What? Do you ever wonder what you need to do with all those “cues”? Fear not, it will be spelled out here! Creatively cuing you to achieve proper posture and to engage your core is your instructor’s top priority. Without correct alignment and spinal support, it is impossible to safely achieve the results you seek in class. Understanding how to get there, however, can be a difficult task. Here are the steps that will get you there!

Pull in your navel, suck in your belly, engage your abs... these are the cues you likely hear a when standing to achieve a core that is prepared for work. What your instructor is seeking is the narrowing of your body’s depth. When in a set position to begin working out while standing, place one hand on your belly and the other in the small of your back. Now, bring your hands closer together through the action of your abdominal wall. By zipping “it” (your core) up in this way, you have effectively engaged the abdominus rectus which runs the length of your torso from sternum to pubis. All exercise is abdominal exercise if/when you properly engage. Training this area perpetually is the key to more than flat abs. It is essential to exercise longevity. This is how you “zip it up”.

“Locking it down” is slightly more complex. Move your hands to your natural waist. Now, while breathing normally draw your hands toward one another without pressing narrowing your waist. This causes the transverse and oblique muscles to brace the abs and fully recruit the “core” muscles. No other maneuver is more important to your low back than this tightening. It is critical for posture maintenance in vertical (standing) exercise. Know that when your instructor is using a variety of clever terms to get you to “turn on your abs”, this is what they are talking about! [Read More]

New program, big party, know the choreography….and nothing to wear?

Branding your team for launch does NOT have to be an expensive project. Here are some ideas to help you dress for less and still impress!

• DISCOUNT STORES: Wal-mart, Target, K-mart, TJ Maxx, Old Navy….the list goes on! Scavenge these and other discount retailers for hot red baby doll tees, tanks, or jog tops for BODYPUMP®. Launching something else? BLACK works for all programs…if you want all personnel to look alike. Of course, you know the program colors, but what about the branding?
• E-CLUB: allows you to reproduce the logos for screen print or embroidery to use in the club and/or to give away. While items that you logo MAY NOT BE sold, it is perfectly acceptable to brand them with the logos and provide to the team at cost or to give away to members and/or staff. In tough economic times, get creative. Don’t sacrifice a polished product…just dig a little deeper!
• BOTTOMS: need only match in color. It can actually have a lovely visual effect to have one instructor in a skort, another in capris, one in pants…you get the picture! Just go with the same color. Particularly for BODYCOMBAT®, it is simple enough to obtain camouflage pants from an Army Surplus store and “customize”. If you get creative with the bottoms, then go with a simple black tank for the tops.

WELCOME NEW CLUBS TO THE TRIBE!

Key Largo Fitness & Tanning (West) in Columbia, MO TURNED IT UP with BODYPUMP®, BODYCOMBAT®, & BODYSTEP®!

Cardio Plus 24 hr Spencer in Spencer, IA has chosen to STAND STRONG with BODYPUMP®.

ADDING NEW PROGRAMS...

Fusion Health and Fitness Club in Ann Arbor, MI introduced BODYJAM® the party class!

Ozark Fitness-Poplar Bluff in Poplar Bluff, MO has unleashed BODYCOMBAT®!

WELCOME ALL!

NEW BUFFALO…raise an elbow to the newest inductees who were pledged by Emma Barry herself!

Emily Clark, Randi Komisar, Breea Rayner, Robyn Hamilton, Melissa Schwartzman, Beth Ann Lawson, Bernadette Fortnum, Amy Sutherlin, Laura Morningstar, Stacey Miller, Geoff Smith, Fern Delima, Pam Vandermere, Neny Nelson, Robin Fisher, Lisa Joppie, Alice Schlaudt, Valerie Jager, Jen Rudnick, Tina Mayas, Reza Mollabashy, Dawn Pedri, Beth Moravec, Teri Hartzler, Becki Bottoms, Andrea Kelley, Cathy Grier, Amanda Miller, Morgan Sanders, and Melissa Harris.

Buffalo witnesses (previous inductees): Holly Rennels, Sheldon McBee, Ben Feliciano, Amanda Gould, Lori Lowell, Rick Suchek, Susan Trainor, Steve Koebecke, Emma Barry, and Sara Kooperman.

To find out more about the Buffalo…attend the next after party!

Ever wondered what makes a great launch? THIS is how you do it!! Congrats to Melissa Dresbach Fitness Director and her team at Great Lakes Athletic Club (GLAC).

Great Lakes Athletic Club is a 80,000 square foot multi-purpose club located in Lake Orion, Michigan.

In addition to over 100 group x classes, GLAC offers personal training and programs including learn to swim classes. We have two pools, outdoor and indoor, a multi-purpose gym, childcare, and a cafe. Our membership base is approximately 5,000 adult memberships.

Two weeks before launch, we put together a "BODYPUMP®/Les Mills" table. We had a tv playing the Les Mills promotional DVD around the clock. We also printed out the BODYPUMP® informational brochure and placed copies of it on the table. Info on our launch was also on this table. We also started sending out informational emails to our members. We used the widget you supplied to link our website to the Les Mills website. We also advertised a sales promo for that weekend only, and all our departments were on board and played a crucial part in the success of our launch.

Your marketing materials rock! We used the "Hero" campaign and made posters. We placed these posters around the club including in both locker rooms and outside our main group x studio. We also used the Hero guest pass. Everything looked very professional. [Read More]