The Dailey Method

The Dailey Method...a new studio in Chicago!

Wow! What an amazing facility (check out more pics below). When you walk in, the studio has an open and clean feel to it. The person working the front desk immediately greeted me and was very welcoming. I mentioned I had a meeting with the owner Tami Conway. She made a point to come out from behind the desk and show me around so I felt very comfortable while I waited. I really enjoyed the level of customer service I experienced the entire time I was there. Customer service is so often over looked and I find it is what makes me want return or not. In this case...definitely return.

I would like to delve into what The Dailey Method is for those of you who do not know. The Dailey Method uses a the ballet barre, light weights, and stretching straps to offer a total body muscular endurance approach to toning and lengthening.

Now is the part were anyone who has heard of The Bar Method or Exhale will ask, what makes The Dailey Method different? I have taken classes at both The Bar Method and The Dailey Method. I can not speak about Exhale as I have not been there, yet. The one thing that I tend to really hone in on is the level of knowledge the instructors at each class display. Now, if you are reading this and you know me, you know that education is one of my biggest concerns. I find all too often that fitness professionals work with individuals to improve their bodies and haven't a clue about anatomy, physiology or kinesiology.

I always ask instructors questions, which I already have answers to. This is not to be mean but more to see if they know why they are doing the things they are instructing others to do. I found the many times I took class at The Bar Method, the instructors were not always sure, which to me is concerning. However, you should draw your own conclusion. It was refreshing when I found a completely different level of knowledge at The Dailey Method. The instructors are required to go through a fairly extensive education process. As matter of fact, Tami mentioned that they just had an anatomy workshop for the instructors a couple weeks ago. Not only does the facility feel like I could eat off the floor, the instructors are knowlegable too. What I really enjoyed seeing is the dry erase board that Tami had in her office. It had the whole month of exercises programmed out. This is typically done by trainers but rarely by group instructors. It is to ensure that you are offering a well balanced program, which as far as I can tell The Dailey Method in Chicago is accomplishing.

I am impressed! The Dailey Method in Chicago gets two thumbs up from me.

To find out more information about what the studio offers, location, and pricing check out: http://www.thedaileymethod.com/chicago.html

For those of you who have attended a Dailey Method class I would love to hear about your experiences, even if it isn't the Chicago location. I know many of you reading this blog may be from CA. Let me know if you had the same or different experience.

Next, I will be traveling to Europe. I am hoping to visit The Dailey Method in Paris. I wonder if the classes will be different. Do Parisians really workout???

First stop, London where I will check out the human weights...stay tuned.

Researching Europe

This last week I sat down and tried to find the health/fitness places I would like to visit while in Europe. First, let me fill you in on where I am going. I will be visiting London, Paris, Bologna, Italy, Cinque Terre, Italy, Rome, Munich, and Amsterdam. I started with London since it is the first place I will be visiting. I was in luck...I actually found what seems to be an awesome and fun gym, the Gymbox. Anyone heard of it? They have human weight machines. Human weights...what? What I understand, they have created a place for actual people (who have been weighed) to sit and you lift them. The human weights can heckle you or scream affirmations to inspire you. I suppose they decide what to say depending on their mood or how wimpy they think your being. I can't wait to check this place out!

Then, I hit a road block. I started to research Paris. I thought Time Out Paris would be a good place to start. They typically publish an article with the best trainers and fitness centers. I found a couple gyms but nothing to write home about. I tried moving on to Italy and found the same results. Hmm...I wonder what they do for workouts. I guess I will have to wait and see. They must do something, right??

Does running cause damage to your knees? New studies say maybe not!

Phys Ed: Can Running Actually Help Your Knees?

I was immediately drawn to this article on the well blog of the NY times. Almost every lecture I have attended for my Athletic Training Certification has taught, repetitive high impact activity will eventually wear down the cartilage of a joint in turn causing arthritis. After reading this article, I have to question what I thought to be true. I have often wondered how those people who look like they are well into their 80's are still running. Are they in pain? Do they just work through it because they love the "runners high" so much? If what the research is suggesting is true, then maybe their joints are healthier than mine. Considering I am recovering from a tear of my plantar fascia that may or may not have been caused from running the San Francisco half marathon, it may take me some time to wrap my head around this one.

I am interested in hearing what other people think about this since I am not completely convinced...Do you think running can actually help your knees?

Time Magazine Article

Many clients, friends and colleagues have asked my opinion about this article: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html

I think it is a great article that brought up many interesting points. I read the entire article and really thought about the points they were trying to make. I tend to agree with the research and the author, it’s more about what you eat. The unfortunate part is the article is skewed.

They need to do a study on eating a healthy diet with efficient exercise and see what the outcome is. They only talked about how hungry you get post aggressive exercise...duh! What about exercising so that you don't completely destroy yourself, continue to be active through out the day and eat a healthy diet, I wonder what kind of results you would get then, hmm???