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Meet Lynnette Reilly

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I am Lynnette Reilly and have a passion for personal training, health and wellness. I am excited to inspire and motivate you to reach whatever fitness goals you are looking to achieve. I want to enable you to move more freely through mobility, stability, strength, and flexibility.

As a youth I was on many different athletic teams, but truly began my own fitness journey after the birth of my three daughters. I felt empowered as a woman and realized how much my body was physically capable of. I found great enjoyment and a feeling of success as I began to lift weights, grow my strength, and be able to both push and pull my own body weight. Watching my own body physically change and being able to perform physical tasks with more ease was such a great feeling of achievement. Fitness has provided a sense of great accomplishment and I love helping others find that same connection with strength. It has also been an amazing outlet in giving me the energy and endurance I have needed in my daily life. I have since completed multiple races and events such as the Spartan, the Tough Mudder and the Warrior Dash. I continue to strive toward becoming a more fit individual each year.

I love to make the gym everyone’s playground. As a Functional Movement Specialist, I take my clients through a series of assessments. This allows me to prescribe the exercises that will help you move more efficiently doing the things you love the most. Whether your goals involve weight loss, strengthening, endurance or pain management. I can find the solution to meet your need. No matter what age or gender, no matter what weaknesses or inhibitions you have, I can help. Let’s begin this journey together.

Quadrupled Hip Extension Over a Bench

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Glute activation and strengthening is being shown to be extremely important to lower back health and stability. For many of us, a normal day includes an inordinate amount of time in the seated position, from commuting to and from work, sitting at our desks, to sitting at the computer to watching TV. As with any underutilized muscle, the glutes will lose strength and stability due to non-use. Research now suggests that a loss of strength to the glutes can contribute to lower back issues and /or pain.

To counteract this trend it is important to include glute activation exercises to your exercise regiment. A very effective exercise for glute activation is the “quadrupled hip extension” on a bench.

To perform the exercise, kneel down on the floor and lay your torso over a bench. Slide forward until your hip bones touch the edge of the bench. While performing the exercise your goal is to maintain hip contact with the bench the entire time. This will keep your lumbar spine and pelvis in alignment during the exercise. Bend the leg you are going to work at the knee so that the hamstring is in a shortened position. This places a greater demand on the glutes to extend the hip. Lift the thigh toward the ceiling while contracting the glutes. Maintain hip contact during the entire motion. Lift the thigh as high as you can without losing contact with the bench, hold and squeeze for five seconds, then lower. Perform 5-8 reps, then repeat on opposite leg. As you become stronger you can place a dumbbell behind the knee to provide more resistance. If you have questions on how to perform this exercise correctly, please contact one of our Personal Training Staff.
Mike Locke
Fitness Director

Your Health Beyond the Gym

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May is one of the busiest health observance months I know about. Here are some of the awareness programs that can have an effect on all of us. Most of this information comes from Welcoa, the Wellness Council of America. These are a few of all of the important health awareness events for May. Visit Welcoa for more.

May 6 – 12 is National Nurses Week. If you missed the celebration, its never too late to thank your nurse!

ALS Awareness Month, The ALS Association
Better Sleep Month, Better Sleep Council
Bike Month, The Communications League of American Bicyclists
Healthy Vision Month
High Blood Pressure Education Month, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Lupus Awareness, Lupus Foundation of America
Mental Health Month, Mental Health America –
Melanoma / Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, The American Academy of Dermatology
American Stroke Association

Regular health, vision and dental check-ups are important. Don’t forget to get yours!

Susie Landsem
Aging in Place by Design

Meet Susan Deschenes

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Susan Deschenes - Bellingham Athletic ClubSusan Deschenes has been certified as a Group Exercise Instructor and started teaching in 1993. She got her Personal Trainer Certification in 1995. Susan currently teaches Group Fitness Boot Camp classes at the Downtown club on Mondays and Wednesdays. She also teaches yoga, pilates, spin, bench, floor and senior fitness classes.

Dave Mauro’s Book Signing

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BAC’s own Dave Mauro will be doing a book signing, May 21st at the downtown location at 5:00 p.m. You won’t want to miss this. “I Highly recommend his book. Great read.” Mike Locke

Dave will have ample quantities of his book “Altitude Journals” available for purchase and signing. Cost is $27.

“When David Mauro was in his forties, his life hit rock bottom. With nothing to lose, he left everything he knew behind and set out on an epic international adventure. For the next seven years, Dave trudged across glaciers and frozen wastelands and through dense, dangerous forests. He communed with penguins and elephants, kept company with cannibals and gunrunners, and spoke with the dead. And though he’d never been a climber, he ended up joining history’s courageous few when he ascended into the clouds to stand at the summit of Mt. Everest.

Drawn from Dave’s personal diaries, The “Altitude Journals” is the poignant, inspiring, and endlessly exciting true story of a remarkable midlife crisis. It is an unforgettable tale of one man who went to amazing extremes to repair a shattered life–and how he regained the powers to love and forgive, and to believe in himself once again.”

 

Holiday Hours

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Memorial Day is almost here! We will run our usual holiday hours on Monday, May 28th.

The Cordata location will be open from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Kits Club will be open from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
There will be no water aerobics of group exercise classes.

The downtown location will be open from 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
There will be no water aerobics of group exercise classes.

Also, Friday, May 18th, is the Junior Ski to Sea Parade so the DOWNTOWN club will close at 6:00 p.m.

Meet Leslie McKee

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Leslie McKee - Bellingham Athletic ClubLeslie has been teaching yoga for nearly 18 years. Currently, she teaches Gentle Yoga at the Downtown club. Her goal is to provide therapeutic classes that target areas of deep stress and past injury. Classes include breath-work, poses, and meditation. When not teaching, Leslie enjoys playing a lot with my two young boys, practicing yoga, and enjoys walks in the woods. Leslie has two boys, ages 3 and 7, and the sweetest dog you’ve ever met. Her husband is pretty sweet too!

New Group Exercise Schedule

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Spring has sprung, and summer weather will be here before you know it! Now is the time to get into the club so you’re ready to keep up with the kids that will be home from school. Get ready for the transition from jeans to shorts, from indoor courts to water sports!
Our Spring schedule began May 1st! Are we offering the following changes and additions to our schedule to keep you on track? and wanting to come back!

At the Cordata club:

Monday
Dance Bootcamp with Tina from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
PiYo with Melissa from 6:45 – 7:45 p.m. (and the
last Saturday of every month).

Friday
Dance Your ABS off!!! with Patti from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

At the Downtown club:

Monday:
Cardio-Flex with Susan from 5:30 – 6:30 a.m.

Tuesday:
STEP! with Patti from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday:
PiYo with Melissa from 7:00 – 8:00 a.m.

Please take a look at our website for class descriptions and full Group Exercise schedules at both clubs. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to e-mail Jeri at groupex@bellinghamathleticclub.com

Meet Liza Elman

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Eliza Elman - Bellingham Athletic ClubMy name is Liza Elman. I started my yoga career in 2012 getting certified with a 200-hour teacher certification course. I was trained in an Ashtanga based studio. I have used yoga to help center myself as well as surround myself in a warm and welcoming community. I started teaching at BAC in November 2017 and my class is Thursday evenings at 6:40 pm. When I am not teaching yoga, I try to spend as much time outside as possible. I love to ski, hike, kayak, surf, visit the farmers market and cook! I hope to see you in my class!

Junior Racquetball Lessons

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The next Junior racquetball lessons begin May 7 and last 4 weeks (8 lessons). They are open to Members and Non-members. Sign up at the Cordata front desk today!

Week of May 7 – Week of May 28
4 weeks, 8 lessons
Beginners:
Mon/Wed 4:15-5:00PM

Intermediate:
Tues/Thurs 4:15-5:00PM
or Mon/Wed 5:00-5:45pm

Advanced:
Tues/Thurs 5:00-5:45PM

All classes taught by BAC Club Pro, Wanda Collins. Wanda has been teaching juniors for over 20 years
and is currently President of the Washington Junior Racquetball Association