🏃‍♀️Run Faster and More Efficiently Today— Here’s How!

Sweet friends,

We are so thankful for another amazing week in the TransFit studio and we are ready to inspire and encourage you! March is full of so many fun events, including our Lunch and Learn! In honor of the Fit for a Miracle 5K we have coming up May 4th, we are hosting a Healthy Running Lunch & Learn. Our Transfit Staff and running experts will lead this luncheon, teaching us how to run or walk faster and more efficiently no matter how experienced we are!

During this luncheon we will cover safe, efficient running. Topics include: form fundamentals, nutrition, running shoes and favorite running gear, and health benefits. Come ready to be active and practice form drills! TransFit Running Director Lisa Patton will teach us about running/walking hills efficiently and safely, how to run/walk a 5K, and strategies to help us get faster! Whether you are a beginner or experienced runner, we can all learn and benefit!

You can register for this event on the TransFit app under Special Events by clicking the button below!

We each have a race set before us! May we look to the Lord for guidance while running the race marked before us! We hope to see you in the studio this week! The days you aren't in the studio, try to get in an extra walk or run. Text or email us pictures and tag #transfitrunning in your posts. We are stronger together, ladies!

If you have a goal to run a race, improve your form, or start running, schedule a 1-1 session with Lisa to help you achieve your goals! You can purchase a session on our website HERE or app HERE. Email Lisa directly HERE if you have any questions.

Are you in a rut or do you desire to feel stronger while walking, jogging, or running? We have heard this comment often in the studio as the sun starts to shine and we want to be out enjoying nature on foot. We want to challenge you and ask that you commit to making one healthy habit a priority today.

When we run or walk, the glutes hold our pelvis level and steady, extend our hip, and propel us forward. The glutes also keep our legs, pelvis, and torso properly aligned. When our glutes are weak, our entire kinetic chain is disrupted. Research links weak glute muscles to Achilles tendinitis, shin splints, and IT band syndrome. Let’s don’t give in! Let’s commit to strengthening these areas! Here, we show you glute exercises that will strengthen your backside for more efficient healthy walking and running. 

Here are some incredible yoga stretches to do post walk or run to release the glutes and hamstrings!

Fit for a Miracle 5K

As some of you may know, our first annual Fit for a Miracle 5k benefitting ESP is scheduled to take place on May 4, 2019 at 5:00 pm. We will also have a Miracle Mile (1 mile fun run) at 4:30 pm. We are SO excited about this opportunity to support ESP Miracle League, which will provide transformative experiences for individuals with disabilities to thrive through the magic of accessible play and inclusive baseball.

You can register for this event online HERE or download the mail-in registration form below. All of the proceeds from this event will be donated toward Extra Special People and help to fund the new Miracle League Complex. If you or your business would like to help sponsor this event please email us HERE!

Our “Commit” shirts are here and they are amazing! So cute and soft!! Make sure you grab one of these shirts in the studio or from our Etsy!

Check out our website for more blogs, inspiration, recipes, workouts, and more!

Let us know how we can serve you! Email us at transfitathens@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to schedule a on-on-one.

Blessings, 

Team TransFit

4 Exercises to Improve Your Posture

Good morning sweet friends,

Do you ever slump your shoulders? I often I catch myself with a rounded upper back and shoulders. I know as a middle school girl I was embarrassed by my chest... or lack thereof. I vividly remember my friends complaining of having too much in that department, but I always slumped forward in shame. My mom would always come behind me, tug my shoulders back and tell me to hold my shoulders back and head up high. “Remember your posture, Caro,” she would say on rewind. Now, with my own girls and clients, I hear myself saying the same cues hourly. All this talk about posture had me diving into how to improve our body posture. God then whispered, “nothing happens in isolation— everything is connected, body, mind, and spirit. Your physical posture is important but how is the posture of your heart?”

All this posture talk coincides with a term we use at TransFit “Exercise is Worship.”
Really?!?! Are 50 kettlebell swings considered worship?

But here is what we mean by “exercise is worship”: authentic worship is less about the movement of our body and more about the posture of our hearts.

The posture we assume when we come to know Him instead of trying to do for Him.

The posture we take when our spirit is in awe of the gracious and loving mercy-giver who created everything, yet who loves us so.

The posture we need when we feel at our weakest but through a relationship with Him we can be made strong.

Exercise is worship! Let’s stand tall with our best posture keeping our eyes and heart focused on Him.

Worship is an attitude rather than an activity.

Worship is a gift not an obligation.

Worship is the posture of our heart toward our Savior.

Let our worship be in every minute, every movement, and in every day. Let our hearts remember His loving-kindness toward us, which never ends. Why? Because, He is worthy. He deserves the praise of our whole heart - our best posture.

Let our worship as the posture of our hearts be the way we are inside, instead of something we do or who we are on the outside.

Moving into this holiday season help us all to remember:

It is not the posture of our body, but of our heart, that is most important. Everything we do “flows from our heart.” When we worship, let our hearts be lifted in adoration, gratitude, and humility to our gracious God. Let’s stand taller today, sweet friends, shoulders pulled back, head held high because we have been given the most amazing gifts.

“Lord, direct our focus always toward you and teach us to follow you in gratitude and love. Adjust the posture of our heart to be fixed and focused on your love and grace. Amen”

For your physical posture here are 4 exercises you can do today to improve your posture. Maintaining the natural lumbar curve in your low back is essential to preventing posture related back pain. This natural curve works as a shock absorber, helping to distribute weight along the length of your spine. Adjusting postural distortions can help decrease back pain.

Frequently getting up from a seated position and doing these 4 quick and easy realignment exercises can help you re-educate your muscles and improve your posture.

 1. Wall Angel

Stand with your back against a flat wall with your feet about four inches from the base. Maintain a slight bend in your knees. Your glutes, spine and head should all be against the wall.

Bring your arms up with elbows bent so your upper arms are parallel to the floor and squeeze your shoulder blades together, forming a letter "W" Hold for 3 seconds. Then, straighten your elbows to raise your arms up to form the letter “Y.” Make sure not to shrug your shoulders to your ears.

Repeat this 10 times, starting at “W,” holding for 2 seconds and then raising your arms into a “Y.” Do 2-3 sets.

2. Hip Flexor Stretch

Kneel onto your right knee with toes down, and place your left foot flat on the floor in front of you.

Place both hands on your left thigh and press your hips forward until you feel a good stretch in the hip flexors.

Contract your abdominals and slightly tilt your pelvis back while keeping your chin parallel to the floor. Hold this pose for 20-30 seconds, and then switch sides.

3. The X-Move

Kneel onto your right knee with toes down, and place your left foot flat on the floor in front of you.

Place both hands on your left thigh and press your hips forward until you feel a good stretch in the hip flexors.

Contract your abdominals and slightly tilt your pelvis back while keeping your chin parallel to the floor. Hold this pose for 20-30 seconds, and then switch sides.

4. The V-Move

While standing, stagger your feet so one is slightly behind the other. Grasp the handles, or the ends, of the resistance band and lift your arms upward and slightly outward away from your body about 30 degrees.

Keep a slight bend in your elbows. Stop at shoulder level; hold 3 seconds and return slowly.

Make sure to keep your shoulder blades down and back straight. Repeat this exercise for 8-12 repetitions for 3 sets.

Click on the button below to view a demonstration of each exercise from Caroline! You can also view other exercise and stretch videos on our YouTube channel HERE.

We want to encourage you to finish the last week of November nourishing your body and with the best posture! Please let us know how we can help you live transformed. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a one-on-one, please email us at transfitathens@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Team TransFit

5 New Exercises You Need To Tone Your Glutes! 🔥

Sweet friends,

We are so proud of you for starting September STRONG! As we work towards Strength in September in all areas of our lives, here are 5 new exercises to tone and strengthen your glutes! Of course we all want our glutes, hips, and legs to look tight, toned, strong and lifted... but there are so many other great benefits to a strong and healthy lower body!

Strengthening your “gluteus maximus” (also known collectively with the gluteus medius and minimus, as the gluteal muscles,) is the main extensor muscle of the hip and can help improve your posture, help you lose unwanted body fat, as well as improve your athletic performance. “Buns of Steel” can also help get rid of that pesky lower back, hip and knee pain! These back side muscles help support the lower back and are a hip stabilizer, so the stronger your glutes are, the less other muscles have to help them do their job!

Strengthening the glutes can also help increase bone density. As we get older, our bone density begins to decrease. Exercises that place stress on the lower body such as lower-body weight training, running and yoga can postpone and reverse age-related bone density loss.

Here are 5 new exercises you should try today to tone and strengthen those glute muscles! Let’s strengthen our whole bodies so that we can love and serve our families, friends, and this community well, friends. Living transformed means taking ACTION on with your health!

Squat + Side Leg Lift

Deadlift + Leg Lift Back

Glute Bridge + Band

Clamshell + Band

Step Ups + Knee Up

If you need more tips and guidance on toning and strengthening your glutes or need coaching on walking, jogging, or running, join TransFit Trainer and Running Coach, Lisa Patton, this Wednesday at 8:20 a.m. for our NEW TransFit Outdoor Runners Workout!

TransFit Outdoor Runners Workout is a 55-minute session that includes essential dynamic warmup sequences, running form drills, strength exercises for runners, a heart-pumping outdoor workout, and an inspirational cool down and post-run stretches. The full body TransFit Outdoor Runner's Workout is an amazing opportunity for woman of all fitness levels to transform through running!

Join us this month for a Bible Study on Thursdays from 12-1 starting THIS Thursday, September 13th at the TransFit studio! The study will be lead by our Director of Spiritual Development and Outreach, Pam Adams! Pam will be leading us through the Live Transformed Bible Study, which will guide us through God's Word and teach us how to live transformed! You can sign up on our website HERE or on the TransFit App HERE!

For our September Lunch and Learn, we will be partnering with Action Ministries for a service project! The goal of the service project is to serve the Athens community by providing lunches and hygiene kits to the homeless and impoverished. We will be assembling these kits on Wednesday, September 26 from 12-1 and delivering the lunches and kits on Friday, September 28! You can sign up on our TransFit app HERE under "Special Events"! Come join us! We can't wait to SERVE with you!

If you cannot make it on the service projects dates, you can still help by donating items to make these kits. You can drop off any items by the TransFit studio between now and September 26!

Items We Need:

Hygiene Kits

• Toothbrushes/toothpaste

• Shampoo/conditioner

• Baby wipes

• Socks

• Soap

• Lotion

• Deodorant

Snack Bags

• Granola bars

• Apples

• Other types of snacks that can be easily eaten on the go

If you have any questions, please email us at transfitathens@gmail.com. We are so thrilled to encourage and inspire you this month! We are #StrongerTogether!

Blessings,

Team TransFit