I completed week two of the Dailey Method workout. I went six out of the seven days last week and let’s just say my thighs and tri’s have been talking to me all week, but let me just break it down for you.

I unexpectedly had the chance to go on Sunday and it was a male instructor. It is always refreshing to have a male teach a class. I have also learned early in my own group fitness teaching career, women tend to like the male instructors more. He was soft-spoken, refreshing and not harsh by any means. He had a great way of explaining the movements and since the class was a smaller size, he got to go around more to work on form with everyone. For me, this is an important quality in an instructor, to not workout to teach, but to teach to workout. (That came from an old Australian professor I had as an undergrad). We did a lot of outer thigh work and I like that, a lot.

It’s Monday morning, 5:30am, first class of the day. I wake up early so I can walk quietly down the stairs so the kids can sleep. (Moms you know how it is). I walk in ready to go, we begin our warm-up, then BAM, right into straight arm planks. I am thinking to myself, but it is only 5:35am…really? This instructor means business. And this is how I feel:

But something happened during one of the moves while in C-curve. I strained my neck so much that I could not move or raise my arms all the way up for the rest of the day. I was baffled to what I did to do that. I get my answer the next day in Tami’s class, which rocked. She was really stroking my ego, but I loved all the bar exercises that day.

What I learned is the instructor from Monday’s cuing was off because while in the same position, Tami said the cue that I missed and that was to simply keep my sliding my shoulder blades into the floor. The strain went away for a bit, but was still there. Ugh and I had to take another class that night with the founder of W8Fit (I’ll save that for another post). Knowing I had this Tues evening class to take, I was happy to sleep in on Wednesday.

I went and saw my chiropractor on Wednesday. She did one simple test and found I locked my clavicle. She said what I did was I failed to exhale at the exertion, it locked my clavicle causing the diaphragm to be restrained. Ah I think to myself. You see as she explained, the clavicle slides back and forth when we move, when you are holding your breath during the contraction and not in the correct position (as I was in the c-curve) it will shift and it caused me not to be able to move my arms or my body completely. An adjustment here, pressure there I walk out feeling like my old self. Gosh, I love my chiropractor (been seeing her since 2004). She also tells me that my hip flexibility has gotten way better and that is because my low back is feeling fantastic. All of the stretching I am missing is making feel just great and my posture is back to being upright most of the time. In fact, one of my chiropractor’s patients walks in and said, “Wow, you have nice posture.” 🙂

I am back Thursday morning and let me just tell you, my thighs and tri’s have had enough. I see the same instructor as I had Monday morning and was nervous. I think to myself if I have to do all those pulsing tricep moves, deep V squats and wear my “6 inch heels” I will surely cry. Ok, well I didn’t but scaled back a bit and listened to my body and listened more attentively.

Friday I tried the Dailey Deeper for the first time. Upbeat instructor, I was not sure what to expect, but all I kept thinking was I think I may regret this, just the name alone makes my tri’s and thighs want to walk out the door. Hello ball squeezes in my “6 inch heels” how are you today? But I remove the thoughts from my head and found myself feeling stronger and more confident until the end when the instructor went to demo a move…she was sitting with her legs in front and proceeded to lift both of her legs up and pulsed them up and down. I’ll be honest with the exact thought that went though my head…”she obviously hasn’t had a baby or a c-section before, this is nuts!” And we were to do this move while stabilizing our hands above our heads gripping the bar. Mind over matter, I take a stab at it, surprised at what I can do with my war wounds, she calls out, “Nice job Jasmine, you got it!” Sweating and trembling I did something that I have not been able to do in years and I walk out taller and more proud.

I snuck in my final class of the week at 7am on Saturday, thinking I am so glad to take Sunday off, because I need it.

While one may not be seeing any physical changes, I can surely feel them. The one thing I do know is I have really great awareness of my body internally and how to re-align my body physically. What I like most about this class compared to a Bar Method class I took 6 months postpartum is their emphasis in working in neutral spine. As a trainer and group fitness person, this what I know best and feel comfortable doing. I also like their gentle approach because this form of exercise is not meant to be a “bootcamp” but it goes in line with their philosophies.

We NEED to be exercising in neutral spine because we are so out of sorts from prolonged sitting, improper lifting and the everyday movements we have created for our bodies through time, our bodies have created this improper alignment that is causing all kinds of issues. When the body is in proper alignment, organs function better, digestion is improved, low back pain goes away, we sleep better and we just feel better. The true relief for me is my low back, even though I was doing “therapy” type of exercises on my own, the deep stretching is what is really helping me. I am truly enjoying these workouts. I’ll be honest, I am missing my running too.

Interested in trying it out for FREE? Go to Neighborhood Parents Network’s Facebook page to enter their contest and win a free month!