Wrestling Gorillas

Recently, someone told me that working out is like wrestling a gorilla; you don’t stop when you’re tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired. As a competitive triathlete, I follow this full-heartedly. Whether I am swimming, biking, running or surfing, I aim to give every workout everything I have to offer that day.

Growing up, I was involved in almost every sport my high school had to offer. During my first year of college, I realized my zeal for running and hiking. In the summer of 2009, I traveled around Europe, where I hiked the Swiss Alps, cycled around The Netherlands and visited the Olympic Training Centers in Germany and Italy. I also studied the European approach to exercise and athletic conditioning. Since then, I have worked to incorporate both European and American approaches to my classes and workouts. I enjoy learning and am constantly taking new classes and trying new activities in order to make my classes more fun and invigorating.

Four years ago, I discovered a Pilates teacher in Santa Barbara who had such passion for movement that I felt inspired to learn more. Through taking classes taught by other instructors, reading books on functional strength training and within my own training, I realized the importance of a strong core and all of its stabilizing muscles. With my knowledge, I developed an approach to core maintenance based on yoga, Pilates and functional strength training principles. I call this approach Optimal Core Performance.

Optimal Core Performance will challenge your strength and flexibility in ways you did not think possible. This 60-minute class is designed to develop and strengthen the core and stabilizing muscles that an athlete needs in order to support efficient biomechanics while helping to prevent injuries. In this class, you will boost your metabolism, tone major muscle groups, lose weight and trim inches from your body while improving your core strength. You will not only see, but also feel the difference in your flexibility, strength, body shape and energy levels.

I love to smile and I have a passion for what I do, but don’t be fooled by my bubbly personality; my number one goal is to give you the workout you came in for and have you leave feeling accomplished and tired. I believe that you have to push yourself to your own limits. My goal is to design a workout that will give you killer results, but you have to be motivated to stick with it and find your gorilla. Once you find him, don’t stop until he gives up.