#131 – Beth Lewis: The Art of Stability: Learning about pain, mitigating injury, and moving better through life

Beth Lewis is a former professional dancer and a self-described “educator of movement” who has an unmatched ability to assimilate information and customize training plans from multiple training systems. In this episode, Beth takes us through how she identifies problematic movement patterns and postures to help individuals relieve pain, avoid injury, and move better within all types of exercise. She explains how movement is in fact a trainable skill and provides suggestions for what people can add to their exercise routine to benefit their health and longevity. 

Note: In addition to the extensive show notes, for this episode Drive members also get a collection of 9 instructive exercise videos where Peter & Beth demonstrate several of the exercises and assessments discussed during the episode. If you’re a subscriber, you can now view these videos at the bottom of this page (make sure you are logged in). If you are not a member, you can learn more about the member benefits here.

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We discuss:

• Beth’s “way of no way” training philosophy [4:45]
• Beth’s background in dancing and how she ended up in New York City [7:30]
• Beth’s transition to fitness coaching and how her training philosophy has evolved [12:45];
• Functional Range Conditioning and scapular mobility [21:50];
• An overview of Postural Restoration Institute, and Peter’s squat assessment [35:30];
• The important connection between the ribs and breathing [39:45];
• The role of sitting and external stress in chronic muscular tension [42:30];
• The important role of your toes, minimalist footwear, and toe yoga [44:30];
• Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) [48:30];
• A different view on knee valgus [52:45];
• Is there such a thing as “bad posture”? [56:30];
• How Beth identifies an issue, addresses it, and keeps clients motivated [58:45];
• Lifting weights, the Centenarian Olympics, and dancing into old age [1:11:00];
• The importance of the hamstrings versus abs [1:21:15];
• Benefits of rowing, and why everyone should add it to their exercise regimen [1:27:15]
• Different roles of concentric versus eccentric strength [1:35:15];
• Flexibility and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) [1:39:40];
• Training versus playing sports, and the best type of activity for kids [1:43:00]; and
• More.

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Beth’s “way of no way” training philosophy [4:45]

Resemblance of Beth’s approach to Bruce Lee’s approach to martial arts

• Bruce Lee’s approach was agnostic to form or discipline, extracting valuable components from a variety of disciplines
• Similarly, Beth is not partial to a single discipline
• Her approach draws from a variety of disciplines including:

 

Beth’s background in dancing and how she ended up in New York City [7:30]

Beth’s dancing career

• She participated in a variety of activities as a kid, including gymnastics, martial arts, soccer, and swimming
• After switching majors her junior year of college, she earned a degree in dance performance
• She danced professionally for four years with a dance company named Pilobolus
  • This dance company is known for creating an athletic style of dance referred to as weight shifting 
  • The dance technique was “actually quite similar to the way I teach to lift weights. It’s about sharing the load and working with the weight.”
  • See this article for more about Pilobolus and the weight-sharing dance technique they developed
• Beth did not like the frequent travel associated with professional dancing, which is what led her to change professions

Figure 1. Pilobolus dance theatre. Image credit: pilobolus.org

 

Beth’s transition to fitness coaching and how her training philosophy has evolved [12:45]

Transition to training

• Beth was a fitness trainer prior to becoming a professional dancer
• Broadway didn’t appeal to her, so she decided to return to fitness training
• She split her time training clients between a few modes:
  • Private 1 on 1 in general strength and conditioning
  • Group classes 
  • And then she got into rowing and started teaching classes at CITYROW

Evolution in her philosophy on exercise training

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