💪🏾💪🏻PT CORNER: Alignment, Muscle Engagement, Movement (in that order). 💪🏻💪🏾

Those first few seconds at the beginning of a move, when a coach is cueing you through a toe-to-head (or head-to-toe) list of adjustments to set up alignment may sometimes feel like a break; like the work hasn’t really started yet - at least, that’s what I sense from clients who are anxious to start moving or what I feel in my body when I’d rather sneak in a few seconds to relax. I want to challenge you to use these first 10-20 seconds on the clock as an up-level your entire 45 minutes.

Part of what makes Fierce45 easier the longer we do it is “muscle memory” of how the moves are supposed to look and feel. That’s not to say that Fierce45 is easy by any means, but we aren’t looking around the room feeling like an awkward baby deer during our first carriage lung or plank to tabletop (or maybe that was just me!?). This muscle memory is great because we get better at moving safely and with good alignment. But, I think there’s a temptation to allow muscle memory to make class too easy over time. It’s tempting to show up and move through the same range of motion at the same spring load, occasionally zoning out during class or hitting a place where we aren’t really getting sore anymore.

I want to challenge you over this month to experiment with something: really tune in those first 10-20 seconds during move set up. Alignment: Listen to the cues your coaches are giving you and check the mirrors. Finding correct alignment is crucial for ensuring that your body is in the position to turn on the right muscles. Muscle Engagement: As I say in class, “these holds at the beginning of a move should feel like work!” Even without movement, start building intensity by turning on our target muscle groups that set the tone for the rest of the move. If you’re at the bottom of a lunge, squeeze your muscles to your bones and push your foot down into the ground. Make sure you’re not so low in a lunge that you’re stretching instead of actively contracting. In a kneeling crunch, make sure your butt is not dropped back towards your heels; move it forward over your knees and notice how that lights up your core. Movement: Use these sensations from your muscles to define your range of motion. For those 60 or 120 seconds, never move into a range where you lose your neutral alignment or lose that sense of muscle engagement.

Refuse to use the beginning of a move as a break. Set up with a strong intention for how the work is supposed to feel and what your alignment should look like. What I think you’ll find is that you leave class feeling more fatigued - mentally and physically, from the intensity you’ve added to your movement and the cognitive demand of paying such close attention to what you're feeling. But you know what comes from hitting a fatigue point: strength. What I hope you’ll find after this month of setting up with and committing to intention is that you have a stronger sense of connection with your body and the way it moves on the machine. I think you might wake up a few mornings this month with sore muscles.

Hold on to those priorities this month: Alignment. Muscle Engagement. Movement. We can’t have just the movement without the foundation of correct alignment and muscle engagement - build it in those holds at the beginning of a move. Stay tuned in, and leave December stronger.