See you at the Barre!

For the past two months, I have been working towards my certification as a BarreBody instructor. Sometimes when I write that, people misread it as bare. No one is actually bare, or even scantily clad, during this class. Sorry to disappoint.

BarreBody is based on ballet, Pilates and Yoga principles. We use modern pop music and some movements that you might remember from ballet class (tendus, plies, releves) but with an emphasis on safety and technique.

In a regular ballet class, students normally warm up at the barre, then progress to work in the center, and finally practice their turns, leaps and choreography. In Barre class, we dispense with the leaps, turns and choreography. Instead, we add in more strength and conditioning work.

The focus is always on technique, form, and injury prevention. I think of it as training people for life (good posture, the correct way to bend and pick things up off the floor, how to keep your knees, hips, shoulders and neck happy for a functional life) rather than training them to be dancers.

When my gym owner asked if I would substitute for the current teacher of the class, I had not been taking the Barre class very long. Although I have extensive dance experience, it had been about 12 years since I had taken ballet with regularity. I have been swing dancing in the meantime.

While teaching swing dance, I have frequently wanted to find a way to teach an ongoing “Conditioning for Dancers” class that would focus on these very same principles barre does. I see things in my dance class that I want to work on, like crooked posture and misalignment—or sometimes people ask me about preventing knee pain. Barre addresses all these issues and works on developing the core strength that is essential to any kind of dance, and to life in general.

In the course of the two months that I have been preparing to teach this class, I have practiced my one-hour segment what seems like a million times. I have physically done the exercises, counted along with the music while I am driving (even saying the cues and calling out, “Up, Up, Up!”). My body has experienced an extreme dose of barre over the past eight weeks. 

These are the changes I have seen in my own body:

1) Balance. Although my static (standing still) balance has always been pretty good, it is much better now. I have no problem holding a pose, even on one foot, while other limbs are moving about. Since I practice without holding on to a barre (so that I can stand in different parts of the room) I don’t need to hold onto anything for balance anymore.

2) Inner thighs. In the past, I have used adductor machines at the gym to tone my inner thighs, and what I’ve gotten is chunky inner thighs that rub together when I walk. Not what I was looking for. After eight weeks of intense barre, I can feel clearly defined adductor (inner thigh) muscles. They don’t take up any more space; I can just feel them under my skin.

3) Seat. I feel like everything around my butt feels better and stronger. I have, in the past, experienced some hip pain, especially in my right leg. This is particularly bad after I sit for a long time, like in meetings, movies, or in the car. My hips have felt a lot better in the past eight weeks.

4) Piriformis. The piriformis is a muscle under your glutes that rotates your femur outward. My right piriformis has always been super-tight, which has translated into rotating my right foot outward even when I don’t want to. That has caused some knee pain, and it’s also a factor in the hip pain I mentioned before. Because one of my cues in barre is, “Check and make sure all 10 toes are pointed forward,” I have consistently checked that misalignment several times during each workout. As a result, I am also more aware of that alignment when I do other activities, like squats, walking and running. Overall, this has helped balance out left and right sides, and I feel like the muscles that work against the piriformis have grown stronger as a result.

5) Neck. As a result of cueing, “Shoulders out of your neck/shoulder blades down and back,” my always-troubled neck is really feeling pretty good here lately.

Barre is not the only workout I do. Wednesdays are my hard workout day, where I run on the treadmill and lift. That day, I try to run as fast as I personally can, slowly building up my endurance at a faster (for me) speed. I am up to a mile and a half now. I also changed my lifting methodology. Since barre focuses on low weights and endless reps, I use my Wednesdays to lift weights heavy enough that I can only do one set of five with good form. On Wednesday nights, I am always exhausted, and I sleep wonderfully well.  As a result of the heavy lifting, I can now do real pull-ups, which I never could do before. I am pretty excited about that!

I look forward to teaching Barre regularly now. I am excited about getting to know my students and choreographing new routines. I really think this program is a balanced workout that can improve quality of life and functionality, as well as aesthetics, for a wide range of people (especially dancers!)

I will be teaching at FLY Fitness, 501 William St, Fredericksburg, VA 22904. Mondays at 9am, Tuesdays at 6:30pm, Fridays at 9:30am and Saturdays at 10:30am. http://www.flyfitnessinspiration.com 

                                                     

The things I love in Group Fitness Instructors

I went through a period of about 10 years, maybe longer, when I refused to take a group fitness class. I enjoyed running, lifting, and using the cardio machines, but I thought I did not like classes. This was back in the day when old-school aerobics was really popular, and I always felt like I was the one person going the wrong way when everyone else seemed to know what they were doing. I took one yoga class and I thought I hated it, because this particular teacher liked to do a lot of partner work, which was really not my bag at the time.

When I belonged to the Gold’s Gym in Warrenton, VA, one of the trainers suggested I try the group classes, since they were free with membership. I found that I really did enjoy yoga (it all depends on the teacher) and I loved Zumba. In fact, I loved it so much that I decided I wanted to learn how to Salsa for real, which started my social-dancing history and my launched my fitness education path.

I don’t really enjoy Zumba anymore—the reasons don’t really matter, but I think it has a lot to do with teachers. However, I have taken and taught a lot of group exercise classes in the past 20 years or so. Recently, I have been exploring with some new teachers and methodologies, which started me thinking about the things I like and the things that really turn me off in group fitness instructors. Trying to focus on the positive, I will share the things I love.

Things I love:

1) When teachers make an effort to get to know students’ names. I appreciate teachers who ask you to wear nametags, or look at the class sign-in sheet and attempt to use each student’s name. This is especially helpful when making corrections: “Valerie, be sure to keep your spine straight up and down.”

2) When teachers spend the minutes before class conversing with students.

3) When teachers offer up-and-down modifications of exercises, so that beginner and advanced students can get a good workout in the same class.

4) When teachers allow themselves to stop talking for a few minutes during the course of the class. For me, this allows me to focus on the work and the music.

5) When teachers change their classes often—whether it’s changing out one or two songs and exercises or completely revamping the class from month to month. I enjoy learning new things and challenging myself with the same teacher.

6) When teachers ask permission before making hands-on adjustments. I would prefer that teachers not physically move me at all. I always prefer verbal/visual cues, but if that fails and it’s something really important that could cause injury, they could at least ask, “May I touch you,” or put their hand in the place where they want your foot/arm/shoulder to be, and ask you to move yourself to that spot, instead of trying to move you.

7) When teachers are knowledgeable. They should be able to explain why you shouldn’t lock out your knees on the upward phase of a squat, for example.

8) When teachers don’t assume that you are a brand-new beginner just because they have never seen you in their class before. They also should not assume that you are an expert. I love it when they ask, or wait to see what you can do.

9) When teachers make eye contact with students, or at the very least, watch the students during the class. I have heard teachers, with their faces turned toward the wall, say “that looks great!” (psst, hey, you can’t see us!)

10) Teachers who come to class prepared. They know what they are going to teach, have a play list ready, and know what tools the students will need. 

As I continue to grow as a teacher, I will make it a conscious goal to incorporate these strategies into my personal teaching style.

What keeps you motivated to exercise?

 A few weeks ago on Twitter, American College of Sports Medicine, (ACSM) posed a question: What keeps you motivated to exercise?

I tweeted my 104-character response: “I love being able to do physically difficult things. I feel GREAT when I exercise, but feel grouchy and sluglike when I don't.”

A few things kept me from my regular workout over the past few weeks. I went to Paris for a week. I was stuck on a plane. I walked a lot (miles and miles a day) and I danced at night, but I did not do my regular workout. Then I came home and I had a pretty bad sinus infection that made it hard for me to do much more than sit in a chair and be grumpy.

Today was my first real day back at the gym, after two and a half weeks. The break has given me the opportunity to reflect a little more deeply on what motivates me to keep exercising. I think everyone has his own answers to this question, but these are mine.

• I like people better when I exercise. Especially when I exercise with others. I am a naturally shy person, but when I was sick, I could feel myself wanting to draw further into my cocoon. When I went out, to the coffee shop or the grocery store, I felt irritated by my fellow humans. Too noisy, too slow, too pushy, whatever…but then I spent an hour working out with six other women this morning, and we were all getting sweaty together, and by the end of the hour, I thought they were the most beautiful women God ever put on the Earth. Even when I left the gym, I found myself smiling at people and saying hello. I felt friendly again. I think that comes from doing physically challenging things with other humans. It’s kind of what we are made to do.
• I value being able to do difficult things. When we were in Paris, we climbed the stairs on the Eiffel tower as far as you are allowed to. The benefit: we paid 1/3 the money and had no line at all. I am thankful that, at 41 years of age, my knees and back and feet and lungs are capable of climbing 720 steps up and 720 steps down. We also walked, I would estimate, at least 5 miles per day during our trip. If I didn’t exercise regularly, I would not have been able to handle that much activity comfortably.
• I like being able to dance, especially to fast music. I am not a big talker. I can’t express myself adequately through spoken words. Yes, I can write, but words aren’t alive and they aren’t attached to me. When I meet people, I can’t ask them to go read my blog to get to know me better. But when I dance, I am able to be everything I am: mother, daughter, saint, sinner, lover, fighter, thinker, maniac. I can express all that through movement, but only if my body is working. For me, not being able to move is like being mute. And to keep dancing all night, to keep up with fast music, I need to have strength and endurance.
• Exercise lifts my spirits. Scientists say that brain chemicals called endorphins kick in when we exercise. They mask pain, give us energy, and push us through fatigue. All I know is that I can be having the worst and crappiest day, and about 7 minutes into a good run, dance, or a great exercise class, I start to feel happy, and I stay that way for several hours afterward.
• It quiets my mind. I have a busy brain. I think about things that are my responsibility, like my job, and how I’m going to pay for my kids’ college, but I also think about things that are way out of my sphere, like how humans are consuming resources at a faster rate than they can be replaced. If I don’t reign it in, the thought factory cranking in my brain will keep me up at night, making lists and envisioning outcomes. Exercise helps. The more physically and mentally challenging an activity is, the larger the percentage of my attention it requires, and eventually there is no room in my head for anything other than the task at hand. Difficult things like dancing push out thoughts of anything else. Sometimes I need to think about things in a quiet space. In that case, I can go for a run: there, all my body has to do is move forward. I have time to pick through all the threads of my thoughts while the endorphins do their work, making all my problems seem simpler, easier, fixable. 

Everyone’s motivations are different. You might like to maintain your dress size or keep your blood pressure down. It doesn’t matter why you do it, but it’s helpful to take the time to identify your motivation, so that when you encounter fitness roadblocks (and everyone does), you remember why you were doing it in the first pace.

Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

This was the dish that destroyed my gluten-free resolve when I was in Paris. I had been there for about five days when I tried it. I had been dutifully eating salads, skewers of meat and other dishes that had a 98 percent chance of being gluten-free, but the saucy deliciousness of beef bourguignon as I know it in the states is one of my favorites. Since I know enough about cooking to understand that most stews with a thick, gravy-like sauce are made with flour, I really should have stayed away. But I rationalized: at least this iteration was served with steamed potatoes instead of noodles. Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay.

It was delicious. It was one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. I ordered it at the sidewalk café of a restaurant whose name I will never remember, somewhere on a back street a few blocks from the right bank of the Seine, near St. Michel and the Latin Quarter.

Our server brought me my own little copper pot, with its own lid, filled with this insanely delicious stew. The beef came in larger chunks than you would expect to find in a stew, but they were so tender, you could cut them with the side of a spoon.  Two whole, steamed potatoes swam in the broth along with the meat and some sliced carrots, but there were no other discernable vegetables. Even if you could not see the other veggies, you could taste them. They were in there, but the chef had gone to the effort of straining the sauce or possibly pureeing it before replacing the beef and potato in it.

I can’t describe the level of food ecstasy we experienced with this dish. It was everything we strive to avoid in our daily healthy living efforts: fatty, salty, and red-meaty. Not only that, I knew that velvety texture was achieved through wheat gluten. And I ate it anyway. I confess that the luscious sauce was so addictive that I did the unthinkable—the thing I actually have nightmares about—I ate a half a slice of authentic, wheat-laden, wonderful bread in an effort to ingest every particle of sauce that remained in the copper pot.

Did I pay for my transgressions? Of course I did. I will spare you the details.

But fortunately, now that I am home, I have returned to my test kitchen and have been able to produce a delicious facsimile of that utopian meal, with no harmful after-effects.

This dish takes time. Of course it is possible to find short-cut beef bourguignon recipes. But if you’re going to do that, you might as well just buy a Lean Cuisine out of the freezer section. In this case (as in many others) it’s worth it to go big or go home. We can’t reproduce every flavor of this dish in the US, because we don’t have the same French cows raised on the same diet, or even the same tap water, but my home-made rendition was pretty delicious, anyway.

For full flavor, start this dish a day ahead of time. Marinate the meat the full 24 hours in the fridge before cooking. Choose a good-quality, luscious red wine like a pinot noir or Beaujolais. Follow each of the steps, browning the meat separately, straining the vegetables, and sautéing them separately.

Although this is slow food, most of the time is hands-off, so you can be reading, sleeping, working out, learning to dance, or watching Game of Thrones.

Gluten-free Slow-Cooker Beef Bourguignon

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

2-3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes

Place the meat in a 13x9 in. Pyrex/glass cake pan deep enough to contain the meat & marinade. Add:

2 cups dry red wine. (I used a California Pinot Noir)

¼ cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped (I used a Vidalia)

1 carrot, chopped

1 garlic clove, pressed or chopped

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

Stir the meat to combine the meat & marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 24, turning the meat and stirring once or twice during the process.

Gluten-free beef bourguignon marinade

About 6 hours before you plan to eat, remove the beef from the marinade (SAVE THE MARINADE AND ALL THE VEGGIES) and place the beef cubes on a stack of paper towels. Turn the meat to pat dry. This will help the meat brown better.

Set a strainer over a bowl, and pour the marinade through the strainer, reserving the vegetables and liquid separately.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook

4 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch slices

Remove and reserve the bacon. Leave the fat in the pan. Over medium heat, brown the beef on all sides, working in batches and being careful not to overcrowd the pan. When the beef is browned, place it in your slow cooker. Once all the beef is browned, sautee the reserved vegetables from the marinade until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables to the slow cooker.

To your reserved liquid marinade, add

½ cup good-quality beef broth

2 tbsp gluten-free corn starch

Whisk quickly to combine. Pour the liquid into the medium-heat pan, and stir until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any burned bits. Pour the liquid into the slow cooker. Add:

2 cups small boiling (pearl) onions, if you can find them. I could not, so I used a chopped Vidalia onion.

Cover and set the slow cooker on low if your choices are low/high. Medium if you have that option. Allow to cook for about 5-6 hours, until the meat is fork tender. Add:

2 cups sliced button mushrooms

Cover and continue to cook for another 20 minutes, while you prepare mashed potatoes to catch all the delicious sauce. When ready to serve, add ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley and salt and black pepper to taste.