Before I get into today’s post, I wanted to be sure to let northern Indiana and southern Michigan T-Tappers know that the South Bend clinic details have been worked out!  Registration will be in the store soon, but you can read more about it HERE!

And heads up–the T-Tapp store will undergo some more “construction” this weekend trying to fix some glitches–your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated!

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Ready to work that core with Brain-Body Fitness Floor?!

If you haven’t explored Brain-Body Fitness Floor, you’re in for a treat!  It doesn’t have an instructional—if you have done any of the T-Tapp floor workouts, there are many moves you will be familiar with, but they will have new “brain-body” tweaks for optimal fascial stretching and taking muscle activation to a new level.   There are also some new moves as well as fanTAPPinistic stretches (that are worth the price of the dvd just for those stretches!).

Since there isn’t an instructional, I suggest you watch it first.  Yes, yes, I know!  You want to pop that dvd in and let’s DO it, right?!   BUT, if an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, a half hour watching your new dvd is worth several months of frustration!

You’ll notice that Sequence 1 is the longest–and the hardest!  Sequence 2 is a lot of stretching, but Teresa sneaks in LadyBug and Crab Claws, along with some of the pilates moves–so Teresa’s idea of a nice stretching sequence and mine are veerrrrryyyy different! 🙂  Sequence 3 consists of stretches and two side-lying moves, Pretzel Twist (wait ’til you see what’s she done to THAT one!) and a new move that has no official name yet, but I call it the Flip Point move.

Some Tips

*Brain-Body Fitness Floor (as well as Core Floor) have a neutral spine on the beginning stretches.  The focus is a lot of cross-stretching that really works the fascia in amazing ways!  That plus being on the floor can help align your spine and work on balancing muscle imbalances–as Teresa was teaching Core Floor 2 at the Retreat last August, I went from not being able to fully press my right pinky finger to the rest of my fingers for “mitten hands” at the beginning of the day to effortlessly being able to do it, almost without even thinking about it after we stood up to do final kickouts at the end of Core Floor!

So do keep in mind that as you are doing the jazz stretches, you won’t be trying to press the lower back to the floor.

*On moves where legs are in the air then lowering, including pilates style moves at the end of Sequences 1 and 2, be very sure you are pressing that lower back!  It is easy to start using the back, glutes and legs to do these moves if you have a weak core. Using a hand towel rolled lengthwise  and placed just below your tailbone can be helpful to alert you when you start to lose that core focus–you will feel your tailbone start to roll up on the wedge that the rolled towel forms!  It is better to not lower your legs too far than to lose your core.

*This is more of a technological tip–if you are working out using a laptop, placing it on a small step stool vs the floor can be easier on the neck. Also, switch which side you put it on so you are not always looking to the same side as you watch Teresa.

Alternately, you could watch a move, hit rewind, then do it by her verbal cues so your head can be more neutral vs turned to one side.  Unless, of course, you have something to project your video onto the ceiling.  Maybe a ceiling mounted unit like the dentist office uses?!  😉

*One of the best pieces of advice I ever learned, especially for floorwork, was to “stay in the muscle”.  The goal is to use the abs, not go as far/as fast as Teresa.  Sometimes that meant (and sometimes still does!) that my shoulders might not get all the way off the floor in Cross-Over Sit-Ups, or that my leg might not go as high for Crab Claws, or as far out for the half-pilates moves. But I can tell I am working my core, blasting my muffin, and that’s what I want!

How to Start

After watching the dvd or the sequence first. I personally would start with Sequence 2.  It is very deceptive though!  I think of it as you’re getting a nice little stretch only to find out Teresa just got you to work your abs and core! Sneaky!

After doing Sequence 2 a few days, you could move to Sequence 3 or 1, depending if you want to do something different (Pretzel Twist and Flip Point on Sequence 3) or do something similar to Sequence 2 but taking muscle activation up a notch (Sequence 1).  Still watch it first so you will have an idea of what is coming.

Teresa told me I could do one of these sequences each day and it would not make me crash.   Of course, as always, she is right!    I would even feel comfortable doing Sequence 2 plus a shorter workout (such as MORE, half of Healthy Hormones Menopause Management or Basic Tempo) on the same day.  That said, always listen to your body and do what is best for your situation!

A sample schedule focusing just on the Brain-Body Fitness Floor might be (after watching the sequences first):

M-Sequence 2
T-Sequence 2
W-Sequence 3
Th-Sequence 2
F-Sequence 3
S-Sequence 1
Sun-Off or just the beginning stretches (Sequence 2, beginning to about 7:05)

You could then start the next week alternating between the 3 sequences, one per day.

Another sample schedule, this one incorporating Brain-Body Fitness Floor with other short workouts, such as Basic Workout Plus and Step Away the Inches, might be (again, after watching the sequences first):

M-Sequence 2, BWO+
T-Sequence 2, SATI
W-Sequence 1
Th-Sequence 3, BWO+
F-Sequence 3, SATI
S-Sequence 1
Sun-Off or just the beginning stretches

Those are just a few ideas of how to get started using the Brain-Body Fitness Floor with or without other workouts.

Have you already done Brain-Body Fitness Floor? What has been your favorite way to use this fabulous new workout?