Be Well Personal Training

Learning to fall... What if instead of continually lifting up away from the floor we learned to interact with the floor by learning to fall different ways? Would our relationship with movement, posture, and how we feel moving throughout the day change? Things I ponder.. .. (BTW, I haven’t drilled these in a year, but they were calling my name this morning so I ditched the programmed broad jumps and worked these instead and reaped the mental benefits).. ..... Intuitive movement doesn’t always have to be free form. It can be structured skill work or strength work or flexibility work... But it starts with listening.. .. #playdaily #fall #strength #movement #naturalmovement #exerciseforanxiety #exercisefordepression #emotionalfitness See more

Embodied anatomy: Twenty years ago, at the beginning of winter quarter during my junior year of undergrad, I walked into my first anatomy lab. I was mesmerized by the prosecutions what they representedall of parts to the self that are underneath the skin, the parts I couldn’t see but which allowed me to move and think and be.. .. My anatomy professor was an amazing teacher and the TAs leading lab were equally as dynamic and engaging. When we were learning about the latissimu...s dorsi, Dr. Grey (that was really his name), said it’s shaped like a fan and brings the arm back to the body. Imagine the action of a pull-upit’s the muscle that lets you pull yourself up.. .. I stared at in lab later that week, pulling and tugging to reproduce movement through the arm. Cadaver prosecutions aren’t representative of actual movement, for obvious reasons, but it was a starting point to understand connections.. .. Later that week at the gym as I was doing pull-ups, I thought about my latissimus supporting and pulling my arms back to my body as I lifted myself up. As I imagined what the muscle was actually doing as I moved through the exercise, the pulling movement felt different. I couldn’t articulate how and I didn’t do more than notice and move on, but something was there that hadn’t been before.. .. Not much has changed. I am still regularly in awe of what happens under the skin and I still study anatomy and do pull-ups, but my ability to experience is more finely tuned.. .. It’s that ability to experience that @itsalisonheilig and I are sharing with the Embodied Anatomy course, a 20 hour livestream workshop done over the course of two weekends (July and August). Not only will you learn the physical structures, you will learn how to experience the connections of the systems through movement. #playdaily #movement #emotionalfitness #strength #anatomy #yoga #fitness #pilates See more

Supporting Resilience : Spine and hips How many ways can you move your spine? The number, of course, is an infinite number (just watch dancers), but so often once we get to a certain age, we stop exploring. It’s as though our curiosity about how we can move dries up and we left with a spine that only moves a certain way or doesn’t move at all.. .. When you practice moving your spine many ways in a safe environment, a funny thing happens. You begin to feel more fluid, less sti...ff, and more in touch with the very part of your body that is literally your backbone. This awareness seeps into other movements and creates more structural balance, which becomes embodied in other ways.. .. Join @itsalisonheilig and me tomorrow for our third and final workshop in the Resilience series for all things related to spine and pelvis. We will explore through sensory input and SMR; we will also explore through mobility and motor control specific movements. Register here: https://app.namastream.com/alison-heilig/product/27616/about.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #resilience #exerciseforanxiety #exercisefordepression #yoga #pilates #coretraining See more

Push-up play: When you pre-stretch a muscle right before a movement, it can be easier to generate more power during the hard part. It can be a fun way to explore movements that are traditionally hard or challenging.. .. Lifting the hands from the floor contracts the muscles in the mid-back while placing the opposing muscles (the pecs) on stretch. When you release the hands back to the floor it feels easier to push the floor away as the pecs contract.. ..... When traditional movement skills become an opportunity for exploration and curiosity, your attention focuses in a different way. You activate a different part of your brain when you aren’t mindlessly performing reps and that can create more than just well-developed arms. L. .. #emotionalfitness #playdaily #pushups #exerciseforanxiety #exercisefordepression #bodyweighttraining #yoga #pilates #mindfulmovement See more

Support from the middle: I have noticed when people aren’t quite sure how to navigate gravity they don’t bend the knees or the elbows. This happens in squat and lunge variations and in pushing and crawling variations.. .. Try this: begin a squat by bending your knees. Let the hips and ankles respond. How does that feel?. ..... Now try this: begin a push-up by bending the elbows. Let the shoulders and wrists respond. How does that feel?. .. Bending the knees and elbows requires an element of trust that there is enough eccentric strength in the structure that things won’t come crashing down to the ground.. .. Changing your perspective can change your experience. L. .. #playdaily #movement #bodyweighttraining #exerciseformentalhealth #exerciseforanxiety #exercisefordepression #mindfulmovement #yoga #pilates See more

Numbness: I had two people recently contact me for numbness in the wrists and arms while sleeping. Numbness is a sensation and sensation is always information (I have lots I could write about that, but then this would be a blog post, not an IG post).. .. Both individuals were spending a fair amount of time with their hands near their bodies. Taking the hands away from the body and focusing on other surrounding structures created a more balanced way of moving (and one person s...aid dramatically reduced the sensation of numbness).. .. The next time you experience a sensation, observe it. Notice when it’s present and when it isn’t. Ask yourself how you might balance the sensation.. .. (BTW, posture isn’t causative of sensation. Posture is simply a resting place, but if your resting place always looks exactly the same, one way to create balance is to learn to rest in different ways. The brain and the body love options.). .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #sensation #exerciseforanxiety #exerciseformentalhealth #exercisefordepression #posture #yoga #pilates #tness

Emotional fitness: Enriched environments, part I An enriched environment is one which creates a sense of curiosity. It fosters play and problem solving. It facilitates critical thinking and is a way to practice learning.. .. Many environments can provide enrichment if they are viewed in a non-linear way. I asked my ten year old client to come up with three different ways to get up on a standard bench.. ..... This was one of his solutions. None of his solutions involved stepping on top of the bench, which I thought was interesting.. .. Set a timer for two minutes. How many ways can you get up on the bench (or plyo box)? When the timer goes off, pause. How do you feel physically? How do you feel emotionally?. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #strength #mobility #bodyweighttraining #flexibility #adaptability See more

Emotional fitness: adaptability Flexibility is the ability to bend so you don’t break. It’s also the ability to adapt your thought processes and behavior given the context. It’s a lack of rigidity, a more fluid way of viewing the world.. .. I practice flexibility to be adaptable, to feel like I can bend without breaking and so my thoughts, like my body, are less rigid in their view. How will you bend today?. ..... #playdaily #emotionalfitness #strength #bodyweighttraining #bodyweighttraining #flexibility #mobility #flow #yoga #pilates See more

Emotional fitness: cultivating responsiveness The ability to initiate movement from the breast bone can lead to an entirely different way of standing, sitting, and breathing. Learning to initiate movement from the breast bone will benefit you if: You have ever had physical trauma in your abdominal region You struggle with feeling rigid and you want to learn how to cultivate responsiveness throughout your spine You sometimes have trouble breathing and/or are prone to feelin...g anxious You want to feel less tense and more coordinated during your movement practice.. .. Try this: Set a timer for two minutes. Initiate movement from your breast bone. Start small, finding subtle transitions and let it expand to level changes and rotations.. .. When the timer goes off pause. Observe your breathing and how you feel in the center of your body.. .. A client recently said to me, I don’t understand why I feel so much better. These concepts seem so simple. Find the depth in the simplicity. You may be surprised at what’s there.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #mobility #awareness #mindfulmovement #yoga #pilates #movement #therisetheshine #move

This is happening Sunday, for those of you in need of some self-care/tools for restoring strength and mobility to your upper body: https://www.jennpilotti.com//restoring-resilience-enhance- (This is also great for personal trainers/yoga teachers/Pilates instructors interested in learning new tools for your work with clients and students.)

Emotional fitness: using the arms to connect the ribs to the pelvis I have a client who is in his early 40s, is athletic, and had chronic low back pain and fear of certain positions for years. When he first came to see me, his ribs didn’t connect with the floor at all.. .. I tried several things (all of the things, the breathing, the thoracic flexion with posterior tilt, the gentle somatic work), with no success, until the day I set him up in this position.. ..... The bars gave him something to anchor his hands to which allowed him to anchor his ribs. The results lasted the entire session, and when he lied down on the floor at the end, he commented how good it felt to actually feel that part of his back on the floor.. .. That was over a year ago. He still uses this exercise when he’s stressed or wants to remind himself of the connection (he uses the bars along his back deck, since Stall bars aren’t exactly common).. .. Not everything has to fall neatly into a specific exercise category. Sometimes, making the connection has a bigger impact on the nervous system than feeling the core.. .. Try this: Find a secure object bolted into the floor (beams work great). Lie down with your head towards the bam and your hands holding the beam. Exhale and gently pull the beam towards your pelvis. Pick up your feet (continue lightly pulling the beam the entire time). On your next exhale, lower one foot to the floor. Inhale, pick it up. Alternate sides and play with switching up the breathing pattern to inhale and lower one foot to floor, exhale to pick it up. What feels best for you?. .. When you finish, rest your hands by your sides and the feet on the floor. Observe your breathing and the sensation of your ribs against the floor. Do you feel supported by the ground?. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #movement #strength #movementforanxiety #connections #yoga #pilates #prehab #mindfulnovement See more

Emotional fitness: the bridge as a tool for down-regulation I have two clients, a 40 year old endurance athlete and a 50 year old mom of two. Both are prone to anxiety, both have had low back pain, and both are currently pain free and super strong. But I still include basic bridging variation in their warm-ups (and not the single leg kind). Why?. .. When bridging is taught without an emphasis on muscle activation or strengthening anything or squeezing anything, it provides lo...ts of sensory feedback to the brain about the spine’s position in space. The brain loves to know where all the body parts are (accuracy leads to better predictions for future movement). This enhanced awareness can down-regulate the nervous system.. .. For both of these individuals, they feel like their spines are getting long when they bridge. Their breathing improves and their ribs move into more of an exploratory position without me saying anything. In a way, bridging grounds them.. .. Try this: lie on your back. Feel the sensation of your heels against the floor and imagine the inside of the feet and the outside of the feet are reaching long. Press the feet into the floor while reaching them forward. Let the hips lift up. Lower down, but keep the awareness in the feet. Perform four times. After your fourth one, rest on your back for a moment. Observe the sensation of your ribs and pelvis against the floor.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #bodyweightexercises #yoga #pilates #movement #mindfulmovement See more

Restoring Resilience: reaching and load bearing The shoulder area is complex. It’s ability to allow the arm to move freely is predicated on an integration of the sternum, clavicle, scapula, humerus, and thorax. These areas are impacted by where you are looking and the position of your pelvis and lower body.. .. The ability to reach and transfer load to the hand challenges the upper extremity to respond to what’s happening through the rest of the body when the hand reaches fo...r an object to supporting the weight of the upper body when the hand is fixed on the floor. Open chain to closed chain is a way to challenge the responsiveness and strength. Both of these attributes are necessary for creating a sense of strength, resilience, and fluidity from the fingers to the neck.. .. Join @itsalisonheilig and me this Sunday to explore these concepts in a creative, evidenced based way. You will leave with tools to feel stronger, more connected, and more capable for you or your clients and students. Link in bio to register.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #therisetheshine #strength #mobility #yoga #pilates #personaltraining #shoulders See more

Emotional fitness: adding a constraint It’s easy to view exercise and movement as monotonous. It’s one of the reasons that despite the myriad of health benefits exercise and regular movement have on emotional well-being, people have a difficult time creating the time, energy, and space to fit it into their daily lives.. .. One way to create consistency is to make the act of movement interesting. Adding a simple constraint can focus attention, make the act of movement feel les...s hard, and make the entire process more enjoyable.. .. Try this: find a semi slippery surface. Put on socks. Set a timer for two minutes. Don’t let the feet leave the ground (one aspect of both feet remains on the floor at all times). How many ways can you move?.. .. When you are finished, observe your breathing and the sensation of your feet as they interact with the ground. How do you feel?. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #movement #mobility #thinkdifferent #strength #yoga #pilates #therisetheshine See more

Restoring Resilience: A supported structure The ability to generate movement through the arm is a collaboration between parts that allows a transfer of force from the spine to the fingers (or from the fingers to the spine).. .. The ability to do this effectively is largely dependent on the responsiveness of the area that supports the shoulder blades.. ..... If the upper and middle ribs, breast bone, and vertebrae don't move, there will be a lack of freedom of movement through the upper extremity.. .. If you want to deepen your understanding of how the upper extremity works with the spine or you simply want exercise ideas to help you and your clients feel more supple, stronger, and more resilient from the neck to the fingers join @itsalisonheilig and me this Sunday for a 2.5 live workshop from 10-12:30EST. Link to register: https://app.namastream.com/#/alison-heilig/auth/signin/18171 (recording will be available if you can't attend live).. .. #playdaily #bodyweighttraining #prehab #yoga #mobility #shoulders #resilience #movement #spine #pilates #personaltraining See more

Emotional fitness: perception .. Movement creates blood flow. Blood brings nutrients to the working muscles and carries away waste.. .. Movement, then, is like feeding your muscles, bones, and ligaments a nutritionally dense diet. Blood, like breath, is necessary for life..... .. What if instead of viewing exercise or movement as a way to look a certain way or fit some sort of ideal, you thought of it as an opportunity to provide nourishment to your tissues? Would that change your relationship to movement? .. Our ability to change our perception is often the one thing we can control. The first step to changing perception is noticing what you currently feel and think.. .. You can play with this in your movement practice by observing how you normally do something and then trying it differently.. .. Instead of letting my arms drive the movement, I am initiating the movement through my feet. (I have been reading a lot about the transfer of force during throwing, so this was especially relevant to me today.) My experience of my arms was different than if I had initiated the motion through the arms and shoulders. Neither is more right than the otherthey’re just different.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #movement #bodyweighttraining #mindfulmovement #mobility #coordination #motorcontrol #perception See more

Emotional fitness: conscious movement Moving consciously and deliberately requires focus.. .. It also allows you to notice what’s challenging and what isn’t, telling you something about your movement flexibility. Can you do something you do all of the time differently or do you default to strongly ingrained habits?. ..... Try this: come into a hands and knees position. Pick up one hand and place your hand down, rolling from the pinkie edge to the thumb edge.. .. Repeat on the other side. Place your hands down in different positions, exploring the idea of rolling the hand from the pinkie edge to the thumb edge.. .. When you are finished, take a moment and observe the sense of your hands and how they connect to the rest of the arm.. .. (I am teaching a free 45 minute grounding class for newsletter subscribers on Thursday. If you can’t make it live, I will send out the replay.) #playdaily #emotionalfitness #bodyweighttraining #strength #mobility #awareness #grounding #therisetheshine See more

Emotional fitness: grounding the hands There are certain places in the body that are filled with sensory information. The heels of the palms (like the heels of the feet) are one of those places.. .. Connecting with the heels of the hands not only gives you a chance to use your entire upper limb in a different way, it also can be calming, in an interesting way, by creating a sensation of support.. ..... (I am teaching a free 45 minute class on Thursday for my newsletter subscribers with grounding as a theme. A replay will be available if you can’t make it live.). .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #wriststrength #bodyweightyraining #grounding #yoga #pilates #strength See more