wildfire, especially as the benefits become more evident and, consequently, more desired.” “Even in killer cardio combat kickboxing,” he suggests, “mindfulness can be incredibly useful. For example, conscious muscle activation increases results, while, simultaneously, reducing the risk of injury.” Biscontini is doing his part to share his sentiments. During the winter, he teaches at the Golden Door Spa at Las Casitas Village, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. He’s designed mind/body, personal-training, and aquatics programs for major chains, such as Equinox Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Bally Total Fitness. And he’s the founder of FG2000 (Fitness Group 2000), a group of elite trainers that pro- vide ongoing education worldwide, often in developing countries on a nonprofit basis. Though he acknowledges that he can be a “purist,” meaning that he’ll teach only one modality per class, he is, philosophically, a fervent disciple of fusion program- ming. He contends that, when you combine two or more disciplines—for instance, yoga with cycling—you expose members to exercise options that, otherwise, they might never explore. Moreover, he notes, “The more you train the body in the same way, the less it responds.” At the same time, however, he believes that trainers should be “traditionalists.”
“Offering fusion without standards,” he warns, “is a proposition that’s likely to fail.” His experience, skills, and theories have yielded a wealth of imaginative and engaging classes. One of his most popular creations is Yo-Chi, a fusing of T’ai-Chi Yang Short Form with adapted hatha yoga asanas. Biscontini describes it as a “moving meditation.” The reaction to it has been “overwhelming,” he says, leading to a number of spinoffs. “Now there’s Hydro Yo-Chi for the pool; Yo-Chi Ball, which employs stability balls; and Yo-Chi Glow—we finish this class in the dark, waving glow-sticks while music plays.” Among the many other courses that carry his credits are Chi-Lates, a mixture of floor-based Pilates with stand- ing t’ai chi movements; Shakti, a choreographed blend of yoga, t’ai chi, Pilates, Feldenkrais, and NIA; Buddha Boot Camp, an aggressive, flowing blend of yoga, t’ai chi, and Pilates; and Shake Your Buddha, a dance-centric course which melds yoga with Pilates. “Ultimately,” Biscontini observes, “the blend justifies
the means.” New day dawning
Jill Miller, the founder of Tune Up Fitness Worldwide, Inc., in Studio City, California, is another mind/body innovator who’s pushing the discipline’s envelope, in this case, in the direction of injury-prevention, rehabilitation, pain-relief, and wellness. A trainer schooled in yoga, modern dance, Pilates, bodywork, and shiatsu, Miller, after several years of
teaching, came to recognize an unattended-to problem. “I was teaching yoga in Los Angeles and began noticing how many stu- dents had horrible alignment,” she recalls. “I couldn’t, in good conscious, continue with what I was doing.”
Miller notes that everyone has so-called blind spots. “They’re areas of the body that have been underused, overused, misused, or terribly abused,” she explains. “And, if someone can’t move well, asking them to adopt a con- ventional pose may not be the best thing to do. In fact, it can lead to injury.”
Jill Miller
Her concern is corroborated by the facts: a report commissioned by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission indicates that, in 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available, some 5,500 people were treated for yoga-related injuries.
Determined to develop an approach that would help students “work out the body’s kinks,” preparing them “to move and care for their body’s tissues,” Miller turned to medical resources, drew heavily on medical knowledge. “A great instructor learns anatomy, even going so far as to attend workshops where an actual cadaver is dissected,” she says. “They read the scientific studies regularly, practice extensively, and analyze endlessly.” Eventually, her research, experimentation, and program development culminated in Yoga Tune Up (YTU), a course that combines yoga, calisthenics, body therapy, and corrective exercises that increases strength, heals damaged tissue, and enhances the immune system. The technique, Miller observes, leaves a client feeling “rewired.”
Now, 10 years after the advent of YTU, it’s proving a smash hit at leading clubs, such as Equinox, Crunch Fitness, and The Sports Club/LA. It’s also become a core component of Equinox’s Conscious Movement program, a unique group-fitness suite of classes, workshops, and special events. For its creator, YTU has served as the foundation for what’s quickly becoming a mini-business- empire. Miller conducts teacher trainings and work- shops, stars in online videos, and has introduced a line of products ranging from DVDs to the specialized, signature, self-massage rubber balls utilized in her classes. She’s cur- rently working on a cardio interpretation of YTU, which she’s dubbed Tune It Up: Conscious Conditioning. “The time is young for mind/body fitness. The possi-
bilities are endless,” she reflects. “I think we’re at the dawn of a new day.” —|
– Patricia Glynn,
p.glynn@
fit-etc.com ihrsa.org | DECEMBER 2011 | Club Business Internat ional 59
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