March is nothing short of complete madness with of course KY basketball, but it also begins the pressure of spring break bikinis and derby dress bootcamp! Here is a recap of our Bikini Bootcamp & March Madness @byoulou!

We always prepare for the warming months with a Bootcamp to B.Bikini ready! 

Our B.Barre Beautees worked hard for 6 weeks and their results were phenomenal and their mentality of fitness changed! Loving your workout makes for a healthier & happier YOU!

At the of the 6 week Bootcamp, they remained more motivated than week 1 !!! It didn’t hurt we kicked off a #byoulouchallenge of Red Vs Blue as March Madness became intense in the Bluegrass! Check out these challengers who brought a Red Victory to byoulou!

 

Nothing Zen about this challenge as the Red and Blue Beautees showed their spirit all week long! 

But as hard as Blue tried, the Red Cards brought home the #byoulouchallenge victory! The game in Indy, proved otherwise! As some of us cheered & celebrated and some of us mourned the Cards loss, we all come together to cheer on Kentucky as we support our Bluegrass #marchmadnessobsession !

It’s almost game time!

Lets Go CATS!

Start your Journey to Fitness HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ummm…..Yes, please!!!!!

You too can have these FAB obliques practicing proper form in T-Stand Plank!

T-Stand Plank is an amazing exercise that tones your entire core, particularly your obliques.  But as always, proper form is the key to targeting the appropriate muscles and keeping your body safe from injury.   Starting from a full plank, drop your heels to your left and reach your right arm up to the sky.  Your shoulder should be stacked right over your wrist, but continue to push away from the mat, distributing the weight out through your fingertips to keep the pressure out of your wrist.  With your other arm, keep reaching for the sky; this will keep you from allowing your shoulders to collapse.  Hips should be lifted as you contract the lower oblique muscles.   Check it out…

Now it’s time to move!  Sometimes we’ll tap your hips up, scoop your upper arm under your waistline or reach your upper arm over head, all to focus and contract the lower oblique muscles.  But modify when you need to!!!!  You can always drop your lower knee to the mat to make this a slightly less advanced exercise.  Keep you hips lifted and you will still get a tremendous burn!  The other way you can modify is to drop down to your forearm to lose the pressure in your wrist or to adjust the pressure in the shoulder.  

Well that’s it for today.  Happy Friday and Happy T-Standing!  

 

 

DO YOU WANT KILLER ABS?????  

WELL, THEN LET’S TALK ABOUT B.SILQUE LIFTED’S KILLER CORE WORK…A.K.A. PLANK ON STEROIDS!!!  

Pictures say a thousand words, so let’s just take a look first….

   

 

 

 

 

 

Lifted plank is more advanced than a classic plank on the mat.  It takes more core strength to hold your hips up and tighten your abdominals and it also uses a lot more upper body strength because your legs are elevated.  The movements as you see above involve a larger range of motion than movements within a classic plank, so they also require significantly more core and upper body strength.

SO….if you cannot hold your hips up and your back and hips are sagging, you need to be doing plank on the mat!!!!  Plank on the mat is still an amazing core workout so don’t be discouraged; it takes practice, practice and more practice!  Our biggest concern is protecting our bodies, not straining our backs and being kind to our joints!  Which leads us right into FORM…

 

 

Here’s the B.Silque Lifted Plank into a Pike.   Feet cradle in the silque, palms go directly under your shoulders.  You want to alleviate the pressure on your wrists by distributing the weight out through all your fingertips.  Hips are slightly higher than your waistline to ensure there is no sagging and pressure on your lower back.  As we said before, if at any point during the exercises you cannot hold your hips up, then remove your feet from the silque and simply plank on the mat!  

To add the pike, you just tighten your core to lift your hips up over your shoulders, pulling your extended legs into a pike position and taking your gaze to the back of the room.  From there, you want to slowly lower yourself back into a perfect plank and repeat the sequence.  Then you’ll need a quick break on the mat before heading into your next plank exercise!!  

Have fun taking these tips to practice, but  be careful and be kind to your body!!!!  Happy Friday!!!

 

GIVE YOUR BOOTY ANOTHER BOOST!!

Yes, we’ve spent a few Form Fridays talking about our rear ends, but let’s face it, we all want to lift our butts!!!!!   And believe it or not, ladies, swimsuits are on the horizon! They are already displaying them in stores, despite the snow outside!  

So let’s talk about B.Silque’s Lifted Bubble Duty exercise, the hinged arabesque.  The great thing about this exercise is that you are also stengthening your core while you work your bubble!  In fact, this exercise works your ENTIRE BODY!

First, let’s take a look at Stephanie in the picture below.

So this is the position we want to see for Hinged Arabesque!  Steph is focusing on her left glute in the picture above.  Different variations can be used to contract this muscle:  pulses up, slides, tiny circles, flutters, full range of motion all with flexed foot or pointed.   

But in this position you are strengthening a lot more than just your rear!  Your core is fully contracted in order to maintain balance in the silque as well as keep you at the plumb line {center of gravity}.  If you are swinging back and forth during this exercise then you need to tie your tight core-set…it will pull you right back to the plumb line!   You will also feel fatigue in the standing thigh and glute because standing in a silque takes a lot more work than standing on the floor!  And last, your upper body is also contracted while in the hinged position to keep you from falling forward to the mat.  

As you can see, this is a phenomenal exercise with many benefits!!!

But don’t be intimidated; if you aren’t comfortable being lifted in the silque, all of these exercises can be performed on the mat as well!  you will still use all the same muscles.  Using just a mobile silque hammock for support while in arabesque is a HUGE core worker!!!  

So put these tips to work in your next B.Silque Lifted class!!!  And don’t forget, we have a B.Silque Workshop scheduled on Saturday at B.YOU Springhurst, where we’ll break down all the exercises and tricks!

HAPPY SNOWY FRIDAY BEAUTEES!!!

LIFT YOUR BOOTY W/ STANDING SEAT WORK

You know you want it…that perky, lifted booty…so come and get it!!!!  Standing seat work will absolutely lift and tone your derriere with the correct form and focus!  So, tune into this….

Set up by facing the barre with feet in parallel and hip distance apart.  You want your abdomen touching the barre….that way we can keep reminding you to zip your abs up to the barre!!!  Hands will take an underhand grip on the barre.  Take your working leg behind you, slightly on the diagonal.  FIND THAT GLUTE MUSCLE!  

Barely lift your big toe off the mat…if you lift it too high, your back will arch!  That is a  NO NO!  Make sure your hips stay square to the mirror and your abs are fully zipped up.  HINT:  The more you zip your abs the deeper the contraction in that glute!

At this point, you’ve already worked your thighs, so you’re standing leg is probably burning and fatigued, so try this little trick:  Push your weight into the working legs hand, and roll the weight to your inner arch of your standing leg.  That helps to take the pressure off the thigh so you can FOCUS on the working glute only!  This is a HUGE mind & body connection.  So no cheating…focus and make it shake!!!  

Movement:  So whether your Inspire-er has you in pointed, flex, pretzel, circles, lifts, pulses, or whatever, they should ALL be done with tiny, itty bitty movements!  Throughout the movements, keep checking your form over and over.  The more you keep the hips square and belly button pulled in, the better rear end you will have!!!!

Here’s Steph showing you perfect form…

HAPPY BOOTY LIFTING BEAUTEES!!!!! XOXOXO