Anybody remember the Roger Rabbit? Running Man? Cabbage Patch? Electric Slide? Good stuff. I mean really, those were the days. No grinding and creepy creepiness happening, just actual dancing. You know, to a beat. Like on purpose. I love to dance. I love it even more than solving crime, wearing cute shoes, and drinking wine. And that's saying a lot. My sleuthiness with regard to true crime is legendary. Ever since I was in elementary school and would trade Nancy Drew Mysteries with my next door neighbor Ellen Rasp (She was an albino with an afro and a more than passing interest in Alice Cooper!) I have been the go to gal for any neighborhood whodunit. This talent has followed me through my adult life. Had it not been for a fluke run in with the world of fitness there surely would have been several made for TV movies dedicated to my stellar crime solving achievements. And look, when it comes to wearing cute shoes and drinking wine must I elaborate? The beauty of these things is that they can be done independently or together! I could just march around in cute shoes, or march around drinking wine while wearing cute shoes. Although sitting is always a better option after I have a couple glasses under my belt. Anyhoo, the point here is, that if I could solve crimes, while wearing cute shoes and drinking wine, things would be pretty perfect in my world. There is but one thing that could bring a more sizable grin to my face and that,THAT my friends, is DANCING!!!!!! I will admit however, that at the end of the day I need a beat. Look, I enjoy, no I love the musical stylings of James Taylor. Love the guy! Not so much for dancing though. Alas, In addition to Mr. J.T. I have been known to bang my head to a bit of Soundgarden here and there. However, when it comes to actual dancey dance, you know, like "we got the funk" type of dance, I need a freaking baseline. A Brother's Johnson baseline, a Cameo baseline, okay fine an Usher baseline. You get the idea. A beat is a magical thing. It's like a marker, it's someplace to be, each one has it's own little home and welcomes you with open arms, all you have to do is calm down and accept the invitation. Think of a beat as a choochoo train that says, "hop on! we're havin a ball in here!" I understand that not everyone shares my urge to shake the groove thang at the sheer mention of Janet Jackson, Pleasure Principal. However, if you partake in weight lifting exercise; say Kinesis, traditional weight lifting, running, swimming, cycling, etc. learning how to feel a beat and working within it is extremely beneficial with regard to keeping your muscles involved, and firing throughout the range of motion. That is to say during the eccentric and concentric phase of movement. See, if you can internalize a steady beat, you will actually get a better workout because instead of contracting and relaxing, you will feel that continual loop of movement with no beginning and no end. That way you are just shortening and lengthening the muscle so it is firing the entire time which results in more strength and endurance gains and hypertrophy. With regard to resistance training there is actually a BPM (beats per minute) that appears to be the most efficient, and it is 125 BPM. It is fairly easy to perform reps in single time (one rep per beat) or ½ time (2 beats per eccentric/ concentric.) Also, if you can stay within a tempo or beat try one count on the concentric phase (as in the curl phase of a bicep curl) and 3 counts on the eccentric phase ( as in the release of the bicep curl.) The main idea is to work within a STEADY beat. This same strategy works with running, swimming, cycling as well. If you have trouble feeling a beat try putting music on and literally tapping your foot to each beat. Really concentrate and be patient. It will become more natural as you practice. There are several websites dedicated to fitness music, iTunes has fitness music and you can always just Google “fitness music and you will come up with several sites. Some of them require the user to be a fitness professional, alas it is generally an honor system. I use johnsines. I challenge you to give this a try and bask in the results!
In the meantime I’ll be having a glass of wine, wearing cute shoes,solving crime, and doing the Quickstep;)

Hey Lady, Get Out Of My Dressing Room

Is it me or is the lighting in the women's dressing rooms at Nordstrom harsh, and unforgiving? Good Lord, there I was Saturday afternoon, minding my own business and trying on a cute pair of Citizens when I noticed that there was another person in the dressing room!!!! Not cool. I turned around to ask just what the hell she and her pasty droopy butt were doing in there, but every time I turned around so did she. She was fast too. I mean she was always just one step ahead of me, until it hit me. Crap! That's my ass!!!!!! Wow, you innocently spend a few cold winter months in nothing but jeans, leggings, boots and sweaters and look what freaking happens. As luck would have it, I had imbibed a bit at lunch beforehand with friends which allowed me some amount of denial at the time. Alas, as soon as I got home and had a chance to sober up.... I mean, think about my encounter (with my own butt) I decided it was time to take the training up a notch.
Glutes, Junk in the trunk, booty, apple bottom, budonkadonk, of these I was not blessed. Many people think I have a flat back. No, no, I have a flat ASS. So here's the deal. As much as I do not enjoy a squat, a lunge, or any number of lower body exercises, if I am not to be frightened by the very sight of my own ass I must do them. That means, getting down deep, loading the glutes and doing lower body exercises properly. If you insist upon hanging out at the top of your squat, or lunge, you really miss the benefit of loading the glutes. Also, you must maintain the natural curve in your spine in order to properly load the glutes. Failure to do either of these things is potentially dangerous to your health, and at the very least a waste of time. At the end of the day, in order to make authentic changes, we must execute exercises as properly as possible in order to see and or feel long lasting results. Remember, if you want to make a change, you have to change something................Like the lighting in the dressing rooms at Nordstrom. I mean come on people!

Golden Retrievers, Fast Talkers, Real Housewives, and Communication......

Have you ever had what seems like at the time to be a rather insignificant experience, yet one that you think of almost daily for years after? If so, please share it with me in the comments, or at a training session. Actually, over drinks, on a run, shopping, or getting a pedicure would all be fine times to share your story. Just not during The Real Housewives of Orange County, New York, Atlanta, or New Jersey, (and coming soon: D.C.!) I don't care if Tom Brady himself is on the phone during The Housewives. There must be silence so I can ruminate on the at once

sophisticated and sophomoric dialogue. But I digress.

So, several years ago I mean like 10 years ago I was driving around Greenlake on my way from one training session to another. As I came off 65th Street and made my way onto Greenlake Ave. I saw this beautiful Golden Retriever (c'mon, you knew there had to be an animal in the story at some point right?) who was running in and out of traffic. Someone beeped at him and he ran up into one of the neighborhoods so I took chase. As luck would have it I have a way with dogs and he came to me after an offer of a half eaten Power Bar and some sweet talk. I put the big guy in the back seat, ran home, took him in the house and called the number on his necklace( I like to call it a necklace, it seems fancier than a collar.) After a few rings, the voicemail picked up and a woman's voice came on, "leave a message, blah blah blah."

"Hi, I have your dog, he was running around in traffic by Greenlake, I have to get to work pretty soon, so if you get this please call me and I can drop him by. Otherwise, he can just hang out here with my 4 cats............"

Not long after I left my message, the phone rang and a very excitable voice on the other end shouted that she would be happy to come get him, however considering that her house was on my way to work I told her, calm down I'll just drop him by."

So! I put the very cute, sweet, guy back in the car and schlepped him back to his house. I spotted the house easily, parked, and hustled him up to the front door. I knocked on the door and after a few seconds it opened.

Okay, remember in the 1980s that woman who used to be morbidly obese, lost a bunch of weight and made a cottage industry out of the catch phrase "Stop The Insanity!"? She had a buzz cut, was super sarcastic and shrill, and her name was and is Susan Powter. Yup, she happened to be the woman who opened the door to me. WEIRD! Her weight loss video hawking glory days were behind her and she had a radio show with a rather feminist bent. Needless to say, I was more than a little excited to see her in person if only for the pop culture aspect and the randomness of it all. But I was also curious about her take on the fitness industry. So, with a surgeons precision I managed to let it slip that I also happened to be in the fitness industry and was a personal trainer myself. It went something like this; "Hi! Oh my God you're Susan Powter! I'm a personal trainer! Weird right?! Holy Cow! Isn't that weird? Like you're in the industry I'm in the industry we should totally start hanging out and like do a radio show or something or t.v. yes, t.v. we'd be way better on t.v. anyhoo what's up? Living on Greenlake who woulda thought!" As soon as I took a breath she grabbed her dog, gave me what appeared to be some sort of trance like stare and slapped me. No I'm just kidding, but she was kind enough to engage me in polite conversation. She asked me how I liked training, and I told her that I loved it but that I wanted my clients to work harder, and be more committed, eat better, be democrats, join the humane society, run Greenlake once a week, get to bed on time, leave their abusive boyfriends, train for a triathlon, take ballroom dancing, and on and on and on. When she was able to get a word in edgewise, she said and I remember this like it was yesterday;

"But it's not about what you want. What do THEY want?"

What?!?! They? Them? My clients you mean? It's about them? Their wants? Huh? Knock it off. Really? You think?

I think about this pearl of wisdom almost every day on my way to work . At the time it was a huge departure from my behavior and thought pattern with regard to clients. However making the shift from projecting my goals and aspirations to listening to my clients goals and aspirations and thus allowing them to take more ownership and responsibility for themselves has proven invaluable. It has made for a more symbiotic trainer/client relationship and has, I think proven to help my clients make longer lasting, and more authentic lifestyle changes.

Yup. In a nutshell people, it's about what you want to get out of your training sessions. In order to achieve your goals and increase your fitness level you must have a clear vision of what you want and you must communicate. I'm not a big long term goal setter, but I do make little mini goals for myself for a workout, or even just a single set. So if you're like me, don't get all bogged down in huge long term goals that can seem daunting. If you're comfortable with that however, go for it! And if you feel comfortable doing so, share it with your trainer. It will help her or him facilitate your success. At the end of the day, it's your body, and your life. If you tell us what you want we will do our very best to give you the tools to get it.

Learnin to Fly...........or walk

I love toddlers. Don't you? They crack me up.

You know how they're all sort of wobbly, just walking and super organic in their intentions. My favorite age is probably 2 or 3 years old. There is something about the sincere nature of their movement however unstable it may appear at times and the way in which they are starting to assert their independence and autonomy. I find them so much more interesting and trustworthy than say, an infant. I mean really what can infants do but eat, poop, sleep and cry. Plus, their little tiny neck never looks like it will withstand the weight of their giant head. I just don't trust them. And a 1 year old? Really? In that odd in between stage? Growing at a rapid rate? Weaning from mom? Having that separation anxiety and angst. No. Thank. You. I will take a toddler any day of the week. Not that they don't have their issues, but in the grand scheme of things they are issues that I feel more comfortable with.

I don't have children, well human children anyway. I have 2 dogs, 3 cats and a husband. The closest I've come to help raise a baby from infancy has been to work for a start-up.

I came to 5focus 2 years ago. I remember my first meeting with Laura and how impressed I was with the place. The Kinesis wall had not yet been installed, so I really could not conceptualize what it was. It sounded cool though and Laura seemed to know a lot. And to be honest it was cool stuff I wanted to know much more about. And hey! I wanted to help start a start-up! I can do this! What fun! Sign me up! Wow........okay, as I said before about an infant. You know, the neck being too small to hold up the weight of the head and all they do is eat, poop and cry? Well, that's how we felt. Once the Kinesis wall was installed and Laura and I had been trained on it we were on our own......Allrighteethen!

Hmmmm, soooo. That wall! Oh that wall. So big. And it just sat there, the weight of it and the potential felt crushing at first. Eventually we came up with a class format that we liked and then it was a matter of getting people in the door so we could share this amazing new training tool called Kinesis. Cue the crying, pooping and eating (not necessarily in that order). We tried everything, and we had a few early converts, Karen Weisser, Kathy Sheldon, Kevin and Britta Steele just to name a few. But seriously, we had a business to run.

We sent Jeff (yes, 6'5", 210 lbs. Jeff) up and down Westlake Ave. in a Banana costume, we set up tables at random events, we had workout parties, we trained our friends, our families, each other. I would plod in there and train one person every few days, go home and cry. Laura would stretch clients, try to keep my chin up and make herself a smoothie and Jeff would look at the bills piling up and poop. But alas, we were patient with the business model and our program. We figured, "build it and they will come."

Eventually our hard work started to pay off. People were trickling in the door, word was starting to get around and the few classes we did have on the schedule started to fill up. Hey, we were growing! But ouch. Why did I feel so uneasy and weird? Things were finally starting to turn the corner at 5focus and isn't that what I wanted? What was this anxiety and guilt I was feeling? Could it be that I was finally weaning myself from the bosom of the only other fitness facility I've ever worked for? In a word: Duh. I felt such a push and pull for a while and such a growth spurt that my knees and ankles actually hurt. I was trying to cover too much, trying to say yes to too many people, and not doing a very good job at any of it. I finally trusted this new place we were building and the people I was building it with and was able to let go of some things that had not been working for me for a long time. 5focus gave me the opportunity to do that and I am grateful.

So here we are, 2 whole years old! Much better for Kitty. Even better, we've been smart and fortuitous enough to finally be able to bring on an incredible crew of team members. We have the amazing facilitator/instructor in Whitney, the ever brilliant massage/stretch therapist extraordinaire Gary, core massage expert Claire, dietician wizard Carrie. Oh and the newest member of our instructor team, the one and only Jeff. Sure he wears a headband, thong leotard and sparkly tights, and too much eyeshadow ;) but his classes ROCK!

So, as we cruise on into our 3rd year we may be a little wobbly on our feet at times and we might even fall down once and a while. But we are nothing if not sincere and authentic in our intention to help each and every one of you reach your personal best in 2010. Thanks everyone!
Happy New Year!

What a Concept!

So, here's the deal. Like most people I have a few pet peeves. One for instance has to do with people standing directly in front of a weight stack and performing their exercises, thus making it impossible for anyone else to access a dumbell or two. That just bugs me.

A more agregious level of peevity (my word) would be the conceptual misuse of words. You know, things like "your going to get in trouble if you go threw that door." See the words aren't misspelled, they just are conceptually wrong. It hurts me that perfectly functional, red blooded Americans willfully abuse grammar and thus are never able to extract the desired result from their tortured attempt at communication.

The other night while I ruminated on a particularly tragic attempt at literacy with regard to a facebook status update, I had what Oprah refers to as an Ah Ha moment.

You see I am a fitness instructor. It is my job to see to it that individuals perform certain exercises, drills, movements, properly therefore reaping as many gains as possible. It doesn't peeve me when clients perform exercises "improperly" it just makes me sad. Everyone has the opportunity to glean the most out of every training session, but that requires one not just to listen to cues, but to hear them, internalize them and act on them...

Let's take the example of lateral flexion and extension of the torso with a load. If the torso or the core is where I'm trying to get my power and also the area I'm trying to target, the load does the most when it is close to the trunk (i.e. the Kinesis cable handle on the shoulder). Once the handle leaves the shoulder on the push the arm is simply following through. As the torso goes back toward the cable the handle just rests on the shoulder, it does not go down to the side. Why?

Well I'm glad you asked because that's where the conceptual thing comes back to play. You're not loading the bicep, you're loading the trunk! Yay! In fact the bicep has little to nothing to do with this exercise. It's about the C to the O to the R to the E. Remember that is the shoulder girdle, the hip girdle and everything in between. Always think of where your load is and what your force is. It's a concept that will allow you to garner the very most from your training sessions. Once you understand the concept, you will find that it just doesn't make sense to do things any other way. Okay, any questions? Let me hear them. In the meantime, Mary Mary and Happy Knew Year To! ( haha, just kidding;)

If The Mean guy From Star Wars Didn't Need To Scream Why does Your Trainer?

So, have I ever mentioned that I have never seen Star Wars. Not one. Not Luke's Last Stand, or Jedi Kingdom Something or other blah blah blah. I don't even know who Luke's father is. At the end of the day I do not enjoy science fiction. Part of the problem is that I spend half the time trying to figure out if the contraptions they have on set really work or where the guide wires are (or were pre green screen.) I couldn't even bring myself to enjoy the end of the original Willy Wonka alas spending all my energies trying to figure out if they made the chocolate river bed out of toilet paper roles or how they ever expected me to believe the miniatures they used for the part where they fly over the city (uh, my brother had a train set people.) But I digress. The point is, this new series V started tonight on t.v. (otherwise known as the device that babysits me and my husband after a long day of work.) I have no interest in this show V. From what I understand somebody clones something and then they eat it or whatever. The point is I made Toods(husband Todd) watch H R Puffnstuff or V or whatever in the bedroom and have found myself wandering around the t.v. stations in the living room. And guess what Coach Kitty found......
The Biggest Loser. That's what. And I am not happy.
That Jillian is not nice,and Bob has turned into a real diva. They seem to have succumbed to what I like to refer to as the Bull from Night Court syndrome wherein a once believeble character who was based in reality is, after one too many seasons reduced to a caricature beyond all recognition. Thus is the fate of Bob and Jillian or so I hope. I mean I hope this is not how they treat their clients or that people watch this show and are drawn to these kinds of abusive demeaning tactics. If you would not tolerate abusive behavior from anyone else in your life why would you accept it from a trainer? Ask yourself if you would allow anyone else to get an inch from your face and scream at you without punching them in the nose. I am not saying that trainers should sugar coat the truth and baby clients. Ask anyone who has trained with me and they will assure you nothing could be further from the truth with regard to my training philosophy. However, I like to employ a little thing I call the velvet hammer approach. A trainer can make their point without yelling and screaming. As a matter of fact didn't we all have that one teacher in high school who would stand at the front of the class silently with her arms folded until everyone got super uncomfortable and the room suddenly went silent which is exaclty what she wanted. The velvet hammer. A trainer should be able to make her point through example, correction, and well, a little bit of shame NOT SCREAMING AND YELLING! Got it?

One word. Kinesis.