Why Movement Control Changes Everything | Maria Lucey

WEBVTT
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Are you ready to live an active lifestyle?
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Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms.
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I'm your host, Jeff Ford, and today I have the pleasure of being joined by Maria Lucy, one of our expert fitness specialists here at Palmetto Bluff.
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Maria has a background in strength and conditioning, yoga, and movement coaching.
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And she is someone our members know by her attention to detail and her ability to help people move well while still pushing them to improve.
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She also previously owned her own gym before relocating to Beauford, South Carolina.
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I remember from my initial conversation with Maria that she was such a fit for our team, our philosophy.
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And so I'm so excited that today we get to dive into movement quality, body awareness, training with intention, and how proper mechanics can influence not just performance, but long-term health and longevity.
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Maria, thanks so much for making the time to be on the podcast today.
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Oh, thank you, Jeff.
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You know I've been looking forward to this for a while.
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So having the opportunity to sit down and talk about all the things we love, looking forward to it.
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Yeah, it's great when we bring like-minded people together for a cause that's greater than us.
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And I know the members are going to be all over this episode because of what you bring to the table, just your approach, who you are as a person.
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And we'll dive into just the interplay between yoga and strength and conditioning.
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It's it's quite rare that someone has the same mindset that you have and teaches yoga.
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Right, right.
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Yeah.
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You know, there is a deep connection when we think about strength training, and and we'll dive in deeper when we come into this, but the ability to read the body, to know movement takes a lot of time, focus, breath work.
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So when you're strength training, that ability to slow down and dial in.
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More important than we think.
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Truly.
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Yeah.
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You've coached for over 20 years and even owned your own gym.
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I believe you had a full career and owned a gym, which I I know what that looks like.
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Incredible.
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Before moving to the low country, which is now your home, how has your philosophy around movement and training evolved over time?
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Yeah, well, it's crazy how it started.
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I was um working in a very large fitness facility in Delaware, teaching exercise classes, actually going back to school for nursing.
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And the gentleman that owned the club asked me, Why are you doing this?
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Why aren't you training?
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Why aren't you getting into the world of fitness?
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And in my head, I thought I had to follow this trajectory of nursing career.
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He allowed me to start training while I went through certification.
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Now, I had my bachelor's, had taken my anatomy and phys, but to receive that certification, he said, start training and you work through the process when you're here.
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So then that evolved to work with the strength and conditioning coach who really focused in on athletes, strength and conditioning, their performance.
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So allowing myself to work under a mentor that knew the body, knew programming, worked with all ages.
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So besides working with young athletes, I had the opportunity to work with high school collegiate athletes as well as older adults.
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So our programming allowed us to focus in on all of them.
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And working under someone was deep knowledge.
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Right out of the gates, you received exposure to different populations.
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And what's this mentor's name?
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It sounds like he definitely pushed you into the trajectory of this being a career for you.
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Joey Diascanis, he owned a facility called Achieving Physiques.
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And wild enough, he was my personal trainer.
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So I always in my training had a trainer.
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And so he would work with me while I was working in a different facility, asked me to join his team to work under him, which gave me that opportunity to deep dive into sports performance.
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And then from there, I opened up my own gym at my home while working for Joe while also working in the world of business.
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So I had it wrong.
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You had three jobs.
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Oh, I've always had three jobs.
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Yeah.
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It's definitely the tenacity in you.
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Yeah.
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Tell me more about your athletic background, how you personally came to fitness.
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I think I had my mer first membership at 15 at the YMCA because I played volleyball.
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You know, with all this height, why wouldn't I be, you know, working on that?
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For those of you who don't know Maria, she's she's not as tall as she's portraying.
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Right.
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And um, so I played volleyball in high school, played volleyball in college, took a little bit of a break, then went back to school for volleyball, and then uh uh scholarship in cross country.
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So I hit a lot of different uh sports in not the traditional way.
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Yeah, I had my daughters, um, so I took a little hiatus from school, had an opportunity with two years of uh eligibility left to be offered a full scholarship to run cross-country.
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Wow.
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Yeah, it was pretty wild.
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Cross country being the event of a 5K, or what would be an event, but that's called Yeah, that was it was a 5K, yeah.
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So um was a college in Delaware.
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We competed up and down the East Coast, made it to Nationals, which was in Wisconsin.
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By that point, I was pretty much tapped out because imagine having two kids.
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We also had a restaurant and I was running collegiately along with my students.
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That's insane to think about.
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Insane.
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But I think it allowed me to develop the ability to hone in and focus on what you're doing in the moment and breaking up your energy in that way.
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Sure.
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I mean, the kids in the morning, drop off for school, maintaining the home, practice to then go on to class at night.
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It was pretty wild.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And to compete.
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So that then evolved into back to the opportunity to train at the athletic center, which then led me to Joey Diascanis.
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Yeah, to my own gym.
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Wow.
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Yeah.
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It's been quite a quite a an unexpected journey, it sounds like.
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Yeah.
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But now as you reflect back, it's it's almost feels like it's where you're meant to be.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I I feel like I've had these opportunities of people presented in my life that have been a mentor, a guide to offer opportunity, much like yourself.
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How I fell into being here on Palmetto Bluff.
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And did you think you were going to train when you moved to South Carolina?
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What were your thoughts uh as you relocated?
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Because you've only been here almost three years now?
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I'm a location.
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Two and a half, yeah.
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Yeah.
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I was a little lost being in Bufort.
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It's a little different than what I'm used to.
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And trying to find my space.
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And it was a rough year, I have to be honest.
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And then falling upon this opportunity at Palmetto Bluff changed my whole outlook.
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Yeah for sure.
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Well, I appreciate your vulnerability.
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I think a lot of us can relate to that with life transition.
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I've experienced that multiple times.
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And it couldn't have happened at a better time for our team.
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And you've been such an integral part of adding to how we go about our program and being that voice.
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So I would love to dive into movement.
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You have a voice around movement that I connect deeply with.
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I've seen you present technique training to members during our wellness week.
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What's one thing you wish more people understood about movement and exercise?
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The quality of the movement is key.
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Having the ability to think about slowing down.
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There's always a place for movements that are faster, a little more intensity.
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But building the groundwork, I always think of looking at the body from the ground up.
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So how can we teach members to feel that, to feel the ground, work up the body so that when you're training, when you're going through movement, you have that inner intelligence to know how the body's going to move?
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An innate ability for the user to recognize that as they go about movement.
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What's one way that you help someone new to fitness become more from the ground up as you've described it?
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So a lot of times it's just letting them feel their body in space, looking at their posture, feeling standing.
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So before we even get into movement, just working up the body systematically.
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And that almost stems with body awareness.
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How how important is it that as someone layers on in their practice of strength training or even yoga to have body awareness?
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I think it's pretty key.
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When we think about being balanced, you know, we hear that a lot, having controlled movements, it's coming back to knowing your body and how we move, knowing when to push, when to pull back.
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So just the ability to stand, stack the spine, feel the grounding of the feet, that allows us to prepare for movement.
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So if we can't, if we're not pro if our body has imbalances, which we all have, it's the ability to work through the imbalances to try and make those changes.
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Is it a postural change, change in movement?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I'm I'm hearing we need to have a baseline of what's stacked, what's home for each of us, and then moving in a way that honors the imbalances.
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And that ability to start on the back, to feel the spine, right?
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So if you start on supine position, can you imprint from supine coming to quadruped, from quadruped coming to a half kneel, from half kneel to standing?
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So that ability to work up the body through these movements to come to standing.
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Perfect place to start.
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Right?
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We have to feel the body.
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We have to feel the spine, the feet.
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Where are we in space?
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Can we bring an awareness to where we are?
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Because if we do not have awareness of our bodies, how can we pick up 135-pound weight to deadlift?
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If we can't stack, align, brace the core, ground the feet, know what stability of the shoulder is, where's your alignment of your cervical spine?
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Yeah.
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It's so key.
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Yeah.
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And it's almost like a lot of the times in fitness, it's one of those areas in life we just throw ourselves into it.
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Especially if, hey, I want to get in shape.
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I get it.
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I did it.
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Yeah.
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You're kidding me?
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I used to throw myself all over the place.
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And then thankfully, through age and experience, I pulled back.
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I mean, there's times I still will move in a higher intensity, but majority of the time it is with quality and intent.
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Yeah.
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And I think that's the message here for us to dig even deeper on is having body awareness in a way that when you move into these higher intensity focused sessions, you know where that shoulder should be.
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And you're not relying on something that I hear a lot of people wanting, a mirror.
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You know internally this is where my body's supposed to be positioned.
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Truly.
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Working the stabilizers, right?
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How do we lock in?
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So before I squat, before I deadlift, before I lunge, does this feel right in space?
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Do I have the awareness so that I can have quality movement?
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That's what I'm saying.
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We don't want to break our bodies down.
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We're looking to build.
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You know, we think about movement from here on, isn't it about moving as we age with quality?
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100%.
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Efficiently, being able to get up off the ground, bend over to tie your shoes, pick up your grandkids, right?
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All daily living things.
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And I believe the point you're making is why rush it?
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Why not take that opportunity to slow down and fully understand that this is the right position in an exercise session because we're gonna need to know the right position in everyday life or we're gonna get injured.
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Truly.
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And with control.
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I think there's times uh Nadair and I were in the Moreland gym together, and I think we both said simultaneously, control to our client.
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But it's just that opportunity to think, yes, we're we're in this movement pattern, but do you have control?
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Do you have control of the body?
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Do you have control of the weight?
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Yeah, it's such a parallel with life, is what's coming up for me.
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Oh, right.
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We can have all these occupied seasons, a ton of stuff going on, like the season you were in with working at your mentor's gym, opening your own gym, having a full-time job, having kids.
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It's being able to learn these things in the gym sometimes helps us to have all these things going on in our the different buckets of our life and feel that sense of control that we each want.
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Right.
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Truly.
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Yeah.
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I didn't know we were gonna get so pretty neat, yeah, right?
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Yeah.
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Now back on this physical side of control.
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There's a lot of people that I believe might be listening today where slowing down can sometimes be challenging, more challenging than moving faster.
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How do you better create buy-in with that person?
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So I have worked with many clients that like to go through the movement fast, right?
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I want to get it done.
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I I gotta get there and move through.
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Having the opportunity to show them what setup is like, feeling the eccentric movement, the control of the down to go through the full range with control brings in a whole different element to the movement.
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They feel their body, they're connecting the breath, right?
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Yeah.
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So to help that person understand the control piece, the downward phase of say a squat, truly that eccentric phase, you almost talk them through that.
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Absolutely.
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Okay, count them through that.
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Whatever's gonna make that connection.
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And even if we're doing, say, a bench press, right?
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You're laying on your back, you first start by feeling the grounding of the feet, draw the shoulders underneath, set up the hands, pause, reset the shoulders, right?
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It's that ability.
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We're not just ripping the bar off the bench, we're taking that bar and we're resetting once it's over top of us, right?
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Where are where is your body?
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Yeah, and can you work a slow progression here, right?
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Shifting from high repetitions to this level of control in a check-in process.
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But also talking them through it and then hearing their feedback.
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How did that feel?
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Do what what did your body tell you?
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Is there something different that turned on?
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Did you have more control?
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Maria, I'm so excited we're having this conversation because our new PB strong format is gonna allow for this opportunity to better position, focus on the six to ten reps of super high quality.
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I love it.
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Yeah, I'm so excited.
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It's it's almost go time.
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I know.
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I cannot wait.
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But I was thinking about this um over the weekend and that opportunity for members to progress.
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Yeah, to overload the body and to get stronger with this greater level of awareness.
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But also being able to track what their progressions are through the app, maybe.
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Yeah.
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Right?
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To see how they're building over time, maybe the in-body opportunity to check in where are we before we start?
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And where does this lead, say, six to eight months down the road?
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Yeah.
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Working in a true strength program where you are progressing.
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In a group setting of 24 people at a time.
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In a pretty fantastic space.
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It's pretty darn cool.
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Well, I appreciate the perspective on the focus being set up an eccentric phase for the person who might struggle with moving uh slow versus fast.
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Right.
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And I think what uh proofs to people a lot over time is results, is the change in muscle, is getting stronger.
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So sometimes it feels like to me, for that person who's maybe been doing a ton of reps, moving really quickly, the proof becomes in the pudding as we overload the body, uh probably not eating pudding, but as we take this approach versus the fast approach.
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Sure, sure.
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And and just even how their body moves in maybe the sport they're playing, right?
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If you play pickleball, if you're playing tennis, golf, do you feel like your swing is different just by that ability to maybe engage the glutes more than you had before, pausing at the bottom of a rep?
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How often do you hear that with with the people that you work with?
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Often.
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Yeah.
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They start to notice these things.
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Oh, yeah, yeah.
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I'll ask, how do you feel?
00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:47.680
How was the game?
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:49.039
How's your body moving?
00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:49.920
That's a big thing.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:51.599
How's your body moving?
00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.119
How's your body moving?
00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:54.400
Elaborate on that for us.
00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:54.880
Right.
00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:00.400
Do you feel you have more movement freedom to get through the range of motion, right?
00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.960
If I'm working with a golfer, how is that rotation coming along?
00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:12.079
If we're setting ourselves up, if we're working that hinge, do you feel like you have more rotation, more power in the swing?
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:18.160
Now, do you go naturally about checking in with people on that when you're session to session?
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:19.599
Hey, how's it feeling out on the course?
00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:20.400
Oh, 100%.
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:21.039
Yeah.
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:21.440
Yeah.
00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:21.680
Yeah.
00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:33.039
I think that's a great point of seeing change in the hobbies that are important to us goes a long way in continuing to follow a program.
00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:34.000
Sure.
00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:39.680
Now I love that you've set the foundation for just looking at movement differently here today.
00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.559
I'd like to jump into yoga.
00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:47.839
Your Friday power yoga class, it's incredibly popular here at Pumida Buff.
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.559
Uh, with the expansion, we know we'll be able to offer more yoga.
00:19:53.279 --> 00:20:02.720
How has yoga influenced the way you coach your movement and performance athletes, like folks who are sports specific?
00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:11.039
Yeah, well, the unique thing about yoga, it comes back into slowing down, coming into the breath and the mind.
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:20.480
And that ability to steal the mind and to connect on the mat, you have to build the base.
00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:25.039
So think about um balancing postures, right?
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:31.759
You know, a lot of times we'll go through a nice warm-up of the articulation and movement of the spine, right?
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.359
Setting up the core.
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.799
And as I build, and I often build with a slow flow.
00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:41.279
So with the movements, they have to feel the grounding of the foot.
00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:45.839
Say we're coming into a runner's lunge, yogis will know what that means.
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.440
Build the stabilization.
00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:53.359
Come up to a high balance pose to feel the ground, feel the connection to the breath to the core.
00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:58.960
But then when you're coming up to a single leg balance, think about what that takes, right?
00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:08.799
A lot of foundational movement from the foot, stabilization, stabilization up from the hamstring, loop mead, abs, right?
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.119
It's all that stacking.
00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:16.480
So how does that apply to the foundational movements that you use when we lift?
00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:17.759
Same exact thing.
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:18.559
Exactly.
00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:19.119
Yeah.
00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:19.599
Yeah.
00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:20.240
Yeah.
00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.839
It's just coaching through a different pattern.
00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:24.240
Right.
00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:25.839
As part of the practice of yoga.
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:26.640
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:36.240
You know, we have there, you know, if I went deep dive into the philosophy of yoga, which I won't do today, but you know, the postures, which are the yasanas, are just one limb of yoga.
00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:52.400
Yoga, all yoga also has a lot of deep ethics and foundations that are integrated within the practice that allows for something a lot deeper for the stillness of the mind and the connection to the breath.
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.799
But myself, I also find that in training.
00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.759
If I'm in the gym and I like to be alone.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:00.960
In a gym.
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.279
I don't know if you're like You like your time.
00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:03.920
I do.
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:11.119
I like that time, but that's a lot of time to do deep, you know, and reflection, right?
00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:16.240
Where I can maybe, you know, have pen and paper next to me, write things down, right?
00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.759
Things that come in, different ideas, but it's stillness.
00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:21.039
It's stillness within.
00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:26.960
Maybe not having the AirPods in, maybe taking in the sounds around me, listening to the breath.
00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:29.119
You're listening to the breath in a yoga room.
00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.559
I want to hear audible breath in a yoga room, truly.
00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:33.119
Yeah.
00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:35.359
It's incredible you point that out.
00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:47.599
I uh have the same level of personal action in a strength session on my own where I've kind of got my best thoughts, have a pen and paper out.
00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:50.079
I thought I was the only weird person that potentially did that.
00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.640
If I don't have the pen and paper, if I'm at another gym, it's photo, you know, I'm on my notes.
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:55.039
Yeah.
00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.200
It's that clarity, it's that ability.
00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.440
Because you've you're breathing, right?
00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.240
You're in that moment where your body's letting go.
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:06.319
Stillness is such a great word there.
00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:07.519
Stillness is key.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:08.559
We need stillness.
00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.920
Everybody needs stillness.
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.680
Now, oftentimes yoga gets portrayed as a flexibility practice.
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:24.319
You've clearly described it's the cousin of strength training.
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.920
What does yoga teach people beyond flexibility?
00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:29.279
Oh boy, yeah.
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.440
Flexibility is just the bonus, right?
00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.519
The the I believe it brings in postural awareness.
00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:42.000
You gotta have the ability to feel the grounding, the stacking, breath, that connection to breath.
00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:44.960
It's maintaining control.
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:45.920
There you go again.
00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:48.000
Control of the movement, right?
00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:48.799
Yeah.
00:23:49.119 --> 00:24:00.400
Now, in translation to everyday life, just like strength training, what would you say yoga does for these daily living activities?
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:09.440
I think it's an inward meditation brings you a little bit of spiritual liberation.
00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:11.519
That's what I find in yoga.
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.880
How would you define spiritual liberation?
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.000
Um getting to know yourself within.
00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.920
That can be scary for a lot of people.
00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.160
I think it's scary every time I'm on the mat.
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.400
I mean, I have healed, I have gone through a ton on a yoga mat.
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:26.720
Yeah.
00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:27.200
Yeah.
00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.759
Sometimes it's just going down into a child's pose.
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:40.160
But it's also if we keep running from ourselves, if we keep running from the ability to look within, it's going to be exposed one way or another.
00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:48.400
Having the ability to find it through the gym, through some sort of practice, that's what I feel yoga does.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:54.480
It brings in so many different opportunities to get to know yourself.
00:24:54.799 --> 00:25:05.039
Yeah, I feel like we've stumbled onto this mind-body connection and a corner of our program that we could categorize as mindfulness.
00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:17.440
And being on a yoga mat starts to get you facing yourself in your life where you may not be facing yourself and need to.
00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:19.200
Yeah, for sure.
00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:37.599
You know, you see a lot of the Instagrams or maybe the yoga journal, and you see all these beautiful poses and and movements, but truly yoga is about connection to your body, to yourself, that interweaving, and the postures are just a way to get there.
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:42.000
So it's not just about like really awesome Lululemon yoga pants.
00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:42.720
Maybe.
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.960
Yeah, those I love Lululemon personally.
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:46.799
Come on, that's why I bring it up.
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:48.400
Bonus, right?
00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:49.359
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:54.160
And the added bonus and the uh the yoga pants.
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:55.119
For sure.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:56.480
Cool outfits.
00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:59.759
Now, intensity.
00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:16.720
I think what's unique about you is you have this focus on movement quality, you have this perspective on breath awareness, however, you also push people.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:24.319
How do you go about modifying and re repositioning someone?
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:28.880
Because I think it's very challenging to do this.
00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:36.400
So I'm wondering what's the balance with challenging someone and keeping them safe?
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:38.480
I think giving them autonomy.
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:59.279
Letting them know they have the opportunity to move independently by offering modifications, by offering little adjustments in and recognizing that those little adjustments, maybe to increase intensity or to pull back, are quite significant.
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:08.960
So there they have that opportunity to get to know their body where they need to be and not worry about what anybody else is doing in the room.
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:29.519
Being someone who has coached a number of classes, can you give us an example of when you're gonna push someone versus pull them back a little bit?
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:38.480
So if I'm watching someone say on, and I know their body and I know their movement, right?
00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:40.000
They've been coming to class for a while.
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.160
I'm walking, you got a good relationship with them.
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:42.640
Great.
00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:43.759
I see how they move.
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:44.960
I'm adding weight.
00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:50.480
If I'm looking at what they're doing, I might increase their weight and just hand it to them and say, let's go.
00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:52.000
We need to move that on.
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:59.519
Again, if I'm looking at someone who I can see is maybe a little tentative coming in, giving them an alternative.
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.640
Wall balls aren't their movement jam, right?
00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:07.119
Well, we'll we have other options to take in.
00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:08.880
Movement quality looks good.
00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:09.759
Gonna load them.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.839
Gonna load them, gonna have them pick up the pace.
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:16.559
Say they're on a cardio machine, and I can see they're not quite working to their capacity.
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:17.759
We're gonna increase that.
00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:20.880
I'm gonna stand over top of them and see how it's go.
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.359
Many members know that all so well.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.160
Yeah, we'll have to get you on a PB cardio class.
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:26.640
Right.
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:26.880
Yeah.
00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:27.599
Definitely.
00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:29.519
Yeah, we we don't have time today.
00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:35.119
Maybe, maybe we do uh in a later episode, but Versa climbers, I know they're close to your heart.
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:36.000
I love them.
00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:36.720
I truly do.
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:40.480
I'm very excited for this opportunity and what's to come.
00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:50.640
Yeah, lots of options to push people and pull them back with equipment that lends itself to keeping people safe at the same time.
00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:51.039
Yeah.
00:28:51.119 --> 00:29:03.200
And just circling back to that about talking about the autonomy and how essential that is, but it's also helping them understand what their personal limitations are and when they can pull back and when to push forward.
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:06.960
So again, that's awareness, control, and quality.
00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:09.279
All comes back to those three things.
00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:19.200
You're known for making small adjustments with folks, the tiniest change to their hip position, their foot.
00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.319
How does that completely change an exercise?
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:23.680
Oh my gosh.
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:34.079
I mean, it's just watching how they're moving in space and seeing that just this little minute change of adjustment.
00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:53.519
I know it's not going to be very clear and may not come across, but if I'm watching a body and I love to watch the pattern of movement of a body, and I can see maybe that that right hip's hiked, or you're not truly engaging through the full foot, just allowing them to turn that on and them giving me the feedback.
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:54.640
How does it feel?
00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:56.160
Do you draw that shoulder down?
00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:57.359
Does that make a difference?
00:29:57.680 --> 00:29:59.680
Little rotation here, right?
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.079
So it's just working with them so they can feel it.
00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:06.079
And do they feel what I see?
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:07.920
Ooh, that's good.
00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:09.039
Yeah.
00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:13.680
Because if they don't feel it, then the next time they come in, right?
00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:18.880
The pattern goes back to what they're used to prior.
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:19.680
And that's it.
00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:23.680
It's all about how do we break these patterns, right?
00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:24.880
We all have patterns in life.
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:30.319
You catch yourself standing at the Starbucks line, foot out, hit jutted to the side, right?
00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:31.519
Where's your head in space?
00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:32.960
Are you looking at a phone?
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:38.160
Or can you come back in and start to create a little bit of awareness of how you're standing?
00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:39.519
How are you sitting in life?
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:44.400
Are you slunched over, shoulders rounded, chin jutted forward, right?
00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:47.680
It's just bringing in and turning it on.
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:48.319
Yeah.
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:52.480
So I want them to feel it and then tell me what they feel.
00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:54.240
It's a feedback process.
00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:57.759
We got a little extra time here.
00:30:57.839 --> 00:30:59.119
I'm gonna put you on the spot.
00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:05.359
I like with our fitness specialists to do a rapid fire round.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:11.680
And you only get to choose one strength training exercise.
00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:13.359
Which one would you choose?
00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:14.559
Deadlift.
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:23.839
Second rapid fire question morning workout or afternoon evening?
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:25.359
Oh, I love a morning workout.
00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:26.160
Okay.
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:30.880
Go-to recovery meal.
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:34.559
I'm so boring.
00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:40.400
Chicken, roasted vegetables, lots of olive oil, squeeze and lemon.
00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:44.640
Your go-to mindfulness practice.
00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:45.759
Yoga.
00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:48.319
Meditation yoga.
00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:50.240
Nice.
00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:51.039
Yeah.
00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:54.720
So we're getting close to the end of our time.
00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:08.480
If someone listening today wanted to start to move better, they wanted to have more control in their body, more awareness, where would you tell them to begin?
00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:14.960
I'd start by making uh inquire about a trainer on staff.
00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:20.160
There is such a beautiful collection of really great instructors.
00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:22.480
And that's the best way to go.
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:28.960
If you want to really dial into your body, really become aware, make that time, make the investment.
00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:38.640
Then if you feel comfortable, even if you're taking the classes, then you'll have that knowledge to take that into the gym where you can start to work a little more independently.
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:47.680
Maria, final question that I ask every guest, what does wellness mean to you?
00:32:48.319 --> 00:33:00.880
You know, um I look at wellness like a wheel, and it's the integration of the physical health, emotional well-being, nutrition, and play.
00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:04.480
So a lot that comes into play with values, right?
00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:07.119
And are you deficient in one?
00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:10.880
Are you in an overload, overabundance of the other?
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:17.279
So recognizing when you're depleted, when you're overindulging, and how do you find balance?
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:25.759
So when you have that equal equanimity, right, of the wheel, the wellness wheel, that to me is it.
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:27.200
The wheel keeps turning.
00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.240
The wheel keeps turning.
00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:29.039
I like that.
00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:29.599
Yeah.
00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:30.079
Yeah.
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:35.279
And just having, again, maintaining the balance for a healthy, fulfilled life.
00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:37.680
Well, I appreciate you so much.
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:46.720
Oh I know our listeners who are members here at Pull Middle Buff just get so much out of their time with you.
00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:53.599
It's amazing to have you on all the different class formats that you lead.
00:33:53.839 --> 00:34:00.079
And I'm just so grateful that we're on this journey together and get to be a part of an amazing team.
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:04.000
I feel so lucky and so grateful to be here, truly.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:05.519
Thanks, Maria.
00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:06.319
Thank you.
00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:14.239
Listeners, feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of the week.
00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:31.840
This conversation with Maria Lucy hit me differently this week because honestly, life has felt fast lately.
00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:42.719
Over the last week, we've been preparing to open our new fitness facility here at Pomenta Bluff Club, and there have been multiple 12-hour days, 7 a.m.
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:53.519
to 7 p.m., moving equipment, walking spaces, solving problems, preparing for our members, and finalizing all the details.
00:34:53.840 --> 00:35:01.360
Even last night, our Advantage Fitness team visited our new facility to see the work that we had done together.
00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:05.920
They were blown away with what it came out, came to be.
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:08.239
We had a lot of iterations.
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:19.119
And even after a full day of walking the facilities, having dinner at crossroads, it was fun to talk through everything that was ahead.
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:33.920
But on top of the facility transitions, spending time with our equipment reps, we had Memorial Day events this past weekend, buffathlon, Murph workouts, a lot was happening all at once.
00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:40.559
And I think that's why I love working here at Palmetto Bluff, is because there is so much happening at once.
00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:46.079
And what I think you can take from this is that there are seasons where life speeds up.
00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:50.239
And sometimes you simply have to push.
00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:58.239
I think that it's important to acknowledge because not every season is going to be balanced perfectly.
00:35:58.480 --> 00:36:03.840
Sometimes leadership requires extra effort, sometimes meaningful work requires long days.
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:13.199
Sometimes there's a short window where you're full of energy, you have to be full of energy and your attention is needed more than normal.
00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:15.920
Last week was one of those weeks for me.
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:27.519
But what stood out from this conversation with Maria was the reminder that even during intense seasons, awareness still matters.
00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.199
You can push hard without becoming disconnected from yourself.
00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:43.119
You can work long hours and still pay attention to your breathing, your posture, your energy, your spouse, your attitude, your interactions, and frankly, the way that you're showing up for people.
00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:46.239
Maria helped slow me down during this one.
00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:55.039
She talked a lot about awareness from the ground up, being fully present in your movement instead of just rushing through reps.
00:36:55.440 --> 00:37:08.320
And I think the same thing applies to life because when life speeds up, it becomes really easy to move into adrift.
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:14.960
You stop noticing, you stop recovering well, you stop being present, you stop coming up for air.
00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:18.800
And honestly, that's where I found myself a little bit last week.
00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:23.519
Not in a bad way, just in a very human way.
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:25.360
I knew the push was important.
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:28.719
I believed in what we were building, I was grateful for it.
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:31.039
I am so very grateful for it.
00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:42.000
But at the same time, there's this tension when you realize eventually you have to slow down enough to breathe again.
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:45.599
Eventually you have to reconnect with yourself.
00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:54.800
That's why I think intentionality matters so much, not just in training, but in leadership, work, and life.
00:37:55.519 --> 00:38:00.960
Push hard when the season requires it, but don't lose awareness while you're pushing.
00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:05.519
Take notice, stay grounded, stay deliberate.
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:08.800
Gosh, Maria is a deliberate human.
00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:11.039
I love that so much about her.
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Pay attention to the people around you, pay attention to your own body and mind.
00:38:17.679 --> 00:38:23.440
Because healthy momentum is not about operating at maximum speed all the time.
00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:35.039
It's about knowing when to accelerate and knowing when it's time to recover so you can sustain the mission put on your heart long term.
00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:37.679
That's healthy momentum.
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:45.199
That message brings us to the end of our time together today.
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I want to thank you so much for joining the conversation.
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And until next week, remember to actively participate in life in your terms.