Over the past month, I had the pleasure of listening to a medical professional describe the ramification of the practice of the hip position “tucked/tilted/clenched” while standing. He confirmed that neutral is the most structurally safe place that your cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine are in alignment. As you know from my previous blog posts, I […]
One of the most common causes of injury while working out is that a person can strain a muscle. This can be caused by a lack of proper stretching. Repeating a strenuous motion required in a lot of exercises only exacerbates the problem. Flexibility is a key part of any strong and well-rounded fitness regime. […]
With summer here everyone is looking for that beach body! I personally think that all you need to do to have a beach body is to take your body to the beach! Just remember to bring the sunscreen! But in all seriousness, today I am offering you two real booty busters in time for summer! […]
When talking about strength training, most people immediately think of barbells, free weights, and single-joint actions. But Barre Bands are easily more functional, as well as infinitely more mobile, than those options. Single-joint actions are not functional in daily life. Instead of focusing on simple motions, we should be training multiple muscle groups at once, […]
Barre fitness classes are hot right now. These group fitness classes focus on muscular endurance, while incorporating standing Pilates, yoga, and ballet-inspired movements. The fitness barre movement does not have actual ballet motions, as a ballet barre class would, but instead focuses on repeating a strength exercise to the level of fatigue, while moving to […]
Have you looked at your class participants as they walk into your class? Most are hunched forward, in a similar position to sitting at a desk all day long. If you were to ask them to stay in the same posture, but lay on the floor, what exercise would they then resemble? If you just […]
Group fitness classes should teach movements that are easily replicated in the “real world” life of our clients. The motions we teach should be functional and need to move in the natural alignment of the body. If we start to teach exercises that are not in natural positions, we risk injuries for our clients. It […]
Every weekend, I have the pleasure of training and educating other fitness professionals. I love my job. The life of a fitness educator is not glamorous; I live out of a suitcase. But I thoroughly enjoy working with other like-minded people. While training instructors in the Barre Above program, I have had numerous trainers complain of low […]
Remember lying on the mat in elementary school P.E. or early aerobics classes and doing numerous crunches over and over again? Who would have thought that your gym coach and group fitness instructor would lead you in the wrong direction? Science has shown us that crunches are terrible for your spine. Performing crunches only shortens […]