sushi. And some things I didn't photograph. 

J: [voice-over] And then Day 47 was a Friday. We spent our morning doing yoga in downtown Indianapolis at a place called Treehouse. I was really dreading yoga, to be honest; as I've mentioned and demonstrated many times on this show, I am not a flexible person, and I don't mean that like in terms of my character. I mean that in terms of my hamstrings.

I always feel like I can't do the poses correctly, and I get really frustrated, which I know is not the proper yoga vibe. Anyway, our instructors were Candy and Laura, and they conducted a class of mostly Hatha Yoga, and they were very nice and understanding and prevented me from getting frustrated. So I mentioned to them that I've been struggling with my forward fold, and they had us start by working on our arches. 

C: Could just have given each other foot massages.

J: Ah...

Instructor: [laughs]

C: That would have probably made into the show.


John: [voice over] We learned 3-part breathing which is supposed to kick in the parasympathetic nervous system, and then we launched into some poses and I found that with proper modification I could do all of them!

We covered a lot of the major yoga poses like downward dog, cobra, tree, boat, warrior two, triangle - head over to the community tab, by the way, if you're interested in learning more specifics about these. 

J: This is the heroic dolphin.

Instructor: [laughs]

John: [voice over] I feel like this episode is going to result in a lot of publishers asking Chris and me to be models in their yoga pose books because I can't tell - is that the boat pose, or an actual boat? We're just so graceful!

Then we did a little yin yoga. These poses are supposed to work different types of tissue - they're focused around things like tendons, and ligaments, and joints, rather than muscles. 

Instructor: So if you feel the pull up the leg, up the back, up the neck - that's what we're going for is that full body... and just breathe and relax.

Chris: It's funny in yoga, sometimes when you grab your body in certain positions your like 'eughh, it's so smushy!'

[laughter] 

J: Really? 

C: Yeah, it's like...

J: You have smushy thighs?

J: [voice over] And then at the end of the class we tested my forward fold - 10 inches! When Laura measured on Day 36 I was on 11 and a quarter inches. 

In general this yoga class ended up exceeding my expectations. It was pretty introductory so there was a lot more focus on forms and holding poses. When I've done yoga in the past it was super aerobic and kind of stressful, but this wasn't like that at all. Instead we just did some great stretches and we were able to use our muscles in different ways than we have been for the past few weeks.

J: Ahhh

C: Thanks guys.

J: That was great, thank you guys.

Instructor: You're welcome!

John: [voice over] Day 48 was a Saturday which for me meant an actual rest day, and for Chris - this is gonna shock you guys - meant golf.

So that wraps up week 7 of 100 Days. As far as exercise goes we had a good variety with our regular Monday session with Laura, the group class on Thursday, and yoga on Friday. Now, ping pong turned out to be something of a failure, although I did win. But we know if we want to get our heart rates up we're going to have to take to a real tennis court. 

In terms of eating, since we met with Kim I've been doing better, but things still don't feel perfect. Like, I continued to spend many late nights snacking, and one of my big issues has been eating too  much on weekends. I think I'd be doing better if I were eating the way I eat on weekdays all week long, but I just can't seem to do that.

Meditation is still harder for me, but I did do two sessions on Saturday, Day 48, because I was feeling kind of stressed out, and I fell asleep! The guy on the app was like 'now you're gonna count your breaths to 10' and I barely made it through one breath before I fell asleep for 4 minutes and then the guy woke me up by telling me that it was time to start counting again. Which might be a sign that I'm not getting enough sleep. Speaking of which, I think I'm gonna go take nap.

Thanks for watching, I'll see you on Day 49.

[credits screen]

J: That was just what I needed today Sheridan

C: [in a deep voice, imitating John] That was just what I needed today Sheridan.

[laughter]

J: Is that your - do I sound like a Sherriff in a Western?

[laughter]