Promoting your health and fitness in 2007

1)  More about Fitness Pilates and Body Conditioning Workouts for 07

Susan will be raring to go this January with a new fitness timetable of classes designed to suit everyone.  During January, Susan’s all level classes will also focus on beginners and those venturing back into an exercise class after a lapse!  Pilates is still one of the world's most popular classes. 

Susan says  “I introduced Pilates over a year ago and the classes are now as popular as ever.  Pilates is such a focused and concentrated form of exercise and is ideal for anyone starting exercise or wanting to get back into it after Christmas.  Pilates strengthens the abdominals, improves posture, spinal strength and flexibility and works on strengthening the weakest areas of the body"

Pilates attracts all ages, shapes and sizes and both men and women find the classes invaluable.  Susan teaches 2 all level Fitness Pilates classes (suitable for total beginners to intermediate/advanced level) every Thursday in Dreghorn Loan Hall, Colinton at 7pm and 8.15 pm (both for an hour).  She also teaches an all level Fitness Pilates class in Kaimes Hall, St Anne’s Church, Kaimes Road , Corstorphine on a Thursday 12.30 – 1.15 pm (all classes are in blocks of 6 and should be pre-booked to secure your place in class).  See Timetable for class dates.

If your body requires a thorough tone up using your own body weight and resistance band training exercises to strengthen and define your body, then come along to Fitness Pilates-based Conditioning Workout on a Wednesday 9.30 am and/or the 50/50 Split Conditioning Workout class on a Friday 9.30 am – both classes are in Dreghorn Loan Hall, Colinton.  There’s no need to book for these morning classes: they’re pay as you go classes.  These classes are great for all abilities as everyone can work at their own level. 

Using resistance bands in class, the aim is to help change the entire shape of the body by using the most up to date exercises that work.  Effective technique is the key so why not try a class soon.  You can buy a resistance band from Susan directly.

Susan also teaches Fitness Yoga classes and regularly posts articles and fitness information on her website at  www.complementaryfitness.co.uk.  For further details, email Susan at – info@complementaryfitness.co.uk or her personal email is: susancockburn@hotmail.com  

2)  Freestyle Fitness Yoga

Madonna swears by it, Gwyneth Paltrow and Geri Halliwell can't live without it, even Sting practices every day.  You can't pick up a magazine without celebrities telling us about the joy of Yoga.  Well if you have ever fancied trying it out, then Fitness Instructor Susan Cockburn teaches Fitness Yoga classes in St John’s Church Hall, Oxgangs, Edinburgh on a Tuesday evening from 7.45 – 8.45 pm .

Yoga has been proven to help elevate stress, lengthen tight muscles and tone all areas of the body in a balanced, slow and relaxed format.  Fitness Yoga links together traditional Yoga poses and postures with gentle stretches and light cardiovascular movements and pilates-based exercises and is suitable for complete beginners as each movement can be modified for all levels and needs.  There are many different forms of Yoga including Hatha, Iynegar and Vinyasa, to name a few.  Fitness Yoga encompasses elements of each in a safe and effective workout ideal for everybody*.

If you haven't exercised for a while and feel in need of a good stretch or fancy trying something new and different, then book your place in class.  Everyone welcome (*although this type of class is not suitable for pregnant clients).

A supple and strong body can be achieved via Fitness Yoga and Susan would like to invite you to try this wonderful class.  Fitness Yoga complements other class types that Susan teaches ie Fitness Pilates and Conditioning Workout classes.

The Fitness Yoga class takes place every Tuesday at 7.45pm and a new 6 week block of classes starts on Tuesday 9 January 2007 .  Please note that it is essential to pre-book in advance to secure your place in class.  When you come along to this class, bring along a mat, a small towel and water and wear loose comfortable clothing.  You will also be asked to fill in a Fitness Yoga Health Screening Form (which can be downloaded from Susan’s website).

Susan Cockburn has been teaching fitness classes for over 16years.  For more details about this and other classes, please visit www.complementaryfitness.co.uk

3)  POSTURE ON THE GO. 

Good posture is endemic in most classes these days and our knowledge of postural alignment and core strength has never been so in depth.  It is wise for us to have good posture in our classes, especially at the shoulder which is prone to shortness and rounding at the front and weakness at the back, at the neck (cervical vertebra) where the chin juts forward (protracts) in everyday activity, at the lower back which may show signs of muscular imbalance and at the knee joint which may stand in hyper extension.   

This is all easy to see when we are standing straight or lying down and as long as we stack the body’s major joints into alignment in these positions, we can aim for a better looking posture in our classes.

STANDING POSTURAL TIPS:

• Weight balanced through the feet
• Ankle, knee & hip joints stacked in alignment
• Pelvis natural
• Spine lengthened & natural
• Shoulders back and down away from ears
• Neck long
• Chin retracted. 

HOWEVER, - The joints will not remain aligned on their own.  In order to keep good posture, we need to strengthen the muscles around the joints both specifically and sufficiently to hold our frames in place.  Fitness and Conditioning classes will help to strengthen all the major muscles groups in the body.

Try to think about your posture, not just when you are in class and are reminded to do so, but when you’re sitting at the computer, watching TV and also when you’re standing or moving around.  Have a look at the postural tips above and in the Fitness Pilates Info Pack.