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Welcome to 2018! The last year was a really exciting one. I feel fortunate to have seen many of my clients make a lot of personal progress and reach their fitness goals. I look forward to seeing you get stronger, leaner and mightier in the year ahead.
I watched Jess go from flaunting the occasional croptop to designating them as a permanent wardrobe staple, thanks to her rockin’ abs. I am so proud that Roberta who called me exactly a year ago to set up her first session can now do pullups, handstands, headstands as well as heavy squats and deadlifts. At 3 minutes, she is still the reigning plank champion of my bootcamps. Alexa will be showing off her long lean legs and bikini ready bod this week in the Galapagos. Stay tuned for her handstand pics on the beach. Will has added more than a hundred pounds to both his squat and deadlift and can now saunter through several pullups in a row. Newest up on the roster is Lauren, who is already crushing it as she gets ready to be the most beautiful bride on the Italian countryside this June. As for me, I have expanded my horizons and learned more about boxing, CrossFit, pole dance and acroyoga. I try to incorporate elements from all of these disciplines into my training sessions. Next month, I will be starting an acroyoga teacher training course with my super strong and talented partner where we will delve further into our own acro practice and also become more proficient in teaching others. So get ready to put your strength, balance and core muscles to work in some acroyoga workshops this spring!
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Halloween is fast approaching and I'm excited to see everyone looking svelte in their costumes this year. I know Alexa will be showing off her long, lean legs as Wonder Woman which suits her attitude and skill repertoire perfectly. And the following weekend, my newest client Maura will be dazzling thousands of spectators with her 26.1 mile debut in the New York City Marathon. I am super proud of how hard she's been training both in the gym and on her running program. Small But Mighty Training shirts are on their way, and we should have them to wear in just a couple weeks. A big shoutout to Dan for designing them, and another shoutout to Niroda for putting me in touch with a graphic designer to finish them out! If you haven't ordered one yet, now's the time. Out next bootcamp is Sunday, November 5th (the day of the marathon!) and we can all think fondly of Maura trekking over bridges and through the Bronx as we blast through our twenty second tabatas. Doesn't seem too bad when you look at it that way, does it?  The calendar may say September, but the sunny skies and rockin' beach bods at this weekend's bootcamp say summer isn't going anywhere. We welcomed the youngest ever participant, Milo, at age 4, who truly encompassed Small but Mighty. He frolicked in his frog jumps and wildly tossed the Wall Ball to his parents, who have already begun teaching him handstands. It was great to see our reigning plank champion Roberta showing off her impressive arm definition, Ezgi going the extra mile by adding a kettlebell to her V sits, and Jess flaunting her abs in a sports bra, her new workout attire of choice. It was also amazing to have my friend Katie there, who never ceases to be the best cheerleader in the group, earning her title "Miss Congeniality." I am super proud of all my clients who have flourished these past few months. Alexa has returned from heart surgery stronger than ever, crushing her heavy lifts AND adding in boxing, sprints and spin. Lisa has gone down 6% body fat, and incorporated handstand pushups into her repertoire. Will recently joined the "Two Plate Club," maxing out his squats and deadlifts at 225lbs. Jackie took her foot injury as an opportunity to master her chin-ups, get serious about her bench press and glute thrusts, and is now back to two footed workouts. Laura turned her pullup prowess into a fancy bottle of champagne when she busted out six pull-ups on the street to win a bet. Dan has seen his overhead press skyrocket, and what better way to showcase it than by lifting me in fancy acrobatic poses all over the country? And a big congratulations to Jaclyn, who is well on her way to a wedding dress body now that she is wearing a beautiful ring...  Summer is here friends! We have two more bootcamps behind us, and another one a couple weeks away. Last month was the very first outdoor bootcamp, held at Seward Park on the Lower East Side. It was so exciting to see everyone out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to participate in partner races, bench jump challenges and endless planks and pushups amidst the bewildered crowd of children and parents trying to figure out what we were up to! The past couple months have also brought a few new clients who are doing great work. I was so proud of Will who after only a week of doing handstands was asked if he used to be a gymnast! Jaclyn's pushups are on fire these days, and she's well on her way to doing a chin-up solo. And Lisa will be looking dynamite at a wedding this weekend, having been training like a beast these past eight weeks. Now that the weather is warm, we can take advantage of some outdoor runs (like Corry got a taste of last night!), handstand sessions in the park, plus hikes and rock climbing to make good use of all the muscles we've been crafting at the gym. Make sure you're drinking lots of water to stay hydrated, get creative with those summer salads and don't be too aggressive with rooftop cocktails. Most importantly, stay focused on the hard work you've been doing all winter so you can rock those summer bods! Thanks for tuning in, and I hope to see you at the next bootcamp, Thursday June 15, 7:30 pm!* *note the new location, 230 E. 53rd Street, 2nd Floor  I want to wish a big congratulations to my client and good friend, Laura, who made a beautiful bride this weekend. She looked stunning in her dress, completely rocked the dance floor and even did a handstand at her after party! I could not be more proud. I would also like to give a big shout out to everyone who attended this month's bootcamp. There were new faces and familiar ones. I was so excited my friend Katie and her boyfriend Terrell were able to make it, and they brought a ton of energy. It was also great to meet Emily, Suzy and Crystal who jumped right in and worked hard. We split up in to Team Unicorn and Team Dinosaur to fly across monkey bars, knock out pullups and knees to elbows, and hold our best planks for what seemed like forever. We did cardio and abs rotations to make sure we left with a sweat and some nice lines down our stomachs. And we took another crack at acroyoga and definitely saw some high-flying birds, ready for spring. Looking forward to the next bootcamp in a couple weeks on April 9th at 2pm. Bring water, a lot of energy and a friend!  Happy March everyone! It certainly does feel like spring, and if you come in to train on a nice day, we're going to start out with a run around the park! As the weather gets nice, start to look for ways of staying active outdoors, whether it's a run or hike or outdoor bootcamp (hint, hint, look out for for those coming soon). On a recent trip to Miami with my longtime client and now close friend Jess, we found tons of ways to burn off any excess "vacation" calories by sweating it up outdoors. Riding the bikes around the waterfront was one way, doing pullups and handstands on South Beach's Muscle Beach was another. Showing off our acrobatics and dance moves on the beach made for an awesome photo shoot and a nice break from lying in the sun. It was also fun finding ways to eat (and drink) healthfully on vacation. We stayed with my grandma who stocked the house with yogurts, cottage cheese, celery, blueberries and almonds. When we dined out, we ordered ceviches, salads topped with shrimp or salmon and egg white omelettes. When we decided to drink, we made our own vodka seltzers on the beach or asked for rum with muddled fruit and mint, no simple syrup. Still a mojito, just not a more sweet-o :) By the end of the trip we felt like we looked better in our bathing suits than when we started! The best active choice: Dancing til 3 at the club at the W Hotel. Not a bad way to burn calories...  Congratulations to Emily on her sweet max out on deadlifts (175lbs!!) and 135lbs on squats!! Check out her stellar form in the vid, not to mention her fabulous hair (she had no idea there would be a video shoot but just so happened to look fierce). I also want to applaud my client Roberta, who is the epitome of small but mighty. You can see her flying up the rope, reliving her childhood antics and loving every second of it. Stay tuned for videos of Roberta's headstands, handstands and bridges which are just around the corner from being camera worthy! And finally, I'd like to share a video of a major goal I hit for myself last night. I deadlifted 210lbs which is two times my bodyweight. I set that goal a long time ago and it feels awesome to cross it off the list. What goals have you been striving for that you haven't hit yet? Let's make a plan to get them done this year, maybe even this month!
I'd like to start off the month with a huge shout out to my girl Niroda for getting her chin-ups! She's also killing it on her handstands as you can see here. I'm also really excited that Alexa has become a handstand balance machine, so I fully expect these two to lead the way at this month's bootcamp, which will definitely feature some upside down exercises. Speaking of bootcamp, it's next Sunday, February 12th. So you can sweat off any of the snacks you consume this Sunday...I'm told there's a big sports game playing... Check out this awesome video of my clients kicking butt. I am so proud of all their progress as they make their way to their goals -- and beyond! What a strong start it has been to 2017! After making our New Year's Resolutions just before the end of the year, I watched many of my clients achieve their goals before the ball even dropped. Laura hit her three pullups in a row, Alexa came down 3% body fat, Jess is down another shorts size, and I held my first acroyoga performance. Yesterday was the first bootcamp of the year, and you can look forward to one every month of this year. Check out these strong and mighty Sunday warriors who came out for an action packed hour of squats, planks, pushups, handstands, sprints, and....ACROYOGA. That's right, these first time bases and flyers delved into new territory AFTER being pushed to their limits for nearly sixty minutes. But everyone flew high and proud, and I could not have been more impressed. Super excited for the next bootcamp, Sunday February 12th.  I am also excited to announce that I received my certificate in Fitness Nutrition, and am incorporating more meal planning and nutrition counseling into my practice. A few of my favorite foods for thought are: 1) Are you eating enough? You should be eating every 2-4 hours. Not huge meals, but small snacks to keep your metabolism going. 2) More veggies than fruits. Fruit has a lot of natural sugar, veggies have a lot of natural fiber. If your goals are more about slimming down than bulking up, green leafy vegetables are your friend. 3) Where's the protein? You should have some protein element at every meal / snack time. Some all star protein sources are chicken, salmon, tuna, tofu, lentils, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs. And finally, I would like to give a shout out to my rookie rock stars. I've only been training with Shayna for one month, but she kicked butt at my bootcamp. And Roberta is already knocking out pushups and assisted chinups, and Lara is crushing her meal plan. Keep up the good work everyone!  In other exciting news, I will be attending a workshop this weekend on Sports Performance Training led by the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Stay tuned for fun new exercises and solid tips on injury prevention and recovery. Send me any questions you may have in regard to your specific sport, and I'll see if I can get answers from the experts. Thank you so much to all the participants of this Sunday's Spartan Race Bootcamp! We had a great time perfecting our rope climbs, monkey bar skills and kettlebell carries to prepare for this Saturday's 10 mile Spartan Super Race in Vernon, New Jersey. We leaped onto boxes of all sizes, honed our squat and pushup form and got real sweaty doing everybody's favorite -- burpees.
It was great to see everyone cheering each other on and giving 100% during our cardio blast at the very end, a five minute rotation between the ladder climb, rower, skiier, rope pull and military style high knee run. The special guest of the day was my mom, Sharlene, who at age 52, knocked it out of the park. I was incredibly proud. Check out this video we put together featuring Jess, Alexa, Cassia, Emily, Michelle, and of course, my mother. Thank you ladies for making this such a fun event! And thanks to my stepdad Dave for videotaping and my best friend Joel for editing! Stay tuned for the next bootcamp coming up soon! |
AuthorJennifer Margulis Archives
January 2018
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