I believe that by combining Pilates, Strength, Cardio Endurance, Interval Training, and Primal/Paleo Nutrition, you will build strong, toned muscles, and achieve optimal Health and Fitness.

As a Personal Trainer Calabasas and Woodland Hills, I encourage, motivate, and energize my clients through a workout designed specifically for them. I want my clients to have fun during their workouts and feel good about themselves for taking care of their bodies. I always keep variety in my personal training workouts by incorporating different forms of resistance exercises and using different types of equipment.  I focus on exercises that promote strength, stability, stamina, performance, balance, alignment, control, and mind-body connection.

Sometimes you experience obstacles or imbalances in your lifestyle that require a deeper level of coaching. I practice one of the most scientifically validated methods of health coaching. My mission is to help you conquer obstacles, find solutions, and achieve goals based on your core values.

I use a Walk-and-Talk Method of Health Coaching utilizing a treadmill to walk at a slow pace in a focused and private environment. This helps to start my clients on a path of mobility as we work on discovering the obstacles slowing down progress and creatively finding solutions to move forward towards achieving specific goals. I also use a Muscle Tension Release Method after the walk-and-talk section to help release muscle tension, lengthen muscles, improve posture, and reduce stress. I also educate my clients on Nutrition as part of my health coaching practice. I provide grocery lists, recipes, and explain how a low carb, real food eating pattern can promote longevity and vitality.

Pilates and strengthening the core muscles

To achieve a strong core, you need a balance of four components, all of which must equally be very strong: pelvic floor, diaphragm, transverse abdominals and the multifidus muscles. When one or more of these muscles are weak, the core is weak and the rest of the body will be adversely affected. Pilates is an incredible approach to strengthening the core. It is important to focus on stability as well as flexibility to increase the health of the spine and keep the body feeling young and strong. I focus on Flexion, Extension, Rotation, and Lateral movement of the spine to improve the flexibility of the spine. I focus on isometric contractions such as planks and bridging exercises to improve the stability of the spine.

High Intensity Compound Movement and Strength Training

I love incorporating full body functional movement throughout the workout. These exercises are high intensity movements because they incorporate many large muscle groups at the same time. High Intensity Compound Movements are very effective exercises that can be done on Pilates equipment with springs or using other forms of resistance like bungees, resistance bands, and weights.

The method I use for strength training will build strong, lean muscles. You will not bulk up unless that is your specific goal, and in that case I would use a totally different approach than I use with most of my clients. After we turn 30, it is incredibly important to incorporate resistance/strength training not only to build strong, lean muscles, but to grow dense, strong bones. Strength/resistance training will help prevent osteoporosis along with other health related diseases. A strong muscular and skeletal system will help maintain balance, posture, strength, alignment, and optimal movement patterns. Age is just a number… strong muscles and bones are the secret to looking and feeling young!

Low Impact Cardio

My philosophy on cardio may sound new to you. I will not tell my clients to go spend an hour running on the treadmill 2-3 times a week on days they are not with me. Instead, I will tell them to go for a long walk or hike. Cardiovascular health is a lot more complicated than running as fast as you can on the treadmill for an hour. I believe it is important to incorporate interval training for short periods of time (30 seconds for example) and low to moderate cardio for longer periods of time.

Interval training: The body is working at its maximal effort for short periods of time and the heart rate will be at or around 90% of the max heart rate. This could mean 30 seconds of the following examples: walking on an incline on the treadmill, performing mountain climbers on the reformer, running in place on the Pilates jumpboard, or alternating knee lifts on the rebounder. It is important to provide a full recovery between intervals and this is when I incorporate isolation exercises that target smaller muscle groups, dynamic stretches, or a water break if necessary.

Low-moderate cardio: The body is able to sustain movement with low-moderate effort for longer periods of time. This could mean going for a long walk or hike. The heart rate should be about 55%- 75% of your max heart rate . I want my clients to build cardio endurance and improve performance without placing unhealthy stress on the body. Keeping the heart rate at or below 75% of their max heart when they are exercising for longer periods of time will help prevent the fight or flight response.  Unless I am focusing on interval training, I give my clients a low-moderate cardio workout just by keeping short transitions from one exercise to the next. When necessary, I alternate muscle groups to give proper recovery between sets while keeping the workout moving without breaks or downtime. I also use the rebounder/fitness trampoline, Pilates Jumpboard, and treadmill for low-moderate cardio workouts depending on my clients’ personal preferences and special needs.

Types of Cardio Equipment I use for interval training and low-moderate cardio workouts:

• Treadmill with incline
• Rebounder also known as the Fitness Trampoline
• Pilates Jumpboard