Your heart is arguably your most important muscle, so keeping it healthy is a no-brainer. There are two main types of exercise to keep a healthy heart beating. HIIT (high-intensity interval training) alternates short, intense bursts of effort (20 to 60 seconds) with...
I've got a personal perspective on this topic that many of you might relate to. My partner Charles was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure - something neither of us expected. But as someone who teaches fitness for a living, I know one thing for certain; being...
I love Pilates. I teach it several times a week, and I've watched countless people discover how transformative it can be. But here's the thing: Pilates is a century-old method, and some of the teaching traditions built into it were created before we understood motor...
Let's have an honest chat; a gentle one, I promise🙂 Over the years I've heard a lot of reasons why people put off exercise. And I get it. Life is busy. Budgets are stretched. Starting something new can feel intimidating. Every body and every circumstance is different,...
Let's talk about something that doesn't come up very often in fitness circles, but probably should. I'm going to say two words, and I want you to take a breath and stay with me: pelvic floor. I know. For a lot of people, even hearing that term can feel a little...
There's a pattern I've been thinking a lot about lately, one that a board-certified orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Howard Luks describes after 30 years of watching it happen to his patients. He calls it the slow shrinking of what your body allows you to do; or more...
You've probably heard me mention this in class: if you've been using the same five-pound dumbbells since the day you joined, your muscles have quietly slipped into cruise control. It's not laziness, it's biology. Our bodies are remarkably efficient, and once they've...
When you work out on a hot day, you might feel more wiped out than usual. Sometimes that's not fatigue; it's dehydration creeping up quietly. And the answer isn't always just to reach for your water bottle. We grew up hearing "drink eight glasses of water a day."...
Working in the garden might seem like a gentle way to spend a few hours, but it can actually be pretty rough on your body. Believe me, I know (and so does Charles)! Trouble is, many of us just grab the gloves and get right into it -- twisting our spines and gripping...
