Alexa Rochford Fitness
GoodLife Fitness Lansdowne, 900 Exhibition Way K1J 9L3 Ottawa, ON, Canada

A little bench snack between clients and dance class I think my arch is even higher now than the last time I really trained this. Needs practice to tighten it up again. #benchpress #powerlifting

It’s hard to BALLieve, but LESS can be way more. What’s the best way to soften your hard body? __ You don’t have to crush your soft-tissues to get them to submi...t. In fact, the more you bully your soft tissues, the more you arouse your body's innate defense mechanism. They brace in response to threat, via the muscle spindle response. Guess what else braces? Other nearby muscles who rally to protect the tissue under a perceived attack. ___ The more you push, the more they push back. So when you’re rolling yourself like you’re ironing your birthday suit, your fascial tissues will likely swell and inflame full of defensive cytokines and make you feel even more swollen & stiff than before. Often as you roll, or stick or whatever, the ouch that you feel is your nervous system kicking into high gear and telling you that you’re pushing too hard, and to please back off. Are you listening? Or BALLdozing through it? ___ I started studying massage at age 18 & practiced self massage to replicate the hands of Masters on my own body. I’ve experimented with every kind of self-massage object; from wood, to metal, rubber, vibration, foam, sports balls, gadgets, you name it. My own subjective experience? Soft is supreme. _ I’ve been a soft-tool dealer for more than a decade, but there have been scant studies on soft tools, it seems like the hard tool brands and sports balls (especially lacrosse balls) have dominated the market and the research. That’s why its so refreshing to finally see superb peer-reviewed research (not pay for placement research!) that exposes the truth about HARD vs. SOFT. ___ The results of this study indicate that therapeutic tools providing gentle pressure are superior to those providing firm pressure. Check out this study by Yushin Kim et al https://tinyurl.com/y4vdagwv and this by @dr.robyncapo et al https://tinyurl.com/y496aqnr __ Learn more fascia science at @tuneupfitness Roll Model courses. Come experience the transformative power of tender tactile contact November 8-10 at my LA Breath and Bliss Immersion @yogaworks (link in bio) ___ #fascia #selfmyofascialrelease #embodyyourbody #rollmodelmethod #selfmassage #yogatuneup @sjphotostudio See more

Needed a little holiday cheer on this last day before our third impending shutdown! Happy holidays to all See you back in the gym in a fresh new year!

My desire to be thin was so over whelming that I became addicted to diets, had surgery to lose weight, and became a certified fitness coach. I thought my life’s... mission was to help others lose weight too. I believed I was helping people, and teaching health. I determined my worth by the number on the scale, a job title, and acceptance of others. Weight loss meant I was beautiful, I belonged, I had permission to exist. I tried healing years of trauma imposed by bullies who teased me for being fat, by losing weight. I discovered what I thought I knew about weight loss, diet culture, my body, and my mindset was fucking bull shit. Diets are a scam, and cause more trauma. Diets where created by a patriarchal society. I left diet culture. I’m eating and learning to listen to my body. Sometimes, I still look at myself and struggle with body image. I learned that those thoughts are not mine. Those thoughts come from a fatphopic culture that teaches us that our value is in the size of our bodies. I’m healthy, I can still move my body in ways I enjoy, I have the best husband In the world who loves me and supports me always. I have true friends that have my back and love me more than I ever could have dreamed, and I just competed in my first USPA powerlifting meet and came home with 6 medals, and I know if I’m not able to lift or do any movement, that I am good enough! I always have been. I’m proud of my self for competing Saturday. I felt uncomfortable in my skin, but I didn’t diet or cut weight to change my feelings. I showed up and did what I love! My only regret in life is that I thought I had to wait to lose weight to enjoy some of the things I wanted in life like fitness. So this is for all the girls who got made fun of in PE, in the locker room, the playground for being poor, ugly, fat or for basically just for existing... You are worthy of everything life has to offer, you deserve to take up space, you are a fucking bad ass and don’t let anyone ever tell you other wise. You are powerful, loved, and a fucking queen, you can do anything you want in life. And guess what? There are so many things far more interesting about you. @hillaryerinbowers