Getting started with pilates

A long-time fitness professional, Lashaun Dale is the midst of adding new programming to the 24 Hour Fitness Schedule including Treat While You Train by Jill Miller, Booty Barre by Tracey Mallett, Athletic Training Club by Melissa Guest-Smith, and and POP Pilates by Cassey Ho. Dale decided to work with Ho because she describes popular Pilates teacher is a role model who can relate to people’s challenges and can inspire them toward positive change

What suggestions would you give to people who want to get started with Pilates?

LD: Be okay with not being a Pilates Diva from the start. There will be moves that are so humbling that you want to quit…pick a base move that is your, “I will do something move.”  For me in Pilates, when I can’t deal with the burn in my core in some of the moves, I practice just holding my legs up in the air totally straight, with my core engaged and my breathing in sync.  I’ll give myself a moment to reset, and then get back in the game. Do some pre–study including watching videos about Pilates moves; seeing them before you actually do them is a mental warm up for your body. And because of the amazing way our brain works, we actually impact our physiology to have some familiarity with the moves when we try them physically.  Now don’t get confused—you can’t watch your way to fit!  Fitness requires some sweat equity, but watching then trying, then watching some more, is a great pathway to mastery.

What suggestions would you give to someone if they are trying a new class for the first time?

LD: Let the instructor know that you are new. Don’t be shy about it. This gives them information and a call to action to make sure you are successful. Go to class with the expectation that you are going to do as much as you can and get the best workout available to you right now. Then celebrate afterwards somehow–even if you just take the time to fully enjoy a hot shower.  Practice mini self-care rituals that to reward your effort so you literally condition new habits into your life....read more.

TRAIN LIKE TEAM USA WITH THIS OLYMPICS-INSPIRED BOOT CAMP WORKOUT

Bet you didn’t know that 24 Hour Fitness is “the Official Fitness Center Sponsor of the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams.”

Because of that designation, the gym selected 24 Olympians to act as their ambassadors on “Team 24,” and the elite group includes athletes like gold medalist swimmer Conor Dwyer, two-time world champion triathlete Gwen Jorgensen, and seven-time Track & Field national champion Alysia Montaño. Then, they decided to share the sports stars’ fitness secrets with the rest of us.

“We’ve noticed that our members are more motivated to accelerate their gym workouts during the Olympic Games,” explains content and programming VP Lashaun Dale. “So we drew inspiration from our Team 24 athletes, combing through hours of video footage to design the ‘Team USA Bootcamp’ program, a full-body workout incorporating moves and sequences from their actual training routines.”

The class will be offered at all 24 Hour Fitness locations across the US this month, but in case you can’t get there, Dale shared this 10-minute cardio challenge sequence you can do at home—while watching the athletes compete, of course....read more.

FITNESS instructors are the new rockstars

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN IT WAS A-LIST CLIENTS who turned heads in the country’s most exclusive gyms—but now a new breed of fitness instruc- tors are creating the buzz. It seems fitness- minded America has a collective case of hot for teacher—the minute sign-ups begin, phone lines get jammed; as soon as the classroom opens, fans who’ve staked out their spots hours earlier start eyeing the door, waiting for their star instructor. “It is not unusual for members to plan their days and weeks and lives around their favorite instructors and follow their attitude, music, lifestyle, and con- sumer choices—just like a celebrity,” says Lashaun Dale, senior national group-fitness manager at Equinox. Class instructors have received hype in the past, but the new school of body shapers don’t just deliver chiseled abs and ripped shoulders. They know what the hottest restaurant reserva- tion is in Miami and where to find that Ferragamo belt that’s no longer in stores. In turn, zealous devotees eager for some one-on-one time, or at least a wave on the way out of the studio, flood them with friend requests on Facebook and wedding invitations. Here, seven of the hottest leaders to follow....read more.