Instructor Feature: Laurie Barron

She’s been a familiar face on the South Shore fitness circuit for over 30 years imparting her passion for sports, exercise, and movement from a flame sparked by her athleticism as a youth playing sports. Her students love her enthusiasm and motivation to take it a little farther epitomizing the Kaizen philosophy of 1% better every day. The Kaizen family is full of passionate folks who live, breathe, and love fitness, and Laurie is no different. She recently chatted with us about her long career in fitness, her distinctive instruction style, an overlooked component of any fitness regime, and one very important piece of advice. Get to know this incredible Kaizen Instructor!

A Distinctive Style and Training Polo Players

Laurie is known to be a creative and motivating teacher. She is constantly pushing people to give it 100% and do their very best. Laurie communicates this through personalized feedback, lots of joking around, and the occasional swear word, like “Lift that f-ing leg ladies!”.  She finds this approach lightens the mood and takes everyone’s mind off the work and next rep and usually gets a good chuckle. Laurie loves teaching and seeing results in her students even more. She challenges every one of her students; from the more experienced students who can endure the tougher feedback to beginner students who need a lighter touch. She understands everyone is at a different level and adjusts her motivation accordingly.

Laurie has taught a lot of different types of fitness classes over the years, from group instruction, to semi-private and one-on-one classes. She’s been a personal trainer, taught boot camps, yoga, Pilates mat, Pilates reformer, body sculpting, and loves it all. She has also had a vast array of students from teenagers to adults including the Hingham Girls soccer team, and the Duxbury hockey team, she’s even been a trainer for the Newport Polo Team.

From Youth Athlete to Ardent Professional Fitness Instructor

Laurie grew up playing sports and was always an athlete. Working out for her was always a pleasure, so she easily transitioned into teaching classes at age 20 at a local gym. Soon, Laurie decided to open her fitness studio with a partner, Fit for All in Randolph, which subsequently moved to Holbrook. While she loved having her studio and revealed its evolution from a yoga studio to full full-service gym, it was challenging being a small business owner from a pure business perspective as she was much more passionate about the fitness aspect of the business than managing a business. Thus after 10 years Laurie decided to shutter the business and landed at Webb's Pro Fitness where she remained for 22 years! It was sad to see the Webb family close their business, but Laurie feels the Norwell community is in great hands with Kaizen taking over the space and filling the void.

Motivation to Go Further

As an instructor, whether that is in a group class or private training, Laurie always says to her students do your best, listen to your body, and watch your form. Form is more important than the number of repetitions you do. The quality of the repetition is so important to progress in the fitness discipline. The correct form also prevents injuries, so it isn’t about powering through each exercise but thinking about what you are doing and how you are feeling.  It’s when your body is uncomfortable, that it’s changing. That doesn’t mean it needs to be painful but change as a result of exercise is a good thing. She also tells her students to acknowledge what they’ve done. To think of a workout as an accomplishment, not a punishment. If they are tired or having a bad day, then taper back and go with lighter weights, or change up your routine and do something a little less strenuous.

An Essential Component of Every Workout

Stretching. One of the best ways to avoid injuries is to ensure you are incorporating stretching into your fitness routine. Laurie recalls coaching a high school Girls lacrosse team, all of whom were incredible athletes but were injury-prone. When they started training with Laurie, they had a definite idea of the type of training they wanted but she convinced them what they needed to focus on was stretching, a more restorative approach to counter the tightness of the training and practice they were enduring. Now with clients, Laurie emphasizes the flexibility component and encourages them to incorporate stretching as a regular part of their cross-training.

Best Piece of Advice

To say Laurie is a strong proponent of movement is an understatement. She advises everyone to just move their bodies, which doesn't mean they have to go to the gym but do something to move every day. She likens this to brushing your teeth - it should be part of your daily routine, something you wouldn’t think twice about not doing. Movement is a major part of feeling good. If visiting a gym isn’t to your liking then go dancing, go bowling, get outdoors, and take a walk. Any type of movement is key to physical and mental health. We need balance in our lives and exercise is part of that balance and should be a priority for all of us. It takes about 30 days to form a habit, so she advises people to just do that and see how they feel after that – physically and mentally.

Laurie currently teaches yoga and body sculpting at Kaizen. If you are looking for an invigorating and motivating workout, try one of her classes. We know you’ll love it.