HEALTHY LIVING | Feature Reprinted from the Palisadian-Post
By: Susan Howard, Special to the Palisadian-Post, April 9, 2015
Looking for a way to create newness in your routine and give a fresh start to spring? Suspension training can bring something new to your fitness regime. Besides the benefit of introducing a new challenge to your routine, there are many other positive aspects to suspension training.
Efficiency: Save time by utilizing many muscles at the same time and also being able to use one piece of equipment for many exercises. This creates efficiency and effectiveness in your routine.
Focus on core: Each movement incorporates your core which includes abs, back, pelvis and chest muscles. The core is the center of your body’s ability to create stability, flexibility and balance. In our everyday life we use our core continuously throughout the day to pick our kids, reach for that high shelf or even get into the car.
Lia Montelongo works with her students in her session of superfunctional pulse.
Prevent injuries: Having a good sense of balance, symmetry and a strong-stable core helps significantly to prevent injuries in the whole body.
Quickly adapt to your needs of modifications or progressions: Suspension training allows you to adapt to what best suits your needs and weight load. Just by changing your position slightly you can adjust the intensity of the movement. This enables you to be more successful in your training and gives you faster, safer results.
Incorporate compound movements: With suspension training, you incorporate all aspects of fitness including cardio, strength, balance, flexibility and core stability, along with moving in all three planes. Training with this type of dimension and depth supports our movements in our life and helps to give the support we need to be strong.
Suspension training has taken on many forms including Antigravity Fitness, Cross Core program, aerial training and Superfunctional bar based on the circus trapezium. Superfunctional is a proprietary training program performed on the suspension bridge and is featured within Studio K. Many describe it as cross between traditional suspension training and Barre Method. Both exercise methodologies can be accomplished with the use of the Superfunctional, although most sessions incorporate a wide variety of it all.
Superfunctional sessions take suspension training to another level. The cross bar enables stand-alone postural warm-ups and spinal alignment, commonly found in Barre training. Exercises may either be performed suspended or at ground level. For more advanced training, the Superfunctional trapeze bar enables the user to swing, hang and even step from bar to bar. This is incredibly fun and progressive exercise session allowing movements to be made safely in any plane. Try new things and enjoy the benefits.
Note: Remember to always consult your physician before starting any program.
Susan Howard is a Partner and Director of Lifestyle Performance Training at Studio K in Pacific Palisades. Her philosophy of lifestyle performance training is to incorporate all of the functional movements in a creative, efficient program to help individuals train for life. Contact Studio K for more information regarding training and nutrition programs: (310) 454-1048 | susan@studioktraining.com