Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘core strength’

Core & Light Weights

Posted by terrepruitt on July 28, 2021

Recently I asked my students what they would consider their goals in our classes. Currently I teach gentle yoga, Nia, and stretch via Zoom. The majority of the response was they wanted to work on strengthening their core and working with light weights. So . . . that is what we are going to do.   While we work on core strength and stability in yoga and Nia we don’t use weights.  About the same time I asked my students this I had a conversation with a friend who reminded me of the term Sarcopenia which can be defined as “a type of muscle loss that occurs with aging and/or immobility.”

Muscles need to move in order to stay mobile and they need to be challenged in order to stay strong. There is ultimate truth in the saying, “Move it or lose it.”

There are basically three types of increased strength changes that can happen to muscle it can get stronger, in can gain more endurance, or it can get bigger. These changes are not exclusive of the other, but generally there is a focus on one because they are done in different ways.

We are going to do a quick class (30 minutes) primarily working the core isometrically and work on endurance in the arms and shoulders. This is going to be a five week series, while some people will be dropping in I am going to design the class in a progression. I still may make some tweaks but basically we will be using light weights and moving pretty fast.

We had a little demo class a couple of weeks ago and we decided we liked it so we are moving forward. For now it is only scheduled for the month of August but we will see how it goes. I have been wanting to do this for as long as I can remember so I am excited to actually be doing it.

I am also very excited to help people. I have experienced that being able to move with comfort, ease, and having a little bit of strength makes life so much more enjoyable. Have you ever had a sore back or an injury to a hand, arm, foot, or leg? You may have experienced some challenges during that time. Being able to move and have the strength to do so is so important to one’s quality of life so I am excited because I think of this as me helping people have better lives. YAY!

More information about the upcoming class can be found on my site http://www.HelpYouWell.com, you can click here to go to the specific page.

Do you have weights in your fitness routine?

Posted in Misc, Muscles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Reasons for Sounding in Nia Class

Posted by terrepruitt on April 26, 2012

I’ve post about the Healings Sounds. I’ve posted about how we used the Healing Sounds in our Nia class. I’ve stated that making noise is a great way for people to know that you are breathing. There are other reasons to sound, one being it helps stabilize your core. In Nia or in other dance exercise classes there are times when you are moving and playing with balance so having a stable core can assist in proper balance. With the effort to stay stable there is also strengthening. On the exhale the abdomen is tightened.

In Nia we do a lot of movement where core stabilization is key. Some of the moves we do that require a stable core are punches, blocks, and kicks. In order to punch and/or block with strength and authority the spine needs to be straight, the ribs squeezing, and the abs tight. All of this can be accomplished with one loud sound, any sound can do it. Kicking is the same thing, even if you are doing a side kick where your body might be leaning, the spine is still straight and the torso needs to be tight. A joyful “HA!” can take care of all that!

Another reason to sound is release. We are often taught to be quiet. It could be as deep and as damaging as we were taught our opinions don’t matter. It could be more of a social “norm” where we were taught to respectfully keep one’s opinion to oneself or respectfully not sing, shout, or cry out loud because it would be inappropriate even though that is what we really want to do.  All of these social confines can lead to blocked energies.  Having to behave can lead to us feeling bad, so sounding in a Nia Class is a huge release. We can experience a release.  Healing sounds aren’t the only ones to be made, anything will do.

Often times for me I am busy with listening to the music, thinking of the next move, getting ready to cue, dancing, and breathing I don’t THINK about sound it just comes out. Sometimes a move makes its own sound. Also depends on the move. I did a routine recently where the moves were very quiet for me. It was odd. It was as if the moves had no sound. I am wondering if that is because it was so new. I am looking forward to doing it again to see if sounds reveal themselves.

In addition to breath, stabilization, strength, and release sounding is fun. Children are expected to shout, laugh out loud, and be joyfully noisy, but adults not so much.  Kids can run and scream on a playground, adult aren’t often afforded such a luxury, but in Nia we can.  It really is fun. It is fun to make noise. It is fun to HA, HOO, FOO, SHOO, HI-YA, WAHOO, WHOOO, and SHHHHH to the top of your voice. It is fun to play with the volume and the tone of the noises. All of this playfulness adds to the joy.  We can whoop it up as we did when we were young.  The vibrations of sound heal the body. The fun heal the spirit and the soul.

I often wonder how people are able to keep quiet in a Nia class.  I believe they have not yet experienced the good it will do for them.  There is the breath, the added stabilization, the strengthening, the emotional release, and the fun that it brings all good for the body, mind, spirit, and soul.

While I am saying we do sounding in Nia class, don’t think it is restricted to that.  So while you are exercising don’t forget to breath.  Try making some noise.  If you are in a class that doesn’t allow for it find a Nia class and whoop it up there!

Do you make noise while you exercise?

Posted in Nia, Sounding | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »