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Try these exercises once daily to improve posture: Lot's of postural complaints come from forward heads and rounded shoulders. These are some simple exercises you can do at home to move your shoulders back and give your neck a break. Mid-Back Exercise: Standing back against a wall - heels, ribcage, and elbows (bent at 90 degrees and in line with shoulders) touching wall. Lift the back of the hand towards the wall as far as you can without popping ribs off. Slide elbows and hands up and down the wall to feel connection into mid-back muscles. Roll Down: Standing back against a wall - heels and ribcage touching wall. Articulate through your spine to roll yourself down into a forward fold. Roll back up maintaining control through abs. Mobility through spine and hamstrings, control through ankles, balance, and abs. (Start with heels 4 inches away from wall and work towards starting connected! See if you can roll down without letting pelvis disconnect from wall.) Standing Exercise Single Leg: Start seated with one leg bent ankle over knee. Press into glutes to come up to standing on one leg. Control to sit back down. Arms in front for balance, and a lean of the torso is okay for assistance. Standing Exercise Two Legs: Start seated with two feet flat on the floor. Press into glutes to come up to standing. Keep big toes planted on floor. Do not lean forward! Imagine sliding back up a wall behind you. Watch that toes don't lift off the floor. Sit back down without leaning torso forward in space. Pec Opening: Find a corner of a wall to roll out pec so that head can pass the wall in front to give you space to roll with pressure. Place a ball under collar bone between sternum and shoulder. Take these 5 exercises home, try them out, and let us know how it felt. If you need some words of encouragement, or extra support we are here to help. Book a private session with one of our expert instructors, so we can go into much more detail on these exercises! TRAINORMOVEMENT.COM

Hey everyone, Kat here. If we haven’t met - hi how are you? I'm the studio owner. It’s hard to believe that the world has been this way for 2 years. (You all know what I’m talking about…) It’s harder to believe that merely 31 days after our grand opening we were told to shut down. Between cases, isolations, outbreaks, lockdown, precautions, restrictions, etc. we have all struggled. I thought that climbing the mountain to get this ship sailing was the most stressful, but boy was I wrong. The real struggle now comes from the lack of government support. We have seen way too many beloved businesses close their doors this year. Places that make people feel safe, and a part of a community. We don’t want to be the next “favourite space” gone with the wind after a sad goodbye. We have been welcomed to this neighbourhood with open arms and heard so many people chime in about how happy they are we are finally open! Our so-called “Relief benefit” covers less than 20% of our monthly operating expenses. You all know that Pilates isn’t cheap. That’s because there is lots to pay for that you don’t all see. It’s more than just a rent payment, utility bill, and employee wages. The government funding we receive is hardly enough to “relieve” us of the burden of shutting down. Now is the time to try Pilates. Who knows when we’ll be back. Thank you immensely for all your support, condolences, and well wishes. Here is what you can do to help support your local, woman owned, solo-entrepreneur, small biz: With $: consider purchasing props, merch, or session packages to use when we reopen. Sign yourself up for future classes we have on our schedule. Opt to try a Zoom session! Without $: share our page, like and save our posts - it helps more than you know. Tell a friend about us, or write us a google review (5 stars only ;) ) Stop by and say hello.

Join us NEXT WEEK for our Grand Opening Event - currently set for Saturday November 20th! We’ll be hosting it open house style from 9am - 4pm. This way we can have fewer people in at a time to stay COVID-safe. Drop-in anytime to say hello, tour the new space, and get special Opening Day deals! We will have art for sale, merchandise and props at discounted prices, and 20% off any private or group packages purchased in person on Grand Opening day! We are also very excited to introduce Sara, who will be decorating the new studio, as we second as a gallery space. 223 Union Street, East Vancouver Opening Day Deals Any private or group session packages purchased on Opening Day in person will be 20% off. Any Merchandise or props purchased on Opening Day will be 10% off. Save your spot in class now by signing up as unpaid, then receive your discount when you purchase in person on Nov. 20th! Sara Freitas Art "Hello Trainor Movement Community! I’m Sara — the artist and the face behind Sara Freitas Art! This side hustle took root in a creative childhood, and grew steadily where it blossomed into what it is today. I’ve been a working artist for the last several years and completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2019. Armed with passion, creativity and a well-rounded art education, I’ve been able to create paintings of all sizes and collaborate with clients to bring their art dreams into reality. Many clients turning into Sara Freitas Art collectors! A big portion of what I do is to create custom artwork for clients. Cultivating the little seeds and ideas of what clients have in mind for their painting, and then growing them into something gorgeous! I’d love to create something custom for you to fit your home and space. I can work with whatever colour scheme, size and budget you may have. I'll be displaying a ton of pieces at Trainor Movement Co. in Vancouver, all of which are up for grabs! I’m so excited to connect with you all! Chat soon xoxo" Prize Draw Everyone who stops by for our open house will be entered into a draw to win 1 FREE group session and a Trainor Movement Co. tank or tee! A note from the owner Looking forward to seeing everyone again in person. I can’t wait to finally give each one of you a tour of the space. It has been a long, tough journey to get to this point and I want to personally thank each and every one of you who has stayed subscribed and stayed tuned in - eager for updates. Millions of thanks for all your support! Feel free to forward this email along, and invite your loved ones to Opening Day. Fingers crossed we stay on schedule and I get to see you soon! - Kat Please note that masks and proof of vaccination will be mandatory upon entry. If you forget, we will have disposable masks available for $2 each.

Should you knees go past your toes when you bend your knees to squat or lunge? In some cases, no. In some cases, yes. Hear me out... Most often you hear instructors and fitness professionals give a general cue to avoid letting the toes pass the knee. In a class with a large number of participants the instructor will give the most generic cue to keep every body safe. Stress on your knees is increased greatly with added flexion; especially with added weight/resistance. Which means, its safer to air on the side of caution for the knee joint, to ease off the knee past toe situation. The downside to this cue, is that it adds an exceptional amount of stress to the hip joint. In my professional opinion this cue should be different for each client that comes through the facility doors. Of course, if you have a client with knee issues you are going to give them cues that alleviate any unnecessary stress on their knees. If you have a client with hip issues, you'll do the same for their hip joints. Simply put, knees over toes is not bad. In fact, you use this motion in your daily life! When you get up from a chair, climb up the stairs, bend over to pick something up, and even when you sit on the toilet, your knees are likely going past your toes. It is a cue that is used in certain situations to help optimize movement while exercising, but shouldn't be taken over into real life functional movement patterns. If you're curious about how your anatomy works in a squat or lunge and want to know which positions are best for you - book yourself a one-on-one session! Working privately with an instructor is the best way to create a workout plan that suits your individual anatomy. Private pilates sessions can be done in person or virtually with a certified instructor.

We say its a new age culture thing. I'm sure you've heard the terms "desk posture" and heard complaints of "nowadays on our phones all day", but is this really truly what leads to forward head and rounded shoulders? Let's dive in. Things we might do often that involve our shoulders being forward and our arms being in front of us: Working at a computer Typing on a phone Reading a book Eating Carrying groceries Working with our hands Crafting/hobbies Body language: arms crossed, hands in pockets, etc. Nearly every motion in daily life is done with our arms in front of us. So doesn't it seem silly to say that is a bad thing? Posture is relative. If you are someone who works a lot in one specific position your body will adapt - and that's good news! There's no such thing as "perfect posture". Now when Pilates Instructors talk about helping you improve your posture that's different than getting you perfect posture. We want to help you improve what posture you have or what posture will work well for your individual body and lifestyle. If your rounded shoulders are causing you pain and limited mobility you may struggle with other positions, such as reaching overhead. Your Pilates Instructor can help you find a better posture for those needs. If your pecs are so tight it causes clicking, clunking, and crunching, then your Pilates Instructor can help you. This is not to say that rounded shoulders and upper back is bad, but if it's limiting your mobility or causing you pain it's definitely something Pilates can help with. So how do we help with that? Here's some things to consider... Active and controlled movement is a must. Let's find some mind-body connection to your shoulder complex to give you the best exercise results. Using a small weight will be helpful to find control in the eccentric phase of movement. Eccentric movements are important for increasing mobility. Some 1 or 2 pound weights or a couple of soup cans would work perfectly for this. Here are a few exercises that could be helpful: Lie on your back. Hold a small weight in one hand and reach it up to the ceiling. Slowly allow your arm to fall out to the side while keeping your ribs and shoulder blades stable. This can also be done lying near the edge of a couch or cushion if you want to allow stretch of the pecs past what the floor would allow. Do the same movement overhead allowing the arm to rotate externally. You can add an elbow bend at the top to add a tricep stretch. Some other Pilates exercises that can help you with shoulder mobility: Scapula isolations on mat/chair Arm circles Midback series on reformer/cadillac Arms pulling straps on reformer and more! I am trained and qualified to give you an assessment of your shoulder complex. I have the ability to check your scapulothoracic alignment, axioscapular muscle function, scapulohumeral muscle function, cervical flexion movement pattern, shoulder abduction movement pattern, and torso flexion movement pattern. Of course, I can not diagnose you with any conditions (I know some great physiotherapists I can recommend you to if your assessments identifies the need for one), but I can make suggestions and help you optimize your shoulder function. If you are seeking an assessment or professional-guided instruction through some of these exercises you can book a Pilates sessions here. Happy shoulder opening!

Here are some things we know about breathing: it is the act of taking air into and out of the lungs. We need it to survive. We know oxygenation is important, but we need to dive deeper into these questions to get the most out of it. First, why? Key points: The lower lobes of the lungs provide best oxygenation (breathing into the back and bottom of ribs) Breathing patterns can be used to help relax muscles and avoid tension (recruiting key synergist muscles to breathe will aid in relaxation) So now we know to breathe 3 dimensionally into the ribs and to do so with key synergist muscles. Let's dive deeper into that. Key synergists muscles can fall into two categories: primary and secondary (or accessory) breathing muscles. Primary muscle use will provide the most relaxation and release of tension. If you're curious about the detailed anatomy of breathing, here are the muscles used in inhalation and exhalation. This is the how: Primary Inhalation: Diaphragm External Intercostals Accessory Inhalation: Sternocleidomastoid Scalenes Pectoralis Minor Serratus Anterior Primary Exhalation: Diaphragm Accessory Exhalation: Internal Intercostals Transversus Thoracis External Obliques Internal Obliques Rectus Abdominis Quadratus Lumborum "Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." – Oprah Winfrey Lastly, what? What exercises can you do to make the most out of your breathing techniques? Practice: Find natural breathing patterns (Quick sniff - notice if diaphragm is properly functioning or if neck/shoulder take over) Test different breath patterns (Passive Exhale - natural, fogging mirror - more tension/upper body/throat, pursed lips - slow/controlled) Deeper exhale - expels more toxins, closes ribs/muscles more, can help to get to a more passive place (good more military type postures) Slow and Controlled exhale - lower blood pressure, slow heart rate, core connection, helps facilitate transversus abdominis and pelvic floor muscles Side-Lying - takes away gravitational tension, allows diaphragm to open and close without neck/shoulders Lateral Rib Cage Breathing While Supine (lying on back) - hands on ribs Breathing Forward (Seated folded forward over thighs) - opens synergist back muscles Happy Breathing!

It's not uncommon for lower backs to tighten up and cause chronic pain. Let's dive in to some ways you can help prevent or ease the stress on your low spine. The key to a happy and healthy spine is a combination of mobility and stability. If you can find an easy balance of those two ideas, your low back tensions are bound to ease up. Keep in mind that this post is focusing on those who don't have any pre-existing conditions, and if you do (or something feels off), we encourage you to see a doctor before trying any recommendations. So, how do I mobilize and stabilize, you ask? Here's my top 3 favourite Pilates exercises to help you do just that: 3 easy exercises to try at home Pelvic Tilts (Imprint and Release) Start lying on your back with your knees bent, and feet flat on the ground. Place your thumbs on your lowest ribs and your index fingers on your hip bones. All this exercise asks, is that you use your abdominal muscles to move your index fingers towards your thumbs. So you're rocking your pelvis up closing the space between your fingers, and releasing it back just to your starting position. It's important that you keep your glutes off and not let them take over and do the work. Think of tucking your tail between your legs - but using your abs to make that happen! This simple exercise is helping you mobilize your lumbar spine through flexion and extension, while stabilizing your core abdominal muscles. (Remember: don't over work. It's important to teach your muscles easy firing patterns before going into big movements. This is not a crunch!) (10 reps) Leg Lifts (Tabletop) Start lying on your back with your knees bent, and feet flat on the ground. Start with a light engagement of your core, and see if you can lift one heel off the ground. Try the other heel. Progressively lift your foot higher and higher off the ground until you've reached a 90 degree angle at your hip and knee joint - this is called tabletop position. Alternate one leg at a time lifting and lowering from starting position to tabletop. The key to this exercise is to make sure your hips aren't doing the hula. Keep your pelvis as still as you can and don't let any movement happen in your spine. This exercise is helping you mobilize your hip joints through flexion, while stabilizing your core and your lumbar spine. (8 reps each leg) Spinal Rotations (Twists) Start seated in a comfortable position (either legs long, crossed, or on a cushion). Arms can either be long out to the sides or crossed over your chest (corpse pose style). Find that light abdominal engagement and rotate your torso to the side. Pause in your rotation position for a nice deep breath before returning to the center. Alternate sides keeping your core engaged throughout. This exercise is helping you mobilize your spine in rotation, while stabilizing your core abdominal muscles in an upright position. (Remember: don't let your pelvis dance. Keep your sit bones anchored down so that all the movement is coming from your spine!) (5 reps each side) Take these 3 exercises home, try them out, and let me know how it felt. If you need some words of encouragement, or extra support I am here to help. Book a private session with me and we can go into much more detail on these exercises and more!