The Pursue philosophy

We believe that every exercise should be founded in breath and performed in a neutral spine position. Core work, such as plank, provides activation of abdominal muscles to align the spine into optimal neutral position. Plank work allows our clients to memorize what they should be “feeling” when they bring their body to a vertical position; ultimately, all strength and cardiovascular training is performed with the spine in a “vertical” or “moving” plank position. The proper core activation then allows us to cue breath with exertion, and protect the spine once additional resistance is added to the body (with dumbells, kettlebells, small hand weights, resistance bands, etc). Movement performed in a neutral spine position also allows for effective hamstring to glute connectivity and activation of the entire kinetic chain, or back line of the body.

Each class at Pursue is designed to target both larger, fast twitch, muscle fibers and smaller, slow twitch muscle fibers. A couple characteristics of large, fast twitch, muscles include:

• Fast twitch muscle fibers are responsible for powerful, quick, and explosive movements.  

• Strength and power training can increase the number of fast-twitch muscle fibers recruited for a specific movement and change the shape of a particular muscle.

Some of the techniques we use at Pursue for training fast twitch muscle fibers include:

• Resistance training with heavy weights to stimulate muscle motor units and activate more muscle fibers.

• Performing explosive, power-based movements– with free weights, a kettlebell, medicine ball or simply your own body weight–to recruit greater levels of fast-twitch fibers.

Each class at Pursue is also designed to target smaller, slow twitch muscle fibers. A few characteristics of slow twitch muscles include:

• Slow-twitch fibers are the first recruited when a muscle contracts. If they can’t generate the amount of force necessary for the specific activity, the fast-twitch muscle fibers are engaged.

• The tonic muscles responsible for maintaining posture have a higher density of slow-twitch fibers.

• Slow-twitch muscle fibers have specific characteristics for how they function, which means they can be trained to be more aerobically efficient with the proper exercise program. 

Some of the techniques we use for training slow-twitch muscle fibers at Pursue include:

• Exercises that feature sustained isometric contractions with little-to-no joint movement to keep the slow-twitch muscle fibers under contraction for an extended period of time. Examples include plank, side plank, and single-leg stabilizing exercises- most of the exercises performed in Barre and many of those performed on the Megaformer and in Condition.  

• Resistance-training exercises using lighter weights with slower movement tempos for higher numbers of repetitions.

• Circuit training, which involves alternating from one exercise to the next with little-to-no rest while using lighter weights.

• Body-weight exercises with a high number of repetitions. 

Every class at Pursue includes intentional and mindful lengthening or stretching to improve flexibility.  Stretching is the deliberate lengthening of muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. The benefits of stretching include:

• Increased flexibility and joint range of motion: Flexible muscles improve your daily performance.

• Improved circulation: Stretching increases blood flow to your muscles. Improved circulation can help shorten recovery time for injured muscles.

• Better posture: Frequent stretching can help keep your muscles from getting tight, allowing you to maintain proper posture. Good posture can minimize discomfort and keep aches and pains at a minimum.

• Stress relief: Stretching relaxes tight, tense muscles that often accompany stress.

• Range of motion: Increasing flexibility improves joint motion. Enhanced flexibility can provide many benefits, including a decrease in the occurrence of injury, pain relief, and advances in athletic performance.  

• Enhanced performance: Maintaining the full range-of-motion through your joints improves balance and therefore contributes to more effective muscle stimulation. Coordination and balance will help keep you mobile and less prone to injury from falls. 

Endurance in sports refers to an athlete’s ability to sustain prolonged exercise for minutes, hours, or even days. The objective of endurance training is to develop stamina in body systems in such a way that they meet the demands of activity for as long as they are required.  Cardiovascular endurance training refers to how efficiently the heart and lungs work together to supply energy to the body during physical activity, while muscle endurance is the ability of a muscle to sustain repeated contractions against resistance for an extended period of time. At Pursue we train both muscle endurance and cardiovascular endurance through the use of multiple training styles and state-of-the-art heart rate technology.  Click here to learn more about heart rate target zones and training.