10/21/2025
When I was solely a movement teacher, I didn’t really think about "athletic" training. Most of my training focused on alignment, posture, nuance. When alignment and posture and "quality" have been your goals, it’s easy to believe that alignment will protect you from injury. What I came to learn is that tissue capacity and load management matter more. These improve with nervous system adaptations as one practices with increasing loads (yes, stress) that lead to adaptation.
Nowadays I embrace an exercise science-based approach and am skeptical of unproven claims. Instead of following a guru and listening to what and how he says I should be teaching his choreography, I use critical thinking and anatomical and biomechanical knowledge to design my own programs.
During my transition, I came face-to-face with my lack of athleticism. Power, speed and strength were missing from my movement practice.
It was humbling to use battle ropes the first time or to swing heavier kettlebells. This kind of sympathetic nervous system response was almost overwhelming. This kind of strong effort was not something necessarily encouraged in movement teaching.
But then, I got used to it. I enjoyed the intensity and release. It was just another aspect of human movement and one that improves mental toughness too. With increased strength through progressive practice, my lower back and hip pain dissipated. I was, at last, embracing what it took for my body to get strong and resilient.
Now that my eight-week plyometric intensive is over, I’ve come away with a new appreciation and education of what it takes to be a truly dynamic, athletic mover.
Well-rounded human fitness consists of these biomotor qualities: maximum strength, mobility, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, power, speed, and hypertrophy. These can overlap.
Are you working on improving all of these?
One of the most satisfying aspects of my job is watching my clients transform physically and mentally to do things that they never thought possible.
Even though we may no longer be in our teens or 20s, it is still possible to improve our athleticism.
Are you ready? Let's go...❤️💪🏼❤️
