How about some healthy competition?

by Dunte Hector

Adults have an immense need to find some healthy competition.

Sports are pushed to children for myriad reasons, including the life lessons they can teach you and the building up of the mind & body that come as a result. Those same lessons are critical for adults!

A talented business coach once said, “The four most dangerous words in the English language are ‘I already know that.'” As adults, we already “know” the life lessons taught by sport: dedication, effort, savoring the journey, self-confidence, acknowledging weaknesses, showing up despite our nerves. But have you ever read a good book again and discovered gems hidden in it that you just weren’t ready for earlier in your life?

Today, I argue for you, DBS family, to get involved in our Strength Series. We have hosted two meets already, from which participants have emerged refreshed, focused on new goals, and excited about their potential. This Sunday, we have a third: Olympic-style weightlifting.

If you were present for the all-day weightlifting seminar presented by Thomas and Samantha Lower, or if you’ve been in Strength class in the last 3 months, or if you’ve enjoyed any part of the fast barbell lifts we’ve used in the last few training cycles, you will be delighted with the sport of weightlifting. The strength sports celebrate winners, of course, as all sports do. However, their true appeal, like Strength Week during the Community Gains Project, is how excited a whole crowd of people gets when you set a new personal best in a lift.

The entire community of weightlifting LOVES to see a lifter succeed. Lifters love to witness the courage of someone showing up on the platform. And they love those things tenfold for someone trying for the first time.

The DBS community – especially the coaches – loves to show the same kind of support. So why not let us cheer for you this weekend?

Weightlifting is made up of the snatch and the clean & jerk. During competition, no one is judging your technique or looking to correct your movement. During competition, everyone is just waiting to celebrate your personal victory on the platform.

Whether you’ve done so deliberately or not, you’ve already invested time and energy into preparing for this sport. These two lifts build explosiveness and encourage lean muscle growth like no other, so we do them every week.

Whether you’ve planned to compete or not, you’ve already committed your mind, on multiple occasions, to putting the bar overhead with as much weight as you could. The Olympic lifts demand focus and aggression that always carry over into everyday life.

And whether you ever thought of yourself as an athlete or not, you’ve already demonstrated many of an athlete’s finest qualities: cultivating a skill and constantly seeking improvement. Weightlifting has been described as “gymnastics with heavy implements,” and you’ve been practicing for at least 3 months now.

So try yourself in competition this weekend! At the very least, come to the Shop on Sunday between 10:00am and 2:00pm to cheer on one of your peers.

Because, in our sneaky way, we have already helped you re-learn many of the life lessons that sport provides. All that remains now is to show up and lift. A little competition will do you a lot of good.

Click here to register for Sunday’s Olympic Meet at the Shop!

The Most Perfect Workout Yet

Sometimes it still alarms me when people–friends or family members, especially– ask me: “How do I get in shape?”

Never mind that my thought about what “in shape” is might differ from yours. I simply spend so much time reading fitness, writing fitness, and thinking about fitness that I just start assuming that everyone knows what I know. DBS family, I know you already know to exercise often and with intensity, to eat quality food in sensible amounts, and to take care of yourself mentally and emotionally. However, you may not know what it is about intense exercise that improves your “shape.”

So today, I’m writing about the upcoming Friday workout (Day 5, week 3 of this Community Gains Project), the first workout I may ever describe as “Perfect.”

I wrote a while back that fitness is NOT health and that improving your fitness demands asking “fit for what task?” If “everyday life and the hopefully rare emergency” is your task, then Friday is the perfect workout for you.

Training for exemplary general fitness–exactly what we do at the Shop–should incorporate several things:

  1. Heavy loads (called intensity)
  2. High total reps (called volume)
  3. Picking things up
  4. Carrying things
  5. Getting up and down from the floor
  6. Moving as fast as possible (while being safe & in perfect form)

That’s the standard list. You could pick any day of any week and notice we do those in class. But there are some additional things that are just as or more useful:

  1. Social interaction
  2. Mental/intellectual challenge
  3. Emotional stimulation (usually “fun” is correct, but competition stirs up certain feelings that are also healthy)
  4. Challenges at the edge of ability

That’s definitely a more complex list.

To answer the original question: “How do I get in shape?” Well, for exercise purposes, find a few workouts that do all 10 things above and attack them with everything you have.

So back to Friday: We have the Most Perfect Workout yet at DBS all ready for you.

Friday we have a card game mixed into a nearly impossible workout. It will be you versus the world. (Against your class at least.) The movements are very simple, but they involve a tremendous expense of energy. Because they are simple, you can load them up heavy and do them very fast. I noted that the workout is nearly impossible, and that’s important. If you’re aggressive, clever, and committed to getting the best out of yourself, you can finish this thing in 50 minutes or less, guaranteed. If you’re having an off day or your classmates really hose you in the card game, things could get hairy!

I don’t want to reveal the fun details, but I will give you the basic rules and an overview. I want you to be both prepared and excited for this Most Perfect Workout.

THE MOVEMENTS

Kettlebell Swings

Push-ups

Suitcase Carry

THE BASIC RULES

  1. Everyone begins with 2 cards.
  2. If you receive a card, your push-ups become burpees for one round.
  3. If you lose or give a card, your push-ups become sprawls for one round.
  4. If you accumulate 4 cards, you can “cash in” to skip push-ups for one round.

There are plenty of rounds, my friends, so don’t worry if you get a little confused at the beginning.

That’s all you have to know for now to show up Friday and have an incredible experience. Remember to keep things playful (or go for the jugular and pass out Burpees like Skittles). Remember to pace yourself (or put down the hammer and crush this thing). Remember to use a comfortable load (or get amped up and surprise yourself with your strength).

If being fit enough to live a high quality life and be prepared for the occasional threat is your goal, take note of how you feel Friday. I can’t speak for everyone (after all, “in shape” means different things to different people), but if you’ve liked the way we train at the Shop so far, you’re going to love Friday.

And…Saturday, please send all hate mail directly to me: dunte.hector@gmail.com, that way, I can be certain that you all know by then exactly what I know now.

Same but Different

by Dunte Hector
 
Since Matt and I took over programming for Fusion classes, there has been a steady evolution in how the weeks are structured. Don’t misunderstand: workouts are still challenging, classes are still electric, and the four walls haven’t changed much. But things are evolving, no less. Some of you can see our trademarks written all over our respective weeks of workouts. Some of you just notice that Wednesdays are outrageously hard.

Probably most noticeable is how the weeks have developed themes: weightlifting pulls, barbell complexes, throw-sprint-carry, etc. For you who take the time to ask, you know we’re happy to explain the why and how of these themes. For those who never asked — who just like showing up every day and “working out”— I want to share a secret with you: Exercising at Dane’s Body Shop is more than “working out”; it’s quality training. You will absolutely continue to grow stronger, faster, and leaner (with appropriate diet) by being a member of the Shop, whether or not that’s your specific intention.

There are a few principles of training within my certifying organization. First, continuity of the training focus. (Sports science corrolary: you become good at the things you frequently do.) Second, waviness of load. (Sports science corrolary: loads and intensities must be cycled to maintain adaptation.) Third, productive variety. (Sports science corrolary: stimuli must be changed periodically to force adaptation.)

So here’s why the weeks of “workouts” have developed themes and why we call what we do training instead of exercising…

But first, a paradox to consider: Science says “random” exercise doesn’t stimulate change, growth, or progress after the beginner phase, but it also says that doing the same thing over and over again eventually stalls progress. But then science says that you only become good at things you repeatedly do. So sports science says that we have to do the same things over and over again, but then we need to do different things over and over again, but that we can’t just change things when we want to, and if we violate any part of that, we make no progress.

So what to do to get leaner, stronger, and faster, when science says we must train “same but different”?

Simply this: Keep coming to the Shop.

There’s nothing random about our programming.

The weeks have themes so we can get quality repetitions in important movements. The weeks go from strength-focus to conditioning-focus so there is productive variety. And the weeks have a distribution of crazy-hard days and not-so-hard days so the loads constantly cycle. We work together to present our favorite proven methods for training to you so you continue to put weight on the bar. There’s some hard science behind what we write for you. There’s a lot of intuition. There’s experience, culled from the programmers before us (Dane and Leann) and the dozens of coaches from whom we steal at every opportunity. Mostly, there’s a lot of passion for improving you as athletes.

The main point, if you’re still reading, is that we really love writing these training programs for you, Fusion Athletes. And when you notice the theme of the week, or comment that you can tell who scripted the day’s training, or when you just trust us day in and day out that training this way will continue to make you a better athlete, we get all warm and fuzzy about it.

Thanks for training with us. Thanks for trusting our programming, for asking questions, and for paying attention.

And, this week and next, as we — the entire DBS family — smash the latest Community Gains Project, dominate personal records, and volunteer time to the Austin Children’s Shelter, thanks for working hard, kicking ass, and staying excited.

Things at the Shop are as they’ve always been: challenging workouts; energetic classes; loud music and louder cheers. But things at the Shop are also different: themes to training, the Community Gains Project, workshops and competitions and technique work galore. It’s a real paradox. You’ve got to be here to understand.

We’ll bring the workouts, you bring the intensity. ♦

Take a moment to breathe

by Juliana Sciaraffa For many, the Shop is a place of hard work, but also a place where we come to unwind from the day, a place to stop and breathe. But Here is the catch: Often, we forget to breathe. Breathing is an integral part of our training at the Shop, and imperative during every single strength training, metabolic conditioning, running, yoga or kickboxing class we push ourselves through. Very simply, it delivers vital oxygen to our bloodstream, which is then carried to our muscles and organs and helps us perform all of the work we are asking our body to do. Likewise, proper breathing will help brace the load and maintain lumbar stability during heavier lifts, allow the body to properly prepare and receive a strong kick, or relax into a deeper yoga pose. So, why do we find ourselves forgetting to breathe? Frankly, because we are often so focused on the physical task in front of us that we simply forget. It takes practice to learn

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how to breathe correctly for each of the techniques we perform. If you’re wondering when you should be focusing on your breathing, here are some examples of proper breathing during a workout: Bench press: Exhale slowly and continuously while pressing the bar, then inhale at the top of the lift or on the return. Running: While there’s no absolute rule, many runners find it most comfortable to take two steps while breathing in, and two steps while breathing out. Kickboxing: Stay relaxed and exhale with each punch — build a rhythm to your breath and technique and increase the amount of power behind your punches. The golden rule, then, is “Stop holding your breath!” and listen to the insight your coaches share about when and how to breathe. Even though it seems simple, we should pay as much attention to the breaths that we take as to the actual technique, because, whether we remember this or not, breathing is technique. And we should always ask for clarification or guidance on any move that may be unclear. When you are finished with your day’s work, remember to take a moment to breathe and reflect on the previous hour and your accomplishments. Let’s take a breathe together one time for good measure: Breathe in… now, breathe out.   Breathe through your kicks and punches with Juliana during KO Fusion, Thursday nights and every other Sunday morning, at the Shop. Details here.

HAVE SOME STANDARDS!

by Dunte Hector

“Students will rise to the level of expectation.”

Dan John, while coaching high school football players, observed that by simply expecting his students to bench press and front squat 200 pounds, more of them attained that standard. Schoolteachers with high behavior standards of their students have observed for years that their students are, in fact, better behaved than other students and tend to perform better academically as well.

I think I’ll get to the point early this week: Have some standards, folks!

Ah, yes, and then the question comes up of “how high” to set those standards?

Well, I hold my clients to these levels of strength:

– MEN –
Back squat: 2x bodyweight
Bench press: 1.5x bodyweight
Strict press: 1x bodyweight
Pull-ups: 10 reps
Plank: 1 minute

– WOMEN –
Back squat: 1.5x bodyweight
Bench press: 0.75x bodyweight
Strict press: 0.5x bodyweight
Pull-ups: 5 reps
Plank: 1 minute

If you’re looking at this list and laughing because you can do all of them, be careful to assess your goals — unless you are a strength athlete, strength is probably not your priority anymore. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with striving for more.

And if you’re looking at this list and shuddering because you can’t do any of them, remember that this is my ultimate expectation of you, not my assumption of your current strength level. My role as a coach is to guide you to these levels with appropriate programming, generous encouragement, and honest assessments.

During strength weeks, with all that time under the barbell, it can be tempting to ask, “What’s a good weight?” Frankly, good is the numbers above.

But my favorite thing to see is progress. A great weight in training is one that brings you a step closer to those standards above. The excitement around your PRs is related to this – taking one more step, however small, toward a “good weight.”

Additionally, my clients are held to these standards of nutrition:

1. No liquid calories
2. Protein at every meal and snack
3. Eat more – more protein, more fat, more fruits, more veggies
4. Eat less – less snacking on chips, pastries, cereals, other crap

And I hold my clients to these standards of quality training:

1. Drink a gallon of water each day
2. Keep a training journal
3. Lift the heaviest weight you can safely handle in good form

Every day, every workout, take care that you are living up to those three standards of quality training. They are essential to success with the five standards of strength.

Every day, take care that you are living up to those four standards of nutrition. They are essential to successfully managing your body fat and improving your performance.

So have some standards. Feel welcome to set your own — to adjust mine up or down to your own preference. But when deciding to settle for less than what I’ve listed above, remember that the student will rise to the level of expectation.

If you’re uncertain how to attain the standards I’ve set for you, don’t just put a low cap on how high you can rise; bring me your questions, your concerns, and your goals and we’ll find the plan to get you there.

I frequently remind my private clients to “Get Strong, Eat Clean, Live Well.” You know exactly how strong to I expect you to become, how clean I expect you to eat, and how well I expect you to train.

Now rise.

Yoga: Whatever you need it to be

by Ari Witkin

About 15 years ago, my mom dragged me to my first yoga class. She’d been practicing since the 70’s and had experienced many of the benefits that yoga brings. I say “dragged” because I really had very little interest in going. My impression, especially as a teenage boy, was that it was just for women or it was too hippy for me. Despite my apprehensions, I joined her in class because I knew it’d be good for me. I played basketball, baseball, and ran cross-country in high school and my muscles were incredibly tight. In a forward fold, I could barely reach past my knees – the thought of touching my toes was laughable. I continued to go sparingly over the years, without much progress.

After I finished grad school in 2008, I moved to Washington, DC and took a job with the Brookings Institution. I taught classes in National Security Policy Issues and Legislative Strategies. Like most in DC, I wore a suit and tie every day and, for someone who’s always been a bit laid back, work created a lot more stress than I wanted in my life.

A good friend of mine invited me to a yoga studio a few blocks from my apartment and I immediately fell in love. My two teachers there were incredible! The owner was a German woman, who had served as Chief of Staff to a Senator and then worked as a senior manager at the World Bank. She completely broke down after years of added stress and decided to make a career shift into yoga. Her sequencing was challenging, yet accessible.

 Her boyfriend (now her husband) also taught at the studio. I saw a lot of myself in his teaching style. He was a complete goofball, as am I, but I was making random jokes while leading discussions on how the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can affect global nuclear proliferation – my style of teaching just didn’t fit what I was teaching.

I decided to move back home to Austin about three years ago and make my own career shift. I now work in the health & fitness world and teach three yoga classes every week.

I was introduced to yoga through the lens of an athlete who needed to stretch. I fell in love with it as a way to calm my system during an unnecessarily stressful time in my life. Today, each practice serves a different purpose. Sometimes, a vigorous flow is a great workout. Other times a restorative practice provides the perfect amount of rest to reinvigorate my entire system. I have a meditation and asana (pose) practice and take the intention of my yoga practice off my mat and share the joy its brought me to friends and strangers alike.

Traditionally, yoga is a lifelong practice in order to achieve a connection to a deity – to achieve a level of bliss through the eight limbs of yoga. I have great admiration for those who have dedicated their lives to this journey, but understand that, for most people, including myself, yoga can mean something different in each practice.

The point is this – whether you come to my class, Morgan’s, another studio, have a home practice, or enjoy the benefits of yoga for a few moments during the fusion portion of other classes at the shop, yoga is whatever you want and need it to be.

 

Stretch it out with Ari on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm. Register here.

ALTER-FITNESS Nutrition by Coach Veronica

Fuel Progression

Proper nutrition is a lifestyle and if you don’t know where to start you could fall off the motivation train pretty quickly. I understand that starting a new fitness and nutrition routine or changing up your present one could be overwhelming and challenging. Everything from what types of foods should I eat for my type of training? How do I feed my family and stay on track? How do I eat out? What about alcohol? To Supplementation timing.

I hear just as many questions about nutrition as I do about the body shop classes. Therefore, people from all fitness levels are interested in straightening out their food to make their workouts more efficient and help them reach their fitness goals. This can encompass those who are starting from square one, those that need to reevaluate and those training for a specific goals, event or competition.

Some effective ways to start tracking your nutrition to see if it complements your workouts would be to start logging what you eat. My past clients have found that writing down what they are eating and how much they are training helps them get over their plateau. Other clients have downloaded an app as a tracker.  Some popular apps are Lose It and  My Fitness Pal.

One of the most effective way to progress is to have someone that is knowledgable about nutrition and supplementation to assess  your current health program. They will be able to evaluate and make recommendations to help progress your nutrition program towards your fitness and wellness goals.

If are interested in a program that would include motivation, support, education and accountability please feel free to contact me with any questions about the nutrition programs I offer.  You may also read about them on the Dane’s Body Shop website.

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/adm/home.asp?

You can also follow me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alter-Fitness/140070616202655

contact: veronica@danesbodyshop.com

Squat Clinic with Coach Josh

by Josh Harris

“There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that provides the level of central nervous activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat.”
–Mark Rippetoe

In today’s post I’m going to cover the benefits of performing a full, correct squat.  This will be a short, general post about the barbell back squat. Later, I will go move in depth (pun absolutely intended) and discuss the movement, point out common issues, provide corrective exercises and give you some exercises that will not only aid in strengthening the squat but strengthening the whole body as well.

Benefits

When someone asks me what are the benefits of ATG squatting (squatting to where your’ hip joint is lower than your knees). I give them this copy pasta list of great benefits.

1. Improved functional flexibility.

2. Improved joint elasticity.

3. Better mechanical work.

4. More even distribution of force throughout all joints involved.

5. Greater range of motion which causes more work per rep, which causes more even muscle growth and strength throughout a greater range.

6. Greater midsection strength because greater control is needed for a lower position.

7. Better balance.

8. Makes you stronger in the lower ranges which allows you to be even stronger in the partial ranges.

In general, when performed correctly, the squat can give you these benefits plus more. To summarize: ladies, the squat is not only the best overall exercise to “tone and firm” up your’ butt, thighs and core, it will increase hip flexibility and function. Guys, the squat, in my opinion, are one of the best mass gainers out there (top 5 include: squat, deadlifts, power cleans, push press and incline). Furthermore, it has been shown that heavy resistance exercise protocols increases serum testosterone levels.

In a study performed with an exercise protocol utilizing a 10 RM load and 1-min rest periods, males demonstrated significant increases above rest values from post exercise values in serum testosterone, and all serum concentrations were greater than corresponding female values; however, females exhibited significantly higher pre-exercise human growth hormone levels compared to the males [1]. This is due to a few physiological reasons that will be discussed in a later post. However; the point I want to focus on is the fact of an increase in serum test. As we may know, an activation of muscle tissue increases testosterone synthesis. And we can figure out that a rapid increase of muscle activation due to higher load stressors can further increase this test release during recovery. And where is the greatest ratio of muscle fiber to the rest of bodily mass? The gluteus, hamstrings and quads. So we can assume (only assume) that during this study performed, activation of the lower body was performed. However we can only speculate.

Can anyone think of any type of programming that should NOT involve a squat motion? The chances are there will be probably close to no type of programming that would exclude a squat motion. The squat motion itself is a very common, functional movement. From picking something from the ground to sitting in a chair, the squat is the foundation for these movements. So why neglect the squat from your training? If you are, try to implement more squats slowly until the movement becomes comfortable then move on to more complex endeavors. If you are already at that point, let’s try to focus on hip, knee and ankle flexibility and midline strength. If you are the few who can perform a correct full squat, let’s crank it up to the next level and focus on strength and power output per rep.

The squat motion overall benefits everybody to some degree. So don’t be afraid of the squat rack get that low and move some weight! Consistency creates habit; meritocracy creates failure; consistent meritocracy creates failing habits.

Be sure to catch Josh in South Austin for our Fusion N’ Go Outdoor bootcamp! Sign up here!

Reference

[1] Kraemer, W., Gordan, S., & Fleck, S., et. Al. (1991). Endogenous anabolic hormonal and growth factor responses to heavy resistance exercise in males and females. Internation Journal of Sports Medicine, 12 (2), 228-35.

Building a Stronger Community One Gain at a Time

by Leann Rominger

The community at DBS is like no other.  I have worked out at other gyms, close knit communities, but for some reason I always felt a slight hesitation when encouraging new members or friends to participate.  Not because I was worried they wouldn’t like the workout or the coaches, but because of the people — not many, but few — that could make being the newbie feel like Forest Gump trying to find a seat on the bus.

It hit me this morning on my run: Each day, as I encourage people to join the community at DBS, whether it is a friend, family member, someone I have a consult with, or someone who walks in off the street, it is with complete confidence that I can recommend the Shop.  Why is that? The coaches, the workout, the facility? In short, it is due to the inspiring community that’s flourished at the Shop.

Community can be defined as a group of people who share common values and interest that live in the same area; however,  the community at DBS can be defined differently in my eyes.  Community at Dane’s brings together people with common fitness goals who come together to support one another.  Each of you walk into the Shop unaware of what’s written on the whiteboard. Regardless of difficulty, you conquer the workout madness we offer because you’re surrounded by inspiring peers

You are all constantly inspiring each other to achieve new goals, exceeding your prior possibilities. In the process, deep bonds are formed.  These workouts are designed to push you to a limit forcing you to clear your mind and focus completely on the work ahead of you.  The workouts are not designed to just challenge your body, but your mind as well.  As we challenge ourselves individually we are unknowingly promoting a higher standard towards the overall community at DBS.  It never ceases to amaze me the level at which our members are willing to perform in order to complete a workout.

 The Community Gains Project has been a new and exciting addition to the already strong community here at DBS.  I get so excited to come in and watch individuals push themselves in order to contribute to an overall goal as a community. Community Gains is a great way to continually track your personal progress and strength while working together as a team to build a stronger more cohesive community at the Shop.

We don’t hand pick our members, we have an eclectic group of member that range from kids, college students, stay-at-home moms and dads, career driven men and women, entrepreneurs,  grandparents, retirees —   the list goes on and on. But when you step in the Shop, you are you, the best you that you can be.  You’re here to inspire, be inspired, and contribute to the greater goal of becoming a strong community one individual gain at a time.

 

 

Making it Look Easy

by Dunte Hector

Occasionally someone will remark during or after class that I make a squat clean or a Turkish get-up look easy. If you’ve ever wondered the same, here’s a question: How many cleans do you do every week? And another: how many weeks have you been doing cleans?

It is easy to take for granted things we’ve done day-in, day-out for years. It is easy to forget how difficult it was to learn a skill — how to ride a bike, how to tie your shoes — and even easier to forget how quickly variations were picked up after that. Sometimes you ride standing up. Sometimes you ride with no hands. Sometimes you ride while looking over one shoulder. Those are just variations of riding a bike.

But when you learned to ride a bike, there was that death-grip-on-the-handlebars, teeth clenched, steel-eyed focus on turning those pedals over one by one by one, now wobble for balance, now pedal one stroke, two strokes, three strokes…until one day, BOOM! You had it! It suddenly came together and you were riding. Almost the next day, you were trying to ride no hands like the older kids in your neighborhood.

Movements in our workouts are the same way. As coaches, we have been practicing basic movements every day for years. A squat is no longer a new skill; it is a well-ingrained pattern, a motor habit. The squat never changes, but position the bar just like so and… a front squat, a back squat, an overhead squat. Just like that, 3 variations are picked up almost instantly.

I have easily done ten thousand power cleans in my lifetime. The squat clean is just a variation. In one way or another, every coach has done at least one push-up every single day for 5 or more years. The Man Maker, the shoulder tap, the clap push-up are all just variations.

“If it’s important, do it every day.” Dan Gable, amateur wrestling legend, said that.

If you’re struggling with a movement at the Shop, I suggest you do it every day. Liz practices pull-ups after every class. Hugh does 2 sets of 5 front squats before every workout. Matt sneaks in sets of 10-20 kettlebell swings after Fusion. They might not see it yet, but I see it getting better; I see it getting easier.

Folks, you’ve been tying your shoes every single day for years. At this point, you make it look easy yourself, but there was a time where it was a real challenge. If there is a movement at the Shop that’s holding you back, practice it every day. Practice, practice, practice, and wait for the boom.

For a while, you’ll be clenching your teeth, gripping the bar too tight, and reciting our cues from class like gospel – “chest up,” “knees out,” “elbows high.”

Chris, Alex, and Leann all became coaches after spending time as members; after struggling, after practicing, and after mastering some of our key movements. Just like them, if you practice enough, you can make it look easy too. And, you know, after being a member, coaching is just a variation.

 
Do some extra reps with Dunte this week! Register for classes here.