Two Cent Review: The No OM Zone

It’s no startling revelation and we all know it, but stretching and keeping limber is crucial for the success of any runner. However, I will be the first to admit that I am absolutely horrible at stretching pre and post-run. It’s not that I don’t like it, in fact, I LOVE stretching, yoga and the whole “let’s be bendy” business, but my lack of stretching is either due to a) time constraints, b) I just want to get in the shower already, I smell nasty, or c) pure laziness. Back in the day, I used to be an avid Bikram yogi and was even featured in my local studio’s ad (ohhhh, I’m famous!). But the days of extreme limberness went to the wayside when running became my number one.

Given the importance of stretching and yoga, you wouldn’t be surprised at the number of yoga DVDs that I own. Yoga DVDs are a tough one as they are usually uncomfortably soft spoken, too slow, and just plain boring. I completely understand and respect the spiritual essence of yoga, but I have to be honest, these days, I’m just looking for some good stretching…and that’s what I found with the “The No OM Zone” yoga DVD.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Just so you know, the DVD or their PR people didn’t contact me to do a review, but instead this is just one Amazon.com lover’s (i.e. me) review of a recent purchase. As I perused the DVD listings, I saw over and over again this DVD pop-up as being great for athletes. Being the wanna-be athlete that I am, I purchased the bad boy.

Kimberly Fowler, the DVDs instructor, is touted as the “new face of yoga” with a no nonsense approach.  She definitely gets straight to the point. The DVD consists of three 15 minute workouts, focusing on lower body, upper body and core. By no means are any of the workouts a complete yoga routine, but instead 15 minutes of really quality stretching using yoga poses. But note, I actually liked this about the DVD. Essentially, that’s all I want…some really good stretching and this DVD provided just that.

So for those looking for an affordable DVD that is fluff-free and allows you to focus on whatever body section you choose, I would recommend checking out “The No OM Zone,” but just don’t expect an inspiring and enlightening yoga practice. All-in-all, I’d give in 3.9 out of 5 BLAMs!

UPDATE: Thanks to a reader, I found out that not only was Fowler a former pro triathlete and Nike yoga spokesperson, but a cancer survivor and has spoken on behalf of Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation. Even more reason to love this DVD!

In other, non-running related news, last night I attended an event for my client Levi’s, who is launching their new Curve ID line. It was an awesome party demoing their new fitting system with bloggers from around the Bay Area, including my co-worker Sarah, from ConsumingPR. It was so great to see some of our hard work pay off as the event went perfectly as planned! Blogger fail: forgot to get any photos of myself and the team, but here’s a cute one of Sarah! Smile 🙂