fithiphealthy

LITHE ON FILM.

Talk about inspiration! 

Last Tuesday, we had a Lithe photo shoot with Dom at Lithe Method Rittenhouse.  It was the first time that we chose to feature a handful of instructors along with some current Lithers (non instructors!) who consistently bust their butts in the studios and who really fit the fit.hip.healthy bill.  You can clearly see just how Lithe these women are and boy, were they working hard!  

All Lithe Instructors begin as clients (we hand-pick, hire and train from within).  Our clients are our greatest advertisement for the results and the 'look' that Lithe Method yields. 

I'm looking forward to sharing more amazing images with you soon right here on fit.hip.healthy.com and on our sweet, new website!  

Untouched out-take images of Paula G. utilizing Lithe Method's Higher Power® Band System in Twiggy, Instructor Nicole Sewall in Fabu-legs®, Instructor Bari Rosenthal utilizing Lithe Method's Higher Power® Band System in Barlesque, Liz C in Wheel, Allison L in Thinny®, Instructor Krisa DeNofa in quad stretch and Instructor Anna Marie Chang in Foldover Seatwork via Dominic Episcopo.

DOUBLING YOUR PLEASURE?

Most of you know how we instructors feel about taking back-to-back classes.  I created Lithe so that you get a total body, time-efficient workout in 1 hour. Doubling up is not only bad for the body, it negates the effects of your first hour, as you are running on adrenaline during that second hour and maybe giving us 40-50%.

We don't even see most of you nosh on a banana or an apple in-between classes when you double. When you don't eat  something, your body works on depleted glycogen stores (it's called glycogen debt) and ends up eating away at the muscle that you just spent the previous hour developing because it has nothing left for fuel. Then, your body starts to save fat.  It's not a good cycle.  You can feel yourself "hitting a wall." We instructors don't even do two classes in a row, as we know that we're overworking our muscles and therefore can injure our joints, tendons and ligaments. 

Anywho, we are running into a little bit of an issue again as we noticed that a lot of unlimited monthly lithers are signed up for both the High Mini class at 9:45am and the Armistice class at 11:00am on Saturdays in center city. 

While we are thrilled that you want to take both (even though we cringe a bit when people double with no recovery time), we have to limit the signing up for those doubles for the time being.  Both classes have huge wait lists at the moment, and we need to make sure that all clients have an equal opportunity to get into our classes and use their class cards. 

You are more than welcome to take two classes,  but we have to ask that you only sign up for one right now. You can wait around for no shows/cancellations in the 9:45 and the 11am and then jump into the class.

When you get a chance, please go ahead and remove yourself from one of the classes.  If you're still in both by Thursday afternoon, we will have to pick one for you :(  Thanks for understanding. 

Image of Lauren Boggi via Dom.

LIQUID LITHE!

We're all big juice fans over here at Lithe and I love that Wendy blogged about the topic.  A few months back, I mentioned that our Liquid Lithe program would be available soon (very similar to our cleanse that we offer on our Lithe Escape).  You'll be hearing much more about it soon...We're getting close! 

Illustration via Miss Capricho.

CUP-O-LOVE.

Here are a few recent love notes:   

Hey Lauren,

So scratch my previous message about my skiing accident “knee sprain”.  I tore my ACL, my MCL and have a tibial plateau fracture.  I need surgery, but they are going to wait 6 weeks to let the bone and the MCL heal first.  UGH.  It honestly brings tears to my eyes when I think I won’t be at Lithe for 4 months. 

I will say that the surgeon I saw at Penn (who treats many top athletes, esp. the US woman’s soccer team) and Jefferson (who treats the Phillies) have been very impressed with my leg strength and muscles…they are also very impressed with the fact that I didn’t swell too much, and I know it is b/c of lithe.  I am not sure how to explain the lack of swelling, but I believe that is b/c of the strength lithe has provided me! 

Thanks again- Annemarie Leone MSN,
CRNP Division of Vascular Surgery 

Hi Lauren!

I hope you are surviving this yet again crummy, winter weather.  So, I have to give a little shout out.  Yesterday I had such a bad day! Nothing major happened for me to be in such a blah mood but I think it was the combination of the weather, stress and not going to Lithe (big mistake ;). 

In an effort to get rid of my blahs, I signed up for Sculpt this morning.  A 7am class on mornings like today can be tough but not when you wake-up and tell yourself that Krista is teaching and is commuting from Chestnut Hill. There are no excuses when you think of it that way. 

So, I get to class and am still sleepy and blah with no coffee in my system already beating myself up and then class starts and 10 minutes in….. My cup runneth over!  Thank you to Krista and to you!  Lauren, Thank you for creating Lithe.  Thank you for your creativity and dedication in transforming so many lives, mine included!  Also thank you for picking such incredible instructors, like Krista! ( I know you know how awesome your Lithe staff is). 

Krista is not only sweet and talented she is also passionate about Lithe, dedicated and inspiring!  She is truly a great instructor and her colors shine through even at 7am.  I just wanted to give you gals a little shout out ;) 

Sincerely,
Tricia

Lauren,

I really “HEART” Lithe. With Valentine’s Day being right around the corner I just wanted to take a moment to share the love and tell you and the Lithe Team that well your simply AMAZING! I have been doing Lithe for about 8 months now and there isn’t one day that I am bored or uninspired both mentally and physically. 

The motivation, creativity and inspiration that Lithe and the instructors provide is so wonderful. Lithe has changed my life in so many ways. So thank you for offering something so new and fresh to so many woman on a daily basis. 

Gratefully, TB

Lauren,

So I'm officially back up in NYC now, and I wanted to make sure I sent you a note to thank you.  I was in Philly for 1 yr on a work assignment, and Lithe was absolutely one of my favorite things about Philly (along with BYOBs:)). 

You and your team of instructors are so talented and so kind - doing Lithe quickly made me feel like I was part of a community, which is especially great when you're new to a city.  I am also in the best shape I've ever been in - I have muscle definition that I just assumed I would never get because of my body type. 

I had a great time getting to this point, and I am hoping, hoping, hoping that you expand to NYC soon.  If I can help you with any NYC research, please let me know.  I'll be back in Philly periodically, and you will definitely see me in class on those weekends! 

All the best,
Rebecca 

PS - I've tried Physique 57 and Exhale and they're okay, but nothing compared to Lithe!! 

Image via the anthropologist

NAUGHTY KNOTS!

 

Knot for nothing but this has to stop, ya'll. I really hate blogging about this kind of thing but we've spread the word and it continues to happen.  Please, please stop knotting our Thinny bands!  We understand that they are sometimes hanging in your face but please work in front, behind or to the side of them until we correct the situation (we're working on it). 

When knots happen, we have to cut everything down.  We lose precious equipment and a spot in our always full-with-a-wait-list Thinny and Barlesque classes which means lost revenue for us and annoyed fellow Lithers.  We are often in-between band shipments, so it's not like we can hop up on the ladder and replace them at any time.

We find our bands double, triple and quadruple knotted and it burns your instructors and fellow Lither's up. Poor Hannah worked her fingers to the bone for at least a half hour trying to get the knots out of the one shown above and it is still triple knotted.  The next time that we see it happen, we'll have to charge the knaughty knotter the cost of the spot lost in our classes and the cost to replace the ruined equipment. Sorry!

Illustration via garancedore.fr

FOAT!

I'm excited to announce that Lithe will be carrying FOAT soon!  Foat Design is run by twin sisters (who are both Jivamukti Yoga instructors!), Kaja and Zoe Foat.  

Their designs are beautiful, urban, modern, comfortable, sweatshop-free and made in the USA!

PUSH IT GOOD.

Lauren, I saw this article on nytimes.com and I immediately thought of Lithe.  Glad I can do them now!  Susan 

Thanks for the link, Susan!  You're right on.  There's nothing like Lithe's Push-up sequence to work the entire body and spike that heart rate. 

Image of Lithe Instructor, Krista DeNofa via Dominic Episcopo.

BREATHE, STRETCH, SHAKE.

I am loving Lithe's Barlesque!  What's it all about? Think a half hour of high energy barre work and then we take it to the floor with our Thinny's around our wrists to up the ante...Pop, melt, shimmy and shake!

Image via (love her!) Lajla Toullec.

BACK IT UP.

 

When you Lithe, your back and your abs work together as a team.  You'll always hear us talk about working or being in neutral (keeping your natural spinal alignment) and in imprint (contracting abdominals/tipping martini).  These two positions are the key to properly engaging all the right muscles.  

It's really important that you never press or push your back down into the mat when you're doing abdominal work or squeeze your bum to cheat that martini tip (in the case of Method Abs, you're not pressing your back down into the mat, you're engaging your abs in imprint and then really going further in that pelvic tllt 'in tuck' and therefore, the back will rest against the floor during your compression work). 

Being neutral and imprinted recruits your back muscles while keeping your spine in proper alignment, which keeps your abs in the proper position to engage, and you'll be a lot less prone to injury and low back pain/tension.

Image of Lauren Boggi via Dominic Episcopo.

AB-RACADABRA!

Just about every new Lither starts out in our Immersion course.  There is no better way to learn how to Lithe, get to know the workout, our instructors and build your strength and stamina for regular level classes. 

So many seasoned Lithers get super strong and want to work harder, faster and stronger and in the process, forget our basic bio-mechanical principals that make Lithe, Lithe Method and give you that Lithe body. 

Here's a little rundown of reminders that will get you back to basics and purify your practice.  Remember, that if you don't know (and do) the basics (hello, correct breathing), you will miss out on Lithe's middle-minimizing benefits! 

Take a Breath: 

The key to the method is the breathing. The breath fuels and paces the workout. When done correctly, our classes activate more muscles in your core then anything else out there and our exercises are over 200 percent effective!  The key with our breathing is engaging that deepest abdominal layer (transverse abdominis). 

When you chew gum during class, not breathe at all or breathe normally or shallowly into your belly, shoulders or chest, you create slack in your middle and those deep, inner muscles just won't activate. As much as we cue breathing, there are so many of you who don't do it and to be honest, you're cheating yourself out of an amazing workout and real results. 

Visualize This:

Remember to keep your abs taut as you inhale through your nose, feel your ribs expand out out to the sides like an accordion and then on that exhale, blow out through the mouth with pursed lips and pull the belly in while you simultaneously knit those ribs right back to together.  it's a forced exhalation.

I'll be back this evening with some back and pelvis tips and reminders!

Images of Lithe Instructors, Nicole Sewall, Lauren Boggi and Krista DeNofa via Dominic Episcopo.