By exhale co-founder, Fred DeVito 1. Maximize calorie burn and weight control Look for workouts like exhale Barre that raise your metabolic rate and stoke up your calorie burn around the clock. A one-hour run will burn a lot of calories during that hour, but you need to consider what you are burning the other 23 hours of the day. 2. Balance Your Workouts The muscular system, unlike all of the other systems of the body, does not automatically find balance – but you can balance your body with a mix of strength, cardio, and flexibility. In exhale classes, we balance your muscles with equal amounts of strength, cardio, and flexibility so you can get your best results. 3. Be Kind to Your Joints The small, super-controlled movements that take place in barre classes reduce pressure on your joints, tendons, ligaments and spine. By doing barre regularly, you’ll also notice a remarkable improvement in your core strength and posture. While a tight core will give you a taller appearance, it will also keep you safe from injuries – particularly in your joints. 4. Choose Form and Alignment Over Repetition When performing an exercise, sometimes our competitive nature overrides our wisdom and we want to go faster and do more. Wrong! Exercise is not a sport, it is a therapy – and these movements should work for your body (not the person next to you.) That’s why proper form and alignment are the key components to maximizing your results. 5. Using Heavier Weights Will Not Provide Better Results The size of the weights you choose should depend on your ability to perform the exercise with proper form, alignment, and posture. You shouldn’t have to swing the weights or use momentum to move them. You’ll see great results when you can control your weights and make your form the best it can be. 6. Exercise with Your Wisdom (Not Your Ego) Many people like to do exercises that make them look good. These are not necessarily the movements that they need to do to improve their fitness level. As the saying goes, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”, so working on those areas that need attention requires a certain amount of humility. So when you enter the studio, leave your ego at the door. You’ll get a better workout, and have more fun! 7. Exercise with Patience and Consistency Most things that we want in life we can double click on an icon, punch in our credit card number and have overnighted to your doorstep. This is not true with fitness. Patience and consistency are key and we must realize that progress is made in small but significant steps. 8. The Keys to Finding Your Edge In fitness, the keys are duration and intensity. These two components are a constant focus in exhale classes to help you find your edge – then push past it. How long should you stay in a position before you rest and how hard do you push the intensity before you strain? A good teacher can help you figure that out. 9. Make Classes Your Go-To Exhale’s classes are dynamic – we designed them to be the most efficient way to spend an hour exercising. It’s also one third the cost of a personal training session with double the results. Most personal training sessions become way too personal, beyond the realm of fitness, where in class you do not talk, but instead you breathe, move, and feel. 10. Live A Balanced Lifestyle A balanced approach to living with everything in moderation, sensible portions, mindful eating habits, lots of water, and daily exercise will provide you with that lean, athletic body you want.