Skyler Meine

The most important part of achieving your IdealShape is creating the habits that allow you to take better care of your body and mind.

Taking better care of your body is going to require building muscle that will increase your metabolism. To do this you need to be able to exercise. Before you get tOo far into your exercise regimen, you need to figure out how to keep your muscles and joints healthy to perform the exercise you need to get to your IdealShape.

For years individuals have used massage to prepare for and recover from exercise. For the average person, to pay a therapist to work them over before and after a workout could cost a fortune. Recently, foam rolling was created to take the place of hands-on massage. Foam rolling is more convenient and is very inexpensive in comparison to the cost of a massage therapist. Foam rolling or self-myofascial release is self-massage done with a 18 to 36 inch by 6 inch cylindrical roller. Massage realigns the muscles in our bodies that have been overused or injured. It also increases blood flow to these muscles.

Foam rolling when started can be somewhat painful. These painful areas are the areas that are injured or have been overused and need to be repaired. You can foam roll as many times a day as you would like, but I generally use it with my clients right before and after their workouts.

Start with this intro to foam rolling given by Kit, or watch the actual demonstration below.

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Let’s keep it simple today.

Burning more calories than you take in sometimes requires exercise.  Exercise is important to achieving your IdealShape because it helps you maintain or increase muscle.  Muscle burns calories.

Exercise isn’t about just burning calories. Exercise provides the flexibility and strength needed to perform the everyday activities you love.

Stretching is an important part of the exercise program my clients perform.  Active stretching (a new term for some of you) is something I have been using for years with amazing results.  It uses exercises that are designed to stretch the muscle and strengthen it through that new range of motion you are creating by stretching.

These active stretches are body weight exercises and can be challenging.  Don’t worry, your body will adapt very quickly because it is your body weight that is providing the resistance. I have started clients who were over 400 pounds with these stretches and this was all they did during their workouts until they mastered them.

Here is the video to watch the stretches. Make sure to follow along.

By the way that is my voice and our fitness model Kit Zeigle doing the exercises.

Try out the Active Stretching and let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

active stretching, flexibility, IdealShape, muscle