Hi Betsy, Good questions. There is a lot to think about when you Lithe, and with most people coming through our Lithe 101 these days (and especially when most people only want to take one 101 instead of the three that we recommend), they don't allow muscle memory to form and our bio-mechanical principals to really sink in. Also, everyone develops bad habits over time. Think of our 3 pelvic placements: Neutral, Imprint and Tuck. I think confusion occurs on how you GET INTO these positions. Keep in mind that neutral pelvis and spine is your normal, natural spinal alignment that you walk around with (you can still compress your abs and squeeze your glutes in this position). It's important to work in this position and to strive to become strong in this position. Imprint is when you contract your abs and ONLY your abs (tip the martini). The pelvis tilts (or, as you may hear us say...your hips rock up towards your ribs about 10 degrees). It's a very small tilt of the pelvis and we usually are imprinted when we are working on the mat. Lithe vets can and do work totally in neutral when they are on the mat. Tucking is total-body; We demo this position on the knees during our beginner courses so that you can feel it and feel how your quads lengthen, hamstrings shorten and glutes tighten. This is when we take that imprint (abs) and incorporate the large muscle groups of the glutes, quads and hamstrings. *You still only have that slight, 10 degree tilt of the pelvis that you have during the imprint. You're also lifting the chest/sternum here, sliding the shoulders down and engaging the lats so that the upper body doesn't go into flexion. You will hear us cue "hips to ribs," BUT, when you imprint or tuck, you don't literally want to take your hips to your ribs - that is over-tucking and over-lengthening the lumbar spine. You really want to remember that the tuck always initiates from the abs and that it's not a big movement. You're correct, during lunges, sumos and curtsey's you're only tucked at the top; you're neutral when you drop down. During lateral work, you want both legs to be turned out (think 10 o clock and 2 o clock), and you only want your legs/feet to be at YOUR hip-width apart. We all come in different shapes and sizes and your hip-width is, and will look different than mine and the person who is next to you. Your feet should never be wider than your mat. The widest hip-width position that I've ever seen was almost as wide as our mat; That person was over 6 ft. tall. Last week during Rock Steady, I meant that I literally couldn't see you all squeezing your buns - you were all just "holding" wide-second. What we mean when we say that you shouldn't see any butt/hip movement is that you shouldn't be gyrating/thrusting, or squeezing and then releasing the tuck on the inhale. You want to hold your tuck (with your abs and glutes), squeeze your buns and focus on your breathing. We should only ever see rib cages opening and closing (and abs contracting). The body will move slightly with the breath because on an inhalation the body/spine extends a bit, and on an exhalation the body/spine naturally flexes. I hope this helps! If you're still confused I recommend jumping back into a 101 and re-visting the principals.

Congratulations to Argia DiMarco, our Fit.Hip.Friday giveaway winner! Enjoy your Liquid Lithe, and let us know how it goes :)

Aww, thanks ladies! Glad you liked this one. I'll keep writing and sharing.

Hi All, Holding the bands properly requires building strength and persistence. The hands are just like any other muscle group; whether it be your heart, thighs or upper body (like, working up to those 30 push-ups), you have to work at it, rather than give up 5 minutes in and resort to a squeeze, claw, or broken wrist grip. We aim to balance the muscles of the arm and strengthen the correct muscles of the upper body/core. The rationale behind holding the wrists straight with an extended, open hand/fingers is so that we don't squeeze the hands (which overworks the forearm and strains the tendons), "break" the wrists which leads to misalignment and possible carpal tunnel syndrome caused by reduced blood flow to the hands. Work towards a proper grip and over time you won't even feel like your holding anything. Also, feel free to ask me to check your form during class! http://www.fithiphealthy.com/fithiphealthy/ask-the-instructor/page/3/

We just placed another order Gina, so we should have some in stock next week! Email chrissy@lithemethod.com if you would like to pre-pay and reserve a pair.

Congratulations Nicole Morris, you are the winner! We will be emailing you directly with your prize redemption details. Enjoy!