I have an eye for movement.
I grew up skateboarding and snowboarding, and what initially drew me to these activities as a kid were the way the athletes moved . I loved thumbing through magazines showing skateboarders kick flipping their boards over picnic tables and fire hydrants. I studied the way their arms were raised, what their feet and hands looked like, and even their facial expressions. I would become hyperaware of my own body as I learned new tricks and movements on my board(s). This truly was the beginning of my lifelong fascination with human movement, and it’s stuck with me over the years.
Our bodies are incredible.
What we are capable of doing is truly amazing. The human body is designed to do so many unique things, and it’s fairly resilient. Over the course of time, you may begin to experience tightness and pain in your neck, lower back, shoulders, knees, and ankles. This may be due to the fact that you have a mostly sedentary job/lifestyle and you’re forced to sit for long periods of time throughout your day. Or it could be due to an injury of some kind. Whatever the case may be, it’s up to you to perform regular “maintenance” on your body to make sure it stays up to par. This means spending time on your foam roller, statically stretching, and incorporating the necessary mobility work into your routine to counteract any build up of stress in your body. Tightness and pain in your joints and muscles will put limitations on your movement, if you don’t stay conscious of what you’re doing (or not doing).
Movement is an important key to a person’s character, in my opinion. I can tell a lot about someone by how they move during a workout. I often joke that if I ever have a daughter, I’m going to make her first boyfriend work out with me because they’re is SO much you can learn about a person by how they handle stress, physical discomfort, and how they approach movement.
Do they respect the movement and take the time to learn it correctly, or do they run through exercises as fast as possible with sloppy form? Remember: You’re telling the world a lot about yourself through your body language.
How do you want your movements interpreted?
Do you want to be someone who looks like they care about what they’re doing, and takes pride in methodical, focused movement- ultimately making incredible progress in a shorter period of time? Or do you want to be someone who looks like they don’t give a shit about themselves, and the movement- in the process delaying ANY kind of substantial improvement? This all boils down to respect. Respect for the exercise, respect for yourself, and respect for those around you who may emulate what you’re doing.
Figarelle’s Fitness takes great pride in the fact that we have high standards for our clients, and that we want each and every one of them to feel, perform, and look great. We want our clients to take as much pride in their movements as we do. Because we care. Your form is a reflection of our teaching, and our teaching is our reputation. We take what we do very seriously.
If you’re someone who wants to get in shape, have more energy, be in a better mood, and have all the wonderfully, rewarding things that accompany living a healthy lifestyle, then the first thing you have to understand is that mastering basic movements is paramount to your success in everything else. Honor your foundation.
You may initially struggle with some exercises like pushups and squats, but that’s OK. As long as you understand that these movements are your foundation and that they’re important, then we don’t mind having you take a little bit more time in mastering them. Make sure there’s always a purpose in what you’re doing, and that while you’re doing it- you FEEL GOOD.
Always, always be humble.
This doesn’t mean you cannot be confident. You should blend the two together and put your own unique twist on them. Humility and confidence can go hand in hand. Oftentimes I see people who move horribly, and they have a shitty attitude to go along with their shitty movements. They think they know everything and the corrections we offer don’t apply to them. They don’t respond to feedback and constructive criticism, it’s like they’re in their own world when they’re doing something. It’s important to understand before coming to one of our classes, and definitely before signing up with us that if you think you know everything and you don’t handle constructive criticism well, then you should look elsewhere for fitness related teachings. We are not the program for you.
Take responsibility for what you do, or do not do and understand that there’s consequences to everything. If you put your effort and energy into perfecting something, it will show and you will improve tremendously.
When you move, you are telling your story to the world.