CategoriesEvent

Flow with Pride Ride ~ Friday, June 28th

Join David & Kelsey to Flow with Pride to our classic beat-based, 45-minute cycle class and raise money for a good cause. David & Kelsey will take you through an exhilarating workout to improve your endurance, strength, and power – as well as kick off Pride weekend in style. After 45-minutes of heart-pumping high-energy cycle, you’ll get a t-shirt, swag, and happy hour!This class is open to members and non-members alike. It is a donation based class ($25 suggested), supporting Lambert House, a community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth in the greater Seattle Washington area.

Kick your weekend off with good vibes from moving your body, and supporting a good cause!

Date:  Friday, June 28th
Time:  5:15pm
Cost:  Donation ($25 suggested)

Sign up now or call the front desk to reserve your spot.

CategoriesBlog Live Fit. Move. Uncategorized

Run Stronger

The sun is out and shining in Seattle which means it’s running season. When thinking about running, it’s easy to focus solely on running itself to improve our speed and endurance. To effectively take your running to the next level, cross training should be incorporated into your fitness routine.  These exercises will not only make you a stronger runner, but it will help prevent injuries. Below are some of my favorite exercises to incorporate with running:

  1. Lateral band walks are a great way to activate and strengthen the glutes which is crucial for running. Use these as a warmup exercise or in a circuit with other exercises to really feel the burn! Here’s how to use:
    1. Grab a mini band and place above the ankles or around the balls of your feet.
    2. Start with feet hip distance apart and toes pointing forward. From here, drive with your knee and step to the side.
    3. The other foot will step and return to your starting position (hip-width distance).
    4. Go for reps or for distance and make sure you do both sides.
  2. Deadbugs
    1. Deadbugs are a great exercise for strengthening the core. This exercise requires a neutral spine position while moving your arms and legs, so it is also great for stability and balance.
      1. Lay on your back with your arms straight in the air and legs bent with knees stacked over your hips. Press your low back into the floor to engage your abdominal muscles.
      2. Inhale and extend opposite arm, opposite leg while keeping your low back glued to the floor. Exhale and return to the starting position. Repeat on the other side.
      3. Start by doing two rounds of 8 reps per side and slowly increase the number of reps/sets. Use this as a warmup or as part of your workout.
  3. Glute Bridges
    1. Glute bridges are a great way to build strength and stability in your glutes/hips. Start with your bodyweight and as you get stronger, use bands, single leg variations, or even a barbell to challenge yourself.
      1. To start, lay on your back with your heels about a palm’s distance away from your glutes.
      2. Dig your heels into the ground and raise your hips, squeezing your glutes through the entire movement. Ideally, your hips should be in line with your shoulders at the top with your shins vertical.
      3. Pause at the top and control down to the starting position.
      4. Start with two rounds of 10 reps.
  4. Hamstring Curls
    1. Hamstring strength is crucial to running, but many of us struggle to activate this muscle group. Hamstring curls are a great way to strengthen and activate these muscles and can be done in different ways. Feel free to use a machine, stability ball, or gliders to start. My favorite are gliders.
      1. Lay on your back with your heels on a set of gliders about a palm’s distance away from your glutes. Dig your heels into the ground and squeeze your glutes to come into a glute bridge position.
      2. Slowly extend your legs away from you maintaining tension in the back of your legs. If you are able, keep your hips up and return to the starting position. If this feels too challenging, or you start to feel tension in your lower back, drop your hips to the floor and bring your heels back to the starting position.
      3. Repeat for about 8-10 reps.
Side motion view of young sexy attractive healthy fitness sporty active slim girl with sportswear running in front of the grey wall at night on the street.

Try adding one or all of these exercises to your strength routine and see how your runs become stronger and faster!

CategoriesLive Fit. Move.

Improve Your Performance with Plyometric Training

Whether you’re a runner, rower, soccer player, or do any sport that uses your legs, plyometric training can improve your performance.  Plyometrics are a series of jumping exercises to teach you how to exert maximum force in a minimum time.   Athletes us plyometric training to increase their speed and explosive power.

There are several simple, easy to learn plyometrics you can start with, so anyone can add plyometrics to their workout routine. However, make sure that you’re treating these as a part of your strength training and avoid going too hard and losing your form to avoid injury. When executed correctly, plyometrics can be a great way to supplement your current routine and make bigger gains. Here are great plyometric exercises you can start with:

1. Box Jumps: One of the most common exercises in plyometric training is the box jump. The box jump is a great exercise to increase your vertical jump height as well as strengthen your quads and glutes. Here’s what to do:

  • Set a box about 6 inches in front of you (start with a smaller box)
  • Get into a squat position with your feet about shoulder-width apart
  • Sink into a squat and explode up and on top of the box using your arms
  • Land softly onto the box and carefully step down
  • Rest in between reps
  • To make these more challenging, you can increase the box height
  • Start with 3 rounds of 8-10 jumps

2. Broad Jumps: Broad jumps are a great way to build leg strength and test explosive power. All you need is open space, so the setup is simple:

  • Start in a deep squat position – legs shoulder-width apart
  • Using your arms and pushing the floor away with your legs, explode forward and land softly in another squat
  • Immediately explode forward into your next jump
  • Start with 3-4 rounds of 3 jumps

3. Scissor Jumps: Scissor jumps are essentially jumping lunges, which are great for building single leg strength in the adductors and glutes. If these feel challenging at first, use TRX straps to help with balance, then move on to doing these without assistance.

  • Get into a standard lunge position with your back straight and knees and toes forward
  • Come down into a lunge and explode up switching legs mid-air
  • Land softly and repeat, making sure to switch legs with each rep
  • Start with 3 rounds of 8-10/side

4. Squat Jumps: If you’ve taken a team conditioning class, you’re probably already familiar with the squat jump. Squat jumps are great for strengthening your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves while getting your heart rate up. This exercise is great for building strength in weighted squat exercises as well.

  • Start with feet shoulder-width apart
  • Sink down into a deep squat, then explode straight up swinging arms overhead
  • Land softly and repeat
  • Make sure you keep your core tight and use your arms to help propel you through the jump
  • Start with 3 rounds of 10 jumps

Please keep in mind the importance of maintaining good form. Plyometrics are often used as a form of cardio and it’s easy to perform these exercises with poor form when done quickly and carelessly. Make sure that you’re always landing softly and keeping your knees in line with your toes. Also, perform lower reps and take rest when needed – fully resting between sets will ensure proper form.

CategoriesEvent

Meditative Hike ~ Saturday, April 27th

Let’s get out of the city and inhale the ridiculous beauty of the PNW. Gain healing wisdom from Mother Earth and reconnect with your own inner, still voice during a guided meditation and a silent 3.5 mile, low elevation gain hike. We’ll debrief the victories and defeats discovered over a picnic lunch. You’ll leave with a clear mind and a game plan to soothe the day-to-day craziness of being human.

Saturday, April 27th from 9am – 12pm

Limited space available.  Please register through the member portal.
We’ll meet at Flow SLU, and carpool from there.

Led by fellow member,
Michelle Allen, Ecotherapist
Michelle works in a high integrity, low razz environment to explore, contemplate, wrestle with, and celebrate the breathtaking (…and often maddening) nuances of being human. You can find her leading meditative retreats in the PNW mountains or meeting 1:1 with clients for reiki, energy analysis, and counseling in Seattle.

CategoriesEvent

Flowathalon ~ Thursday, March 28th at 5:45pm

Transition through our most popular classes in one workout: Sweat to the beat in Cycle, Move and groove in Barre, Build a better you in Team Conditioning, Breathe and Flow in Yoga.

The Flowathalon will be as follows:

5:45 – 6:05 with Jessie in Cycle

6:10 – 6:30 with Jaclyn at the Barre

6:35 – 6:55 with Brian on the Turf

7 – 7:20 with Tarah in the Yoga Studio

Sign up online today!

CategoriesLive Fit. Nourish.

Why Spot Reduction Doesn’t Work

Why Spot Reduction Doesn’t Work

One common question we get at Flow is how to lose fat in a specific area. We hate to break it to you — but it’s impossible to spot-reduce fat. So you can stop doing endless crunches to melt belly fat, or eternal tricep dips to slim your arms. Instead, focus on overall fat loss through a healthy balance of nutrition and exercise.

Nutrition is crucial to fat loss. It’s simple math: To lose body fat, you need to eat less than you burn each day (known as being in a “caloric deficit”). Keeping a food journal is a great way to track what you’re eating, which keeps you honest and focused on your goals. When meal planning, make sure your plate has a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat. This will roughly look like:

  • A palm-size serving of protein.
  • A fist-size serving of carbs.
  • A thumb-size serving of fats.
  • …and, of course, a large handful of veggies for each meal. 

Aside from what you eat each day, make sure you’re drinking enough water. Water helps flush out toxins while keeping you hydrated, which is very important when thinking about fat loss. 

CategoriesBlog Live Fit.

4 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress

As we enter the month of February and the craziness of the holidays, New Year’s resolutions and finding a new routine start to fade, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed. Perhaps you’ve fallen back into old habits, or are disappointed that you haven’t started working toward your health goals for the year. If this sounds familiar — you’re not alone!

 When stress starts to creep in, I like to use these four methods to refocus and clear my mind:

            Meditation/Yoga

Slowing down and taking time to connect with your mind and your breath is a great way to de-stress. Yoga helps Improve circulation, which can help reduce cortisol production (stress hormones) and ease stress-induced digestive issues. Whether it’s on your lunch break or at the end of a busy day, I highly recommend adding breathwork and mindful movements to your weekly routine to relax and restore you.

Get to the Gym!

It’s easy to stay inside in the winter when it’s cold and rainy, but we are not meant to stay cooped up. Going to the gym and getting your heart rate up will help decrease cortisol production and increase endorphins (your “feel-good” hormones). — giving your mood a natural boost and clearing your mind. Try taking a spin class or lifting weights to break a sweat and feel rejuvenated.

Journaling

Sometimes the best thing to do when we’re stressed is to write down our feelings. Maybe you feel overwhelmed, but don’t know why – so just start writing, and see what you can figure out on paper. This is a great tool to use at the end of the day, when you can reflect back on sources of stress and then let them go.

Write Down Accomplishments

My last tip is probably the most challenging, but it’s definitely worth a try. Stress makes it easy to dwell on feelings of negativity. When this cycle starts, take a time-out; find one thing you’ve accomplished that day or week, and write it down somewhere that’s easily visible. The next time you’re stressed, you can see this reminder of something positive you’ve accomplished to help ease your mind.

Try using these tips the next time you’re stressed — and remember to take care of yourself this month!

CategoriesBlog Live Fit.

Sleep: Your Most Important Training Partner

By Flow Coach, Mackennon Klink, B.S., CSCS, PN1

Did you know that roughly 30% of adults sleep fewer than 6 hours each night?
Poor sleep quality and quantity can have a huge effect, both inside and outside the gym.  Poor sleep is associated with negatively impacting your workouts, recovery, sex life, mood, dietary decisions, and can lead to other potential health problems. 

Outside of these issues, sleep duration and quality are often the forgotten, neglected aspect of training.  Why is it so important?  Your body’s growth hormones are peaking while you are sleeping, which means you will maximize your fitness by sleeping.  That’s right – by sleeping seven-nine hours each evening you will see a decrease in both body fat and increase in lean body mass. 

During your training (and in life), sleep is your best friend and if anyone tells you otherwise, they’re confused.   In fact, sleep should be your most important training partner.  How can you prioritize sleep?If you’re having difficulty sleeping, or need some tips to develop a sleep routine and get better quality sleep, read more here.

  What are your favorite ways to improve your gym performance?  Let us know in the comments below.

CategoriesBlog

Transform Your Life in 90 Days – Starts January 7th

Create changes that will last a lifetime

This program is tailored for those who are tired of the quick-fix, fad diet, or weight-loss challenge. If you are looking to make sustainable changes to enhance your lifestyle, and would like the guidance of nutrition and fitness professionals, this program is tailored for you.  It is NOT focused on short-term results.  Through our 90-day program, you will be empowered with the knowledge and confidence to live your healthiest life, with enough momentum to maintain the health habits you’ve established during the 90 days.

By signing-up for this program, you will receive:

  • Fitness Assessment and Strategy Session
  • Three Fit3D scans to track your progress
  • Weekly sessions with a Certified Personal Trainer
  • Bi-weekly semi-personal training sessions
  • Bi-weekly consultations with Nutrition Health Coach
  • Unlimited access to the gym and classes

By the end of the program, you will be empowered with the knowledge and confidence to:

  • Create a fitness routine you enjoy, that can change your body shape and support a healthy metabolism
  • Fuel your body for your lifestyle, by eating healthy, nutritious foods
  • Establish new habits that support your health goals, and enable you to continue on your transformation journey, long after the 90 days are up

Your days of diets, strict cleanses, and the weight-loss mentality are behind you. You’ll have a team of wellness professionals supporting you along the way, with the tools necessary to transform your lifestyle.

Program dates:  January 7th-April 7th

Investment in yourself:  $600 per month  for 3 months (24% off the regular value of $780).

There are only a few spots left so register now!   

Questions?  Email info@flowfitnessseattle.com