108 push-ups!
Shiva Rea, or as I like to call her, "goddess of beautiful pain," wants everyone to be impossibly buff and happy.
At least, that is what I have come to believe from doing her wide variety of yoga DVDs. In "Creative Core + Upper Body," Rea uses 9 sets of up to 12 push-ups together with yoga poses to thoroughly work the upper body and then stretch it in opposition. I certainly could not do the full 12 in each set, but she emphasizes that each person should only do what they are currently capable of doing, whether that means modified push-ups with the knees on the ground, or doing a fewer number in each set, or both. What I really love about the upper body work within the context of yoga is that you can push yourself to your body's limits without being temporarily disabled by soreness the next day. Don't get me wrong, I was certainly feeling the burn afterward, but because every set of push-ups was so meticulously countered with work in opposition, I retained a complete range of mobility in the following days.
The second section of the DVD is an 8 minute abdominal series done on the floor, and it is the most "creative" part of the disc. After leading the viewer through some ab exercises, she then encourages a freestyle section where you move your legs and arms however you see fit to work the abs in different ways. At first I thought I'd have trouble coming up with my own movements, but really she's given so many ideas leading up to it that it was no trouble at all.
I love this DVD, especially since I don't have a gym membership and this could be half of my strength regimen, and it's much more interesting than traditional floor work.