Featuring a dumbbell-less sculpt class on Let’s Move! has got me thinking about Robinson Crusoe. Yes, I’m talking about the novel published in 1719, which centers on the survival of a shipwrecked European man, who spent 28 years living on a desert island off the coast of Venezuela. The main character, Robinson Crusoe, is depicted in the fictional book, as well as in the subsequent movies based on the book, as being very strong, fit and able. He fights off exotic...
November 13 – 19th is a seemingly benign week, but oh, it’s an important one to “Keep Going…Stay Strong!” That’s why Ellen’s sending out added inspiration via her e-newsletter this week starting MONDAY, one new motivating post a day will appear in your inbox. Be sure your email address is signed up to receive our newsletter. (See ya in November!)
The ability to focus is a superpower. There are two types of focus. One is intensity focus, a honing in on something very very specific, and letting the rest of the world fade into the background. Two is endurance focus, a staying with something for an extended period of time. The first one is a sprint, the second one is a marathon. Your workout needs both and can nurture both. From what I see in myself and from...
Would you consider yourself limber? I bet most of you would, because you see how good it feels and how functional it is. But you know what? You’re a unicorn. Limber is not the norm. When I’m out and about in the world, i see the opposite of limber. I see tight, constricted, stiff joints, especially in men. It’s a real shame because being limber is entirely up to each individual. Sure, someone might be...
Okay, so you’ve planned for a 3pm workout. It’s 45minutes long. You’ve got your exercise clothing on and your water bottle nearby. You’re ready to workout, but there’s one more thing to do – put your phone on airplane mode. It’s 2023, and from what I see in my classes, with clients, and with myself, the cellphone is the #1 workout sabotager. It has a tendency to intrude, interrupt, and disrupt. I know there are...
The idea that “gentle” is for babies or for the injured, but aside from those specific demographics, you should be embracing intensity, is still alive and well in the world today, but not in my world. In my world, gentle is sustainable, nurturing and a winning aspect of longevity. What is a gentle workout? First, gentle might just be slower. It might just be shorter. It might just be avoiding certain ranges of motion that cause pain. Gentle doesn’t mean less effective. Secondly,...
One of the best things about exercising is that there are instant results. Maybe it’s standing taller. Maybe it’s feeling stronger. Maybe it’s being more embodied. Whatever the instant results are, we usually don’t pay much attention to them. We move on with our day, and often don’t take a single moment to acknowledge the positive shifts that might have occurred. Yoga classes do have that moment, and it’s usually immediately following Shavasana, right before class ends....
Way back, as a teenager in the late eighties, I was so spiritually pumped up by, and physically invigorated by, aerobics class. Aerobics was sort of like my lower middle class, upstate New York, suburban version of a southern baptist church service, energizing to body and soul. Movement has become more sophisticated now, but at its root, it’s still about energy. Never forget – energy is at the root. It’s important to remember this about exercise – especially these days, where there are so many “fancy” options....
Yes, movement is movement, and we certainly have signature moves here at LET’S MOVE!, but there are three underlying signature components that are woven into every workout. They make a huge difference to our overall well-being, and I think they are worth highlighting: There’s no knit picking. Nothing ever has to be perfect. The only thing I want to see is a mind/body connection. I don’t care if you can’t point your toes much, and no worries if...
If you ask a little kid to imitate an old person, they stereotypically do two things: 1. they hunch forward, contracting their front body, and 2. they make their movements smaller and tighter. If you ask a little kid to imitate someone really cold, as if enduring a winter storm, they stereotypically do two things: 1. they hunch forward, contracting their front body, and 2. they make their movements smaller and tighter. The only difference...
