Social Workout

My Body

Jon Togo of "CSI Miami" on L.A. Gyms, Boxing, and Body Dysmorphia

Golden Oldie alert! Reaching back to late summer 2009 for a classic from our My Body series. ~ The Eds.

I used to do Pilates for exercise when I first moved to L.A. I was really good at it. It was all the Beverly Hills housewives and me. The place was called “Pilates Plus.” This French guy ran it, and he used to grab all the cougars' asses who were in the class while they were working out. It was a great workout, but I couldn’t take all the yentas. It was fifteen Joan Riverses and me.

I haven’t been to the gym in a long time. I box now. The regular gyms in L.A. are horrible. Literally, Fabio works out at my old gym. Once I saw Vin Diesel working out with a giant wooden staff. It's so douchey, it's unbelievable. It’s irritating and horrible. Once I was in a spin class and the teacher was like, "This is why you don’t work as actors! You don’t push yourself!”

I like the idea of going someplace where what you do for a living doesn’t matter. When you go to a boxing gym, you’re treated the same same no matter who you are. There’s no posturing in boxing.  You can put on any front you want, but, once you get in the ring, you have to back it up. Everyone is really friendly, but they beat the shit out of each other. I get my ass whipped all the time. Some of the guys I train with fight for a living, and they have nothing to prove. There’s something very America about it. It’s like jazz. It’s a throwback sport. It’s the hardest workout there is. Because you’re working out and trying to not to get punched in the face at the same time. It would be like if you were holding a position in yoga trying to breathe and relax, and at the same time the yoga teacher was kicking you in the face. But boxing doesn’t hurt. It’s not a painful experience. You wear so much padding. You learn how to do it.  I got the shanan punim. I got the money maker. I can’t get hit in the face. All the actors wear headgear because they don’t want to get punched in the face.

My Body

Starlee Kine On Fruit And The Landmark Forum

Starlee Kine is an American public radio producer and writer. Her work has been featured on "This American Life" and "Marketplace." Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine. She is currently working on a book about self-help titled, "It IS Your Fault".

Health stresses me out. I don’t feel very healthy, and I don’t have health insurance. It seems like it’s hard to get healthy. My sister is obsessed with health and nutrition. She endlessly works out. She wakes up at five in the morning and goes to Starbucks. Then she goes to the gym and does boot camp. She’s gluten free, dairy free and soy free. She really obsesses. But I don’t regularly do anything healthy. I mean, I don’t eat unhealthily. I don’t eat fast food. But I don’t eat anything nutritious. I don’t eat greens every day. I’m afraid of fruit. I don’t like pulpy, sticky kinds of fruit. I don’t like to have them on my plate. If I’m sitting at a table and someone’s eating fruit, I have to position my glass so I don’t see it.

New York

Yoga Retreats

02 Yoga Retreat in Maya Tulum

• Who:  02 Yoga, a very cool-sounding blend of Astanga Yoga with a vinyasa flow format. 02 was created in 1998 by Mimi Louiero, a Boston-based, nationally certified, 20-year yoga practitioner who has been practicing for almost fifteen years.
• What: Two 2-hour yoga classes every day. Between classes swim, SCUBA, snorkel, walk or bike to the Mayan ruins. You can also just get a massage or mellow out on the beach.
• Where:  Maya Tulum
• When: January 16-23 & January 23-30, 2010
• Why: Maya Tulum is beautiful, and it's also hilarious. A once-upon-a-time rustic little retreat center, it's now become a full-blown bourgeoise bohemian enclave of health and spiritual wellness. It's also as pretty a place as you'll ever visit. And 02 yoga sounds perfectly retreat-worthy—just rigorous enough to get your heart rate up, but not totally exhausting. Plus, doesn't the thought of eating fish tacos while relaxing in a palapa post-chataranga sound sort of amazing?
• How much: From $1,635-$1.980
• Link: 02 Yoga Retreat in Maya Tulum

Topsy-Turvey

Just Because

“I may make a cave, in a mountain of gold, or in the water of the nether regions; I may remain standing on my head, upside-down, on the earth or up in the sky; I may totally cover my body with clothes, and wash them continually; I may shout out loud, the white, red, yellow and black Vedas; I may even live in dirt and filth. And yet, all this is just a product of evil-mindedness, and intellectual corruption. I was not, I am not, and I will never be anything at all!”
                                     —Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Down Dog

Playboy Yoga

Just when you thought you've seen it all..

Yoga Drama

Don't Touch Me

A man in Boulder is suing his yoga teacher for an unwanted adjustment. Said correction, he says, was done "unexpectedly and without permission." He blames his instructor, Luke Iwabuchi, for injuries that caused him a torn meniscus that required surgery and extreme "physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering." He also says that the studio should be held responsible for promoting teachers who alter students poses without permission. Iwabuchi is a teacher at the Ashtanga Yoga studio founded by Richard Freeman, who was one of the first Ashtangis to bring the practice to America.

Unfortunate one-off case, or specter of litigeous yoga culture to come? Turn down those Bikram saunas! Sterilize those sticky mats! Hike up your insurance premiums. Much as it's tempting to wax hysterical, we hope and expect this was merely an accident, along with angry response, and not the beginning of defensive yoga.

Practical Eating

Brussel Sprouts

It's been several weeks since we last celebrated the Brussel Sprout along with Rafael Nadal's triceps. Time to revisit. Brussels, recall, peak from Autumn through early Spring, i.e. now. Small as presents, green and earthy tasting, they're like vegetable candy.