Legion Transformation Center Springfield

Technique Tuesday! How to breathe during your squats: If you’re struggling with how to breathe properly while squatting, or doing any sort of lifting for that matter, hopefully this will help you guys! ... -There’s a huge different between sucking in and actually engaging your core. -Try to work on blowing your belly up instead of breathing into your chest. It might take some practice! Breathing properly is not an easy thing to do! -Practice while you’re at home- doing dishes, every time you stand up from the couch or chair, etc.

Motivation Monday Oftentimes, we are afraid to start a new routine because we are afraid to fail, but not starting at all is the real failure. Don't let fear get in the way of trying! Keep trying no matter how scary the change is!!

Family Friday!! One of the great things about joining Legion is gaining a #fitfam, but we also are the home to so many actually relatives! Ashley and her mom Sue are workout buddies at our 4pm class. We are so the home to many amazing couples, including Meg and Charles who love Legion because it gets them moving after sitting at work all day.... Everyone needs a gym buddy to help keep them accountable!

Transformation Thursday Meet Mike! Mike has been with us at Legion for about 2 years. You can catch him and a different class time every day, but can always expect him to be adding bicep curls into his workout. Mike hasn’t always been fit. In 2014 he found himself with 3 toddlers, work and life. He wasn’t finding time to prioritize his own health and fitness. He was about 220 pounds and over 30% body fat.... Fast forward to now. Mike has made sure to have time for himself- for proper nutrition and exercise. He bounced around gyms for awhile before settling in here with us at Legion in Springfield. He just finished our last member challenge at 175 and 14%body fat!! He says he has a waist size he hasn’t seen since high school and at 40 years old, is in the best shape of his life! Mike is a social butterfly and has become such an important part of our fitfam. While he hates checking in on Facebook, he loves a good hashtag and the community he belongs to. If you’re ready to take control of your health, shoot us a message or comment below. Michael Smith

Wednesday Wisdom As the world is starting to SPRING back to life after a long winter, you should consider what changes YOU need to make to spring back as well. Between quarantine and the winter blues, we have all fallen into bad habits related to food and exercises, but you need to start somewhere!!... For some reason, we get an all or nothing mentality when we try to get ourself back on track. JUST DO SOMETHING!!! Start with 20 minutes a day, whether you are walking, jogging, or whatever you choose, SOMETHING is better than NOTHING! Let the Spring season be a time of change for you!

IT’s technique Tuesday!! And leg day! Do you often feel sore after leg day? Lower back pain leave ya wobbling the next day?... If so check this video Coach Lauren made for you! Try them out and let us know what you think. What are your go to stretches for leg day?

Monday Motivation Motivation can be hard to come by, especially given all the stressors we encounter on a daily basis! Every time a new year begins, we generally take stock of life and consider things we want to change. But change can be hard, we lose motivation and give up. ... Taking the time out of your day to do something for YOU, will help you feel energized and recharged, do the workout, read that book, take that chance, what do you have to lose??

it has been a LONG 3 weeks but we are BACK tomorrow ready to hit the ground run-in! 2021 is going to be amazing and we are so excited to be able to work with you to hit all of your goals this year! Don't forget to register for classes tomorrow!!

As we all are preparing for our New Year’s Eve celebrations let’s take a minute for reflection. I’m sure many people are actually more celebrating the end of 2020 than they are welcoming 2021. Or maybe it is both. But hear me out.... 2020 sucked on a lot of levels. But did it not also teach you invaluable lessons about yourself? How many of you have always wished to be independently wealthy so you didn’t have to go to work? And now that you have been forced to stay home for almost a year wish you could leave your house? Who thought they’d never be able to workout at home and realized it fits your schedule perfectly? How many of us under appreciated our time surrounded by family and friends? Who dreaded going to functions? Instead of replaying the horrible times of this past year, let’s look to 2021 and think of all of the times we persevered. When we overcame the impossible. The year we survived? Survival is a huge accomplishment. So if you also thrived then tap yourself on the back! Let’s take the strength we found within ourselves this year and apply it to 2021. Who the heck knows what you can achieve! Happy New Year, from our family to yours

With only 5 more days until we reopen, what is something you really need to focus on? Have you stopped working out since we couldn't be in person? Did you let yourself overindulge a little too much the past few weeks?... No sweat! (unfortunately, literally) Drop a comment below on what you need to refocus on!