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

Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! There seemed to be a lot of birthday parties happening this weekend. I'm always game for a really good party, and what better way to get down than celebrating the awesomeness of your friends and family. Everyone is always in such a good mood at birthday parties--you just don't find groups of people happier than that :)

Our food of the week has been chosen, and I must say this is probably one of my all time favorites. Drum roll please. And the winner goes to....the avocado!!! I could have a party just because I love avocados so much--like I said, I'm always game for a party. Although it probably wouldn't be as fun as a birthday party, but you never know.....Imagine that every food and beverage served had to include this amazing fruit. Um yeah. Sounds heavenly :)

Loaded with heart healthy fats, 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid, avocados are super healthy. Which is great, because in our house we go through at least 2 a day. Mixed into salads, made into guacamole (don't even get me started on this--I have a serious addiction), put on sandwiches, served with eggs, or eaten all by itself, avocados are just so darn good. I'm going to share my secret (not for long!) recipe for guacamole--friends and family always insist I bring this to every get together or party.

Guacamole--serves 4-5 people

3-4 medium avocados (I prefer Hass avocados), mashed up (I use a potato masher, works great!)

a quarter to a third of  a red onion (depending on your taste preference as well as size of onion), diced small

1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped finely

1 tomato, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely

salt to taste

Tapatio hot sauce to taste

juice of half a lime

-In a medium sized bowl, mash the avocado. Add all other ingredients through jalapeno and mix together. Add salt and hot sauce to taste. Add lime juice last (helps keep from turning brown on top). Enjoy (I know I always do :) )

Please feel free to share your favorite way to enjoy this awesome fruit! Avocado party in the near future? Might just have to make that happen.

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, So each week we choose a seasonal, nutrition packed food to highlight, and include a few recipes throughout the week using this ingredient. This week we have chosen the delicious, juicy mango.

Check out these nutrition stats: The nutritional value is per 100 g (3.5 oz) and rich in many phytonutrients and antioxidants. It is high in fiber, vitamin A, C and E (25%, 76% and 9%) and vitamin B6 and K(11% and 9%). Let's not forget the pulp and peel which has Omeg-3 and -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids!

So far we've picked two delicious recipes that host this tropical, summer treat. Since they're not our original recipes, I'm going to post the link to each. The first recipe, Spinach, Avocado and Mango Salad can be found here: http://www.eatingwell.com/reci​pes/spinach_avocado_mango_sala​d.html. The second recipe, Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa, can be found by clicking this link: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-mahimahi-with-mango-salsa-10000001940993.

We'll be back later this week with a dessert recipe featuring, you guessed it, the mango :) Enjoy these recipes and let us know what you think.

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