Since her birth, there’s been a lot of talk about Suri Cruise.
I don’t feel it’s my place to comment on how parents are raising their child. After all, I don’t have any kids (unless you count my 4-legged one…or the one I inherited via a marriage license). But for those who do, to each their own.
Suri seems to have parents who love her. And, she’s clearly a beautiful child. If she threw a temper tantrum at a toy store, I don’t think that necessarily means she’s a spoiled brat. I was an angel (stop rolling your eyes, Dad), and I’m pretty sure I threw a tantrum or two in my day. Plus, I love Suri’s blog.
But, as your friendly resident Pilates blogger, I do want to talk about her choice in shoes. And, since it’s Tom and Katie who are letting her wear them, this post is actually directed to them.
Suri is probably thinking more about the sparkles than the shortening of her Achilles tendon...
I’ll write a future blog post on all of the reasons that high-heeled shoes (and pretty much most shoes) are bad for you. But, here’s why a child should not be wearing heeled shoes ever….not to mention grown adults capable of making educated choices.
From the time you are born until you are about 20 years old, you build the maximum level of bone mineral density you are going to get. Your diet isn’t going to make your bones denser, no matter how much milk you drink (actually, it’s Vitamin D that’s more important there, but that’s yet another blog post).
How do you build precious bone density? From proper upright standing, which means that the majority of your weight is in your heels and your bones are properly stacked on top of them. When you’re wearing high-heeled shoes, the majority of your weight is in the front of your foot, and the rest of your bones from your feet all the way up to shoulders are skewed.
Although her shoes might be adorable now, that Dowager’s hump from osteoporosis when she’s 75 won’t be so cute.
Instead of sporting her trendy stilettos, Suri should be running around barefoot and building beautiful bones. Plus, I bet she has a killer pedicure she wants to show off.
Stay hard core (and strong-boned),
Mariska
* Caution: Do not read Mariska…Uncut if you are prone to fainting spells, being offended, or taking yourself too seriously. Or in this case…a serious fan of Suri Cruise and her high heel collection.
Wishing you found a love for working out earlier? Fuse student Avery Gordon does. Here’s why:
Pilates for teens? Probably not what they're teaching in gym class these days.
I don’t have too many regrets in life. Sure, maybe trying to stick my head through the banister on my stairs when I was 10; but a little baby oil did the trick so we’ll leave that one out. My time as a teen was pretty typical. We’ve all been there, don’t want to go to school, don’t understand what the point of homework is, life’s not fair, why am I grounded for accidentally driving my mom’s car into the garage and trying to blame someone else, etc.. Though I didn’t always make the perfect choices when I was younger, I decided to learn from my mistakes I made and move on instead of regretting them.
My biggest regret as a teen was definitely my lack of self-confidence. I didn’t feel very good about myself for a large chunk of time. I do regret that I spent much of my life not really loving myself and wishing I could change. Now that I’ve grown so much and have found that confidence, I can look back and recognize that one thing in my life I was missing was exercise. Now that it is a big part of my life, it is clear how much exercise correlates with my confidence.
I guess I should explain more fully the exercise timeline of my life.
When I was very young (post-tee ball and pre-high school), I played soccer. It was great for me – I made great friends, got a lot of exercise, and felt awesome being part of a team.
I ended up dropping soccer when I started high school. This happened once I decided it was the end of the world if I didn’t have free time to watch MTV2 after school. Not the best reasoning, but we’ll move on. After soccer, I really lost touch with the sports and exercise aspect of my life.
When you're a teenager, it's easy for you to find priorities. Most of the time, it's about your friends. Often, it's about what's on TV.
In high school, I chose to exclude myself from sports programs and instead do the alternate option of four hours in the school gym each week. Predictably, I didn’t put any effort in and dreaded going.
In college, I continued to pretend to be active by trekking over to the campus gym once every 2 weeks. During these years I had a very distorted self-image. I felt weaker than everyone else both mentally and physically, and I covered myself up with baggy clothes all of the time – basically I walked around campus looking like a male rapper, which may have been cool in 1991. Not so much a few years later.
After I graduated, I was launched into a whirlwind of drastic change to the same extent I experienced as a teen. I was confused and in a new place with very few people I knew, all while trying to start my life in the working world. I correctly convinced myself that I needed to establish a routine to feel more grounded. Oh, how I wish I had made this connection when I was a teen. I enrolled myself in my first fitness studio class at Fuse Pilates in DC and fell in love with it.
Fuse Pilates is perfect for me for too many reasons to count, but I’ll name the first few that come to mind.
First, you’re able to move at your own pace. I definitely wasn’t ready to jump into a side plank when I started, but I got there.
Second, the instructors are super motivating and play awesome music.
Third, and probably most importantly to people like me who don’t get naturally amped up about exercise, it’s really fun. The truth is, it never gets boring and you actually want to go to class.
Since Fuse Pilates and fitness have become a part of my life, I have seen myself improve immensely in many ways. I am definitely more confident for the first time in my life. Actually, I’m very confident. I was at dinner with a friend the other night and I was flexing my new bicep for him and it got really awkward there for a minute. I’ve watched myself grow stronger, leaner and more determined to overcome obstacles. Aside from the fact that I actually consider myself a self-assured person for the first time in my life, I have made some great friends, collected some great tunes for my iPod, and added true structure to my agenda. Even though I do regret that I wasn’t able to spend my whole life with this attitude, I’m so glad I started now. I wish someone would have taken my by the hand when I was a teenager and dragged me to a Fuse Pilates class. I’m sure I would have loved it – even then – and maybe I would have spent those difficult years with a bit more confidence.
Wish you would have found Fuse Pilates as a Teen? Fuse is introducing its first Teen Camp this June- a mix of chats about clothes, music, and fitness, and Fuse Pilates signature mat classes, followed up by lunch provided by sweetgreen. To learn more, go to workshops here.
If you’re like most of us, you workout because you want to achieve results. You want your strut to be stronger, or your abs to be rocking, or your posterior to be perkier. Maybe (probably) all of the above.
And you probably also know exercise gives you your daily dose of those happy workout endorphins.
At Fuse Pilates, we strive to make our clients happy, so we would like to deliver those endorphins with a side dish of perfection many of you crave. But, we can’t. Because it’s not actually obtainable. Bummer.
So, join the rest of us. Adorably imperfect. Fabulously flawed. Beautifully human.
Or, just try this.
For another example of this product in action, check it out:
I appreciate when marketing advertisements use fit people (instead of super-skinny models who probably can’t do a pushup). I love when they show actual elements of hard-core-ness of which those fit people are capable.
How do you define happy hour? For Fuse student Gina Scarpulla, it’s not what it used to be:
My friends often look confused when I tell them that I can’t come to Happy Hour because I am going to go to my Tuesday night Fuse Pilates class. “Skip it- it’s just exercise. Socializing is way more fun.” Well, for me, my Fuse classes are my Happy Hour.
I grew up in a dance studio, where I got to know the girls that I took class with night after night. We danced together, performed together and became great friends in the process. College and a knee injury put distance between the girls who were my friends and who I danced with. I had to find other forms of exercise. I tried the gym, but found that I didn’t like the environment. No one talked to each other (unless it was the creepy guy trying to hit on you) and no one seemed to be having a good time with the people around them (unless it was THAT lady who frequented the gym every day and seemed to know everyone.). I know that socializing and exercising together aren’t for everyone, but I really missed it.
Enter Fuse Pilates.
The minute you walk into the studio, you feel welcomed and a part of something. Then you get to know the other students. They are some of the most fun, energetic and wonderful people that I have met in DC. Walking into Fuse Pilates’ Dupont studio feels like walking into a friend’s house. There’s someone there to greet you with a smile on their face, people reading magazines and chatting about their day.
Friendships seem to develop naturally at Fuse and sometimes over a wide variety of things: Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, detoxes, bootcamps or a mutual loathing for one-legged shoulder bridges. The friends I have made at Fuse are unlike a lot of other friendships I’ve seen around DC. They aren’t based on what kind of clothing you wear, how much money you make or how many shots you can take. These are people who genuinely care about people and their well being.
Fuse teachers often say to new students that there is no judgment in class and that translates outside the studio as well. The people that go to Fuse are positive and accepting and are great to grab a green smoothie with outside of class. There are many friendships that form at Fuse and I hear many students saying they feel like they’ve known each other forever.
So for me, my Fuse classes are my happy hour… although there is the occasional post-Fuse happy hour . Healthy cocktails anyone?
Are you sitting down? I want to tell you something that might send your world into a tailspin.
Your mom was right.
Before you have a complete meltdown and make an appointment with your therapist, I’m not saying that she was right about everything. She probably picked out that outfit you’re wearing in your first grade class photo, after all.
But when she told you to stand up straight, she was right.
Good posture makes you appear:
- Taller
- More confident
- Slimmer
- More presidential (perfect if you’re planning a run for office or a request for more money from your boss)
In terms of how your body functions, good posture:
- Prevents back pain
- Prevents neck pain
- Prevents hip pain
- Prevents knee pain (do you see a trend here?)
- Allows your diaphragm to move properly when you breathe
- Allows your organs to function properly
- Allows your muscles, joints, and connective tissue to work properly
- Keeps bones properly aligned
- Contributes to the normal functioning of the nervous system, which can help with everything from good sleep to good moods.
Here’s a good time to introduce a topic on which my mom was wrong.
She had several favorite sayings:
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
“I’ve had it up to ‘here’ with you.”
“Sit lady-like!”
“Sit lady-like” to my Mom meant to sit with legs crossed. It also meant not to sit with one leg on the couch and the other draped over the back of the couch. It meant not to flip yourself around and rest your feet on the couch while hanging your upper body off of the side. Generally, it meant to get your feet off of the couch before you ruined it (although in my defense, it was the 80s, and that couch didn’t have many redeeming qualities).
Mom would not have approved...
In part, she was right. Slouching on the couch was and is a bad idea for your posture. But crossing your legs is wrong, too.
First of all, crossing your legs is bad for your circulation. If you want your legs to look great, the circulation has to be good.
Second, sitting cross-legged puts the weight onto one of your two sitting bones, twisting your lumbar spine and putting strain there. It can overstretch one side of your back muscles. Simply, it can cause back pain.
Proper posture in a seated position involves uncrossing your legs and planting your feet uncrossed on the floor. If your chair is adjustable, you should raise it up so that your hips are higher than your knees so your weight can be distributed between your feet, thighs, hips, and low back. It’s an easy way to correct your sitting posture (just as long as you don’t slouch!)
Sorry, Mom. I’m right on this one. (Of course, you’re the one who told me education was important, so I guess that makes you right… again.)
Fuse Pilates bootcamps date all the way back to 2005, but for those of you who are new to them, here’s the perspective from one of our students – Avery Gordon.
“Bootcamp” used to be the scariest word ever. Images of drill sergeants, lots of screaming, and the bodies of the weakest lying dehydrated and sunburnt on the ground comes to mind.
10 more!
In fact, the first bootcamp I ever tried was an outdoor cardio bootcamp. It got one full hour of my hardest efforts before I gave up exercise altogether for that week. All in all, it ended up being a huge waste of money and mental effort.
Fuse Bootcamp is totally different. I was scared to try my first one. I had been attending Fuse Pilates classes for a full three months before I mustered up the courage to sign up for one. And by courage I mean I was leaving for the beach in a week, and I wasn’t looking so bikini ready. So, maybe it was out of necessity, but oh well – I did it. “Fuse” forward to the end of that week and my thoughts were more along the lines of “I wish every week was Fuse Pilates bootcamp week.”
My first Fuse Bootcamp was a great experience for me. I was able to prove to myself that I could actually stick to something for a full week. Contrary to other classes offered at Fuse, the instructor leads you through the week by pre-selecting the body parts that will be worked on each day. For me, this was incentive to show up every single day. I knew that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t reap the full benefits of the week. I showed up every day just waiting for obliques and they just happened to be selected on the last day. Before I tried my first bootcamp, I was worried that all we would do for the full five days was lower abs, upper arms, and glutes (I’ve definitely found those to be the most requested in regular Fuse classes lately).
The Fuse instructors really motivate you through the full week. They come up with fun challenges and contests for the students and always end the class with something to look forward to the next day. I also found that having a class with the same group of people each day was motivation in itself. I didn’t want to be the only one who slept through my alarm that morning.
Finally, Fuse Pilates Bootcamp is something anyone can do. Just like the other classes offered at the Playground, Bootcamp doesn’t require more advanced students or those who are all on a similar level. It gives you the opportunity to challenge yourself mentally and physically at whatever pace is right for you.
At the end of the week, I felt awesome. Not only did I feel great about getting a full tone up in a week, but I also made new friends and accomplished something I hadn’t been able to do before. I ended up signing up for three more Fuse Pilates bootcamps after that one, and can’t wait for the next one.
This blog post originally appeared in the Elephant Journal, but we liked it so much we decided to give it a permanent home on the Fuse Pilates blog as well.
If you’ve taken a yoga class, you may have heard teachers using the term bandhas. They want you to engage them. Or hold them. Bandhas have magical powers. They will enable you to float effortlessly into inversions. They may enable you to survive on a diet of air or live forever (possibly an exaggeration). As a yoga student, I heard a lot about the bandhas. But instead of making my practice easier, my peaceful yogic mind kept drifting, wondering what the hell everyone was talking about?
To quote Yoga-Age.com: “Bandhas bound/bind back the dissipative energy and as such they are the embodied aspect of pratyhara… pratyhara … acts similarly as a powerful vehicle for tapas (increasing the spiritual fire) and is its energetic counterpoint as our energy is no longer dissipated nor distracted into dualistic externalizations.”
Yeah, my brain just exploded a little there, too.
He's probably just engaging his bandhas.
In fact, before Pilates training, I didn’t “get” anything about the bandhas other than that they had really cool names, names that would work well for an Indian princess or an exotic dog. There are three classic bandhas: mula, uddiyana, and jalandhara.
So, for you yogis out there, what does Pilates say about the bandhas?
Not a thing. That’s right, kids, we don’t use concepts like “energy locks” in Pilates. What we talk about are muscles, bones, connective tissue, and the proper stabilization of each before movement happens. However, we use these bandhas, too, and we learn (and teach) them from a 21st century, straightforward, exercise science P.O.V., which makes it a whole lot easier to understand them.
Take away the esoteric, the mysterious, the ancient teaching of yoga, and what you have is stabilization.
From the top down:
Jalandhar bandha
To engage this bandha, you need to contract the muscles of the neck and to press the chin firmly on to the depression at the end of the throat (the jugular notch).
Jalandhar bandha is “studied in Padmasan or any other asana specified for Dhyana Process.”
Hmmm…I’m definitely confused. What I do understand is that getting into this position involves “head ramping,” and that’s easy to do. Imagine you are balancing a book on your head. Depending on who you are, that book might be Twilight, Game of Thrones, or French existentialism. The book is not important. Stop worrying about the book.
Without dropping the book on the floor, move your entire head backwards a couple of inches. It sort of creates a double chin. Got one? Awesome. Jalandhar bandha. Check.
What’s the point? In yoga: “this bandha necessary in Kumbhaka.”
Clearly, that is outside of the scope of this lesson. In Pilates (or in life), this motion puts your head and neck in alignment.
Next is uddiyana bandha. This is the abdominal lock. I’m a Pilates instructor; I love uddiyana bandha. I teach it all day long. I call it “engaging the transverse abdominus.” Actually, I usually just say: “pull your belly button toward your spine…draw your abs in and up. Pull them in more. More than that. Hold them there. Hold.”
The transverse abdominus is perhaps the most important abdominal muscle. It is the deepest (i.e. closest) to your spine, and its action is to compress the abdomen. When you engage it, you stabilize your lumbar spine (the site of back pain for an estimated 80% of Westerners at some point in their lives). You also take the multifidi along for the ride. Those tiny muscles run between vertebra and also stabilize the spine during movement.
Make them strong, stabilize them before you move, and reduce your risk for back pain and injury.
Plus, pulling your abs in makes your stomach flat. And who doesn’t want a flat stomach?
Mula bandha is sometimes called the root lock. It is said to be the source of kundalini energy. It’s the most magical of all of the bandhas (or so we hear). Physically, it’s the central tendon of the pelvic floor. We all know the pelvic floor is magical.
In Pilates, we talk about the pelvic floor. It’s essentially a sling that provides support for the pelvic organs and helps to stabilize the pelvis.
When you engage the transverse abdominus, the pelvic floor also engages (and vice versus). Everything’s connected.
David Kyle, a yogi who is considered the Mula Bandha King, shows off what control of these bandhas can do. Impressive huh? I’ve seen a Fuse Pilates student float into and out of a handstand that easily, and she says that when she hasn’t been in our core-focused classes in a while, she loses it.
Although I haven’t learned that (yet), I did figure out how to engage my bandhas. I’m doing it right now, actually. I’m not flying, but I am sitting taller (and my abs look amazing).
New students often call us and ask what they need to wear to class. We say, “Comfortable workout clothes that you can move in. If you’re wearing shorts… well, be especially careful that those aren’t too loose.”
As a business, we do not give the slightest bit of a damn what brand of clothing you wear to class. If you come to our studio, you’ll note that each of our teachers has her own style – Addie prefers her t-shirts ripped or covered in skulls and tiger stripes, Monica likes to show off that she’s not afraid of color at all, Jocelyn admits that she has a slight Lululemon addiction, and Fuse founder Mariska is known for dressing like a ballet instructor one day and wearing a trendy tank from the sale rack at Target the next. She also sometimes wears her favorite pair of shorts from high school. Seriously.
We’re working on a blog post about teachers’ style, but what about what students think? Do they have preconceptions about a studio’s expectations for their students’ fashion choices?
Fuse Ambassador Lisa Strikowsky gives her take on the culture of fitness clothing in the guest blog post below:
Does this seem like you? Do you think your fitness studio cares about what you wear? If they do, it's time to find a new studio.
“I just joined a gym. I think I’ll go buy some Lululemon pants so that I will fit in”
True story, this was my friend’s Facebook status a few days ago. I saw this and I had to laugh, but then I thought . . . Could this be how others think as well? Is coming to a Fuse class intimidating to people who feel they don’t have the pre-requisite “uniform”? I never used to think anything of it, I like to be comfortable in the clothes that I work out in, tight-fitting clothes that I can move and breathe in. I never thought the idea of what clothes someone owns would deter him or her from coming to a Fuse class.
However, whether or not we want to admit it, the process of going to the gym, taking a Fuse class, or doing sun salutations at a yoga class, has become a fashion show. You’ve all seen it, the now infamous Omega sign slapped on the back of a brightly colored sports tank, the requisite tight black Capri pants with the slits up the side, the warm up jacket . . . to some of us this uniform says something. What most people think of as just another logo, some see as a status symbol, a symbol that tells others that: Yes! I work out! And Yes, I take pride in my athleticism!
I’ll freely admit it, I spend way too much of my disposable income on these wick-away, breathable, tight fitting capris and sport tanks. Stylish clothes make me feel good about myself – whether I’m going out or working out – and I consider them a well-deserved reward for all of my hard work. But do we really need all this stuff to be better Fuse students?
What's your fitness fashion?
The answer is no. Absolutely not! In order to thrive in a Fuse class, all you need is a good attitude, a willingness to try, and while it is required that you do wear clothing, no one cares what you wear. You can don your brand-name fitness gear, a six dollar pair of pants from a thrift store, or your dated pink kickball shirt (I’ve seen a lot of these at Fuse Pilates. Fuse teacher Laci McCandless comes to mind). Fuse is an equal opportunity clothing studio. As long as you can move in it, you can Fuse in it.
I’ve been to several studios where yes, what you wore seemed to matter. The attitude of the studio was like a clique. It wasn’t a fun place to be. That’s not the point of finding the workout that works for you.
And as far as that Omega status symbol? In my opinion, the core strength, the toned muscles, the fun you have in class, and that all-around rocking good body, well that’s the only status symbol that a Fuse Pilates student needs. A good pair of pants to accentuate those toned muscles can be icing on the cake – a treat for you to enjoy, but completely irrelevant to the other people in the studio.
This weekend kicks off our Detox Workshop, followed (optionally) by the group cleanse. Fuse teacher Allegra Poggio joined the 21-Day Detox when we did it back in January. What was it like? In her words:
The first 5 days for me were pretty sucky. The pits, really. I felt like I was turning into a sprout. Not in a good way.
It wasn’t even the things that I expected would be tough (like no coffee) that were hard. It was the afternoon pits in the stomach that I filled with tea or sunflower seeds instead of my sugary granola bar, or the moments I’d just got off the phone with a really challenging client and reach for the candy bowl to feel better slumps.
Side bar. Key learning #one thousand of the cleanse for me: turns out, when I am stressed at work, my hand reaches for the candy bowl that I otherwise don’t ever dive into. It was like a Pavlovian reflex. End difficult meeting with the client. Eat Milky Way. I don’t even like Milky Ways. Just awful.
But on day 5, I woke up, and I felt as light as a feather. Awake at 7 a.m. without coffee. Lemon water and probiotic down and ready to tackle my day. Green smoothie in my back pocket for when I got hungry in the late morning – seriously delicious – and ready to attack the day with more energy than ever.
There are lots of key learnings during the cleanse and they will be different for everyone. While they don’t all feel like “good things,” it is really good that you are learning them. You don’t know what you don’t know. But you’re better off knowing.
At times you feel weak and sad. Other times, you feel energized, like you can carry the world on your shoulders.
It is a journey that you need to be willing to commit yourself to. It’s only as good as the energy that you put into it. And it does take discipline.
But you have a support network (the other cleansers) to go through it with and that helps. You have an amazing counselor, Ginny, to guide you.
So, what did I learn? Too much for one post, but I’ll give you the abbreviated version.
My body doesn’t like dairy. Gluten (in the form of bread and pasta) is not my bestie. And did I mention I’m Italian?! And alcohol (especially red wine) is very toxic for me. Again, I’m Italian!. So, remember all those things I said I really loved? Yea.
I should be sad about this, but I’m actually ecstatic.
Ecstatic because during those 21 days, I learned a lot not just about what my body digests well or doesn’t digest well but also about my personal habits, what they are associated with, how I can re-wire my brain to control them, and how food impacts very literally everything we do from sleep, to mood, to energy, to movement.
In addition to the things that my body didn’t like, I learned that arugula and broccoli soup is scrumptious. And sweet potatoes, amazing. Cut them up, drizzle a bit of olive oil and cinnamon over them and you’ve got yourself something really tasty. You get to add them in at day 5 or 6 and I started eating them as a little dessert. Perfect.
I learned to go out and socialize with friends without drinking alcohol. Novel, eh?
Now more than ever, I have an awareness of how food impacts my body. I know what to eat to fuel me. I know what not to eat to avoid feeling sick.
Does this mean I am never going to have a plate of pasta again? Or a glass of wine or a cheese plate?
Sieti pazzi? Of course I will.
At least now it’s a decision I can weigh in my head. Do I really want this? If the answer is yes then I need to be okay with the fact that I’m not going to feel super afterwards and is that all right? Sometimes it will be. And sometimes it won’t. I can’t beat myself up about it but it’s empowering to have the knowledge.
I feel more passionate than ever about incorporating these learnings not only in my personal life, but in my professional life as an instructor in a discipline where we connect our minds and bodies with movement. This is why I’ll be doing the cleanse again starting this Monday. I want to keep learning, and I want to be part of the journey with the next group.
The 21 days are challenging. They are fun. They are totally worth it.
Yes, the weather is turning beautiful. Yes, you have a happy hour or a party or a date with your TV coming up and you just need to do those with an adult beverage or some dessert. You can still participate in all those things… just with a new perspective.
If you’re on the fence about participating, then start with the workshop this Saturday from 3-4:30pm at Fuse Pilates in DC.
In fact, I’ll even challenge you to give me 21 valid reasons (via the comments below) for why you shouldn’t do this cleanse. If I can’t come up with a counter response for each one, then you win. I’m not sure why that would feel good for you (?) but hey, I’m up for the debate if you are.
The cleanse is hard core. But so is everything we do at Fuse Pilates.
A presto,
Allegra
Have a question about the workshop or cleanse? Email the Fuse Pilates’ DC studio at info@fusepilates.com for my personal email address!
. Healthy cocktails anyone?
