Spicing up work outs, movies and music.

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Question: I want to spice up the workout routine I do all the time. Can you recommend any DVD’s I can do in the dorm? From, Routine

Answer: Actually, I can recommend several. One thing a lot of athletes, or really anyone who works out, overlook is stretching and flexibility. Yoga is a great way to not only improve your flexibility and reduce risk of injury, but to build muscle endurance and give you a mental and physical detox. These are exercises that people have been doing for thousands of years, they’re natural movements that promote excellent muscle and bone health. Have bad posture? Boom, spine decompressed. Have a nagging injury? Wham, it’s never felt better.

There’s a guy named Rodney Yee who makes all types of yoga DVD’s. He’s a man with righteous long hair and a master of all things yoga. He’s the only man I would trust teaching me yoga. He has instructional DVD’s of yoga condition for athletes, power yoga, AM yoga, energizing yoga and anything else you can think of. Some are geared toward stretching while others are geared toward more intense physical conditioning. Either way, these would be an excellent staple to implement into your dorm workout life and will complement whatever else is currently in your routine. Rodney Yee will hit you with some moves that would make Mister Fantastic jealous.

If you’d really like some spice in your life, you should get out of the dorm. Do some real old school training to mix it up. Go out in the woods and throw some rocks. Big rocks. How do you think they did it in the old days? I know it’s 2013, but it worked for the Spartans, and it worked for Rocky Marciano. It also worked for Rocky Balboa. Throwing rocks will develop better and more practical muscles than lifting weights in a gym. Look at Rocky IV, Ivan didn’t stand a chance. Find a partner, get a giant log and run with it on your shoulders. Get a dirty old sweat suit (or a clean new one, whatever), and run up giant hills. You’ll feel like a new human.

Question: Sometimes I like to stay in my dorm and watch movies, but lately I cannot decide on any particular one. Can you recommend me any? From, Whitenoise

Answer: I can recommend hundreds, but I won’t. I’ll do a few. Ip Man and Ip Man 2 are both available on Netflix instant streaming. They are two of the best kung fu movies to be released in the 21st century. The (mostly false) biopic of Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee, is a master of Wing Chun. While both are overloaded with Chinese nationalism, I can’t say it didn’t tug on the heart strings just a little bit. They’re inspiring, the picture is fantastic and looks spectacular. More importantly, the fight choreography is phenomenal and top notch, done by none other than Sammo Hung best friend of Jackie Chan. If you’re into action movies at all, it’s a really nice break from the Hollywood “violently shake the camera and cut away every half second so you can’t see what’s going on because our actors have no talent in this department” fight choreography.

Anything Kevin Smith is fun (aside from Jersey Girl) if you’re not already familiar with his work. Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks 2. Clerks is about, you guessed it, clerks. A day in the life, as The Beatles might say. Mallrats is about two guys who get dumped by their girlfriends on the same day and spend the day at the mall figuring out how to win them back. Chasing Amy is favorite film about Ben Affleck falling in love with a lesbian (who hasn’t?) and is obviously Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo’s favorite film. Dogma is about two fallen angels played by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon who try to get back into heaven. It’s kind of dark and also stars Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, and Linda Fiorentino. Great stuff.

Also, if you haven’t seen The Crow, watch The Crow. Awesome action thriller, dark, and awesome visuals. If you add the fact that the main actor Brandon Lee was shot and killed during filming, it brings a little extra chill to the performance. Do it. One of my favorites.

Question: I’ve been listening to the same songs over and over on my ipod and they are beginning to sound bland. Can you give me any songs or artists to shake up my boring playlist? From, LowKey

Answer: If the same old Kenny Loggins isn't doing it for you anymore than it's time to make a change. I’m going to blast you with some sounds you’ve probably never heard of, as opposed to just naming artists you easily already know. People seem to like Mister Lies (Misterlies.com). He's been described as making "genre breaking lo-fi masterpieces". He’s a talented boy, real up and comer. 

Also local-ish band Nuncunt (http://nuncunt.bandcamp.com). What a fearsome name. Those girls make some nice love songs, at least that’s what I think they are, which sound like a room full of balloons.

If you want to discover music similar to your taste, they have programs for that like Pandora, Spotify and a load of other programs that I don't know about. Those might be worth checking out.

This content was originally published in WCSU's The Echo on 3/4/2013