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I hadn’t been back to dance class for years and decided to go back. I used to be really good at turns – you name it – Chaines, Pirouettes, Fouettes…I could turn all day. It had been awhile since I had tried to turn.

There I was, in dance class after years of not taking class and we were about to head across the floor doing the usual walk, walk, Pas De Bourree, Pas De Bourree land in fourth and Pirouette turn! I could feel butterflies in my stomach unsure of if my body remembered how to turn. I was next, all eyes on me and my energy was a little nervous, excited and in anticipation of wanting to be able to still turn. All that energy  to turn, threw me off balance and I went forward instead of up and didn’t complete the turn.

After a few classes I realized what I was doing wrong and corrections from the instructor telling me “Your energy is going forward, think up!” The fact was, I was trying too hard. The extra effort I was using to make the turn happen was why I was getting thrown off balance. When I realized this and that I actually needed to relax and let myself balance thinking “Up and relax” my turns came back.

That’s right…I still got it…soon enough I was back to double Pirhouette turns no problem.

To balance a dancer stacks everything right on top of each other – their hips centered right over their foot, stacked right under their shoulders with their head inline. If one body part is leaning too much in any direction balancing won’t happen. For example if their hips are sticking out behind them they’ll fall backwards, if their shoulders are leaning forward, forward they’ll go. If they are in the correct position they’ll actually use less effort.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to assist Gray Cook, MSPT, OCS, CSCS, RKC (he’s really smart) of FunctionalMovement.com during his Hands On Session at The Perform Better One Day Event in Los Angeles. I was honored that he asked me to help him and excited to help the other trainers who were attending.

One of the positions Gray had us working on was the Tall Half Kneeling Position. I had become familiar with this position because we use it at Results Fitness frequently but also because we had Brett Jones at our gym teaching an FMS level 2 work shop the week before and half kneeling was a huge part of his curriculum as well.

Starting off with just your body weight, holding the position feeling your stabilizers kicking in when they needed to, but cueing to remember to breathe and almost relax in that stacked position. If you are in the right position, with your hips right underneath your shoulders, over your supporting knee you won’t have to tense up to hold the position. It is exactly like a dancer balancing for a turn. Your stabilizers will kick in to keep you balanced but you don’t need to SQUEEZE your glutes or PULL your stomach in tight trying to muscle the position and “try too hard” like I was in my turns above.

The tall half kneeling position is a great place to work on your balance, putting your stabilizers to work while breathing and relaxing into a balanced position. You’ll know you are in the right position when you don’t have to “work too hard” to stay there.

To get into the proper Tall Half Kneeling position:

Start with your right knee on the ground with a towel under it for padding and your left leg lunged in front of you with your foot flat on the ground as if you are in a “Will You Marry Me” pose. Bring your left foot in line with your right knee so you could be balancing on a balance beam with a fairly narrow stance. Your right knee should be directly under your right hip, under your shoulders and inline with your ear in a “stacked” position. Get tall and balance in that position. You will feel all of your stabilizer muscles firing to keep you balanced. Below Amy Wunsch, our physical therapist at Results Fitness demonstrates the Tall Half Kneeling Position.

Once you can balance in that position you are ready to “turn”…ok I won’t make you “turn” but you are ready to hold a load in that position that will demand that you fire your glutes and core to stay stable only using what you need.  You can add load by either adding a chop or an offset over head press. When you add load you will have to engage your bigger muscles to handle the load.

No guarantee’s that this will give you a dancer’s body but it will give you the same feeling of being centered and balanced like a dancer. Add load when you’re ready. Use this new stance with a number of the current exercises you may already be doing including chopping and over head pressing.

I am addicted to caffeine. Yes, I, Rachel Cosgrove am a caffeine addict.

I have always said that having 1-2 cups of coffee with protein is not a problem so why am I giving it up? In fact there are a number of health benefits to caffeine. Research has shown everything from decreasing your risk of cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, blood pressure, less risk of heart attack and even help with weight loss, improving focus and in sports peformance.  I am a BIG FAN of coffee not only because it may have all of these health benefits but simply because I LOVE my morning time with my Cup of Joe! I am such a coffee fan, I have an espresso maker at home and an espresso maker in my office. I love the smell and the experience of drinking a cup of coffee when I need a pick me up, a break, time to myself or time with my friends. Plus I love Starbucks- everything about it, the business model, how they run their company and the experience they create.

So why give it up? Because I’m addicted! Realizing that I couldn’t go a day without it, I thought that it probably would be good to take a break. Coffee does raise epinephrine(also called adrenaline) which puts your adrenal glands(the little gland that goes into over drive when you are stressed or using stimulants) into overtime. The last time I gave up caffeine was in October 2007 after I did my Ironman.

After doing a lot of volume with my training, like training for and doing an Ironman(which can also stress out your adrenals owing them a “vacation”) and having been increasing my coffee consumption it’s good to take a break to let my adrenals reboot. Plus after discussing this with various people in the industry including my Husband (Alwyn) I have come to the conclusion that for most people eliminating caffeine for a period of time to give your adrenals  a “vacation” can be beneficial and is something my clients and myself should probably do every once in awhile especially if you are addicted (like me but shhh don’t tell my husband). Plus Alwyn challenged me saying that he thinks I’m addicted and there’s no way I could give it up…so of course I had to show him…

The reason this came up was because last week when Alwyn was helping me make weight (read more about my making weight story here) he told me to give up coffee for three days so that it would work extra strong when I added it back in as a diuretic. I couldn’t even make it one day without it and told him – no way, not happening. After finishing the powerlifting competition and having also just trained for a Half Marathon recently I once again had a pretty high training volume(not as high as Ironman training days) but I had been pushing my body for a period of time.  Since I have a month before I start ramping up my training volume again for a Half Ironman I decided that I should give my adrenals a much needed vacation before I start my Half Ironman training (since they haven’t had one since 2007).

The fact that I couldn’t go a day without it was a small wake up call that maybe I am somewhat dependent and should eliminate caffeine. This strategy of taking an adrenal vacation periodically I believe helps to allow me to push myself the way I do and be able to recover and not get over fatigued or over trained.

Day One- I woke up and didn’t know what to do with myself since I usually sit and sip my coffee having my “morning time”. I made a cup of tea but it just was not the same. As the day went on I felt foggy headed and then the headache hit midafternoon and got worse and worse as the day went on.

Day Two- I woke up with the headache I went to bed with last night and it didn’t seem to ease up. I ended up napping curled up on the couch when I got home from work at about 6pm- I was having major withdrawals! It was bad. Didn’t know I was so addicted but I suppose that means I should definitley come off of it for a period of time.

Day Three- Today! I am thinking clear enough to put together this blog post. Headache is better but still there slightly. I’m hoping by tomorrow I’ll feel pretty clear headed and somewhat back to normal.

But back in 2007 when I did this I don’t remember ever having a wonderful feeling of clarity sans caffeine and wanting to stay off of caffeine long term because I felt so good.

I have to say I feel pretty dang good on caffeine and I miss it.

Reasons people give up caffeine-

• Not sleeping well – Not me, I’m the type that when my head hits the pillow I’m out even when I’m drinking lots of coffee.
• Anxiety- I’m not a real high stress person as much as I have going on. I like having lots going on and am comfortable with that but don’t experience anxiety.
• High Blood Pressure- My blood pressure is as low as it can be.

So I don’t plan to cut caffeine out long term- heck no! Instead just giving my adrenals a vacation for the next few weeks. Starting to think they may not need until Christmas though…maybe 21 days will be plenty.

Hope my adrenals are enjoying their vacation!!

I have so much to be thankful for…including the amazing clients I get to work with every single day, the absolutely fantastic team at Results Fitness and our driven, inspiring Results Fitness Biz mastermind coaching members, who I’m honored to be a part of their journey.

These past few months I have had the opportunity to be a part of a number of events that all sprung to mind this morning as I thought about what I am thankful for.  Between the endurance team completing their events, raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and challenging themselves to go beyond what they ever thought they could do.

And the Powerlifting team who I had the honor of competing alongside as they won medals and set records.

And the Jeans & Gut to Cut Challenge Photo Shoot where everyone looked so fabulous, showing what is possible in 8 weeks if you set your mind to it.

At all of these events the best part was that we had the Results Fitness team coaching and supporting everyone, along with other clients cheering each other on and even some of our mastermind coaching members were involved in the endurance event and the power lifting event as part of the team. Being at all of these events reminded me how fantastic the people, including the clients of Results Fitness, our mastermind coaching members & the amazing team we have at Results Fitness, are and how thankful I am to be around such positive, supportive people.

Thank you to all of you for making Results Fitness such a special place to be a part of.  There is nothing like being a part of a team like Results Fitness. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!