Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my mom and I exercising in our basement. Everyday she would head down the steps to break a sweat and I would follow her. If I close my eyes and focus I can still recall the smell of the room, feel the cool humidity in the air and the way the thick striped exercise mat felt against my back. After a few minutes of stretching, These Dreams would quickly become interrupted by Jane Fonda opening with, "Are you ready for a workout!?"
From the time I was six until about nine, I would mostly watch, and make my mom laugh by repeating every word of Jane's Original Workout, Tamilee Webb's Buns of Steel and all of the Aerobisize videos (obsessed), while she pushed herself to the absolute limit. By the time I was fifteen, I was down there on my own and that's when my love affair with fitness really began to take shape.
Fast forward to the summer before my freshman year of college. I was scouted and received an invite to tryout for the SEC Division 1A University of South Carolina coed cheer team (and would win a full scholarship if I made it). I had six weeks to get into the best shape of my life. I needed: The body, serious athletic endurance, a six minute mile at minimim, a back handspring, a back tuck, a layout, stellar jumps, to stunt really well as a flyer (I was always a base) and dance really, really well. And you know, the ‘it’ factor. Sure, I was captain of my high school squad, and an NCA All Star so I was far better than most, but I needed to be better than 600 or so other young athletes from the south who had spent their entire lives training for this and working at a much higher level than I had for the past ten years in the northeast.
So I did what I knew always worked. I headed down to my basement studio and sweat my ass off everyday. I danced, did circuit training, lifted weights, and did exercise videos. I measured myself, and studied my movements in the mirror in my sports bra and underwear. As I gained strength and confidence, I watched lean muscle take the place of fat. I never once thought that what I was doing was inferior, less effective, or an "at-home exercise program." I was training, and I was training HARD.
Back then fitness studios didn't exist and gyms were filled with "weird" weight lifters and cheesy group step classes. Home was where I broke a sweat; where I could focus on me and work as hard as I possibly could without anyone watching.
Even long after my cheer career ended, and I ran fitness studios (Lithe Method) for eleven years, I never stopped training at home. In fact, I worked out entirely at home throughout my pregnancy and about three quarters of my workouts were at home while I operated Lithe.
I'm a fitness expert and I love a really great studio experience, but there are many advantages to sweating at home. The hardest part is getting started. You really don't need to go anywhere or pay a lot of money to get an amazing, top-notch workout. A few benefits of at-home fitness and Studio LB:
Home = habit
You're already there. You can create consistency and habit without going anywhere. There's a real honest truth to training at home. It's you against you. You're stripped of excuses, so the only thing that's stopping you is YOU. Find your strength and become stronger than your strongest excuse.
Studio LB = quality over quantity
Studio LB Streaming gives you two new 50-minute workouts and two, Under 30 minute Quick Burns every week. My expert programming is indispensable for achieving an athletes body and is next to impossible to imitate or achieve in a studio setting (I tried for years).
I'm a big believer in quality over quantity. I train you rather than have you be in charge of programming your weekly workouts. Why? Because you'll end up doing what you like vs. what you really need and may create muscle imbalances. Many people think that they want access to hundreds of workouts all the time vs. three-four new workouts each week, but the reality is, most people will become comfortable and do the same three workouts on repeat.
Home = fits your life
Group exercise is fun and can be performative for some, but 99% of people tend to hold back in a group setting without even realizing it. They often hide out in the back row (trainer can't see you), workout in layers of baggy clothing (same, and you can't see you), rarely look at themselves in a mirror (zero connection), or grunt (break through and push it!). Studios certainly have a more social quality than your home can offer, but hear me loud and clear... Being social does not make your workout effective. Often, the opposite is true!
Home = freedom
In a group setting, your time spent resting or doing is largely determined by what I call the middle (other people) in class as is your choice of exercises. Unless you're taking a private session, your instructor is also teaching to the middle. At home, you're free to work at your level without group water breaks. And, you can take Studio LB wherever you go.
Home = the results you truly desire
To get the results you really want, fitness must not be taken lightly. Most studio members are not in that mindset. They focus on the fun, social aspects of exercising with other people, rather than focusing on their own body and the effectiveness of the workout.
Home = safe space
When you're in your home, magic can happen if you allow it to. You're in your safest space, so push yourself as hard and as much as you want to. Nobody is watching. I think that you'll find that it leads to your most productive workout.
Xx
Lauren