Learning to move well, with meaning, is vital to aging well and fitness.

I would recommend taking the time to watch and listen to this interview to hear the range of topics discussed.

Here’s a few of some of the big ideas discussed in this interview:

Benefits of taking fitness classes on and offline.

You can’t recreate the energy of a live class, but our video library does have classes that can make you feel like you are part of a group even when you watch it alone. The Zoom classes still allow me to help cue you to injury free and improved performance because I can see you with numerous 28’’ screens surrounding the camera. The videos work in compliment or alone with specific focuses on how to move better and feel more muscles. This is the predicted future of fitness – a combination of live and video classes. 

When someone is new to a particular type of class they can feel a bit overwhelmed, especially if they don’t have much experience in group classes or a beginner to fitness. Physical Literacy is the ability to understand cues and how you move. Most fitness classes assume you have some of that and I work as best I can to help you find better control of your body. Never get discouraged because how you feel and how you move matters for the rest of your life!

How healthy muscles work best.

Some of the best instructors are the ones who were injured or were not blessed with a natural ability so they had to work hard at discovering the how and why of the industry. We need to be diligent and have the courage to question the information we are given because there is a lot of old science and myths out there still. 

A muscle should contract then relax. There are a lot of questions if you feel like you have muscles that need stretching. Muscles react to how you are placing your bones when you sit, sleep, walk, or exercise. Do they play with each other or do you have a bully on the playground? When people feel weak or tight, then usually need to figure out how to do things differently, to get a better sense of gravity and how things feel to move in ways that nourish you.

Humans are wonderfully efficient animals and we do find ways of moving in order to get a job done. Sometimes we get stuck in only one way to move or stand and can’t transition to another state and this leads to wear and tear, injuries and chronic pain. This people get hurt almost every time they get into new activities. 

Covid quarantine forced many people to walk and run suddenly to make up for the classes and gym time they no longer had access to, but unfortunately found themselves with new injuries such as shin splints, back, and hip pain. 

Neuroplasticity and the brain’s role in muscle movement for healthy bodies.

Neuroplasticity combines the body, the brain, and space. Walking is a great time to reconnect with how you feel and move. It is not something I suggest as exercise…but more as something that we should do because we are built to do it. Do you have a mix of intensity? Do you breathe well, fully, completely?

Your brain demands resources and it wants a good set of lungs to support it. We generally think of exercise as for the muscles. Some people push hard all the time and age harder because the body can’t get into a rest state and others may not challenge themselves enough to keep the nervous system strong and stimulated. 

Any type of movement is good. Increasing awareness keeps the mind AND body as a healthy team. Control is the key to any type of exercise you like to do, even Yoga assumes you have that ability. We all have a particular way we manage ourselves as we move on the planet and a lot of that is dictated by genes and how we are built. But we can all improve a sense of who we are and how we move.

(This is the study referenced in the interview by Justina Bailey)

The Generation 100 Study: Does exercise make older adults live longer? 

https://www.ntnu.edu/cerg/generation100