I challenge you to incorporate more educational talking points into class.  I want you to choose one muscle group and one section of class to talk through during class this week. Examples:

• Muscle group: In this parallel glute work we’re targeting the glute max, which is a posterior hip extensor and the meaty part of your glutes (it’s also your largest single muscle!). This muscle stretches and weakens with all the sitting we do, so doing a high number of reps to isolate this muscle is so important. Strengthening the glute max will help with tons of functional, every day movements, and will prevent lower back injuries.
• Section: In glute work, we do a lot of reps to isolate the glute muscles, which can be hard to engage. The glutes support your hips and back, which is crucial for everyday function. They can be hard to isolate because our back, hips, and hamstrings love to take over, so we intentionally built this section into class to allow time to focus specifically on strengthening this muscle group. We are focused on control, finding resistance in both directions of this movement and making a connection with these muscles.

Here’s some supporting info on the glute max and hamstrings. The full text from your training manual is below my signature in case you’d like a deep dive, but here is an overview:

• Glute Max: responsible for moving from sitting to standing, and the largest single muscle in the body. It is the most “seen” glute muscle. You engage it during squats, any glute work, plyo movements, and cardio moves (running, skaters, etc.). They’re often weak from so much sitting.

Hamstrings: three muscles that extend the hip and flex (bend) the knee. They are often tight or short. We use these during hamstring curls, plie and chair (on the lower), inverted TRX, deadlifts (so good for hamstrings!), kicks, and all fours heel presses. Hamstrings protect your knee and provide power to movements, but can also take over for the glutes, which is why strengthening the glutes is so important!