Why Movement Control Changes Everything | Maria Lucey

Life moves fast, and most of us respond by moving faster right along with it, in the gym and everywhere else. Jeff Ford sits down with Palmetto Bluff fitness specialist Maria Lucy to slow the whole thing down and get specific about what actually builds strength, resilience, and long-term health: movement quality, body awareness, and control.

Maria shares how her background in strength and conditioning plus yoga shapes a ground up approach to training. We talk posture and “stacking,” learning to feel your feet and spine, and why the setup matters as much as the lift. Maria also breaks down how coaching the eccentric phase and slowing your reps can unlock better mechanics, safer progressive overload, and real results you can feel in sports like golf, tennis, and pickleball.

Then we go beyond flexibility and dig into what yoga teaches about breath, stillness, and the mind-body connection. Maria explains how mindfulness shows up in training, how autonomy and smart modifications keep people both challenged and safe, and why tiny adjustments can change an entire movement pattern. Jeff closes with a reflection on healthy momentum: pushing hard in intense seasons without losing awareness.

If you want practical fitness coaching cues, better lifting form, and a stronger relationship with your body, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who rushes their reps, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Maria

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, Jeff Ford, and today I have the pleasure of being joined by Maria Lucy, one of our expert fitness specialists here at Palmetto Bluff. Maria has a background in strength and conditioning, yoga, and movement coaching. And she is someone our members know by her attention to detail and her ability to help people move well while still pushing them to improve. She also previously owned her own gym before relocating to Beauford, South Carolina. I remember from my initial conversation with Maria that she was such a fit for our team, our philosophy. And so I'm so excited that today we get to dive into movement quality, body awareness, training with intention, and how proper mechanics can influence not just performance, but long-term health and longevity. Maria, thanks so much for making the time to be on the podcast today.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Oh, thank you, Jeff. You know I've been looking forward to this for a while. So having the opportunity to sit down and talk about all the things we love, looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yeah, it's great when we bring like-minded people together for a cause that's greater than us. And I know the members are going to be all over this episode because of what you bring to the table, just your approach, who you are as a person. And we'll dive into just the interplay between yoga and strength and conditioning. It's it's quite rare that someone has the same mindset that you have and teaches yoga.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Right, right. Yeah. You know, there is a deep connection when we think about strength training, and and we'll dive in deeper when we come into this, but the ability to read the body, to know movement takes a lot of time, focus, breath work. So when you're strength training, that ability to slow down and dial in.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

More important than we think. Truly. Yeah. You've coached for over 20 years and even owned your own gym. I believe you had a full career and owned a gym, which I I know what that looks like. Incredible. Before moving to the low country, which is now your home, how has your philosophy around movement and training evolved over time?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Yeah,

From Nursing Track To Coaching

SPEAKER_00 2:50

well, it's crazy how it started. I was um working in a very large fitness facility in Delaware, teaching exercise classes, actually going back to school for nursing. And the gentleman that owned the club asked me, Why are you doing this? Why aren't you training? Why aren't you getting into the world of fitness? And in my head, I thought I had to follow this trajectory of nursing career. He allowed me to start training while I went through certification. Now, I had my bachelor's, had taken my anatomy and phys, but to receive that certification, he said, start training and you work through the process when you're here. So then that evolved to work with the strength and conditioning coach who really focused in on athletes, strength and conditioning, their performance. So allowing myself to work under a mentor that knew the body, knew programming, worked with all ages. So besides working with young athletes, I had the opportunity to work with high school collegiate athletes as well as older adults. So our programming allowed us to focus in on all of them. And working under someone was deep knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Right out of the gates, you received exposure to different populations. And what's this mentor's name? It sounds like he definitely pushed you into the trajectory of this being a career for you.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Joey Diascanis, he owned a facility called Achieving Physiques. And wild enough, he was my personal trainer. So I always in my training had a trainer. And so he would work with me while I was working in a different facility, asked me to join his team to work under him, which gave me that opportunity to deep dive into sports performance. And then from there, I opened up my own gym at my home while working for Joe while also working in the world of business.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

So I had it wrong. You had three jobs.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Oh, I've always had three jobs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

It's definitely the tenacity in you. Yeah. Tell me more about your athletic background, how you personally came to fitness.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

I think I had my mer first membership at 15 at the YMCA because I played volleyball. You know, with all this height, why wouldn't I be, you know, working on that?

SPEAKER_01 5:13

For those of you who don't know Maria, she's she's not as tall as she's portraying.

unknown 5:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

And um, so I played volleyball in high school, played volleyball in college, took a little bit of a break, then went back to school for volleyball, and then uh uh scholarship in cross country. So I hit a lot of different uh sports in not the traditional way. Yeah, I had my daughters, um, so I took a little hiatus from school, had an opportunity with two years of uh eligibility left to be offered a full scholarship to run cross-country. Wow. Yeah, it was pretty wild.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Cross country being the event of a 5K, or what would be an event, but that's called Yeah, that was it was a 5K, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

So um was a college in Delaware. We competed up and down the East Coast, made it to Nationals, which was in Wisconsin. By that point, I was pretty much tapped out because imagine having two kids. We also had a restaurant and I was running collegiately along with my students.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

That's insane to think about.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Insane. But I think it allowed me to develop the ability to hone in and focus on what you're doing in the moment and breaking up your energy in that way. Sure. I mean, the kids in the morning, drop off for school, maintaining the home, practice to then go on to class at night. It was pretty wild. Yeah. Yeah. And to compete. So that then evolved into back to the opportunity to train at the athletic center, which then led me to Joey Diascanis. Yeah, to my own gym.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

It's been quite a quite a an unexpected journey, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

But now as you reflect back, it's it's almost feels like it's where you're meant to be.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I I feel like I've had these opportunities of people presented in my life that have been a mentor, a guide to offer opportunity, much like yourself. How I fell into being here on Palmetto Bluff.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

And did you think you were going to train when you moved to South Carolina? What were your thoughts uh as you relocated? Because you've only been here almost three years now?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

I'm a location. Two and a half, yeah. Yeah. I was a little lost being in Bufort. It's a little different than what I'm used to. And trying to find my space. And it was a rough year, I have to be honest. And then falling upon this opportunity at Palmetto Bluff changed my whole outlook. Yeah for sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Well, I appreciate your vulnerability. I think a lot of us can relate to that with life transition. I've experienced that multiple times. And it couldn't have happened at a better time for our team. And you've been such an integral part of adding to how we go about our program and being that voice.

Ground Up Movement Quality

SPEAKER_01 8:15

So I would love to dive into movement. You have a voice around movement that I connect deeply with. I've seen you present technique training to members during our wellness week. What's one thing you wish more people understood about movement and exercise?

SPEAKER_00 8:34

The quality of the movement is key. Having the ability to think about slowing down. There's always a place for movements that are faster, a little more intensity. But building the groundwork, I always think of looking at the body from the ground up. So how can we teach members to feel that, to feel the ground, work up the body so that when you're training, when you're going through movement, you have that inner intelligence to know how the body's going to move?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

An innate ability for the user to recognize that as they go about movement. What's one way that you help someone new to fitness become more from the ground up as you've described it?

SPEAKER_00 9:24

So a lot of times it's just letting them feel their body in space, looking at their posture, feeling standing. So before we even get into movement, just working up the body systematically.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

And that almost stems with body awareness. How how important is it that as someone layers on in their practice of strength training or even yoga to have body awareness?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

I think it's pretty key. When we think about being balanced, you know, we hear that a lot, having controlled movements, it's coming back to knowing your body and how we move, knowing when to push, when to pull back. So just the ability to stand, stack the spine, feel the grounding of the feet, that allows us to prepare for movement. So if we can't, if we're not pro if our body has imbalances, which we all have, it's the ability to work through the imbalances to try and make those changes. Is it a postural change, change in movement?

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm hearing we need to have a baseline of what's stacked, what's home for each of us, and then moving in a way that honors the imbalances.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

And that ability to start on the back, to feel the spine, right? So if you start on supine position, can you imprint from supine coming to quadruped, from quadruped coming to a half kneel, from half kneel to standing? So that ability to work up the body through these movements to come to standing.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Perfect place to start.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Right? We have to feel the body. We have to feel the spine, the feet. Where are we in space? Can we bring an awareness to where we are? Because if we do not have awareness of our bodies, how can we pick up 135-pound weight to deadlift? If we can't stack, align, brace the core, ground the feet, know what stability of the shoulder is, where's your alignment of your cervical spine?

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

It's so key.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah. And it's almost like a lot of the times in fitness, it's one of those areas in life we just throw ourselves into it. Especially if, hey, I want to get in shape. I get it.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

I did it. Yeah. You're kidding me? I used to throw myself all over the place. And then thankfully, through age and experience, I pulled back. I mean, there's times I still will move in a higher intensity, but majority of the time it is with quality and intent.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Yeah. And I think that's the message here for us to dig even deeper on is having body awareness in a way that when you move into these higher intensity focused sessions, you know where that shoulder should be. And you're not relying on something that I hear a lot of people wanting, a mirror. You know internally this is where my body's supposed to be positioned.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Truly. Working the stabilizers, right? How do we lock in? So before I squat, before I deadlift, before I lunge, does this feel right in space? Do I have the awareness so that I can have quality movement? That's what I'm saying. We don't want to break our bodies down. We're looking to build. You know, we think about movement from here on, isn't it about moving as we age with quality?

SPEAKER_01 13:00

100%.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Efficiently, being able to get up off the ground, bend over to tie your shoes, pick up your grandkids, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:08

All daily living things. And I believe the point you're making is why rush it? Why not take that opportunity to slow down and fully understand that this is the right position in an exercise session because we're gonna need to know the right position in everyday life or we're gonna get injured.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Truly. And with control. I think there's times uh Nadair and I were in the Moreland gym together, and I think we both said simultaneously, control to our client. But it's just that opportunity to think, yes, we're we're in this movement pattern, but do you have control? Do you have control of the body? Do you have control of the weight?

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yeah, it's such a parallel with life, is what's coming up for me.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

We can have all these occupied seasons, a ton of stuff going on, like the season you were in with working at your mentor's gym, opening your own gym, having a full-time job, having kids. It's being able to learn these things in the gym sometimes helps us to have all these things going on in our the different buckets of our life and feel that sense of control that we each want.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Right. Truly.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Yeah. I didn't know we were gonna get so pretty neat, yeah, right? Yeah. Now back on this physical side of control. There's a lot of people that I believe might be listening today where slowing down can sometimes be challenging, more challenging than moving faster.

Slow Reps And Eccentric Control

SPEAKER_01 14:49

How do you better create buy-in with that person?

SPEAKER_00 14:54

So I have worked with many clients that like to go through the movement fast, right? I want to get it done. I I gotta get there and move through. Having the opportunity to show them what setup is like, feeling the eccentric movement, the control of the down to go through the full range with control brings in a whole different element to the movement. They feel their body, they're connecting the breath, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah. So to help that person understand the control piece, the downward phase of say a squat, truly that eccentric phase, you almost talk them through that.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Absolutely. Okay, count them through that. Whatever's gonna make that connection. And even if we're doing, say, a bench press, right? You're laying on your back, you first start by feeling the grounding of the feet, draw the shoulders underneath, set up the hands, pause, reset the shoulders, right? It's that ability. We're not just ripping the bar off the bench, we're taking that bar and we're resetting once it's over top of us, right? Where are where is your body? Yeah, and can you work a slow progression here, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Shifting from high repetitions to this level of control in a check-in process.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

But also talking them through it and then hearing their feedback. How did that feel? Do what what did your body tell you? Is there something different that turned on? Did you have more control?

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Maria, I'm so excited we're having this conversation because our new PB strong format is gonna allow for this opportunity to better position, focus on the six to ten reps of super high quality.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, I'm so excited. It's it's almost go time.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

I know. I cannot wait. But I was thinking about this um over the weekend and that opportunity for members to progress.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Yeah, to overload the body and to get stronger with this greater level of awareness.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

But also being able to track what their progressions are through the app, maybe. Yeah. Right? To see how they're building over time, maybe the in-body opportunity to check in where are we before we start? And where does this lead, say, six to eight months down the road? Yeah. Working in a true strength program where you are progressing.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

In a group setting of 24 people at a time. In a pretty fantastic space.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

It's pretty darn cool.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Well, I appreciate the perspective on the focus being set up an eccentric phase for the person who might struggle with moving uh slow versus fast. Right. And I think what uh proofs to people a lot over time is results, is the change in muscle, is getting stronger. So sometimes it feels like to me, for that person who's maybe been doing a ton of reps, moving really quickly, the proof becomes in the pudding as we overload the body, uh probably not eating pudding, but as we take this approach versus the fast approach.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

Sure, sure. And and just even how their body moves in maybe the sport they're playing, right? If you play pickleball, if you're playing tennis, golf, do you feel like your swing is different just by that ability to maybe engage the glutes more than you had before, pausing at the bottom of a rep?

SPEAKER_01 18:39

How often do you hear that with with the people that you work with?

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Often.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yeah. They start to notice these things.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll ask, how do you feel? How was the game? How's your body moving? That's a big thing. How's your body moving?

SPEAKER_01 18:51

How's your body moving? Elaborate on that for us.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Right. Do you feel you have more movement freedom to get through the range of motion, right? If I'm working with a golfer, how is that rotation coming along? If we're setting ourselves up, if we're working that hinge, do you feel like you have more rotation, more power in the swing?

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Now, do you go naturally about checking in with people on that when you're session to session? Hey, how's it feeling out on the course?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

I think that's a great point of seeing change in the hobbies that are important to us goes a long way in continuing to follow a program.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Now I love that you've set the foundation for just looking at movement differently here today. I'd

Yoga Builds Strength And Stillness

SPEAKER_01 19:40

like to jump into yoga. Your Friday power yoga class, it's incredibly popular here at Pumida Buff. Uh, with the expansion, we know we'll be able to offer more yoga. How has yoga influenced the way you coach your movement and performance athletes, like folks who are sports specific?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Yeah, well, the unique thing about yoga, it comes back into slowing down, coming into the breath and the mind. And that ability to steal the mind and to connect on the mat, you have to build the base. So think about um balancing postures, right? You know, a lot of times we'll go through a nice warm-up of the articulation and movement of the spine, right? Setting up the core. And as I build, and I often build with a slow flow. So with the movements, they have to feel the grounding of the foot. Say we're coming into a runner's lunge, yogis will know what that means. Build the stabilization. Come up to a high balance pose to feel the ground, feel the connection to the breath to the core. But then when you're coming up to a single leg balance, think about what that takes, right? A lot of foundational movement from the foot, stabilization, stabilization up from the hamstring, loop mead, abs, right? It's all that stacking. So how does that apply to the foundational movements that you use when we lift?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Same exact thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Yeah. It's just coaching through a different pattern.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

As part of the practice of yoga.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Yeah, yeah. You know, we have there, you know, if I went deep dive into the philosophy of yoga, which I won't do today, but you know, the postures, which are the yasanas, are just one limb of yoga. Yoga, all yoga also has a lot of deep ethics and foundations that are integrated within the practice that allows for something a lot deeper for the stillness of the mind and the connection to the breath. But myself, I also find that in training. If I'm in the gym and I like to be alone. In a gym. I don't know if you're like You like your time. I do. I like that time, but that's a lot of time to do deep, you know, and reflection, right? Where I can maybe, you know, have pen and paper next to me, write things down, right? Things that come in, different ideas, but it's stillness. It's stillness within. Maybe not having the AirPods in, maybe taking in the sounds around me, listening to the breath. You're listening to the breath in a yoga room. I want to hear audible breath in a yoga room, truly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

It's incredible you point that out. I uh have the same level of personal action in a strength session on my own where I've kind of got my best thoughts, have a pen and paper out. I thought I was the only weird person that potentially did that.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

If I don't have the pen and paper, if I'm at another gym, it's photo, you know, I'm on my notes.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

It's that clarity, it's that ability. Because you've you're breathing, right? You're in that moment where your body's letting go.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Stillness is such a great word there.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Stillness is key. We need stillness. Everybody needs stillness.

Flexibility Bonus With Deeper Benefits

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Now, oftentimes yoga gets portrayed as a flexibility practice. You've clearly described it's the cousin of strength training. What does yoga teach people beyond flexibility?

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Oh boy, yeah. Flexibility is just the bonus, right? The the I believe it brings in postural awareness. You gotta have the ability to feel the grounding, the stacking, breath, that connection to breath. It's maintaining control. There you go again. Control of the movement, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Yeah. Now, in translation to everyday life, just like strength training, what would you say yoga does for these daily living activities?

SPEAKER_00 24:02

I think it's an inward meditation brings you a little bit of spiritual liberation. That's what I find in yoga.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

How would you define spiritual liberation?

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Um getting to know yourself within.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

That can be scary for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

I think it's scary every time I'm on the mat. I mean, I have healed, I have gone through a ton on a yoga mat.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Yeah. Sometimes it's just going down into a child's pose. But it's also if we keep running from ourselves, if we keep running from the ability to look within, it's going to be exposed one way or another. Having the ability to find it through the gym, through some sort of practice, that's what I feel yoga does. It brings in so many different opportunities to get to know yourself.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Yeah, I feel like we've stumbled onto this mind-body connection and a corner of our program that we could categorize as mindfulness. And being on a yoga mat starts to get you facing yourself in your life where you may not be facing yourself and need to.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, for sure. You know, you see a lot of the Instagrams or maybe the yoga journal, and you see all these beautiful poses and and movements, but truly yoga is about connection to your body, to yourself, that interweaving, and the postures are just a way to get there.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

So it's not just about like really awesome Lululemon yoga pants.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Maybe. Yeah, those I love Lululemon personally. Come on, that's why I bring it up. Bonus, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

And the added bonus and the uh the yoga pants. For sure. Cool outfits.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Now, intensity.

Autonomy For Safe Hard Work

SPEAKER_01 26:01

I think what's unique about you is you have this focus on movement quality, you have this perspective on breath awareness, however, you also push people. How do you go about modifying and re repositioning someone? Because I think it's very challenging to do this. So I'm wondering what's the balance with challenging someone and keeping them safe?

SPEAKER_00 26:36

I think giving them autonomy. Letting them know they have the opportunity to move independently by offering modifications, by offering little adjustments in and recognizing that those little adjustments, maybe to increase intensity or to pull back, are quite significant. So there they have that opportunity to get to know their body where they need to be and not worry about what anybody else is doing in the room.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Being someone who has coached a number of classes, can you give us an example of when you're gonna push someone versus pull them back a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 27:31

So if I'm watching someone say on, and I know their body and I know their movement, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:38

They've been coming to class for a while. I'm walking, you got a good relationship with them.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Great. I see how they move. I'm adding weight. If I'm looking at what they're doing, I might increase their weight and just hand it to them and say, let's go. We need to move that on. Again, if I'm looking at someone who I can see is maybe a little tentative coming in, giving them an alternative. Wall balls aren't their movement jam, right? Well, we'll we have other options to take in.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

Movement quality looks good. Gonna load them.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Gonna load them, gonna have them pick up the pace. Say they're on a cardio machine, and I can see they're not quite working to their capacity. We're gonna increase that. I'm gonna stand over top of them and see how it's go.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Many members know that all so well. Yeah, we'll have to get you on a PB cardio class. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Yeah, we we don't have time today. Maybe, maybe we do uh in a later episode, but Versa climbers, I know they're close to your heart.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

I love them. I truly do. I'm very excited for this opportunity and what's to come.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Yeah, lots of options to push people and pull them back with equipment that lends itself to keeping people safe at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Yeah. And just circling back to that about talking about the autonomy and how essential that is, but it's also helping them understand what their personal limitations are and when they can pull back and when to push forward. So again, that's awareness, control, and quality.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

All comes back to those three things.

Micro Adjustments And Daily Posture

SPEAKER_01 29:11

You're known for making small adjustments with folks, the tiniest change to their hip position, their foot. How does that completely change an exercise?

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Oh my gosh. I mean, it's just watching how they're moving in space and seeing that just this little minute change of adjustment. I know it's not going to be very clear and may not come across, but if I'm watching a body and I love to watch the pattern of movement of a body, and I can see maybe that that right hip's hiked, or you're not truly engaging through the full foot, just allowing them to turn that on and them giving me the feedback. How does it feel? Do you draw that shoulder down? Does that make a difference? Little rotation here, right? So it's just working with them so they can feel it. And do they feel what I see?

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Ooh, that's good. Yeah. Because if they don't feel it, then the next time they come in, right? The pattern goes back to what they're used to prior.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

And that's it. It's all about how do we break these patterns, right? We all have patterns in life. You catch yourself standing at the Starbucks line, foot out, hit jutted to the side, right? Where's your head in space? Are you looking at a phone? Or can you come back in and start to create a little bit of awareness of how you're standing? How are you sitting in life? Are you slunched over, shoulders rounded, chin jutted forward, right? It's just bringing in and turning it on.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

So I want them to feel it and then tell me what they feel.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

It's a feedback process.

Rapid Fire Favorites Plus Wellness Wheel

SPEAKER_01 30:56

We got a little extra time here. I'm gonna put you on the spot. I like with our fitness specialists to do a rapid fire round. And you only get to choose one strength training exercise. Which one would you choose?

SPEAKER_00 31:13

Deadlift.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Second rapid fire question morning workout or afternoon evening?

SPEAKER_00 31:24

Oh, I love a morning workout. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Go-to recovery meal.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

I'm so boring. Chicken, roasted vegetables, lots of olive oil, squeeze and lemon.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Your go-to mindfulness practice. Yoga.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Meditation yoga.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

So we're getting close to the end of our time. If someone listening today wanted to start to move better, they wanted to have more control in their body, more awareness, where would you tell them to begin?

SPEAKER_00 32:08

I'd start by making uh inquire about a trainer on staff. There is such a beautiful collection of really great instructors. And that's the best way to go. If you want to really dial into your body, really become aware, make that time, make the investment. Then if you feel comfortable, even if you're taking the classes, then you'll have that knowledge to take that into the gym where you can start to work a little more independently.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Maria, final question that I ask every guest, what does wellness mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 32:48

You know, um I look at wellness like a wheel, and it's the integration of the physical health, emotional well-being, nutrition, and play. So a lot that comes into play with values, right? And are you deficient in one? Are you in an overload, overabundance of the other? So recognizing when you're depleted, when you're overindulging, and how do you find balance? So when you have that equal equanimity, right, of the wheel, the wellness wheel, that to me is it.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

The wheel keeps turning.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

The wheel keeps turning. I like that.

unknown 33:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Yeah. And just having, again, maintaining the balance for a healthy, fulfilled life.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Well, I appreciate you so much. Oh I know our listeners who are members here at Pull Middle Buff just get so much out of their time with you. It's amazing to have you on all the different class formats that you lead. And I'm just so grateful that we're on this journey together and get to be a part of an amazing team.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

I feel so lucky and so grateful to be here, truly.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Thanks, Maria.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Listeners, feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of the week.

Healthy Momentum During Fast Seasons

SPEAKER_01 34:23

This conversation with Maria Lucy hit me differently this week because honestly, life has felt fast lately. Over the last week, we've been preparing to open our new fitness facility here at Pomenta Bluff Club, and there have been multiple 12-hour days, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., moving equipment, walking spaces, solving problems, preparing for our members, and finalizing all the details. Even last night, our Advantage Fitness team visited our new facility to see the work that we had done together. They were blown away with what it came out, came to be. We had a lot of iterations. And even after a full day of walking the facilities, having dinner at crossroads, it was fun to talk through everything that was ahead. But on top of the facility transitions, spending time with our equipment reps, we had Memorial Day events this past weekend, buffathlon, Murph workouts, a lot was happening all at once. And I think that's why I love working here at Palmetto Bluff, is because there is so much happening at once. And what I think you can take from this is that there are seasons where life speeds up. And sometimes you simply have to push. I think that it's important to acknowledge because not every season is going to be balanced perfectly. Sometimes leadership requires extra effort, sometimes meaningful work requires long days. Sometimes there's a short window where you're full of energy, you have to be full of energy and your attention is needed more than normal. Last week was one of those weeks for me. But what stood out from this conversation with Maria was the reminder that even during intense seasons, awareness still matters. You can push hard without becoming disconnected from yourself. You can work long hours and still pay attention to your breathing, your posture, your energy, your spouse, your attitude, your interactions, and frankly, the way that you're showing up for people. Maria helped slow me down during this one. She talked a lot about awareness from the ground up, being fully present in your movement instead of just rushing through reps. And I think the same thing applies to life because when life speeds up, it becomes really easy to move into adrift. You stop noticing, you stop recovering well, you stop being present, you stop coming up for air. And honestly, that's where I found myself a little bit last week. Not in a bad way, just in a very human way. I knew the push was important. I believed in what we were building, I was grateful for it. I am so very grateful for it. But at the same time, there's this tension when you realize eventually you have to slow down enough to breathe again. Eventually you have to reconnect with yourself. That's why I think intentionality matters so much, not just in training, but in leadership, work, and life. Push hard when the season requires it, but don't lose awareness while you're pushing. Take notice, stay grounded, stay deliberate. Gosh, Maria is a deliberate human. I love that so much about her. Pay attention to the people around you, pay attention to your own body and mind. Because healthy momentum is not about operating at maximum speed all the time. It's about knowing when to accelerate and knowing when it's time to recover so you can sustain the mission put on your heart long term. That's healthy momentum.

Closing Thoughts And Next Week

SPEAKER_01 38:41

That message brings us to the end of our time together today. I want to thank you so much for joining the conversation. And until next week, remember to actively participate in life in your terms.