Spring has Sprung at S26!

Studio 26 welcomes Spring, our trainers, and our clients to the space with this sleek new sign! An outdoor sign is coming soon.Signs courtesy of metal-worker genius and all-around-nice-guy, Kenneth Nilson.

This Spring we are also welcoming a new bench in the waiting area and Dyson Hand Dryers! You took our surveys and we responded. We’re doing everything we can to maintain an eco-friendly space, sensitive to the needs of the people we serve! Stay tuned for our Earth Day pledge coming later this April!

And a hand-dryer demo by Front Desk Lady Lindsay:

desk + exercise = dexercise

It’s hardly news that sitting at a desk all day isn’t great for your overall health. Remaining seated all day puts tremendous pressure on the vertebrae of the spine and the ball-and-socket joints in the hips. If you work at a computer, you run the risk of straining the tiny muscles behind your eyes and injuring your neck and wrists from too much flexion (find out more about repetitive strain injury here).

So, if you must sit at a desk all day, here are some exercises you can do to maintain a little bit of physical activity. We’re calling these desk exercises: DEXERCISES.

Depending on the set-up of your office, and your level of boldness, these exercises range from virtually invisible to very visible.

Some stealthy exercise you can do without anyone suspecting include: taking the stairs instead of the elevator and walking down the hall to talk to a colleague instead of shooting them an email or messaging them on G-chat. You can also do a few imperceptible exercises: butt clenches for your gluteal muscles, kegel exercises for your pelvic floor, and squeezing your inner thighs intermittently. Always hold the squeeze for 8-10 seconds, rest, repeat.

For those who aren’t ready to start lunging around the office, here are some exercises ambiguous enough to just be interpreted as active sitting! Cross one leg over the other so that the ankle of one leg rests on the knee of the other, lean forward and feel the gluteal muscles stretch! You can also do some casual neck and shoulder rolls which are great for releasing tension in the upper back and can be quickly abandoned if a colleague looks at you with a funny gaze.  Same goes for rolling out your ankles and wrists.

Some other somewhat visible exercises include torso twists (stabilize your pelvis and rotate around your spine while breathing deeply from your diaphragm) and leg extensions (beneath your desk, straighten out one leg at a time to activate your quads, rotate inward and outward to engage the deep rotator muscles of the hips).

If you can’t hold to the doctor recommended 20-20 rule (that is, for every 20 minutes you look at a computer screen, spend 20 minutes looking at anything that isn’t a computer screen) here’s an exercise to keep your eyes healthy. Close your eyes! This allows the muscles that encase the eye to relax. To optimize this relaxation, try rubbing your hands together to generate heat and then place your hands over your eyes.

For the truly bold, you can do inclined push-ups against your desk, tricep presses using the arms of your chair, and squats and lunges in the comfort of your own cubicle! Most important, however, is finding a minute to do some cardio. Improving your heart rate variability – your heart’s ability to jump from resting to “pumped” – has been shown to increase longevity and decrease the risk of heart disease. Try jumping rope, running in place, doing jumping jacks, or scaling the staircase for 60-seconds a few times a day. Aerobic exercise will strengthen your heart and keep you awake.

So whether you can dexercise in the privacy of your corner office or bravely in front of your cubicle-mate, keep active! Dexercise on!

Studio 26 in Interior Design Magazine!

Positively proud! Studio 26 is profiled as a “Positive Project Story”  in this month’s issue of  Interior Design Magazine.

We’re thrilled to be recognized for our vision of sustainability in fitness + wellness, and for the spotlight on the brilliant design by Nathan Thomas/Nathan Thomas Studios.

Working Out When You’re Down for the Count

We have all been there, the resolution made, the workout schedule committed, calendar alert set, and then it hits you like a ton of bricks. The sickness that’s been circulating your office, your apartment, and your loved ones’ immune systems has got you down and out. Wintertime cold and flu can be the catalysts of the most debilitating symptoms, ones that force a day’s training session into reconsideration. We asked two of our trainers their opinions about coming to training sessions when sick or on the verge of coming down with an illness, and how they deal with being sick themselves.

Jenn Whittemore, a practitioner at Studio 26 who uses a combination of massage, hands-on IMT, yoga, and Pilates in her sessions said her “objective is always wellness.” In regards to clients that are experiencing some stage of sickness, “[She has] the skills to meet the client wherever they are on that continuum through IMT, yoga/pranayama, etc.” Jenn keeps a 24-hour cancellation policy because “no one really knows when they’re going to be sick.” However, as a practitioner the same quickness of sickness is equally possible. Jenn cancels all her clients as soon as she knows she’s getting sick. She combats illness for herself and her clients using Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT), “helping to boost [the] immune system to shorten the duration of [the sickness].”

Raymond Tinneny, a personal trainer and nutritionist at Studio 26 had a similar approach. Ray also upholds a 24-hour cancellation policy, except in the case of personal tragedy. “If you’re sick, you usually know it all day, it’s unacceptable to think ‘I can beat a cold in a day’ then wait until last minute and cancel.” Ray uses that same ideology for himself, noting when he has a contagious illness, he takes time away from his clients. This comes from a desire to not pass along illness to his clients but also being sick for Ray “decreases [his] ability to concentrate during the session. If [he is] sick [he is] watching the clock rather then the exercises.”

Sometimes clients who are ill show up regardless. During cold and flu season, Ray tells them to go home to rest. Ray says that “Exercising at a moderate pace is already a good hit on the immune system, add in an already weakened immune system from illness and it will prolong their illness. In addition, they risk getting [him] sick then [he misses] work.” When dealing with illness, Ray’s objectives for his clients shift. He tells them to “nix exercising, and shift the focus to eating clean, resting and increasing water intake. Rest is extremely underrated/underutilized for a healthy client so it is that much more crucial when there is an illness involved.”

We know it’s hard to admit it when you’re feeling down, but listen to the experts. Training or working out just for the sake of saying you did it may very well prolong your road to recovery. It’s a difficult admission, but when you’re sick, lighten up on yourself.

Back to Black

save the date for two upcoming workshops with the phenomenal Madeline Black:

THE ART OF THE SESSION, PART II

Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27

12 – 4pm

The Art of the Session, part I took place at Studio 26 this past fall. Expert teachers gathered to experience Madeline Black, in real time, working with actual clients. Through in-depth observation and dialogue with Madeline, participants explored the nuances of her teaching, delved into her unique approach to Pilates technique, and paved the way for lasting transformation and engagement in their personal and professional lives.

The Art of the Session, part II is a continuation of the Art of the Session. In this gathering, we’ll refine assessment skills, learn new techniques to address restrictive patterns, expand our presence while deepening our ability to transform our clients, and attend to and work on ourselves.

Growing Your Practice:

RIBS INSPIRED

Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29

12 – 6pm

$395 before April 1, $425 after April 1

Join us for the debut of Studio 26’s Growing Your Practice series, which spotlights a unique interdisciplinary approach to developing your career.

In our inaugural event, master Pilates instructor, Madeline Black will explore the rib cage and surrounding tissues and their effect on posture, movement and function. Each region of the thorax will be explored with an eye toward movement, breath, and organ function. Madeline will lecture on the effect of the thorax on the upper body, from arms to head; the lower body, from pelvis to legs; and, of course, the powerful relationship to the core. Learn how to mobilize and stabilize the ribs with specific verbal and hands-on cueing to integrate a client’s newfound freedom in the thorax.

(12 PMA CECs and/or 1.2 ACE CECs)
Please contact info@studio26nyc.com or 646.755.8125 to inquire and to register.

For more on Madeline:
http://madelineblack.com/about-pilates-instruction-education-classes.html