Power to the Legs

Welcome to 2026! January is usually the month of inspiration for goals, changes and dreams.  As I think about how I can organize my own head this year, one of the ideas that popped into my mind was a slight change to my Blog.

I have started my blog as a way to provide inspiration for an active and nutritious living.  Over the years, I have shared with you my monthly adventures both physically and emotionally.  As of mid last year, I have started to include videos from my Train and Smile classes so that you get a collection of Strength Training moves that you can do at your own convenience.

My focus for my blog remains the same - inspiration for an active and healthy lifestyle.  I will also continue to share my monthly thoughts and highlights with you.  What I will add to it, is a further focus on parts of our body and why they are critical for healthy living.  My videos will focus on the particular body part that I will cover for the month.  And my goal will be to publish the blog in the middle of the month so that you can join me in focusing on that body part for the month.

When I started teaching group fitness classes, I was in my early 20s.  The biggest reason why I got into strength training was so that I can promote it to women as a tool to fight against osteoporosis. When you are in your early 20s, you really don’t know what those in their 40s, 50s, 60s, etc. are going through.  If you listen to them carefully, who can get a glimpse but physically you cannot replicate what their bodies are going through.  That was exactly why I was very drawn into “protecting” bones now for future decades.  I am still on that same mission as someone in their mid 40s.  It is never too late to act for our future decades to come.

So, why not start with a very critical component of our body: LEGS.  From our hips down, those two extremities carry our entire weight.  They receive the message from the brain, through the spinal cord and then act. They contain multiple “joints” along the way: The hip, the knee, the ankle.  Each one is a critical gateway to keep up standing.  These two extremities also contain some of the largest muscle groups in our body - Quadriceps and Hamstrings.  As we all know, muscles weight much more than fat, which means strong legs mean more weight on ankles and feet.  Therefore, when I think about my legs, I prioritize the health of my joints.  Stabilization and balance play critical roles in keeping the joints healthy and reliable - not to mentioned they make any strength training move that much more fun.

Below is a quick video of three leg moves that promote healthy joints while creating strong legs.  I demonstrated 3 levels per each move, beginner to advanced.  It is important to follow through modifications if needed.  The goal is to build strength NOT to get injured.

Thank you to all of my readers and followers over the years.  Please let me know your thoughts on the slightly new direction of my Blog.

High Five to all of us watching out for our future decades!

Are you surprised that this is how we started the year??