🏃‍♀️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

💥Exciting October News to Help You Transform! 💥

Sweet friends,

This month, we challenge you to be active and stretch every single day as we focus on Optimism in October! A great way to get your daily stretching in is to do yoga! Yoga is a great way to exercise and renew your mind, and has essential health benefits like increasing flexibility, building muscle strength, preventing cartilage and joint breakdown, and increases your blood flow! It will help you transform your mind, body and spirit!

Congratulations to our September calendar challenge winner, Jennifer Leahy! Jennifer committed to her strength and being active every day in September! You are such an inspiration!

Don’t forget to pick up your October calendar at the studio for a chance to be our October calendar challenge winner and win a month of free sessions!

Join us for a NEW yoga session on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. in the studio! The session will be lead by our new yoga instructor, Emily Dietz! Yoga is a great opportunity to reach this month’s goal of stretching every day!

Emily’s practice centers around vinyasa flow, and she loves the idea that all movement is linked with breath, both on and off the mat. Yoga helps center the mind and body and provides calm and connection to spirit. Come join her for her first class on Monday!

Are you a walker or jogger ready to begin running and want to feel your best? Or are you an advanced runner who wants to better your running form, build cardiovascular fitness, run more efficiently, or add speed to your step? Join TransFit Running Coach and Personal Trainer Lisa Patton on Wednesdays at 8:20 for a 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.

For October’s Lunch and Learn, we will be welcoming Kisa Raye to the studio on October 23 from 12-1! Kisa Raye, MEd, FST is an exercise physiologist, fascial stretch therapist and owner of KR stretch and inspi-Her Wellness LLC.

“Let’s take stretching beyond the muscle. Learn how to reach more and achieve more through better stretching techniques that will not only improve your physical health, but bring peace and balance to your mind.”

The cost of attendance is $12 and includes lunch from Maepole!

Sign up for the Lunch and Learn under “Special Events” on the TransFit app HERE!

We are now offering a FALL MEAL PLAN on SALE for $9.99! This meal plan, which was created by our registered dietician, Kaeti Shurling and Consultant Katie Woodall, includes four-weeks of meals, grocery lists and healthy fall recipes! Let’s transform our nutrition this month together! You can download the meal plan on our website at the link below or on our app HERE!

Here are some tips for stretching this month! You can also visit our YouTube channel HERE for more stretching and workout videos.

Hips and Glutes Focused Yoga Sequence

We are so excited for all of the new and exciting things happening in October at TransFit! We can’t wait to see you in the studio soon. If you have any questions, please email us at transfitathens@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Team TransFit

The Truth About Flexibility

We had another great week of sessions in the TransFit studio this week! Thank you each for bringing your best energy and positive attitudes each time you come to exercise! 

Flexibility and stretching are such an important part of our TransFit workouts! We love getting to spend our last five minutes together in the studio after a full body workout- lengthening our bodies and allowing our minds to focus on how to live transformed each hour of each day.  

Our new TransFlex instructor, Melynda McCutcheon, is a certified yoga instructor, and she wants to share with you just a few of the many benefits of stretching and flexibility.

Meylnda McCutcheon and Caroline Ward

---

 To stretch or not to stretch?  And how often?  What is the answer?  Before I get to that, let’s take a stroll down old memory lane... Do you remember how you felt when you first started at TransFit?  Do you remember a goal you had that you thought was too difficult to reach, and yet now that you have accomplished it, you realize that it just took that daily progress toward better choices to achieve what seemed impossible? 

When I began Transfit, I knew that water intake was something I had to address immediately.  Trying to reach that goal of 100 ounces a day was tough!  I felt like I spent all day filling my water cup and running to the potty...and there were lots of days I didn’t reach 100 ounces, but I kept trying new things...a new cup, fatter straws, a pitcher of lemon lime water in the fridge...I tried every tip anyone gave me, and guess what?  Most days, I easily surpass 100 ounces a day and truly feel strange and lethargic if I don’t fuel my body with enough water, so that goal that seemed difficult at first is now a habit.

What about stretching?  When I tell you that it is vital to our physical health, it seems daunting to begin from scratch, doesn’t it?  But the answer is in leaning into progress, ladies.  The answer is in the effort to prioritize it for long enough for it to become a habit, a part of the routine of our summer days.  Here is some helpful information and tidbits to get you going on your journey toward more flexibility and better form in all of your workouts:

Studies have shown that daily stretching works better than one LONG stretch session once a week...it’s just like drinking water... I can’t drink all of the water I need for the week on Monday and satisfy my water goal that way.  As we stretch or workout, we tear our muscles, little tiny tears, but tears nonetheless, and the way our body gains strength in our workouts of any kind is through healing and repairing those tears.  In turn, we end up with strengthened, lengthened and more flexible muscles.  Our stronger muscle tissue is also less prone to injury or strains.  This happens, though, a small amount at a time, so daily practice is the best and quickest way to see results in your flexibility and strength.

---

Here are 3 reasons why stretching is essential for whole body health:

1. Stretching improves your flexibility and range of motion. Exercising can cause muscles to become tighter than normal, so your range of motion decreases. As a result, your body can become more prone to injuries. Therefore, it is crucial to increase your flexibility to help improve your body's strength, balance, and health.

2. Stretching can improve your mobility and your performance in multiple activities. As you stretch, you are lengthening your muscles and increasing the blood flow to your muscles. It will then become easier to work those muscles while exercising and will allow your muscles to work effectively.

3. Stretching allows you to clear your mind and thoughts. It is easy to recognize stress, but sometimes we forget about the toll stress can put on our bodies. Stretching daily will allow your mind to focus on something other than your to-do list or schedule for the day. Your body is able to concentrate on what is important, allowing the mind to recharge.

---

Melynda McCutcheon

To condition your muscles, attempt for 15-20 minutes a day of flexibility work.  We will post a few yoga workouts for you here soon, but in the meantime, you can work through 3-5 rounds of sun salutation followed by a flow through poses like Warrior I, II, III, and triangle pose.  After you complete that standing sequence, take a seat on the floor in a pike position and stretch for your toes with a flat back 2-3 times (Use a towel around the bottom of your feet and hold each end).  Finish up with some twists on your back...you can use the twists that our trainers guide us through at the end of TF sessions or any supine twist that feels good for your back.  My favorite is to lie down with my knees bent, feet on the floor about hip width apart.  I let me knees fall together to one side and turn my head to the other side with my arms out to my sides in a “T.”  Repeat on the other side.  As you go through this stretch routine, match your breath to each movement, inhale when you raise your arms, exhale when you forward fold, etc.  Through this attention to your breath, your body relaxes and warms up in the poses, not to mention the bonus benefits of a calmer mind and spirit.

Come join Melynda on the mat at the studio at a Transfit Flex class soon! TransFlex meets Tuesdays at 7:00 PM and Thursdays at 11:30 AM.