#dailey method

Self Care September Back to Dailey Method

We’ve Got Big Plans For Self Care and Improvement This Fall

September is always a time for renewal for me. It’s a month until my birthday and I start reflecting on aging and generally make some resolutions for the fall around self care; it’s MY NEW YEAR. It’s been a busy summer as I went back to full time work and I’ve had less time to sleep, work out, clean, and generally look after myself, and…

30/60 Day Dailey Community Challenge

From October 10 – December 8, 2017 Head to Dailey Method Fitness Studio For Your Health and Win Some Prizes

I’m committing to a 60-day challenge at my favourite cycle studio, Dailey Method, and heading back hard to the classes that helped me so much this past year and would love to see some of you there! If you followed my journey, this past year I lost 20 lbs, gained about 5 lbs back,…

I’ve been loving my Dailey Cycling Classes at The Dailey Method and have gotten even more out of each session since I invested in proper indoor cycling shoes. Sure you can still get your workout on with regular runners, but it’s so much better when you have the correct footwear, everything from your alignment to your pedal stroke will improve.

First a word about how much I love Dailey Method Cycling Classes. Unlike most classes these ones provide 40 minutes on the bike (or try the 75 minute class if you want a challenge), followed by 20 minutes floor exercises, providing the opportunity to strengthen your core, arm muscles, and other muscles not necessarily activated on the bike. The instructors are all awesome, supportive and encouraging, most remember your name in no time at all. And you get a post workout stretch, so you leave way more relaxed.

Back to the shoes I went with the Shimano SH-RP3W Women’s Road Cycling Shoes and they’ve worked at all gyms throughout my travels and look almost brand new after many classes where I pushed the pedal to the medal, as they say.

When you buy the shoes they come without the cleats (the part that clip into the pedals), so you will need to have those put on. Most indoor cycling bikes use the SPD clips and they place your foot in the perfect position for maximum comfort and performance. I went to the Bike Repair Shop at 47 West Broadway (yes it’s just called that) and they were super quick and I think it was about $25 or so.

Advantages of proper shoes (not pictured above!)

Stiffer soles – Better power transfer you get when pedalling. This means that less power is lost as the shoe flexes or bends around the pedal so more power goes from your leg to the pedal and the faster you go. The stiffer sole also means you will feel more comfortable and have better balance when you are standing out of the saddle.

Your feet will stay in position  – Look cool and be stable! Your foot will not move forward or backward on the pedal so you will have one less thing to worry about as you try to follow the instructor’s directions.

Comfortable feet – If you wear soft athletic shoes your feet may actually hut. The stiff soles of the cycling shoes dissipate the pressure of the pedal over a larger area so avoiding the pain.

You get a smoother pedal stroke – Your pedals on the up stroke when pedaling, smoothing out the pedal stroke.

No laces to worry about – won’t get caught in pedals and fasten tighter.

Your shoes are light weight – more comfort here

I guarantee your workout will totally improve and you just look cooler!

Stops and Starts – Fitness Battles

Having just returned from a rather difficult, but rewarding class at The Dailey Method, I’m reflecting on my last few months of stops and starts in the endless battle for fitness and health so I can plan for success in 2016.

REMINDER:

There’s also only ONE DAY LEFT to win the 3 month PLUS 1 month membership for a friend, to this excellent barr and cylce studio based in both Kitsilano and Dunbar,…

Barre Community at Dailey Method Rancho Bernardo Poway

So a couple months ago, I was down in San Diego at Dailey Fest – a day of music, barre, meditation, and shopping – sponsored by the local Dailey Method studios.   gwenyth had a booth there and as a result, I had the chance to meet so many of the barre goers in that community as they dropped by. Stephanie Firenze – Studio Owner – Dailey Method Rancho Bernardo Poway; Photo by: Shiloh Reed Keyword –…

New Post has been published on http://gettingbalance.com/what-is-a-hiit-workout-5-reasons-to-try-one/

What is a HIIT Workout & 5 Reasons to Try One

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a workout where you will cycle through burst of activity that reaches close to 100% of your maximum followed by active recovery periods. This type of workout which blends anaerobic and aerobic activity gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns fat in less time.

If that last sentence wasn’t enough to get you interested click the buttons above to see a slideshow of 5 more  benefits of HIIT workouts.

It revs up your metabolism and keeps it going long after you finished your workout. Working out at 100% of your max is hard but manageable in short bursts vs. the Herculean mental and physical challenge of keeping that kind of intensity up for long periods. Fortunately the combination of anaerobic and aerobic activity is great for your metabolism which ticks up and stays there for at least a day after your workout while your body recovers.

Efficiency. With HIIT you can reduce the amount of time you devote to working out. The cycle of workout sprints, recovery, then more sprints is such a great cardio workout you can compress the amount of time you devote to working out and get the same or even better results. –The New York Times has a seven-minute version. Personally, I need a bit more to compensate for my wine and cheese addiction but I have managed to whittle workouts down to 45 minutes from an hour or more.

Endless variety. Almost any workout can be modified to fit a HIIT pattern. Running stairs, swim sprints, biking, weight training, vinyasa yoga, biking, boot camp style calisthenics, barre style workouts. Switching to Dailey Interval offered at the Daily Method helped me lower my resting heart rate and lose weight while maintaining the core strength and flexibility from longer and slower workouts.

Adaptable. You can adapt HIIT to your level of fitness and physical health. Remember that 100% is based on your fitness level so a professional desk jockey will start off with a significantly different version of 100% than a professional athelete. Also, if you are dealing with an injury the variety noted above means you can work around many limitations and keep at HIIT workouts while you recover.

New Post has been published on http://gettingbalance.com/finding-a-workout-that-is-right-for-you/

Finding A Workout That Is Right for You

Finding the right workout for you is essential to keeping at a regular workout routine. If you like a solitary workout, you will dread being in a group class. If you have never liked to swim dealing with chlorine and wet hair probably isn’t worth it. Your definition of the ‘right’ working might change with your body and your age. Jogging was one of my favorite workouts for years. Then I got pregnant and had a baby, and it stopped working for me. I needed help with my core strength it could never give me.

Using a service like ClassPass to try a whole bunch of different classes could be a great place to start if you know you want a class based workout and are truly up for anything. However, if you would like to take a more strategic approach, you might want to consider the following five factors.

1. Location. A convenient location for a gym or workout studio is a must if you intend on making it a regular part of your life. Needing to travel hither and yon or contend with impossible parking will make it too easy to opt out. I remember maintaining a gym membership near where I used to work long after I changed jobs. Huge waste of money. Look at all the workout options that could conceivably be a part of a routine. Ditch the rest. 2. Inside vs. Outside. Remember that inside vs. outside is also a part of the right fit. A workout studio next door is worthless if you simply crave the outdoors. In that case running or biking to and from work might be the most convenient option. 3. Your Body. Consider what kind of workout your body responds to best. Do you need cardio? Strength training? Balance and flexibility? HIIT? All of the above? For several years, I focused on strength and flexibility training. It was great in getting my core strength back after pregnancy, but I could tell my body needed more. Adding in interval training did wonders for my cardiovascular health and helped me shrink a bit. As someone who is not naturally a super skinny I should have known I needed the extra calorie burn. 4. Social vs. Solitary. Do you crave a social situation or need to leave other people behind at work? If you fall into the social category, remember you need not feel like classes are your only option, running and cycling clubs can give you a social setting while fueling your desire to be outside. 5. Variety vs. Routine. Do you like running the same route to the same tunes? Working out at the same time of day? Or are you easily bored and find your mind wandering and intensity lagging amid a highly routinized workout. I once did a style of yoga that was the exact same 20-some asanas, in the exact same order, held for the exact same amount of time each workout. It was challenging. I gained strength, flexibility and balance just like I was supposed to, but I was mind-numbingly bored. I dreaded certain challenging sections, and I knew precisely when they were coming. I lasted six weeks and never went back. The HIIT workout I do now (Dailey Interval by the Daily Method) has a basic pattern and rhythm but it is a fit for me because the workout and music differ every time.

After having a baby and going back to work full time, I could never find time to get to the gym. I was so exhausted from life that by the time the day was over there was no way I was getting my behind on a treadmill.

Ok, let’s be honest…even before having a kid, I rarely found the motivation to work out. I always found a zillion excuses. My stomach hurts. I have a cold. I have a meeting. I don’t like to sweat. I’m tired. I’m a lazy bum.

My decision to make time for me all started with my diet. My husband and I decided in early 2013 that we would try to do a paleo diet. I’ve had a chronic history of stomach problems (including stomach ulcers as a kid) and I figured I’d see if cutting out gluten and dairy really did help. We stuck to it pretty solid Monday-Friday, allowed ourselves some flexibility on the weekends, and kept at it through the end of 2013.  It’s a diet I thought I’d hate but actually am glad I went on.  I feel better than I have in a long time. I still get the occasional stomach ache or heartburn, but nothing like before. 

Almost a year of paleo produced positive results and dropped pounds. I had gotten serious about my diet; it was time to get serious about exercise too. Now that my kid was sprinting away from me and weighed over 25 pounds, I needed to get in shape just so I could keep up with him or wrangle him (if necessary). 

Following some scientific research (aka Google and Yelp), I decided to sign up for Dailey Method Barre classes. My first class was in February, and with the exception of the month of May, have been going pretty consistently, shooting for twice a week.  The classes are an hour long and are tough. They work my entire body, but primarily my core so that I’m not risking injury to my back, neck, or knees.  They are pricey classes (and based on those around me in class, I’m likely not their target economic demographic), but it’s been a worthwhile investment and I’m probably the strongest I’ve ever been. Also, knowing that I’m paying for it makes it hard for me to find a reason to get out of it.