Hi friends :) Happy very almost weekend! Isn't it funny come Monday morning it seems as though the weekend will never rear its head again....and then before you know it, it's Friday afternoon! I love hearing about everyone's plans for the weekend and love to know how you spend your down time.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm heading out to the parents' Saturday afternoon. They only live 45 minutes away, however it seems a world of difference....at least in terms of my relaxing abilities :) My Saturdays always start with a 9am client (let's me sleep in a little bit!) and then teaching my Monkey Ninja Bootcamp over at my studio, The Fuse Fitness in Kensington. I love teaching my Saturday class! Most of the people who take it have been taking it for a long time, so I can really.kick.their.asses! Love it! And for some weird reason, they keep coming back for more :) Tomorrow's workout is already planned, and it's no joke. The kind of workout that will leave everyone laying in a sweaty puddle at the end of the hour, unable to move. And even though I am up front and honest about what kind of workout we'll be doing (HARD!!) they show up anyway! Like I said, weird, huh?

After class I clean the studio from top to bottom, getting it ready for the beginning of a new week. We close down Sundays so we can all get a bit of rest. And then I'm heading to the parents', where I will get to chill (so looking forward to that, it seems like it's been a while), maybe even by the pool (we strangely get our summer weather in September and October), take a nap, *try* to cuddle with our cat (mainly chase her around and most likely get bitten by her), and go out to dinner with my parents and husband to one of our favorite restaurants, Town. I think that name is so cute...going out for a night on the Town. Anyway, they have great cocktails(!), awesome food and the atmosphere is fun and lively. And the company is wonderful :) Sunday I will get to really sleep in (woo hoo! it's been forever) but I'll probably wake up early anyway....at least I don't have to wake up to an alarm, that always makes for a great day. And if the weather is nice and warm, which it's supposed to be, I'll head out to my parents' pool with my book and probably fall asleep in the sun :) In case you couldn't tell, Sundays are my rest days and I plan on resting to the max this Sunday!

Anyway, just wanted to wish everyone a great weekend and see what you guys have planned. Partying, working, resting, exercising? Please share!

Yours in Health,

Kristin @ The Fuse Fitness www.thefusefitnessstudio.com

Hi there! Hope your week is off to a good start. I know mine is....it's amazing what great weather can do for keeping your spirits flying high :)

We had our first workshop this past Sunday....and it was a success! Jamie Dougherty from Jamie Living (check out her website, www.jamieliving.com) put on "Eating Healthy On The Go" over here at our studio, The Fuse Fitness in Kensington. She spoke about the difference between yin (expansive) and yang (contractive) foods and the need for balance in what we eat for the best digestion. Her 6 simple steps for eating healthy on the go are to reduce caffeine, drink lots of water, eat dark leafy green veggies, increase your sweet veggies, chew your food thoroughly, and make sure to breathe. Jamie also spoke about the need to eliminate all processed foods from our diets...including dry cereals! This really shocked a lot of people....Jamie says that even healthy dry cereals, such as Kashi, are processed and should be avoided. She'd like to see everyone sticking to oatmeal (and not the pre-packaged, sugared up kind :) ) for cereal. Jamie stressed the importance of eating organic when it comes to meats and dairy--you don't want animal products that come from animals that have been pumped with hormones and antibiotics! All in all, it was quite informative and everyone enjoyed it! We'll definitely be having her back for another workshop soon!

Our next workshop, "Jumping in Feet First," is coming up Sunday October 16th, 1:30-3:30pm with the lovely Cynthea Denise! She is one of our amazing yoga instructors and you can check her out on her website, www.shaktimoon.com. Here's the info on the workshop and what it entails:

"In the Iyengar tradition of Yoga much attention is paid to the feet as the foundational support to healthy, strong and fluid standing postures.  Reflexology reveals that all of the organ systems can be effected by working with the feet.

In our day to day life we cover our feet with shoes and go about our day without paying attention to our feet unless they hurt.  In this workshop we will take a look at the anatomy and function of our lower extremities and how simple daily attention can improve the function of the feet and how this will effect the rest of our body."

You can sign up for this amazing, informative workshop on our website, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Yours in Health,

The Fuse Fitness

Hey everyone :) Hope you're all having a great week so far! I'm definitely enjoying this beautiful weather :) And, as of Sunday, our beloved SF Giants are on a 7 game winning streak! They're playing the Dodgers tonight, let's keep that streak up boys!

I wanted to congratulate 2 of our awesome instructors, Jennifer Lynch and Leanne Dow, for completing the totally crazy awesome Tough Mudder this past weekend! From the words of the Tough Mudder website, this race is "probably the toughest event on the planet! Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing ‘endurance’ road race. Our 10-12 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor."  Yeah, we don't mess around over here. Way to go ladies!!!

Also, a special shout out to my friend Toné Chin, who trained his butt off to prepare for a boxing match last Sunday. The fight was part of a charitable event and the proceeds went to Alcazar Scholarship Fund, By Any Dreams Necessary, and Rocha Scholarship Fund. It was his first fight and he did awesome! And I witnessed it, he really did train hard :)

While everyone else was working their booties off last weekend, Pascha and I were on the opposite end of the spectrum. She was in Miami with all of her girlfriends, partying the nights away, and I was visiting my family (3 brothers, my nephew and my parents) in NY. We celebrated my oldest brother's birthday, and I think I can honestly say we ate and drank our ways through NY. It was a blast :)

While we are big promoters of tough workouts and training hard here at The Fuse Fitness, we do like to kick back, relax and have a great time. It's important to balance work and play ;)

What are your favorite ways to relax and have a good time? Please share!

Yours in Health,

The Fuse Fitness, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com :)

Happy hump day everyone! (The mid week hump, Wednesday ;) ) So one week ago exactly, I hurt my neck. I was teaching my TRX Power class at 8:15am, and around 8:30am I felt the left side of my neck seize up and suddenly I could not bend my neck to the left. Ouch. So you ask, what was I doing? Nothing out of the ordinary, just some medicine ball burpees. At least not out of the ordinary for me, or anyone else who comes into our studio for that matter. Just a regular part of my day, as regular as brushing my teeth, getting dressed and eating.

So I did what any other "normal" person would do--I finished teaching my class, going through the rest of the workout pretending that it would just go away. Well I was wrong. I guess the term "normal" doesn't really apply here, from what I hear, most normal people would stop and rest. Well you see, rest isn't usually in my vocabulary--I have one speed, and it's GO.

I made a chiropractor appointment the very next day, found out a vertebrae in my neck had come out of alignment, probably caused by a muscle tweak or pull in my traps, which caused some nerves to become pinched...sending shooting pains through my neck, down my arm and across my shoulder. So after a 20 minute appointment, I was adjusted and massaged, ready to get back to my normal pace of GO. I was warned not to go "crazy" with my workouts. But who says 50 burpees the next day is crazy? Not me.

Well, I have to tell you...it certainly is crazy. I made it through a couple of workouts, through the weekend, my neck was feeling better each day. Monday came along, in the middle of teaching a mid-day bootcamp my neck seized up again, sending shooting pains up and down my arm and neck. And suddenly I was faced with the reality of the situation. Rest most definitely needs to be added to the top of my vocabulary list.

The point of this post is to stress the importance of resting. The body needs rest in order to grow stronger and heal. So, another chiropractor appointment has been made for today, after 2 very painful, sleepless nights. And a commitment to at least one week of rest--no bootcamps, no burpees, no jumping. Letting my body heal and get the rest it needs.

Yours in Health,

The Fuse Fitness

Hi again! Mondays are always exciting. Of course unless you have a case of the Mondays--can't help you there :) Mondays are when we choose our food of the week and our exercise challenge of the week. Something to get you guys thinking, eating and moving healthy all week long.

This week's exercise is the Kettlebell Goblet Squat with Forward Extension, the challenge is to add 3 sets of 15 reps to your workout, 4-5 times this week. Now I have to admit, this is one of my current favorites. My clients and students can probably attest to this, as we've been working on it consistently over the last couple months or so. It's an awesome, powerful full-body movement that targets the glutes (and who doesn't want strong, toned glutes--didn't you hear, butts are all the rage these days?), legs, core and shoulders.

In case you're not sure what this exercise is, check out this brief instructional video below:

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(Hmmm....for some reason I cannot get this video to upload so it's vertical. My technological shortcomings are quickly becoming visible to the rest of the world....Anyway, you can also check this video out on our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fuse-Fitness/154316971264544.)

Hope you enjoy this challenge! Let us know how it goes!

Yours in Health,

The Fuse Fitness

Hey everyone! That's right, I said it. Holy TRX. Last night we had an epic TRX class. Since we've just been open almost 5 weeks (5th week anniversary is tomorrow, just in case you want to celebrate :) ) classes have been up and down. We're still trying to figure out what the best schedule is. The fact that people are vacationing left and right and parents are busy with summer vacationing kids, finding the perfect class schedule is a challenge. Definitely a challenge we're up for :) Needless to say, we were so incredibly happy to have a full class last night! Thank you to all who made it--Susan, Patty, Jana, Tracy, Cynthia, Beth, Ale, and Livia. It definitely felt like a TRX party up in here, you ladies rocked it!

So, let's get this party started (again), and join us this week for class. Want to know the class schedule? Visit our website, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com.

Happy Friday!

Yours in Health,

The Fuse Fitness

Hi everyone! Welcome to our new blog! Our studio, The Fuse Fitness, just opened 5 weeks ago! It's been a very exciting and crazy journey and we are so pumped to share this experience with all of you! We want to invite all of you to join us on this journey. We will share fitness tips, workouts, playlists, recipes, fitness challenges, and nutrition challenges, as well as personal stories about ourselves and families. We would love for you to do the same. The blogging process becomes more fun the more involved everyone gets. Please check out our website, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com to check out our class schedule if you're interested in taking classes. And welcome to our fitness family :)

Yours in health,

The Fuse Fitness