Free Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet! by Diamond Dallas Page

back, shoulder, and neck tension in a New York minute. Thunderbolt strengthens and stabilizes you from head to toe. It’s all about engaging and flexing each muscle to your bones and watching your breath. Repeat this sequence five times. As you do Thunderbolt, it’s important to inhale on the way up and exhale on the way down; it will definitely raise your heart rate.

TOUCHDOWN
    Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Inhale and reach your arms up into Touchdown.

THUNDERBOLT
    Exhale and slowly squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Lift your chest, squeeze your shoulder blades back, and look up for one to three deep breaths.

FORWARD BEND
    Exhale, straighten your legs, and lean into the pose for one to three deep breaths.
    Repeat this sequence five times.
    Shoulder Stand: Mother of All Yoga Postures
    Shoulder Stand is not the easiest position for the Regular Guy to just pop up into, but do the best you can. You can receive many health benefits by simply lying on your back and placing your legs up the wall. You can work yourself into the full Shoulder Stand position in good time.
    YOGA-DOC SAYS …
    The Shoulder Stand is called the “mother of all yoga postures” because of its many health benefits. It has been reported to help balance the thyroid and parathyroid glands. It helps to gently recirculate tired veinous blood back to the heart while also helping to reset the lymphatic system. Shoulder Stand is said to calm the nervous system, which can help with insomnia, colds, headaches, asthma, and digestive difficulties.

LEGS UP
    Lie on your back and raise your legs and hips off the floor and up toward the ceiling.

ELBOW PROP-UP
    Place your hips in your hands, with your elbows placed firmly onto the floor. Press the back of your head onto the floor and lift your chin slightly to activate your neck muscles and stabilize your neck.

SHOULDER STAND
    Press your hands into the middle of your back for more spinal support. Only your head, shoulders, upper arms, and elbows touch the floor in this position. Breathe deeply and fully for ten to thirty deep breaths.

LOWER DOWN
    When you are ready, place your hands back on the floor and slowly lower the back, hips, and legs to the floor. Rest for three to five deep breaths.

ON TIPTOES
    Stand with your feet hip-width apart and get onto your tiptoes.

ON TIPTOES
    Inhale, remain on your toes, and make your way back up to standing, for 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1.
    Repeat five times.

REHAB FOR TIGHT HIPS
    Okay, guys, without these babies, DDP would never have wrestled well into his late forties. For starters, every single time I drop someone with the world-famous “Diamond Cutter,” I land on my right hip—so needless to say, I have some seriously tight-ass hips. Without the exercises from this section of the book, I would be screwed. Now, if you sit on your ass all day, you’re pretty much equally as screwed; your hip and back muscles will tighten and shorten. If you are a runner, a tennis player, or a hoops guy, then the continuous pounding on your hips also keeps you tighter than a drum. Stretching your hips can prevent injuries by keeping your lower body open and ready to deal with any physical challenges that your work, sports, or sex life might throw at you.
    YOGA-DOC SAYS …
    If you’ve ever sprained an ankle, injured a knee, or have flat feet, it is more than likely that your low back and hips have tightened in an attempt to stabilize and compensate for long-standing biomechanical insults, distortions, and scar tissue build-up that results from such injuries. In English, this means that your lower back and hip muscles can get very tight if you have injured your lower body or were born with bad knees or feet. It is immensely important to stretch the muscles that surround your hip joints in order to balance your pelvis and keep your weight evenly distributed between your back, hips, knees, ankles, and feet.
    Figure Four Leg Lock:Hip Opener
    If you were ever