Bursting with love
to Gus and Cameron Roxburgh,
for believing in me

Introduction

Align Your Body, Align Your Life

When the body gets working appropriately,
the force of gravity can flow through. Then,
spontaneously, the body heals itself.

—IDA P. ROLF, PHD

WHEN I MET my client and now dear friend Kristen in 2009, she was working out really hard with a trainer three to five times a week. Her body was thick, bulky, tired, heavy, sore, and constantly riddled with pain. I told her about the 10-minute-per-day foam rolling program I had designed and how it had completely transformed my body. I told her I could do the same thing for her, but that I needed her to trust in me, even though a few of the things I would ask her to do might feel scary. Kristen’s initial response was skeptical. “Oh, you’re just naturally skinny. I will never have that body,” she scoffed. I responded by showing Kristen pictures of my larger self. She was blown away by the difference and agreed to give my program a shot. Sure enough, after a few weeks on the program, Kristen lost three inches in her hips, simply from releasing the toxins that were stored in her fascia and reducing the bulkiness in her dense muscles. She went from a size 30 jeans to a size 26 without starving herself. And the pain? Totally gone.

I understand all of the frustration and fear Kristen felt about getting in shape because I’ve been there. Although I’ve worked with hundreds of clients, I am first and foremost my own guinea pig. I’ve been a swimmer since the age of four. As a collegiate athlete and water polo player, I pushed myself constantly, yet still wasn’t satisfied with what I saw in the mirror. I read all of the fitness magazines and books, and they all recited the same mantra over and over again: Run more! Do more cardio! Eat like a bird! So I did. The end result was that I had great muscle tone, but was also hungry, thick, very stiff and tense, and generally far from feeling like my best self. It wasn’t until I ditched the cardio and intense training and turned to relieving, aligning, stretching, and toning my body with the foam roller that things began to change in a big way. Suddenly, I was taller, slimmer, and looked and felt younger. My pain diminished and I felt so much calmer. My body became more streamlined and lithe. The muscles I had overworked relaxed, and my intrinsic (or “ballerina”) muscles started revealing themselves. Best of all, I felt better. It’s safe to say that I look way better at thirty-seven than I ever did in my twenties. And, might I add, this program allowed me to maintain all of this post-pregnancy.

Kristen and I are not alone in our results. Over the course of the past fifteen years, I have applied this same program to everyone from top pro athletes to celebrities to everyday people of all shapes and sizes. Across the board, everyone who has completed my foam rolling program has undergone a complete transformation not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Even more than seeing clients who transform their physique, I love to watch clients use this program as a means of combating and resolving chronic pain. It’s like giving someone the gift of freedom.

I know it sounds like hocus-pocus that ten minutes per day of foam rolling can lead to such transformative results, but there’s actually a proven science to the program I’ve designed. The foam roller works in a way that nothing else on the market right now does because it targets a newly discovered organ: fascia, or connective tissue. We’re ultimately working with the fascia on the foam roller, and that’s why this technique is so innovative. We’ll delve into what fascia is and why it matters in the next chapter, but for now, suffice it to say that the science and medical communities really only came to discover fascia and its role in our physiology in the past decade—2006, to be exact. Working with fascia is still a revolutionary, cutting-edge approach to fitness, as it essentially offers a means to simply and effectively reshape the body.

I first discovered the roller more than fifteen years ago when I was working as a personal trainer at a health club in Manhattan Beach, California. As many trainers and physical therapists do, I learned how to use the roller for self-massage. I immediately loved this technique and used it with my clients from day one to warm them up before their workout program. Fast-forward to my first Pilates workshop a few years later, and I was reintroduced to the roller as a tool for mimicking many of the elongating and core-strengthening moves traditionally performed on expensive Pilates equipment. This was a breakthrough moment for me because it allowed me to empower my clients, whenever and wherever they were, with an easy way of consistently performing the Pilates moves. I couldn’t help but notice that once my Pilates clients began incorporating the roller into their routine, their bodies transformed more rapidly. A few years later, I went to school for Structural Integration and learned so much more about the body, fascia, and the anatomy of movement. This knowledge allowed me to take rolling to an entirely new level, and formed the basis of the program you’re about to embark on over the course of the next twenty-one days.

Only recently have the medical and fitness worlds discovered a little secret that I’ve understood for a long time now—that the foam roller is good for so much more than aiding in physical therapy or just working out knots and tightness. When used regularly and correctly, it can be utterly transformative and unbelievably healing. My revolutionary foam rolling program combines lengthening and toning Pilates-based exercises with self-care movements that dig into the body’s connective tissues, thus reshaping the musculature and the actual structure of the body and releasing those toxins and blockages that wreak so much havoc. The result of this is a real, healthy, balanced body that’s nurtured, loved, strong, and appreciated. Through this program you will discover the most elongated, relaxed, femininely toned, uniformly developed, and joyful version of you. You’ll understand how freeing it feels to have a body that’s aligned (lots more to come about how and why this is so important) and a sense of yourself that’s ageless and draws you into a place where your soul can really soar. The real magic bullet to this plan is that it will make you feel fantastic about yourself and develop in you a vibrancy you probably didn’t even know was possible. And once you get to that place … well, anything is possible!

Another critical difference between the program you’re about to embark on and the others you’ve probably tried before is that this one is all about taking care of yourself rather than being a slave to working out. It’s about taking a holistic, healthy approach to fitness and wellness and doing so in a manner that actually feels good. Yes, you will get fit in the process, but you will also deepen your mind-body connection and learn to really listen, inhabit, and care for your body.

Self-care may sound indulgent, but the fact is that it’s never been more important than it is today. The fast-paced globalized world we live in has a tendency to make us feel like we need to be in three places at once, doing three things all at the same time. “Go, go, go!” our system screams at us. As a result, our fight-or-flight response is constantly switched on, which means we’re in the midst of a constant adrenaline surge; our bodies are chronically compressed from the stress and tension of it all, which slows down our restorative systems. Obviously, technology is not going away any time soon, so it’s increasingly imperative that we take the time to unplug, tune in to our bodies, and give ourselves a bit of self-care, which will ultimately help us become more efficient and clear-headed. This is the only way to prevent the type of hunched-over, shorter, tense, wider, thicker, defeated body that the modern world breeds. My program will start reversing that process right now.

So much of our physical state is a result of the stress and tension we carry around on a day-to-day basis. When we’re stressed, we store up toxins and our energy (or chi, an Eastern concept that translates to life force) gets blocked. We become physically, mentally, and emotionally stagnant and our systems slow down. Lugging emotions, trauma, guilt, resentment, and memories with us can age us, wreak havoc on our bodies and health, and result in a host of serious long-term consequences, such as excess weight, anxiety, pain, anger, and even a reduction in height. Minimizing stress helps fire up our bodies by regulating stress hormones and jump-starting our metabolism.

Over the course of the many years I’ve spent working as a certified Pilates instructor, Structural Integration specialist and personal trainer, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that the body works as a whole. No matter how much you want great abs or slim thighs (both of which you can have, by the way), falling into a stale routine that focuses on just one thing really doesn’t work. It’s not healthy; in fact, it throws your body completely out of alignment. Our bodies are designed to move fluidly in all directions, and targeted exercises simply don’t allow for this natural movement. When you move away from stagnation and repetition, get back to your natural movement patterns, and release stress through your breath and flowing body, you become more balanced in your musculature and in how you carry weight. Moreover, you will tune in to yourself and the world around you, and will be more full of life, joy, and energy. This is not to mention the excess weight that melts off as if by magic when we get back to moving as we are meant to. By the time you’re finished with this program, you’ll be back in touch with those natural movement patterns, which is life-changing in and of itself.

Obtaining true well-being and a stunning physique involves working with the body as a whole, three-dimensionally, from top to bottom and from the inside out. A healthy, productive, mindful routine will do more than make you feel physically better; it will also enhance you mentally and emotionally, and help you make healthier diet and lifestyle choices. In fact, for many of my clients, regardless of the physical reasons that led them to me in the first place, it’s the emotional and mental benefits they receive from my program that propel them to adopt a regular, consistent routine and keep them coming back for more. It’s a joke among my clients that they know who works with Lo (as they call me)—they can see it in their eyes and, of course, in their bodies. That inner and outer glow, hot body, zest for life, and extra spunk in their step is always a giveaway.

But it’s okay to start with the simple goal of being more fit. It’s where most of us start. And this 21-day program will produce the physical results you’re looking for … and then some. You’ll gain streamlined definition, a new glow, and a calmer, more relaxed vibe; and you will walk taller and with more confidence than you ever have before. More than that, the program I’ll share in this book will connect you with your body, eliminate chronic issues, and help build new and healthy habits. And I’ve saved the best part for last: This 21-day program isn’t a punishing, unsustainable workout regimen. In fact, I like to think of it as the anti-workout workout. As you feel the stress and tension melting away and your body lengthening and leaning out, I bet you’ll actually come to look forward to your daily rolling sessions!

The TSY 21-Day Program

How and Why It Works

LET’S TALK ABOUT what it means to be taller, slimmer, and younger (or, as I like to call it, TSY). A TSY body is not an obsessive, starved, overworked, or superficial body. It’s not the type of body that you torture yourself to obtain only to find that if you do achieve the results you’re looking for in the first place, they’re logistically impossible to maintain over time. Our body naturally wants to thrive, and indeed it does when it is loved by the person who is inhabiting it.

We’ve been told for so long that in order to look and feel good, we have to burn calories, push ourselves to the limit, and restrict our diets to the point where there’s no real pleasure in eating. I am delighted to tell you that this is simply not true! My years of experience working with clients from all walks of life have proven this time and time again.

Over the next twenty-one days, you will essentially be using the foam roller to regenerate soft tissue and elongate and sculpt the right muscles in the most balanced and healthy way, as well as relaxing the ones that need a break. I’ll also teach you how to work smarter, not harder, and give you tips to employ while you are moving through your normal day, walking from Point A to Point B. I’ll show you simple things you can do daily to take better care of yourself mentally and emotionally, and to transform yourself from the inside out.

To accomplish this, you’ll learn how to use the roller for a couple of different purposes. Each day of rolling includes two different movement categories: Smooth-out and Reshape. You will begin each day focusing on a particular section of the body and using the roller to melt down and hydrate the fascia and connective tissue, thus releasing toxins, inflammation, thickness, stiffness, and density; getting rid of scar tissue; and generally clearing out blockages in your body. Essentially, throughout the program you’ll be giving yourself a full-scale bodywork session and waking up all the muscles that make you long, lean, and glowing. Those of you who experience chronic tension and pain will be astounded at what a release these movements offer. Once we’ve created that “fresh slate,” we’ll move on to the Reshape movements. This is where we will tone and elongate muscles with Pilates-based core exercises that incorporate the roller.

Just as important as working fascia and muscle, this program also incorporates methods for breathing, decreasing stress, and calming the nervous system. When we’re nervous and stressed, among other things, we tend not to breathe. Deep, full breathing is so important to optimal health. Even though oxygen is a basic necessity of life, we all breathe shallowly and/or hold our breath. And we especially do it when we’re stressed out. I had a client lose ten pounds over the course of a few weeks just by learning to slow down and breathe more deeply. Breathing calms you down, draws you into the present moment, and makes you far more aware of yourself and the world around you. When you’re present and aware, everything changes—the stress eating goes away (especially the sugar cravings), you feel less pressed for time, and you make better choices. You’ll be amazed at how much a calmer and more balanced demeanor curbs emotional eating and naturally shifts your diet and overall lifestyle into a healthier state. The cumulative result of all of these changes is that you’ll look and feel TSY—taller, slimmer, and younger.

Roll Your Way Taller

Lots of fitness regimens claim that they can make you slimmer and more fit, but I bet you’ve never heard of one that can make you taller, right? Well, this one can. Believe it or not, I can help you grow an inch to an inch and a half—I’ve seen it happen, both with myself and with my clients. But perhaps not in the way you’re thinking. The rolling sequences in this book naturally lead you toward proper posture—an increasingly foreign state in this world where we’re constantly hunching over our desks or tapping away on e-devices.