“I don’t have much of a fitness background. I pretty much only rode bikes around the Berkeley and Oakland hills for exercise; and over the years that’s gotten more infrequent. Each season it takes more time to get to the point where going up hills is challenging in a fun way, rather than just challenging. But I definitely like riding up hills.
Goals
My biking-only regimen and desk job has left me with extremely tight hamstrings, poor hip mobility, poor posture, and pretty much no upper-body strength to speak of. My main goal is to clean up those deficits and become a little more balanced; a side goal is to be fit enough to enjoy any physical activity that may come up — eg impromptu ski or bike trips, or going traveling with a heavy backpack.
I’ve been training with SOL for I think six months, and going to classes for maybe five. It was tough at first, but really the hardest thing was showing up the first day, then the next, then the next… Everything else follows from that. Steady and patient work produces results, no heroics needed. I can’t detect daily progress, but when I look back it’s easy to see. I’ve learned that lesson before, but it’s always a good feeling to learn it again.
My first few weeks with SOL were pretty comical (to me; my Trainer was mostly too polite to laugh). I either had no abdominal strength, or didn’t know how to activate it, and doing a guard spin seemed completely impossible.
Regimen
So in the beginning we did a lot of work on the floor: rolls, spins, crawls, dead bugs. That progressed into learning how to use my back and hips for safe deadlifts and swings. These days we’re focusing more on shoulder and hip mobility. So far I’ve seen big gains in core stability, and proprioception in general. I know what it feels like to use my back muscles, and can feel the difference between using my hips and my legs. My balance was impaired after a breaking my foot a couple years ago and the extra stability has helped me get my ankle back into shape; I feel like I’ve fully recovered at this point. And now that I know what good posture feels like, my posture has started to improve.
Insights
I think my favorite thing about SOL is the atmosphere. It’s supportive but no nonsense — not just the Trainers, but fellow classmates too. Also, as a technical person and a believer in science, I like that SOL doesn’t mind laying on the learning.”
