Hollywood Weekly Spotlights the Alexander Technique

This is a review of June Chadwick

Presenting the Alexander Technique

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on April 6, 2010 at 7:20 pm, filed under Alexander Technique, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and tagged , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Pilates vs. Personal Training

By Kristen Matthews

I recently took a workshop on “The Science of Pilates.”  We discussed the parallels and differences between Personal training and Pilates, and how we (Pilates instructors) fit into the gym world.  Pilates has been around for many years, but it’s really only been the past few that it’s become more mainstream.  With that being said, it can sometimes be a challenge making gym members see the benefits of Pilates.  My goal is to help people realize that Pilates can be an important foundation to any type of physical activity. Both Pilates and PT take clients through workouts that are based on their level from beginner up to advanced.   And in both you work on hypertrophy (changing the muscle), muscular endurance, and muscular strength.  The goal in any type of exercise is to change your body and variety in your workouts will help to reach that goal.

Personal training focuses mostly on concentric motion, which occurs when a muscle shortens in length and develops tension.  An example of this is the upward movement in a bicep curl.   In a training session you typically tear muscle fibers, which creates muscle soreness, lactic acid build-up, and degrades flexibility.   On the other hand, Pilates focuses mostly on eccentric motion.  This is the development of tension while the muscle is being lengthened.  Picture the lowering of the arm in a bicep curl.   Pilates typically stretches muscle fibers because of the focus on eccentric motion and the goal is to find symmetry between strength and flexibility.   Pilates will restructure your body from the inside out, starting at your core.   It’s an all over workout, with many muscle groups working for each exercise.

When putting together your own workout schedule, think about how you can vary it.  As much as I love doing Pilates I’d get bored pretty fast if that was the only type of physical activity that I was doing.   I mix it up by going to yoga classes, hiking with friends, and working with my Personal trainer, Laura Hebert of Santa Monica Sweat.  In every one of those activities I am engaging my core. My yoga is stronger because of my Pilates practice.  The training I’m doing with Laura is helping me see weaknesses that I wasn’t noticing when doing Pilates.  And hiking is a way to get my cardio in and spend time with friends.  Who said working out should be boring!   Remember that the more you do something, the faster you will see results.  If you’re thinking of adding Personal training or Pilates to your routine, aim for doing each two times a week.  You can even start with doing Pilates two times a week and training one day a week or vice versa.  Your body will thank you and so will your health.

This entry was written by kmatthews, posted on March 9, 2010 at 12:54 pm, filed under Fitness, Los Angeles, Pilates and tagged , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Lose it! Keep it Off!

I recently read this article in Berkeley Wellness letter about losing weight and keeping it off (stopping the yo yo dieting) and it truly sounded like the workout ‘regime’  I’ve been following with my trainer- Scott Crawford – for over a year. It’s encouraging and exciting to think I will be able to maintain the great results I’ve had – just by continuing to do what I’ve been doing and staying focused. I’ve lost body fat  – and at an accelerated rate when I combined a more structured diet plan with my workouts. We tracked  heart rate, body fat measurements and food journal with Teri Tom, MS, RD – and I dropped from 22% body fat to 16.8% in a month and a half! And the best part about it – I feel great!

The National Weight Control Registry has been looking into information on over 5000 people who maintained a weight loss of at least 30 pounds for more than 5 years.  Here are the successful strategies that these maintainers had for losing the weight and keeping it off:

1. Eat a high carbohydrate, low fat diet. Most calories (55-60%) should come from ‘good complex’ carbs – like whole grains, veggies, fruit and high fiber foods – NOT high sugar foods. 24% of calories come from fat and the rest (16-21%) from protein.

2. Be aware of calories consumed – total calories count – no matter what you eat.

3. Eat breakfast

4. Monitor and watch yourself – weigh yourself once a week and keep a food journal of what you eat

5. Exercise – A LOT – 60-90 minutes a day. Carve out time every day and plan to do something. Look for ways to keep active during the day and walk. Walking is the #1 activity.

And one more point about protein. Most Americans consume way more protein than they need -and you don’t need more protein if you exercise. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults is .8 grams/day for each kilogram (2.2 lbs) of weight. That would be 64 grams for a 175# man and 47 grams for a 130# woman. (1 ounce of chicken  or 1 cup milk = 8 grams) …so it adds up quickly.

By Bonnie Crouse

This entry was written by bcrouse, posted on February 24, 2010 at 9:24 am, filed under Experiences, Food, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Nutrition and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

A Review in Vital Juice for Soma Get Fit

Check out our most recent press in the daily healthy online magazine Vital Juice.

We hosted the LA editorial team here for one of our weekend retreats and they absolutely loved it.

Click below to read the full review and save 20% off your next retreat.

http://vitaljuice.com/entry_detail/la/1037

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on January 13, 2010 at 8:16 pm, filed under Bodywork, Experiences, Fitness, Food, Green Lifestyle, Hiking, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Los Angeles, Meditation, Nutrition, Outdoors, Press, Retreats, Santa Barbara, Stand Up Paddle Surfing, Yoga and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

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