We all know that consistent movement is an important health factor. In particular, it allows us to age gracefully by helping to keep our bodies functioning well for as long as possible. But maintaining our physical abilities benefits not just our physical health. It also benefits our mental health.

You’ve probably heard of functional training and mobility training. But what is functional mobility training? For the most part, it’s exactly what it sounds like. A combination style training that combines functional and mobility exercises.

Now that we are well into February some of us might be struggling with our New Year's resolutions. Perhaps we over extended ourselves and now are struggling to keep our resolutions going. Or maybe we never got to them because life got in the way. Whatever the reason, it is important to remember that the best time of year to start something new is when it is best for you.

It seems as though every school, choreographer, and convention now host winter intensives during holiday/winter break. These usually 3-7 day long intensives can offer serious dancers the opportunity to train with teachers and choreographers they normally would not have access to and can also allow dancers to see if they might be interested in that school's more extensive summer intensive.

There's a lot of confusion around hypermobility and hyperflexibility. The terms tend to be used interchangeably but they actually mean different things. Understanding these differences helps movement instructors, trainers, and PTs build classes and workouts around their students/clients that are actually effective.

This is a question I get asked often. Most of us know that cross-training is an important part of high level sports and athletics. For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, cross-training is a secondary physical activity used to support a primary physical activity.

Most dancers at this point know that cross-training is a very necessary part of their training. From pilates to weight lifting, dancers have a ton of different options to choose from. It's finding the right method for you that's the trick.

People choose to exercise in different ways for a lot of different reasons. Maybe they are an athlete wanting their technique to be better. Maybe they want to lose weight. Maybe they want to want to fix their posture. Or maybe they want to recover from an injury. It all depends on the person.

"What is GYROTONIC®?" is another question I get asked a lot.

Is a question I get asked whenever I tell people what I do. So I thought I'd try to explain in a bit more detail.

Hello all,

For those who don't know me, my name is Jessica Woodman and welcome to my blog, Barre Fly. I'm a professional dancer, teacher, and fitness instructor based in the SF Bay Area.