Body Shaping, Inc. Business Spotlight
-First Published in October 2003
When Ellen Miller moved to the North Shore eight years ago, persisting gaps in fitness opportunities for area residents quickly became apparent. Despite a rapidly growing and increasingly health-conscious population, there were relatively few exercise outlets for beginners among the larger, established gyms. Recognizing the need to fill this void, Miller, a fitness practitioner and AFAA certified personal trainer, began to conceive of a different model of exercise program, one that would at the same time be challenging and welcoming to beginners or those trying to recommit themselves to a healthier lifestyle. That model would become Body Shaping Inc.
Having worked for many years as a personal trainer and aerobics instructor, Miller was all too familiar with the typical large gym environment: glitz, glamour and the hustle and bustle of heavy duty body builders. Determined to create a less intimidating environment, she began to develop a program for people who aren't ready for, or interested in, the sometimes overwhelming atmosphere of the larger fitness centers.
"I don't have mirrors up all over the walls," she explains. "It's a small studio, just them and you in there at the same time, so you don't have people walking in and out. It's by appointment only, so you get 110% of my attention; I'm not turning around to talk to another client who has a question for me and I'm not on my cell phone while you're working out. I'm right there to tell you if your body position is off."
Response to Miller's innovative program was swift and strong. Body Shaping quickly had a long list of clients, including all skill and experience levels and ranging from teenagers to 80-year-olds. Focus is on body position and technique, using light weight and full ranges of motion, rather than heavy weight and rapid increases. The idea is to provide a lower-key workout in order to prepare the body for more strenuous exercise, a primer regimen lacking at most larger facilities. Miller's goal is for clients to feel energized the day after a workout, not sore.
"The ultimate goal is to get people started feeling comfortable and to know how an exercise should feel when you're working specific muscle groups, so that you're not pulling in other groups," she says. "You have to be able to isolate so when you get in a gym you can say 'this seat doesn't feel right; my body position doesn't feel like it should. My goal is to teach people how a muscle should feel when it is being worked out."
Miller also focuses on variety, individualizing each client's regimen and avoiding cookie-cutter, one size fits all workouts. Combinations of exercises using exercise bands, free weights, body bars, exercise balls, machines and more keep clients on their toes. But perhaps most innovative is Miller's new IsoBreathing program.
IsoBreathing combines slow, rhythmic deep breathing with isometric exercise to help clients relieve stress and lose inches weekly. Unlike other breathing programs which may require potentially dangerous breath holds or disruptive sniffing or snorting, Miller's program uses deep breathing to get more oxygen into the system, helping muscles work more efficiently. Because the body burns more calories using oxygen as an energy source, the breathing program has a weight-loss benefit as well.
Isometric exercise, meanwhile, is for many a compelling alternative to standard weight work. In an isometric exercise, one holds resistance at a specified tension point, so the length of the targeted muscle doesn't increase or decrease, but the tension itself does. The longer the position is held, the more intensely the muscle is working.
Client reaction to the program and the variety it brings into what many had previously considered the monotonous task of exercising has been overwhelming, Miller says.
"I use a little bit of everything and change it around every work out," she says. "This relieves boredom and challenges the muscles. If you do the same exercise over and over the muscle fibers get used to that and there is no gain. However, if you are constantly challenged, mentally it gets you thinking and physically it gets you moving. I love to keep the muscles on edge."
Body Shaping Inc. is located in the Mandeville Marques Business Center at 259 West Causeway Approach Rd. Half hour and hour sessions are by appointment only, no joining fees and no contracts. A DVD will be coming soon at www.Isobreathing.com. Call 985-674-7896 for more information.
The Word is Out!
Ellen Miller's IsoBreathing®
"I tried all kinds of diets and exercise programs, fitness clubs and nothing
seems to work as well as IsoBreathing®. The beauty of this program is you can
'do it' anywhere."
- Wendy
"Too good to be true. I did not believe Ellen, but seeing is believing. I
feel great and enjoy each session. What a great motivator. Third week and
minus 19-3/4 inches."
- Lou
"Since beginning IsoBreathing® I have noticed increased energy and stamina. In
three weeks I lost 6 pounds and lost 8 inches.
- Alan
"Ellen varies my exercise routines regularly and helps keep me focused on my
goals. Despite my physical limitations Ellen has been able to design an
effective program that has afforded me excellent fitness results without
further injury."
- Erica
"IsoBreathing® works for me because it is easy to learn and understand, and
adapt to my special health condition. It fits into my busy schedule and I
lost 6 1/2 inches my first week."
- Sue
"I am petite to start with, but still wanted to lose those last 10 pounds.
With IsoBreathing® it just took 6 weeks minus 8-3/4 inches and those 10
pounds."
- Ellen
Ellen Miller has been teaching fitness and lifestyle changes for over 20 years. She is a Fitness Practitioner and Personal Trainer certified through Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. Ellen started Body Shaping Inc when she discovered a need for an innovative program targeted towards beginners and individuals more comfortable in a private, one-on-one atmosphere. To keep up with a time-conscious and increasingly health-conscious population, Ellen designed an innovative program she calls IsoBreathing®. With more people trying to balance family, work, and personal time, she designed this efficient, low-key workout to relieve stress, increase energy and burn calories.
