Have you worked out today? Come on in and enjoy the scenery.

Are you one of the thousands who suffer from a workout-inspiration need? Check back next month for another awesome Fuse Pilates Photo of the Month.

Thanks to our awesome model and good friend, Errick.

Shake things up this April.

We like to keep you entertained. Check back next month for another awesome Fuse Pilates Photo of the Month.

Fuse Pilates Photo of the Month

This March at Fuse Pilates, we want to celebrate all that is awesome—starting with a very special person in this photograph. We’re not sure his name, but he has great taste in transportation.

We like to keep you entertained. Check back next month for another awesome Fuse Pilates Photo of the Month.

When the founder of your method used to be a Creative Director, you have to assume some of that will come into the Fuse Pilates studio. Plus, Mariska has great relationships with local artists and photographers, and a true love for art.

So – introducing our newest feature – the Fuse Pilates Photo of the Month. This month, we’re tackling the Metro Red Line, proving that although it might be delayed, that’s no reason to miss out on a little exercise. (Photo by the amazing Matt Mendelsohn.)

Since I started offering teacher training several years ago, I really started asking myself – what makes a good teacher? Actually, what makes a great teacher? Because right now, there are dozens of different types of fitness classes and training regimens out there, each of them with their own training requirements, and in all of them, some teachers seem to come to the forefront.  Some even become “celebrity” teachers – featured in magazines, with clothing company endorsements, and clients who have a lot of money or fame or power.

Of course it’s subjective, but here are my thoughts on great teachers. (And it’s not about whether they’re affiliated with an expensive brand or whether they boast a famous clientele. It’s because they genuinely rock.)

Let's not forget the value of a good hands-on assist!

1. They know their shit.  Although some people get out and start teaching with as little as one weekend of training (fodder for another upcoming blog post, I promise), the teachers who are great are well-trained.  And “knowing their shit” should not only include the workout they’re teaching, but the why of it, the anatomy and exercise science behind it, and how to modify it to make it more difficult or easier.
2. They know what they don’t know. A good teacher will tell you if he or she doesn’t know why you feel X when Y.  And, a great teacher will refer you to the person who does know, or try to find out the information and “get back to you.”
3. They walk the walk.  Great teachers practice what they teach.  And by practice, I mean they are serious about doing the same workout they’re teaching.  They should know every exercise they teach in their own body.
4. They know how to cue. They have found the words that work to get you (and sometimes dozens more at the same time) into an exercise and moving.  And they do it quickly. If it takes a minute of explanation (and you didn’t ask one of those why questions), they aren’t a good cuer.  Keep it simple – move what where.
5. They offer compassion, but not idiot compassion. My husband is a Buddhist, so I hear a lot about this thing called idiot compassion.  Basically, it’s being an enabler. Take a student who says, “I can’t do a roll-up.”  If a teacher feels badly for that student, offering to help pull her up the majority of the way, that’s showing idiot compassion. What a great teacher does is analyze the problem, encourage the person to work on what they need to work on in order to do that roll up, and help the student help herself.
6. They’re charismatic motivators.  Making people love learning is an art.  It’s part creating a welcoming environment, developing trust, and offering a touch of humor.  Great teachers also understand that people have different learning styles and differing reasons for coming to class.
7. They love doing it. Great teachers love to teach. Simple as that.

We’ve all encountered a wide range of teachers. And I want to hear about some of yours –from kick ass to pain in the… you get the point. How did that teacher’s teaching make or break a class for you?

Stay hard core,

Mariska

Detox diets? Resolutions? Do you have better plans (like eating real food)? Ginny Johnson is stopping by the Fuse blog to offer you a little… persuasion.

Take a deep breath. You feel that, friends? That’s the inimitable sensation of change in the air. The power of possibility, the clean-slate optimism, the freshness of a new year. There is an undeniable universal energy a-brewin’, as the whole world looks at the blank page before us and sets intentions for how we’ll fill it. Oh, how I love it.

Some people get all bah-humbug about resolutions and I get the arguments against them. (They’re too limiting! They never stick! We’re setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment!) But I say there’s absolutely nothing wrong with turning a page, harnessing the vim and vigor floating around in the atmosphere and using this moment to think about how we really want to feel.

I just bet that one way you’d like to feel is healthy. Really, truly healthy. As in, not just not-sick-healthy, but never-ever-limited healthy. Radiant healthy. Energized healthy. At ease and at home in your beautiful body healthy. Yes? Me, too. The good news is that your body wants this for you as well. In fact, it’s working hard all the time just to keep you there… and MY, what a big job. Every day we encounter millions of factors that have the ability to slow us down, knock us off course, gum up our internal works and — in short — make us chubby, sick and/or tired. That precious bod of yours is tirelessly toiling to fend off the toxins and keep your little cart in the road. The best thing you can do to meet it halfway?

DETOX.

Don’t be scared. You may have heard horror stories about liquid fasts and lemon-cayenne-maple syrup concoctions, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. What I’m hoping to inspire you to do is eat clean, limit the amount of new toxins entering your system and give your body a chance to clean up old unfinished business. Balance your blood sugar, uncover hidden food sensitivities and reset your relationship to your grub. Along the way, you’ll gain clarity (physical AND emotional, it’s pretty neat), shed toxic poundage and, quite possibly, get to the bottom of that pesky health concern that’s got both you and your doctor baffled. There’s no better way to start off a new year. Intrigued?

If you simply want to learn more about this whole detox business and how it might be good for you, dip your toe in the waters by attending my New Year Detox Workshop on January 5 at Fuse from 3:00 – 5:00 PM. The only commitment you’re making is  $40 and a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon, and I promise you’ll come away enlightened and inspired. Read more and sign up here: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=10225.

If you’re ready to go big or go home, may I present to you the New Year Group Cleanse 2013, brought to you by yours truly and the awesome folks at Fuse. It’s a 21-Day transformative experience which I’ve designed — and honed– to help you clean out your inner nooks and crannies in a way that is super-powerful yet totally manageable. You’ll get a cleanse plan, a packet of delicious recipes, daily inspirational emails to keep you on track and group camaraderie via a lively private facebook group. The experience kicks off January 7 and runs through January 27. All materials will be sent out on January 5 and we’ll be holding an (optional) kick-off conference call on January 6 to get all your questions answered. (If you’re not sure about this whole thing, you can definitely attend the workshop and decide to sign up after it’s over.)

Past cleansers have great things to say. Read a couple first-person narratives on the blog here: http://fusepilates.com/blog/2012/09/demystifying-the-fuse-cleansedetox-you-can-do-this-and-yes-you-get-to-eat/

and here: http://fusepilates.com/blog/2012/03/to-cleanse-or-not-to-cleanse-part-1/.

I have a sneaky feeling this is going to be the best group ever — we’ve already got 20+ cleansers, newbies and old pros alike, signed up and ready to go. Join us! 2013 is your year, I just know it.

Love and veggies,

Ginny

Fuse is in the holiday spirit. So we’ve compiled our favorite gifs to keep you (and us!) entertained.
http://howdoiputthisgently.tumblr.com

Fuse is in the holiday spirit. So we’ve compiled our favorite gifs to keep you (and us!) entertained.
http://howdoiputthisgently.tumblr.com

Fuse is in the holiday spirit. So we’ve compiled our favorite gifs to keep you (and us!) entertained.
http://howdoiputthisgently.tumblr.com