Tune Up Fitness^® Blog

“No man can tell me what to do with my body. Only women’s magazines can do that.”  -Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project There is plenty of pressure from the media and Instagram world to look thin (but also curvy!), confident and sexy.  Also, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re living in the age of the butt! […]

As a new yoga teacher, I attended a five-day retreat with yoga teaching legend Judith Lasater. The expertise in the room was overwhelming. I spent the first several days in complete “I’m not worthy” mode, which I embodied in my posture. I was making myself increasingly small – head down, eyes on the floor, shoulders […]

During my typical day as a teacher and graduate program coordinator on a college campus, I have seen disturbing ergonomic habits wherever I look, whether in my building or while moving across campus.  Many young people do not yet feel the accumulation of wear and tear they are creating in their poor, repetitive ergonomic habits. […]

“Let’s address the emotions and feelings you’re having… and stop shoving it down.” Michelle Garcia has not followed a common career path. Her profession has spanned from spending 20 years in law enforcement, as a patrol officer and detective, to becoming a yoga and meditation instructor. Garcia is now passionate about “protecting the protectors.” She […]

This post will help you learn how to have great posture.  For starters, imagine that your pelvis, ribcage, and head are like a child’s wooden playing blocks. Are they level and aligned? Does their positioning set you up nice and tall, or crush and grind? Collapsed posture compromises the alignment of your bones from the […]

If there were ever a body blind spot, it certainly would be the pelvic floor. In sports, movement classes, private coaching, Physical Therapy, etc., the pelvic floor has historically been left alone. Many of the professionals working with these clients don’t even mention it. After I suffered a significant spine injury over a decade ago, […]

When I contemplate the basic five human senses–sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch–sight stands out as my most coveted sense.  The sense of sight allows us to visually take in all the beauty that is around us. It is also vital when scanning for safety and opportunity in our surroundings.  Sight is most certainly a […]

We generally don’t appreciate our feet until there is a problem, a sentiment captured well in a local foot clinic’s tagline: Get back to not thinking about your feet. Each foot has 26 bones and 33 joints all held in position by hundreds of ligaments, tendons, and muscles. They carry, balance and pivot our weight, supporting […]

It’s tough to enjoy a 20-mile bike-ride when your neck starts aching at mile three. It’s challenging to find glee in your latest deadlift PR when your low back is moaning. It’s hard to feel excited about your upcoming half marathon when your hip flexors are pinching. When you have mounting aches and pains, it’s […]