What does it mean to be fit?

For many of us, being fit means maintaining a healthy weight with diet and exercise.

However, the “healthy weight = fit” idea omits and misrepresents several important components of what being truly fit means. In biological terms, “being fit” means “being able to provide for one’s own life and wellbeing; the fittest are those who can do so the best.”  Now that’s a little closer to what we should be working toward.  Not just being fit to the point of sufficiency, but being the fittest.

So, the question is: What can you do to be the fittest you can be, or to obtain the best quality of life possible?

To answer that question, we’ll examine the five components of physical fitness.  That’s right, there are five.  Not just “fitting into my favorite jeans,” “being able to run a marathon,” or “bench pressing twice my body weight.” Our definitions are from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Body Composition: This refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body. Body composition can provide a better evaluation of overall health than weight or BMI alone, so it is important to maintain a level of body fat that is neither too low (below 3-5% for men and 8-12% for women), nor too high (above 20-25% for men and 29-35% for women).

A variety of body fat measurement tools exist including calipers and bio-electrical impedance devices, and although some are more accurate and expensive than others, all can help you monitor changes.

Tip: Have a body fat analysis performed to know your starting point, and begin implementing small, healthy diet and exercise changes to improve body composition.

Cardiorespiratory Endurance: Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of the body’s circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during physical activity.  This means being able to sustain an elevated heart rate.  Activities like walking, swimming, and bicycling will all lead to improvement, and the good news is that the activity you choose does not necessarily have to be strenuous (at least initially).

Tip: choose an activity you enjoy and start slowly, increasing the intensity and duration over time.

Flexibility: Flexibility is the range of motion around a joint.  Maintaining good flexibility helps protect the muscles and joints from injury in all kinds of activity.  A basic stretching program, such as 10-15 minutes of light stretching for the upper body, lower body, and core after a workout, may be all you need to improve this oft-neglected fitness component.  Yoga and Pilates classes can also add more structure to your flexibility program.

Tip: the key to improving flexibility is to make time for it! Add 10 minutes to the end of your workout to stretch or take 10-minute walking/stretching breaks at work.

Muscular Endurance: Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscle to continue to perform without fatigue.  You can improve muscular endurance by doing sustained activities such as walking, swimming, or bicycling.  When it comes to weight training, completing longer sets (12-25 repetitions) would be considered working in the endurance range.

Tip: look for opportunities to activate your muscles outside the club.  For example, walk to the grocery store and flex those biceps by carrying groceries.

Muscular Strength: Muscular strength is the ability of the muscles to exert force during an activity.  Sorry to those of you who want to stick to the treadmill, but this means using your muscles against resistance, whether that comes in the form of a dumbbell, resistance band, or your own body weight against gravity.

Tip: take the stairs instead of the elevator, or do some pushups during TV commercial breaks.

To be truly, “totally fit” we need to focus on all five components of physical fitness. Not only will we be healthier overall, but we will also enjoy the benefits of reduced risk of injury and disease prevention (osteoporosis, diabetes, etc.).  The added bonus?  Improving any single area of fitness will help the others improve as well.

So what are you waiting for?!  What areas of physical fitness are you focusing on right now?

It’s no secret that the media isn’t kind to girls. From unrealistic, Photoshopped pictures of women in fashion magazines to overtly sexualized images of tweens and teens on television and in movies, many girls grow up with diminished self-esteem, believing they’re neither pretty enough nor thin enough to hold worth in our society.

The consequences are devastating, as evidenced by the 2011 film, Miss Representation.

Enter Kids Yoga Instructor Jen Hess and her GirlPower! program, designed to help girls in 4th and 5th grades focus on personal strengths and self-empowerment, instead of the negative media messages surrounding them.

“Girls this age are at a confusing stage in their lives, “ says Jen. “My goal for this yoga-centered program is to help them increase their level of self-awareness, channel their feelings,  and connect those feelings to actions and words.”

In addition to yoga, each girl will be given a book for journaling, and will create an individual magazine to capture the positive messages learned in class.

“I want to affect change in girls’ lives before they hit high school, and absorb the baggage that comes from strong peer influence, and influence from the opposite sex,” Jen stresses. “Girls need to learn how to recognize and trust their own voice, to choose wisely when something doesn’t feel right to them, and to be confident enough to do so. This program will absolutely help with this.”

As a longtime yogi, a certified instructor of children’s yoga for the past 4 years, and the mother to a young daughter, Jen knows firsthand how yoga can foster feelings of self-empowerment and trust. Yoga has been transformative in her own life, and she is passionate about giving kids the same opportunity to find ways to manage stress and how to listen to—and nurture—their bodies and minds. She hopes to teach girls in her GirlPower! program how skills learned on the mat can translate into their everyday lives, a topic she often covers on her yoga-inspired blog, karmaspotkids.com.

Each class will begin with 45 minutes-to-1-hour of yoga, followed by discussion and writing in journals. The class will be a safe space where girls are encouraged to talk freely about their feelings without fear of judgement. Jen, who holds an MFA, will then assist each girl with the creation of her personal magazine.

This amazing program is open to Midtown members only, and girls are encouraged to reach out to their friends and invite them to enroll. I wish my own two daughters were old enough for this program. Clearly, they believe they’re ready now.

GirlPower! takes places on Sunday afternoons from September 9th through October 28th from 4-6pm in Yoga Studio B. The cost is $140. Membership is not required.

Contact Jen at jen.hess@midtown.com or Mind/Body Director Randi Lattimore at randi.lattimore@midtown.com with questions. And to learn more about the benefits of yoga for kids, click here and here.

If you have a daughter in 4th or 5th grade, the lessons she’ll learn in GirlPower! will prove invaluable for her as she navigates through the confusing and often negative world of our media-driven culture. We hope to see her (and her friends) in class.

Member Blogger Kathleen Bush sits down with Certified Running Coach and Cycling Instructor Extraordinaire Missy Witte to talk about her new running program, yoga, and how she stays motivated to set and reach her fitness goals.

Randy Pausch, motivational speaker and author of “The Last Lecture,” once said, “You have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore.”

This quote, a favorite of Midtown Cycling Instructor and Running Coach Missy Witte, an obvious “Tigger,” has served as both her mantra and approach to life.

If Missy’s energy came in a bottle, everyone would want to drink it. As a role model for a healthy lifestyle for both her clients and her three active, young children, Missy’s genuine desire to help others achieve their fitness goals is obvious by both her work and positive demeanor.

Although perhaps best known for her invigorating cycle interval workouts, cycling is not Missy’s first workout of choice.

“Running is my true love,” she explains. “I have a good base, a good background. I have run eleven marathons to date.  I’m definitely looking for more.” Missy is so passionate about running that she obtained her running coach certification. Her new running program launches this week.

Training New Runners and Seasoned Race Veterans

Missy’s putting her Certified Running Coach credentials to work in getting the club’s running program off the ground.

“There are three ways to work with me. For private or group training, you’ll run with me and/or a group of other Midtown runners of similar ability. You’ll also have one hour per week of endurance and/or strength training with me, in addition to training tips or support.”

Members who have enrolled in the running program communicate with Missy at least three times a week, and on Sunday, each person receives a personalized training plan for the upcoming week.

There is also coach-only training, with all the benefits of the private or group options, minus the hour-long training sessions.

The program is for runners at all levels, and for those who want to begin running. “Anyone can do this,” Missy explains. “It is a very open, friendly program. Whether you just want to be able to run a mile, or run your first race, or you are a veteran chasing a PR – this program can help you.”

This is Not Your Cookie-Cutter Program

“I’ve had a ton of success with one-on-one tailored programs,” Missy says. “The new running program I’ve created is not a cookie-cutter program you could find on the Internet. Following one of these doesn’t make sense. It’s like ripping a fad diet out of a magazine. It won’t work.”

Pointing out the benefits of training with a coach, she says, “I get feedback from my runners about their bodies and progress and I adapt it to meet their needs. It is very much about what works for you, and not what your friend is doing.”

Best of all? Accountability. “If I’m not hearing from you, you’re hearing from me,” says Missy.

Staying Motivated

Missy has always set goals and worked to achieve them. “I do a ton of visualizing,” she explains. “As I approach 40, I don’t want to give up doing what I love.” To those trying to stick with a fitness commitment, she offers this piece of advice: “The hardest part is making the decision to just go. Then the rest takes care of itself.”

How a Runner Became a Yogi

To help rehab a potentially debilitating muscle tear, Missy turned to yoga. “If you can find time to do one extra thing, make it yoga,” she says.  “Before I started yoga, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not for me. I need adrenaline. I need to sweat.’  But trust me, you will sweat. What a workout. I haven’t had to go back to the weight room since.” Her orthopedic doctor, also a marathon runner, was blown away by Missy’s increased flexibility and her rehabilitation after she began practicing yoga. She acknowledges, “If I can extend my running into my 70s, this is how I will be able to do it.”

What’s In Missy’s Kitchen?

Missy is quick to share her top foods. “Greek yogurt.  My kids like it too – they say ‘Mom, this tastes like ice cream!’ Also I love Kashi cereal. I mix it in yogurt for texture.”

She also adds that she has a stash of dark chocolate hidden away, and a supply of fresh strawberries and blueberries are always in her fridge. She and her family also eat a lot of chicken for protein.

Some might be surprised to learn that Missy had a lucrative pharmaceutical sales job, which she left after the birth of her first son in order to obtain her certifications and pursue a fitness career. “I moved toward something that I really, really loved.”

And she never looked back.

For more information on Missy’s running program, which can help you start running, train for your first race, or PR your 50th, contact her at melissa.witte@midtown.com or 461-2300, ext. 324.

Three days a week, my morning begins with a 5am run. I arrive home, get three kids under six (including three-year-old twins) out of bed, dressed, fed, on the bus (or in the car) and off to school. On my off-days, I’m up at the same hour, working before the wee ones arise.

My days are scheduled down to the minute with work, meetings, shuttling children to various destinations, and trying to remember deadlines, doctor appointments, and dinner plans.

I attempt to keep my calendar static, but it never stays that way. I try not to worry about the things I cannot control, like when my nanny’s grandmother died during the same week my son stayed home sick from school and I had a looming deadline, but I never stay nonplussed for long.

Bottom line? I run hard(ish). I work even harder. And I am stressed out.

A lot.

In the fall, as I was circling the drain of “Too-Much-On-My-Plate” despair, I sat down with Mind/Body Director Randi Lattimore to conduct this interview. Something she said while we were chatting hit home for me.

She said, “Yoga is for everyone.”

“That’s a nice thought, Randi. But yoga isn’t for me,” I said. “I’m too tightly wound. Yoga is for people who are more chill than I am. I can’t relax.”

Then I realized the irony in what I was saying.

And the next day, having never before taken a single yoga class, I enrolled in Yoga School, Midtown’s unique program for those new to the practice or those who have been away from it for awhile. Small class sizes ensure personalized attention, which was something really important to me as a Type A, because why do something if you’re not going to do it exactly right? Who’s with me here?

Over the course of the four-week program, taught by the amazing Lindsay Hildreth, I learned:

• Basic yoga poses with an emphasis on proper alignment
• The importance of breathing (who knew?)
• That I am not the inflexible and uncoordinated mess of limbs I once thought I was (although I have a long way to go)
• That shavasana (the quiet time of personal reflection that concludes each class) is like a tonic for the soul
• The personal approach to yoga (it’s an individual practice and there’s no “beating” anyone, as I was accustomed to with running races) is one I could totally (and surprisingly) embrace

Yoga School ended two months ago. I’ve practiced yoga almost every week since.

Starting the practice of yoga didn’t eliminate my stress. It’s still there, a product of a busy job, needy young children, and a calendar that’s always packed with responsibilities. 

But it has taught me that when I’m in class, on my mat, being present within myself, it’s okay to let go for a little while.

Yoga has allowed me to relax and center my thoughts. To focus on my body and what it can do. To let my breathing guide my movement. To stretch my mind as well as my limbs. To embrace the hour of practice as my own, and to shut out the distractions and pressures that often circle me like wolves.

It’s not the high-energy, cardio-heavy workout I’m accustomed to. It’s still very hard for me to slow down, and to accept that my heart won’t be pounding and I won’t breathe heavily at the end of yoga class.

No, instead yoga is something entirely different. It helps me feel less anxious and more calm. Less like my busy life is spiraling out of control, and more like I am in charge of it, instead of the other way around.

And it’s helped my five-year-old daughter too, who in the fall finished her own first session of yoga at the club, through the Midtown Varsity program, and is starting her second this week. She adores yoga, and the lovely “Miss Jen” (Hess) who teaches it. The benefits of yoga for kids are numerous, including its ability to foster a bond with your three-year-old little sister.

Check out the schedule for Kids Yoga and other complimentary Midtown Varsity classes here.

The Winter Session of Yoga School begins next week. Morning, afternoon, and evening sessions are offered at a variety of times. Grab a registration form at the club, or contact Randi for more information at 585-461-2301 x103 or randi.lattimore@midtown.com.

Trust me on this: Randi is right. Yoga is for everyone, even scary Type A’s like me. If I can embrace (and love) yoga, then anyone can.

Yogis, please share with us. Why do you love yoga?

Member blogger Kathleen Hermann reflects on the fresh beginnings a new year brings and how Midtown can help you achieve your 2012 fitness goals.

While I haven’t set New Year’s resolutions for years, I periodically take stock of where things are and where I’d like things to go.

As adults, we feel that twinge of time passing. There is always more we want to experience and accomplish. New Year’s is momentous as it reminds us of the value of time. It is a point to remind ourselves that there is never a better time to act than the present.

Whether your fitness goals for yourself are to walk a mile or to establish a new personal best in the marathon, the club has the necessary tools for success. These tools come in the form of the facility itself, and also in the form of the network of people and professionals that work within it.

If 2012 is your year to finally achieve well-rounded fitness, you have unlimited options at Midtown.

Maybe you have a great physique and excel at swimming and cycling, but still find yourself often stressed and hurried. Try expanding into the peaceful, regenerative world of yoga and meditation. Perhaps you love the inner strength yoga has added to your life, but still find yourself slowed by extra weight. Try adding a cardio class to your routine.

Need help getting started? The club has a packed January schedule filled with events and classes specifically designed to help you kick-start all your goals.

Pick something that works for you and mark it on your calendar!

1. Intro and Launch Classes

If you are expanding your routine, or just beginning your fitness journey, but are intimidated to walk into a weekly group class, start with one of the many complimentary Intro classes Midtown offers in January. You’ll learn everything you need to know, as well as proper setup and technique.

Intro to Cycle: Wednesday, January 3, 7:00 – 7:45 pm
Intro to Group Power: Saturday, January 7, 8:00-9:00 am
Intro to Zumba: Sunday, January 15, 2:00-2:45 pm

The Launch classes introduce the new quarterly series of Group Step and Group Power.

Group Step Launch: Saturday, January 21, 9:30-10:30 am
Group Power Launch: Saturday,  January 21, 11:00am – noon

2. Yoga and Meditation Classes

Bring balance to your life by trying these Mind/Body classes.

Sunday Afternoon Meditation with Suzanne: Sunday, January 8, 4:45-5:45pm
An Evening of Restorative Yoga: Friday, January 27 6:30-8:00 pm

3. A Proper Goodbye to 2011

What better way to end the year than with a great workout and drinks afterward to celebrate!

Boot Camp and Mimosas with Trainers Justin and Steve: Saturday, December 31, 8:45-9:45am

4. A Fresh Start on New Year’s Day

Kick off the New Year’s right with our packed New Year’s Day class schedule.

No matter what your fitness resolution is, Midtown will be there to help you achieve your goals.

Here’s to a healthy 2012!

We tend to loosen our belts this time of year, figuratively, and sometimes literally.

Maybe we skip a planned workout. Maybe we indulge too heavily at a holiday party. Maybe we have three calorie-laden drinks when we really should have one.

These practices are common. We’re only human. But if you’re looking to kick off the official holiday season on Thanksgiving Day with some pre-caloric burn, there’s no better place to be than Midtown. The club is open from 7am until 2pm. Kidtown is open from 8:30am to 2pm.

Here’s our action-packed schedule for Turkey Day:

Group Exercise Studio

7:30-8:30am    

Bootcamp with Steve: Mr. Early Morning Bootcamp will lead you through a hardcore workout before the afternoon feast.  

9 -10:30am     

Thanks for Giving Power Vinyasa Yoga with Randi and Karyn: A hot and sweaty class of giving and gratitude.  Held each year to benefit Bivona Child Advocacy Center, we would greatly appreciate monetary donations.

Basketball Court

8:30-10:30am

“It’s a Party” Group Power &  Zumba: Rev up your Thanksgiving morning with 50 minutes of  Group Power to various party theme songs, followed by Zumba with our awesome instructors.

Studio A

8-9am              

Feeling Grateful Vinyasa Yoga with Susan S: Cultivate thankfulness and experience the sweetness gratitude brings.

9:30-10:30am   

Turkey Burn Pilates Mat with Kathy: Strengthen your core and feel the pre-turkey burn.

Cycle Room

9-10:30am        

Pre -Turkey Burn with Missy: 90 minutes on the Keiser bikes increasing watts (or power) by combining  resistance (gears) and speed (RPMs).  Missy created the playlist for this class entirely from member requests. Work hard and have a blast doing it.   

11-12pm

Thanksgiving Ride with Doug H.: An all-terrain cycle class guaranteed to make you sweat.

Tennis Courts

8-9:00am

Turkey Cardio Tennis: Our tennis pros will bring on the burn as you enjoy the fast-paced drills and games of Cardio Tennis before the big feast. All skill levels are welcome. 100% of your $20 donation will benefit The Open Door Mission, and as our way of saying “thank you” for giving, we’ll provide you with a free Cardio Tennis Class.

Pool Deck

8-8:45am          

Tough Turkey Team Obstacle Course with Tim and Vinny: Join us this Thanksgiving for an extreme obstacle course unlike any other. It will be tough. It will be cold. You will get wet. You’ll earn your Turkey before your in-laws wake up, without a doubt. Our Facebook page has all the details. Limited to the first 30 signups, so register soon!

Want to know what to wear? You won’t be able to pick up or abandon clothing during the race. So, if you want goggles in the pool, you should be wearing them at the start. If you want sneakers on the mud course, they’re going with you into the pool. Stay lightweight but prepare for some cooler weather (mid-40s). Compression tops and bottoms, light sneakers, and maybe some gloves will serve you well.

What are your Thanksgiving fitness plans?

Member Kathleen Hermann takes over the blog today to talk about how you can use your Midtown membership to give your kids the gift of health and wellness.

Take it away, Kathleen!

Imagine that you could purchase the gift of lifelong health or endow it in a will.

What parents wouldn’t sacrifice to secure such a valuable asset for their children?  

Unfortunately, we cannot acquire health with cash alone; however, we CAN armor our children against a host of chronic diseases and set them on the right track for a flourishing, balanced life. We don’t have to wait to give this gift – we can start right now!

Of course, there is no lack of obstacles to raising healthy kids. Recent statistics show 1 out of every 3 children in America is overweight. We are reminded of this with every McDonald’s arch we pass, every cartoon character encouraging the consumption of sugary snacks, and every child we pass tapping away on his portable Nintendo.

Now, more than ever, just as we protect our children from tetanus and diphtheria, it is of equal importance to immunize them against the growing childhood disease of obesity.

Here are four ways you can use your Midtown membership to help your children on their lifelong path of health:

1. Midtown Varsity Programs

The fall session of Midtown Varsity children’s programming is under way. Offered in addition to the excellent sports camps that Midtown offers over summer and school breaks, these classes have many benefits:

• They are designed not only for exercise, but also to show our children how to have fun in their physical pursuits and develop confidence in their abilities.
• The age-appropriate yoga classes teach body awareness and coordination in combination with giving kids the relaxation skills needed to counter the pressures of modern life
• Parents are not just delegated to a tiny waiting room or the sidelines. Rather, we are able to simultaneously recharge ourselves in Midtown’s facilities, making great use of limited time and ensuring both parent and child head home recharged.
• Other than a nominal family sign-up fee, these classes are free to Midtown members.

2. The Gift of a Lifelong Sport

Our Midtown Junior Tennis Program is nationally recognized and our Midtown Currents Swim Team excels at local competitions. If you want the best place in the greater Rochester area to get your children hooked with the confidence and skills they need to enjoy these sports, look no further than Midtown.

• It was the USTA that coined the phrase, “Tennis, the Sport for a Lifetime.” And it’s true. Because the level of play is controlled by the person playing, children can start tennis in the preschool years and still play competitive singles past their 80s. 
• In truth, although you should encourage your children to try any sport they show interest in, certain sports have a much earlier “retirement age” after the scholastic years of organized leagues. It’s difficult to find ten people, equipment, and two goals for a lacrosse scrimmage, and rounding up volunteers for a cheerleading pyramid in your 40s will likely be near impossible. However, tennis and swimming will always be available, often for free, in countless parks nationwide. They are not only competitive sports but also lifetime skills you can enjoy through the years.

3. Kidtown and the Café

In most gyms, your snack choices are limited to the five rows in a standard vending machine.

Luckily, Midtown isn’t most gyms.

• At Midtown, in addition to myriad healthful choices offered on the full Bon Marche and Gould Street cafe menus, there are choices catered expressly to the tastes, needs and portion sizes of children.
• It’s much less tempting to stop for a Happy Meal to appease a hungry whining child on the way to the gym when you know he or she can enjoy a nourishing, appetizing meal right in Kidtown.
• The children’s meals are offered with sides such as carrot sticks, fruit, and applesauce; soda is not even listed as a beverage option. There are few eateries that offer a healthy salad as a kids meal option or which serve their kids meal sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Of course, we should expect nothing less from Midtown.
•  Kidtown is more than accommodating of bagged lunches brought from home and also offers the children fresh water while they play.  And play they do. With a kid-sized basketball court, tumbling mats, riding toys, bouncing balls, and access to the gym, my kids often leave Kidtown in a good sweat.

4.  Leading by Example

The first step in encouraging a certain lifestyle for your children is believing that it matters.

Your family will sense you are passionate about staying fit and eating right by witnessing your own commitment to these values. When they are young, children accept our convictions without question, but even older children and teens are influenced by what their parents believe and do. That is why the best tool that we have in fighting childhood obesity is staring us right in the mirror. Much more than a celebrity spokesperson or clever cartoon, we have the power to encourage healthy habits in our children simply by our own demonstration.  

When I pick up my kids in Kidtown, they often ask me how many miles I ran that day, or if I took a class with one of their friend’s mommies. To them, physical activity is as typical a part of daily living as brushing their teeth.

I can’t help but feel proud to see my example rubbing off when my three-year-old packs her doll in the play stroller and announces  that she is taking her  baby for a jog, before trotting up and down the sidewalk. I got the same feeling watching my five-year-old challenging herself to swim “laps” like the “grown-ups” in Midtown’s pool this summer. 

Watching how they are forming habits at a young age further reminds me of the importance of introducing fitness and healthy living in their lives now. I know that the example I set will be the key to enforcing these values.

Luckily, most days setting that example is as simple as going to Midtown.

How do you encourage your kids to lead healthy, active lives?

Five years ago, Randi Lattimore was working as a substitute yoga instructor when she entered General Manager Glenn William’s office to introduce herself. On his desk were the blueprints for the Mind/Body Studio renovation project.

She had found yoga years earlier and immediately loved everything about it: how it made her feel, the way it changed her body, the inner strength and peace she felt at the completion of each class. She quickly transitioned from practicing yoga to studying it, visiting studios across the country, absorbing what worked and what didn’t.

On that day in 2006, she sold her vision for the club’s Mind/Body Studio to Glenn. She then came up with her job title of Mind/Body Director. She hired dear friends as instructors. She expanded the offerings to encompass varied forms of yoga.

And she quickly created a culture of genuine connections and care amongst instructors and students that has flourished over the past five years and has made Midtown’s yoga program the best in Rochester.

Roots and Rhythm

A former event planner, Randi is originally from the West Coast. She then lived in Chicago for a number of years, and hand-picked Rochester as her new hometown over ten years ago when her husband’s job required them to move East. As a transplant to the ROC, Randi’s Midtown coworkers quickly became her family, a relationship that helps foster the warm community atmosphere and philosophy that permeates every yoga class.

While she feels teaching yoga is what she was meant to do with her life, Randi has big dreams to both appear and act as a guest judge on ”So You Think You Can Dance.” If she couldn’t teach yoga, Randi would love to dance professionally.

Teacher Training

Randi recently worked to certify Midtown as a Yoga School through Yoga Alliance.

Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training* begins on October 28th. The Immersion section, for those interested in become more well-rounded, informed practitioners of yoga, runs for eight weekends (a total of 80 hours) until February 5th of next year.

The Certification Option, for those wishing to pursue the Yoga Alliance standard of a 200-hour training program, includes an additional 40 hours, and extends until May of 2012.

Following the completion of 80 hours of Immersion, 40 hours of certification, and homework, practice time, and reading, graduates will receive Registered Yoga Teacher Certification, a degree many yoga studios, including Midtown’s, look for when hiring instructors.

Says Randi, “Our club has always offered a breadth of yoga workshops and special events, so it’s a natural progression for us to become a Yoga School. Our students are ready for this. Our yoga instructors are ready for this. And the training is diversified, so the instructors will teach to the strength of their students. I am so excited about this program.”

Inside Randi’s Fridge

When she’s not running the Mind/Body studio, Randi enjoys spending time with her husband of 16 years, her 15-year-old daughter, and 13-year-old son.

When I ask her about the three food items she keeps in her fridge at all times, Randi says, “Greek yogurt, almonds, and fruit. Always, lots of fruit.” 

What’s one thing most people don’t know about her?

“I would rather eat chocolate cake-with chocolate frosting-than just about anything else in the world,” says Randi. “Love it!”

Midtown Pride

Randi is to Midtown’s Mind/Body studio as Bill Gates is to Microsoft, so she has experienced many proud moments in her tenure at the club.

“When members approach me and say how they couldn’t get through their divorces, their cancer battles, or their other difficult times without yoga, it’s incredibly gratifying,” says Randi. “It’s one of the best parts of my job.”

Her most memorable moment, though, took place at the club’s first-ever “Thanks for Giving” yoga class, a donation-based class benefitting Bivona Child Advocacy Center  held annually near Thanksgiving.

Randi has visited the center, which helps child victims of physical or sexual abuse, and in the one hour she was there, she watched three children walk in needing assistance, something that had a profound effect on her.

The class was in shivasana, Hallelujah was playing, and Randi looked at fellow yoga instructor and friend Karen Lederman and began to cry. There were 90 people in the class, and Randi was full of joy at the contribution the club would be able to make to Bivona to help abused children like those she saw during her visit.

Yoga is for Everyone

Think yoga isn’t for you?

Randi hears this all the time. And to the yoga naysayers, she says, “Give it a try. Yoga is for everyone, for those who think they’re not flexible enough, or not relaxed enough, or who don’t think it’s a good workout. As I like to ask the doubters, ‘When you’re dirty, are you too dirty to take a shower?’ Of course not!”

The four-week Yoga School for Beginners, which will teach you yoga fundamentals and prepare you for taking one of the awesome yoga classes offered at the club, starts on October 17. Check out our Facebook Events page for more information.

Yoga is an Experience and Not “Just a Class”

It’s a practice that enables you to connect with people, to interact, to touch, to laugh, and to share. It helps you to center yourself and strengthens your muscles at the same time.

Randi has made our Mind/Body Studio not just a physical space for members to practice, but has also embodied it with a spirit that carries yogis throughout their daily lives.

And thanks to my interview with Randi, this Type A, tightly wound, former yoga-doubter will be trying it very soon.

*Contact Randi at randi.lattimore@midtown.com with any questions about Midtown Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training. If you have at least one year of yoga practice, you can pick up an application at the front desk.

A discussion on our Facebook page last week resulted in some interesting member feedback. I asked what kind of information you would like to see featured. Among other suggestions, many members mentioned healthy eating tips and recipes, staff profiles, and member success stories.

The club puts a high value on input from members, and as a result, you’ll soon see many of your suggestions included in our daily social media output.MORE