The day is finally here and we are excited! The weather looks to be in our favor: slightly cloudy and not too hot, even a bit of a breeze. I am caffeinated, hydrated and ready to go. My mission is to have fun, support my team, and survive intact!

A key feature of Spartan races is hurdling. Not like track hurdles, but having to jump or scramble all manner of objects and obstacles in an often muddy environment. As I worked through my training plan to get myself ready to tackle the literal hurdles in the race, I encountered some figurative ones too.

Once I committed to the Spartan race, figured out how to make space for training in my busy schedule, and then got my body (and how it moves) tested by the experts... I decided to up the intensity of my training a few notches!

Because I’m a Performance Specialist at Activcore, I have a good sense of my own physical condition. Nonetheless, I knew that getting an outside, objective perspective from other professions would help me optimize my Spartan training plan.

I made the verbal commitment to join my friends for a Spartan race. I did not immediately purchase my ticket or start training with my team. Instead, I started testing the waters. My work and family schedule were pretty full, making a traditional training schedule feel out of reach.

It was a crisp, cold January day. My boys, Finn (6) and Liam (3), pretended to be dragons breathing smoke on our walk to school. I loaded my thermos full of espresso to go work at Activcore where I teach Redcord, Pilates, and Kettlebells.

The kettlebell is a physical training tool that has given rise to a great selection of very functional strength training exercises. The shape of the kettlebell is a ball with a handle, which makes it functionally similar to objects that we carry in everyday life, such as luggage and grocery bags.

In my previous blog post I explained the science behind musculoskeletal pain and how Redcord is my secret weapon to overcome it. Today, I’m going to discuss one of the most important aspects of suspension based physical therapy: creating a "zero-gravity" environment so that you can move your joints through pain-free ranges of motion.

Balance is something often taken for granted until it is gone. Whether you suffer from a sudden physical injury or simply notice that things you used to do are getting harder over time, losing your balance can affect your quality of life. In some cases, it can even shorten your life.

Stress incontinence is when urine leaks while performing an action or activity. This can happen for many different reasons and here’s a hint: it’s not always weakness! There are three main factors that can be happening at the pelvic floor to cause stress incontinence: weakness, increased tone, or lack of coordination. Weakness can result after any injury or trauma to the pelvic floor, or just over time from dysfunctional movement patterns. If there is a lack of strength at the pelvic floor, that means there is not enough tension to combat pressures...