Wednesday, January 28, 2009


Welcome to the new Strength Through Length (STL) blog. Thanks to all of you for your interest in the program! We hope this new forum will help you to enhance your understanding of the STL principles, voice your questions about STL exercises and practices, and most importantly, to develop a community in which you all can share information, experiences and encouragement with one another.

So ... what is exactly is “Strength Through Length?”
STL is a series of group exercise classes, developed and produced by Corporate Wellness Solutions, which fuses essential principles and exercises from Pilates, Ashtanga or Power Yoga, classical ballet, and strength and fitness training. By incorporating the most fundamental and effective components of each of these practices, STL creates a unique synergy of muscle execution that results in a longer, leaner, stronger body.

All classes are very hands on, similar to working with a personal trainer, and in each session, detailed instructions are provided on the importance of correct exercise execution, breathing techniques, elegance of movement, and joint safety.

STL classes progress through four levels, from basic to enhanced. As clients evolve through these levels, resistance bands, lightweights, plyometric exercises and stability balls are incorporated to continually challenge the muscles and increase the body's tonicity, strength, stamina and alignment. Each class session ends with stretching exercises and a guided visualization to relax the body and integrate the work.

With continued participation and effort, students can master all levels of the program and see substantial improvements in posture, range of motion, poise, confidence, overall strength, and a much leaner physique.

For more information on the new class schedule or to learn how to set up your over-the-phone assessment, which is conducted on all new students prior to class enrollment, visit the CWS Web Site.


What is the STL blog all about?
Focus: Each week, a particular principle or exercise (such as lateral breathing, upper back stability or proper plank alignment) will be featured in this blog. Correspondingly, this item will be the focus of all STL classes that week. Hopefully, by learning about the significance of these various principles, studying provided alignment cues, and discussing your questions and comments with one another prior to your classes, you will be able to come to sessions with a deeper understanding of the work, a stronger focus on specific weekly goals, and new insights on how to best achieve those goals.

Knowledge: Links to interesting, credible articles on wellness and fitness will also be posted weekly to help you further your health knowledge without having to wade through the massive amounts of (often unreliable) information on the Web. Topics will range from noteworthy fitness and exercise blog posts to exceptional articles on women’s health, global health and mental wellness.

Community: This is a space for you to engage with each other, share advice, give new ideas and provide encouragement regarding the STL program, or health and wellness in general. We hope all of you will feel free to leave questions, comments or feedback (on both classes and blog posts) on the discussion board. We will do our best to respond to your questions in a timely manner. All comments must be approved before they appear on the board, so please be patient, we will process them as quickly as possible!

As, always, your questions, comments and feedback are more than welcome. Enjoy, and thank you again for interest in the Strength Through Length program!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Awesome!!! I love it.
Comments on the work: Last night was very challenging for me, but Lee did tell me that I looked like a dancer, which suddenly made it all worth it! I guess that means it's WORKING!

bsmkristof said...

I love the blog! I expect to use it to stay in touch and to learn more about the program. Thanks to Lee and Elisabeth for setting it up.

Unknown said...

Please read about the TVA muscle. That muscle is our scourge and salvation!!! Just kidding (kind of). Once the TVA is accustomed to firing FIRST; all of your movements become more fluid, stronger and more sustainable. Not to mention a flatter belly and much improved posture.

kc said...

Lee's core strengthening classes have been the single biggest factor in helping me overcome my hamstring and lower back injuries. STL's latest focus on relaxing the hip flexors to better engage the transverse has been especially helpful.

My only complaint is that I really like to flair out my ribs and resent being reminded not to all the time!!!!!!:)

beth said...

I have practiced strength through length since the first day it began nearly two years ago. I now know how to feel my body work and have incorporated this knowledge into all the other aspects of my exercise program More importantly to me though is the integrating of the body work with the opportunity to close my mind an open my heart through during the relaxation portion of STL. Strenght Through Length is experience not to be missed!

beth said...

FYI dredisth is Beth -

Unknown said...

Here is an example of WHY we need to all keep moving and dancing. Look at this lady's joy and range of movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwMUufTKn_I