Think Fit. Be Fit.

Finding the sweet spot for running and enjoying your movement is worth an inside look at how the feet contribute to strength, force absorption and running with natural confidence.

Rick Merriam has spent years educating runners on how to compete and have fun without pain.  He is a seasoned massage therapist, professor of anatomy and kinesiology and has his own podcast, Engaging Muscles podcast.  In his 25 year career, he has experience working as a biomechanics based massage therapist including work at ESPN, overcoming his own back pain and shares some stories from working with a high performance running shoe store.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Running economy starts from the bottom up
• The mechanics and how our joints move when running
• How shoes and cleats can ruin foot strength
• The mechanics of natural gait and shoes

Links of interest:

Previous Running episodes on TFBF:

https://thinkfitbefit.libsyn.com/avoiding-injury-and-strength-training-advice-for-runners

https://thinkfitbefit.libsyn.com/the-common-fallacy-of-running

Previous Running episodes on TFBF: https://thinkfitbefit.libsyn.com/avoiding-injury-and-strength-training-advice-for-runners

https://thinkfitbefit.libsyn.com/the-common-fallacy-of-running

Rick’s bio on EngagingMuscles.com

https://www.engagingmuscles.com/bio-rick-merriam/

And podcast https://www.engagingmuscles.com/podcast/

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach dedicated exercise professionals, future trainers, and exercise enthusiasts all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER: Dive deeper with us. Sign up here. We offer a unique view on muscles, portals to new ways to respect the body and health.  Learning to ‘enjoy the process’ is a buzzy term.  We take learning seriously and want to take our listeners on that journey with us and through us.  

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thinkfitbefit with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

COURSE: Want to learn how to manage your body and exercise with precision? Jennifer’s  course, Movement Pathways is available. Learn more here 

If you're adamant about health and fitness for the long-term, not just the short-term benefit, then you will want to use Jenn and Ben's conversation for guidance on the inside view of fitness education's broken system.  

"Making it" in your fitness journey requires adaptability, openness and a willingness to be held accountable.  This is true of both fitness professionals and exercise lovers.

You'll learn about the 5 arch types in fitness education that have left a stain on the industry.  We are bringing this to our audience's attention because it's important to have useful information while we are attempting to access empowered exercise and healthy lifestyles. 

You'll even hear an anecdote from training as a Major League Soccer Player and exploitative marketing practices. 

Here's the reference for the FMS and soccer player study https://www.painscience.com/bibliography.php?bakken17

To learn more about our guest, Ben Dragavon, check him on on instagram and our previous episode with him from June 15, 2020. 

Jenn is on instagram @Impact_Your_Fitness

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thinkfitbefit with your expat story for a chance to be featured! 

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach dedicated exercise professionals, future trainers, and exercise enthusiasts all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER: Dive deeper with us. Sign up here. We offer a unique view on muscles, portals to new ways to respect the body and health.  Learning and ‘enjoy the process’ is a buzzy term.  We take learning seriously and want to take our listeners on that journey with us and through us

COURSE: Want to learn how to manage your body and exercise with precision? Jennifer’s  course, Movement Pathways is available. Learn more here 

If you're adamant about health and fitness for the long-term, not just the short-term benefit, then you will want to use Jenn and Ben's conversation for guidance on the inside view of fitness education's broken system.  

"Making it" in your fitness journey requires adaptability, openness and a willingness to be held accountable.  This is true of both fitness professionals and exercise lovers.

You'll learn about the 5 arch types in fitness education that have left a stain on the industry.  We are bringing this to our audience's attention because it's important to have useful information while we are attempting to access empowered exercise and healthy lifestyles. 

You'll even hear an anecdote from training as a Major League Soccer Player and exploitative marketing practices. 

Here's the reference for the FMS and soccer player study https://www.painscience.com/bibliography.php?bakken17

To learn more about our guest, Ben Dragavon, check him on on instagram and our previous episode with him from June 15, 2020. 

Jenn is on instagram @Impact_Your_Fitness

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thinkfitbefit with your expat story for a chance to be featured! 

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach dedicated exercise professionals, future trainers, and exercise enthusiasts all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER: Dive deeper with us. Sign up here. We offer a unique view on muscles, portals to new ways to respect the body and health.  Learning and ‘enjoy the process’ is a buzzy term.  We take learning seriously and want to take our listeners on that journey with us and through us

COURSE: Want to learn how to manage your body and exercise with precision? Jennifer’s  course, Movement Pathways is available. Learn more here 

Self transformation is beyond self awareness.  It is a reshaping of perception while being in ownership and abundant energy.  Do you want to know how a professional approaches this process?  This episode is a transparent view of helping oneself through a course of trusting the process. 

Dr. Stephanie Johnson DC is not only a chiropractor, ART Practitioner and business owner.  She is also an avid yoga teacher and student.   Jenn and Stephanie discuss her experience with yoga with a yoga article that has made a big impact on her practice as well as their experience in COVID quarantine. 

"At any instant, the quality of your life is directly related to how interested you are in it." 🙏 -Joel Kramer

Links of interest:

June 2019 episode on Active Recovery

https://thinkfitbefit.libsyn.com/stephanie-61019-1146-am

Stephanie’s Washington DC practice

https://www.sjohnsonchiropractic.com/

Stephanie’s Virginia chiropractic practice

https://posichiro.com/team/dr-stephanie-johnson-2/

https://www.instagram.com/sjchiropractic/

https://www.instagram.com/drjohnsonyoga/

Download,- Yoga as Self Transformation by Joel Kramer 

LINK https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5560c37ae4b0c18afa3e2f44/t/56ddca087c65e498ac6b7cbb/1457375759225/YogaAsSelfTransformation.pdf

Jenn’s blog on trusting your body

https://medium.com/@jennifersimoneschwartz/trusting-your-body-and-powerful-exercise-a73e6f5b20ef

Subscribe to the podcast newsletter to receive our dives into research, exercise videos, our process and ways to connect deeper to the process of exercise. 

https://www.instagram.com/thinkfitbefit_podcast/

https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/

Support the podcast by trying our affiliate, RUVI a high performance drink that is just fruit and veggies and nothing else.  It really speaks for itself- no additives/sugar/gluten and all the fiber- your first order comes with a free shaker bottle.  Go to https://impactyourfitness.thrivelife.com/ruvi

Check out Jenn’s studio in Alexandria VA www.impactyourfitness.net 

Self transformation is beyond self awareness.  It is a reshaping of perception while being in ownership and abundant energy.  Do you want to know how a professional approaches this process?  This episode is a transparent view of helping oneself through a course of trusting the process. 

Dr. Stephanie Johnson DC is not only a chiropractor, ART Practitioner and business owner.  She is also an avid yoga teacher and student.   Jenn and Stephanie discuss her experience with yoga with a yoga article that has made a big impact on her practice as well as their experience in COVID quarantine. 

"At any instant, the quality of your life is directly related to how interested you are in it." 🙏
-Joel Kramer

Links of interest:

June 2019 episode on Active Recovery

https://thinkfitbefit.libsyn.com/stephanie-61019-1146-am

Stephanie’s Washington DC practice

https://www.sjohnsonchiropractic.com/

Stephanie’s Virginia chiropractic practice

https://posichiro.com/team/dr-stephanie-johnson-2/

https://www.instagram.com/sjchiropractic/

https://www.instagram.com/drjohnsonyoga/

Download,- Yoga as Self Transformation by Joel Kramer 

LINK https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5560c37ae4b0c18afa3e2f44/t/56ddca087c65e498ac6b7cbb/1457375759225/YogaAsSelfTransformation.pdf

Jenn’s blog on trusting your body

https://medium.com/@jennifersimoneschwartz/trusting-your-body-and-powerful-exercise-a73e6f5b20ef

Subscribe to the podcast newsletter to receive our dives into research, exercise videos, our process and ways to connect deeper to the process of exercise. 

https://www.instagram.com/thinkfitbefit_podcast/

https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/

Support the podcast by trying our affiliate, RUVI a high performance drink that is just fruit and veggies and nothing else.  It really speaks for itself- no additives/sugar/gluten and all the fiber- your first order comes with a free shaker bottle.  Go to https://impactyourfitness.thrivelife.com/ruvi

Check out Jenn’s studio in Alexandria VA www.impactyourfitness.net 

Ben Dragavon knows more than a few things about client defined progress and high performance athletics. 

Join Jenn and Ben for this conversation about the nuances in taking it to the next level from being a defeated athlete to micro-assessing and training Olympic athletes like Hope Solo.   

Here's a little more about Ben:

He is a Muscle & Joint Specialist for the professional athlete to the everyday human.  He has over 12 years of experience as a professional athlete and coaching in professional athletics. 

He served as an assistant coach, strength coach, and medical staff member for Seattle Reign FC for five years. Dragavon is a former assistant coach for Seattle Sounders 2, Sounders FC U-23s, Sounders FC Academy, Seattle University Men’s Soccer, Western Washington University men’s and women’s soccer. Dragavon served as a goalkeeper coach for the U.S. Soccer Youth National Team U-18s and U-19s. Dragavon is educated in Muscle Activation Techniques and in the Resistance Training Specialist Program, and he has a B.S. from Western Washington University in Exercise Science and Pre-Physical Therapy. Dragavon has worked with athletes from the NFL, MLB, EPL, German Bundesliga, USMNT, USWNT, NWSL, US Deaf National Team and US Skiing

Links of interest:

Where you can connect with Ben

https://dragavonperformance.com/

https://www.instagram.com/dragavonperformance/

https://www.instagram.com/westcoastgk/

https://www.instagram.com/athletictraininginstitute/

Press:

https://www.si.com/edge/2016/02/23/hope-solo-workout-uswnt-seattle-reign-training

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-soccer-baxter-20160730-snap-story.html

Connect with Jenn:

https://www.instagram.com/impact_your_fitness/

https://www.impactyourfitness.net/

Join the podcast newsletter and check out the new site!

https://www.instagram.com/thinkfitbefit_podcast/

https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/

Support the podcast by trying our affiliate, RUVI a high performance drink that is just fruit and veggies and nothing else.  It really speaks for itself- no additives/sugar/gluten and all the fiber- your first order comes with a free shaker bottle.  Go to https://impactyourfitness.thrivelife.com/ruvi

Ben Dragavon knows more than a few things about client defined progress and high performance athletics. 

Join Jenn and Ben for this conversation about the nuances in taking it to the next level from being a defeated athlete to micro-assessing and training Olympic athletes like Hope Solo.   

Here's a little more about Ben:

He is a Muscle & Joint Specialist for the professional athlete to the everyday human.  He has over 12 years of experience as a professional athlete and coaching in professional athletics. 

He served as an assistant coach, strength coach, and medical staff member for Seattle Reign FC for five years. Dragavon is a former assistant coach for Seattle Sounders 2, Sounders FC U-23s, Sounders FC Academy, Seattle University Men’s Soccer, Western Washington University men’s and women’s soccer. Dragavon served as a goalkeeper coach for the U.S. Soccer Youth National Team U-18s and U-19s. Dragavon is educated in Muscle Activation Techniques and in the Resistance Training Specialist Program, and he has a B.S. from Western Washington University in Exercise Science and Pre-Physical Therapy. Dragavon has worked with athletes from the NFL, MLB, EPL, German Bundesliga, USMNT, USWNT, NWSL, US Deaf National Team and US Skiing

Links of interest:

Where you can connect with Ben

https://dragavonperformance.com/

https://www.instagram.com/dragavonperformance/

https://www.instagram.com/westcoastgk/

https://www.instagram.com/athletictraininginstitute/

Press:

https://www.si.com/edge/2016/02/23/hope-solo-workout-uswnt-seattle-reign-training

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-soccer-baxter-20160730-snap-story.html

Connect with Jenn:

https://www.instagram.com/impact_your_fitness/

https://www.impactyourfitness.net/

Join the podcast newsletter and check out the new site!

https://www.instagram.com/thinkfitbefit_podcast/

https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/

Support the podcast by trying our affiliate, RUVI a high performance drink that is just fruit and veggies and nothing else.  It really speaks for itself- no additives/sugar/gluten and all the fiber- your first order comes with a free shaker bottle.  Go to https://impactyourfitness.thrivelife.com/ruvi

Being decisive and creative was a necessity during the recent global events that have changed the world. 

This episode is all about building an effective home exercise experience by sharing exercise mechanics knowledge. This is an ongoing project for Think Fit. Be Fit. as we believe our community's exercise is about personal growth and getting stronger despite complicated circumstances.

Jenn and Ed have over 35 years of experience as exercise professionals and now rely mostly on bands and bodyweight exercises because they had to be physically distanced from their well equipped studios. This episode is here for you to learn their tricks! 

The funny thing about body weight exercises and bands is that most of us used them out of convenience but without access to gyms we are now using bands and body weight exercises with unfortunate urgency and necessity.  

Broadening your understanding of the technical parts of the bands is easy to do!  Just listen to our podcast, take notes, experiment with Strategic Variation™ and, as always, get in touch if you need more guidance.  

Here’s the breakdown of the discussion:

• A real physical education includes not only understanding some of the biology and physiology but also the mechanics of exercise. 
• Tools for success are better than allegiance to an exercise
• Technical aspect of bands and their range (plastic vs elastic)
• Learn about the different ranges and ways to replicate your cable routine with bands.
• Band placements and considerations for purchasing
• Methods for broadening your choices
• The importance of bone building with exercise
• Strategic Variation™ considerations for bands
• information on Ed's virtual HIT/Reformer class

Links of interest:

Part 1 of The Enhanced Home Fitness Solution https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/the-enhanced-home-fitness-solution-with-ed-morand/

Strategic Variation™ by Tom Purvis

https://www.exerciseprofessional.com/about/

Get in touch with Ed:

[email protected]

https://www.beyondpilates.net/

https://www.facebook.com/BEYONDPILATESNYC/

https://www.instagram.com/ed_morand/

https://www.instagram.com/beyondpilatesnyc/

Get in touch with Jenn:

www.impactyourfitness.net

https://www.instagram.com/impact_your_fitness/

You can support the podcast by checking RUVI, a high performance drink that is just fruit and veggies and nothing else.  It really speaks for itself- no additives/sugar/gluten and all the fiber- your first order comes with a free shaker bottle.  Go to https://impactyourfitness.thrivelife.com/ruvi

Being decisive and creative was a necessity during the recent global events that have changed the world. 

This episode is all about building an effective home exercise experience by sharing exercise mechanics knowledge. This is an ongoing project for Think Fit. Be Fit. as we believe our community's exercise is about personal growth and getting stronger despite complicated circumstances.

Jenn and Ed have over 35 years of experience as exercise professionals and now rely mostly on bands and bodyweight exercises because they had to be physically distanced from their well equipped studios. This episode is here for you to learn their tricks! 

The funny thing about body weight exercises and bands is that most of us used them out of convenience but without access to gyms we are now using bands and body weight exercises with unfortunate urgency and necessity.  

Broadening your understanding of the technical parts of the bands is easy to do!  Just listen to our podcast, take notes, experiment with Strategic Variation™ and, as always, get in touch if you need more guidance.  

Here’s the breakdown of the discussion:

• A real physical education includes not only understanding some of the biology and physiology but also the mechanics of exercise. 
• Tools for success are better than allegiance to an exercise
• Technical aspect of bands and their range (plastic vs elastic)
• Learn about the different ranges and ways to replicate your cable routine with bands.
• Band placements and considerations for purchasing
• Methods for broadening your choices
• The importance of bone building with exercise
• Strategic Variation™ considerations for bands
• information on Ed's virtual HIT/Reformer class

Links of interest:

Part 1 of The Enhanced Home Fitness Solution https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/the-enhanced-home-fitness-solution-with-ed-morand/

Strategic Variation™ by Tom Purvis

https://www.exerciseprofessional.com/about/

Get in touch with Ed:

[email protected]

https://www.beyondpilates.net/

https://www.facebook.com/BEYONDPILATESNYC/

https://www.instagram.com/ed_morand/

https://www.instagram.com/beyondpilatesnyc/

Get in touch with Jenn:

www.impactyourfitness.net

https://www.instagram.com/impact_your_fitness/

You can support the podcast by checking RUVI, a high performance drink that is just fruit and veggies and nothing else.  It really speaks for itself- no additives/sugar/gluten and all the fiber- your first order comes with a free shaker bottle.  Go to https://impactyourfitness.thrivelife.com/ruvi

The most optimistic way  to signal the next era of wellness is say “it’s time - to wake - the f*ck -up” with guest Keith Norris on Think Fit Be Fit podcast.   

Keith is the co-founder of Paleo f(x)™ and a true visionary in the ancestral health movement and exercise.   Paleo f(x)™ is the world’s premier holistic wellness event, covering health, nutrition, fitness, sustainability, self-development, spirituality, relationships, entrepreneurship, & everything in between.  They are planning to host it July 14-16 2020 in Austin Texas. 

In this episode, Jenn and Keith dive into navigating your health during this weird and complicated time. Also this is a rare conversation between two people who are spiritual and also very interested in lifting weights.

• 7 pillars of health and immersive education at Paleo f(x)™
• The importance of self-leadership in health
• Critical thinking and learning for the process of attaining wellness and staying healthy
• The wisdom and innate intelligence of the human body

Jenn and Keith dig deep to bring you friendly advice and tough love. Learn how Keith helped drive paleo culture forward with his values, intelligence and intuition towards a smarter health movement. 

Check him out here:

www.paleofx.com 

http://ancestralmomentum.com/

https://www.instagram.com/theory2practice/

https://twitter.com/KeithNorris