Her hobbies are running, hiking, cycling, and triathalons!  She has lived in the area for 6 years.  She has moved out of Colorado twice but always moved back.  She loves to color!

Jaden, Fitness Instructor

Jaden had a BS in Recreation. She lived and worked in 7 states plus also worked for Norwegian Cruise Line for 2 years, visiting many different places. In the past few years she has spent time in Thailand and Costa Rica.

Her hobbies are road cycling, reading, knitting and hiking.

She has lived in the area for 1 1/2 years. She has Yoga Institute training, Johnny G Spinning, Balletone, AFFA group fitness intructor training. She has been teaching for 16 years.

Randi, BAC’s newest instructor, has a BA in Sociology and a MS in Sport Administration, along with several group fitness certifications. She is trained in Kickboxing, Step, Spin, and senior fitness, and has three years of teaching experience.

Randi enjoys tennis, cooking, shopping, gardening and bike riding, and has lived in Fort Collins for 29 years. Welcome to BAC, Randi!

Janet, who grew up and still resides in Boulder, Colorado, enjoys writing, cooking and hiking. She has also just launched a personal website, www.forcesinyoga.com. Check it out!

Purpose: Improves abdominal and pelvic floor strength, and helps stabilize the spine.

Target Area: The deep abdominal muscles located on the side and front of the abdomen.

Who Can Benefit From This Exercise: Pregnant women, women who have recently had a baby, and men, women, and children who experience incontinence of bowel, and/or bladder.

Instruction: Kneel. Lean forward and place hands on floor. Align shoulders and hands, and hips and knees. Maintain head alignment with body, and a neutral spine position.* Take a relaxed breath in and out. Now without breathing in, slowly draw the belly button up and in towards the spine. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Gently breath in and out while holding the tummy tight. Gradually relax the abdomen. Repeat: 3 – 10 times, as the exercise becomes easier, perform 2 to 3 sets.

Hints:

1. Avoid movement of the trunk or pelvis, and avoid using inner thigh and buttock muscles when performing exercise.
2. If you find this exercise difficult to do, have a friend/spouse lightly tap on the side of your abdomen to try and facilitate the muscle to contract.
3. If you are working with a young child, you may try lightly tickling or tapping the abdomen. Usually the child will naturally draw the abdomen up and in towards the spine.

* To achieve a neutral spine, the lumbar spine (lower back) is not arched as with an anterior pelvic tilt, nor is it rounded as with a posterior pelvic tilt. A neutral spine is in-between, providing the ability to strengthen muscles in an optimal position, avoid injury, and improve functional and athletic performance.

Scott Crossen, Boxing Instructor

Scott had his first boxing match in 1971, and began studying the art of boxing and martial arts through the next 12 years. He studied various styles of martial arts, and fought competitively for two years. Scott began training other fighters (both aspiring and professional) in the late 70′s, and through the 90′s. Several of those he trained went on to win regional and national championships.

Scott has competed and personally trained others in many sports. Though he is not formally certified he has special skills in working with a broad range of people from those just beginning to exercise to those in outstanding physical condition. He is considered very patient, but can be tough when needed. Scott believes that exercise is more than working the body. He teaches that proper exercise involves what Scott calls the “full body” body, mind, and spirit. He believes that each of these parts of the human experience is equally important when exercising.

Scott has climbed 21, 14,000 foot mountains, and attempts to climb Longs Peak at least once per year (his best time up and down is 5 hours).

Scott has appeared in many newspapers and on television for his athletic accomplishments and has solo bicycle toured more than 80,000 miles in the last 25 years. He has received accolades and won awards for 2 man volleyball, racket ball, cycling, running, and of course, fighting.

Tidbit: Scott was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1971, the same year he began boxing. He is without any form of secondary complication which he attributes to the A.M.E.N.D. Life program that he formally created in 1990 and now teaches along the front-range.

Pamela, Fitness Instructor

Pamela teaches Yoga at Berthoud Athletic Club. She has 250 hours of level I experience, and 75 hours of level II experience as a Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor. While Pamela has only been teaching a few years, she has been practicing hatha Yoga for over 35 years!

Pamela, a resident of the Berthoud area for seven years, enjoys cooking, hiking, reading and gardening.

Somthing interesting that few people know about Pamela: She hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

Monique, Fitness Instructor

Monique joined BAC in 2005 as the Creative Kids child care provider. Her duties at BAC for the last two years have evolved to include teaching Cardio Circuit, Spin-n-Pilates and Indoor Cycling.

Monique’s hobbies are arts, crafts, and all kinds of exercise, including hiking and rock climbing.

Little known fact about Monique: Monique has been married for 18 years, and homeschools her 4 children.

Masha, Power Yoga Instructor

Masha has a degree in Fine Arts from Ryzan Art Institute, and has completed Yoga Teacher training. Masha is new to Berthoud, and enjoys Yoga, snowboarding, painting and gardening.

Something few people know about Masha: “I love snow days!”

Marta, Zumba Instructor

Marta, our certified Zumba instructor, has been teaching this energetic dance class for over 2 years. She has a MA in secondary education and is a real estate agent for Century 21. Marta also enjoys running and working out, outdoors whenever possible.