Don’t eliminate, investigate! 🕵️‍♀️

Many of the women I work with struggle to find a “good position” in their rows where they don’t feel their lower back. Instead of continuing to eliminate exercises or movements that don’t feel good, why not figure out WHY?

Just because you've done an exercise a certain way forever (or a fitness influencer on Instagram posted a video about it) doesn’t mean you have to follow along. On top of that, many of the cues that we might have learned in our 20s aren't good for our bodies: AKA you don’t need to stick your ass way out and thrust your ribs up in order to complete a bent over row 🙈

​This isn’t how I was taught to row 20 years ago, and these aren't even the cues I used 3 years ago, but it’s how I am exploring my strength training NOW. My back doesn’t hurt, I can feel my core, my glutes are engaged, and I’m feeling strong again 💛

Can't feel your 🍑 when you squat?

​Try this at home with limited time + equipment!​

Sitting too much, chronic glute clenching, pregnancy/postpartum, and work/life stress can make our 🍑 tight! This doesn’t allow us to FEEL all the muscles we want to recruit when strength training.

Elevating our heels can allow our shins to easily move forward and allow the arches of our feet to lengthen. And when we keep HEELS HEAVY and allowing the knees to come forward helps use our glutes, hamstrings, abs, and quads effectively.

You don’t need to drive to the gym or have a ton of fancy equipment to do the thang 🤗 You can practice this at home using a door handle or a stair banister. No wedge? No problem: Use a rolled up yoga mat (or a bath mat/towel) instead!

Another variation to feel your 🍑

Speaking of squat cues that might not be doing you any favors... we've all heard "don’t let your knees go beyond your toes" and "send your hips back" when performing a squat. Maybe you are doing squats with your feet set super wide and your body falls forward in order to hit depth.

If you’re up for something new give this SLOW MOTION squat a try!

Where do YOU feel your squats? If you’re not into thinking while you exercise, I’m not the coach for you 💛

Finesse Your Form Workshop Highlights

If you enjoyed the squat breakdowns above, consider this: Move Your Body members recently had a Coaching Call Workshop with me where we broke down the hinge. Everyone got to experience a live demonstration and 1-1 coaching along with plenty of Q&A. Here's a behind the scenes look at some of my favorite moments:

Coaching Calls and form workshops are included in my signature program, Move Your Body. What sets me (and Move Your Body) apart is my dedication to helping you understand what's going in your body. No other program includes this kind of access and live/1-1 feedback in a group setting! Learn more about Move Your Body here, or hit reply on this email if you have questions!

It's soup and stew season 🍲

With the change of seasons comes nutritional shifts. I'm not craving salads—I’ve got the crockpot out and I’m making soups on repeat 😋 I made this Crockpot Hamburger Soup recently with double meat.

Ways we can work together

If your back hurts when you squat, you leak when you exercise, or you don’t feel your butt (or core or hamstrings) when you squat, you can record yourself performing the movements and be your own detective. You can also ask for help 🤗

Pregnancies and birth are not the “cause” of our aches and pains. And actually it doesn’t matter if you’ve had kids or not. These events just bring our less-than-stellar movement strategies to light. What worked 10 years ago might not feel as good now.

So how do we keep our bodies moving in a way that allows them to feel balanced and strong instead of achy and broken? I'm here to help you figure out what’s happening in your body when exercise doesn't feel good.

Ass + Abs Bundle Wake up your abs and glutes starting with just 6 minutes a day for 30 days. Learn more

Signature Program: Move Your Body Get strong, eliminate pain, and feel amazing with smart and sustainable strength and nutrition. Learn more