Movement + Music = Magic: Sandra Possing
October 30, 2009 | in Fitness | 0 Comments Share
Personal trainer, athlete and music connoisseur Sandra Possing shares—among other things—the recipe for something called the Moving Feast.
We at Hella Sound are strong believers that the right music can move you through a workout. Certified personal trainer, dancer, singer and social media maven Sandra Possing agrees. An avid sportswoman, Lindy Hopper and music enthusiast, Sandra takes a moment to talk with us about her background, her numerous projects and offers some great music recommendations.
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Interview
Hella Sound: You've been an athlete all your life?
Sandra Possing: Basically yes. I've dabbled in a little bit of everything.
Hella Sound: Your bio on Basic Training's site says individual sports—what are some of your favorites?
Sandra Possing: Growing up I tried everything from ballet, jazz, and tap to soccer and gymnastics
Hella Sound: You were a middle distance runner, too, right?
Sandra Possing: Gymnastics was the only one I really committed to and would have stuck with, but I realized i was about a foot too tall for that sport. It was when I quit gymnastics at the end of the middle school and had to pick another sport for high school that i started running. A few months into freshman year of cross country I was definitely hooked.
Hella Sound: Have you ever considered doing a multi-sport race, like a tri?
Sandra Possing: Lately I've been thinking about it. People always ask me if I'm a swimmer (I have broad shoulders) and I'm not. But now I'm starting to think I should give it a try!
Hella Sound: Swimming is great. It's really tough at first until you get your form down.
Sandra Possing: And being in cold water is very healthy too :) My aunt cured her asthma that way.
Hella Sound: That's the northern European in you ;)
Sandra Possing: Ya she randomly developed severe asthma in her 40s. Decided she didn't want to be stuck on medication, so she self-prescribed a bike ride to the ocean and a quick dip in the cold water every morning to solve it. And it worked.
Hella Sound: Wow. So you're an instructor at Basic Training in San Francisco, as well as a contributor to several music sites. How did you get involved in Evolving Music?
Sandra Possing: Evolving Music is the blog for MixMatchMusic, a startup company I began working with 3 years ago. I got bit by the startup bug early in college
Hella Sound: I can dig that—especially in this part of the country (San Francisco Bay Area). It can be very exciting.
Sandra Possing: There is something thrilling about being around smart techy and still creative people.
Hella Sound: Right—it was at my first start-up tech company that I realized how creative technology and even programming can be.
Sandra Possing: Absolutely.
Hella Sound: What's MixMatchMusic about?
Sandra Possing: MixMatchMusic started out as a community for online music collaboration
Hella Sound: MixMatchMusic has tools that allow musicians to collaborate on projects, correct?
Sandra Possing: Yes. MixMatchMusic has a library of music stems. You can upload your vocal track, guitar riff, bass line etc. You add as many attributes as you can (tempo, bpm, genre, key etc). And then other musicians (or non-musicians) can use it in their own music, add to it, download it, buy it etc.
Hella Sound: Very interesting, especially considering how much the face of the music industry has changed in the last 10 years
Sandra Possing: Totally. MixMatchMusic has evolved a lot over the last 3 years too as we've seen where the industry is going and what people are looking for.
Hella Sound: Very cool idea.
Sandra Possing: We started out with the community being the central idea. Now it's more like the engine behind a host of tools we are building, like our customizable widget, the Remix Wizard, which is being used by more and more bands now including Pepper, Zion-I, and Slightly Stoopid.
Hella Sound: You are a singer yourself—do you contribute tracks?
Sandra Possing: I haven't contributed any myself per se. I sang on one song that our CFO made, and I've done some vocals for other people over the years.
Hella Sound: Very cool
Sandra Possing: But I've yet to unleash my vocals into the MixMatch community :)
Hella Sound: You sing with a vocal group tho, right?
Sandra Possing: My musical outlet these days is limited to singing in an a capella group. Sadly all my instruments (flute, keyboard, sax, guitar) are just sitting in my apartment collecting dust for now.
Hella Sound: Sometimes a break away from them can be inspiring, though. Once you pick them back up you have a whole new reservoir of music inside you that wants to come out.
Sandra Possing: Yes I'm looking forward to a reunion!
Hella Sound: Basic Training: you started going there for training and ended up an instructor?
Sandra Possing: Ya. The boss said I have "naturally perfect form" and I should start shadowing her as an assistant and eventually become an instructor and I thought why not!
a) workout for free
b) leadership development
c) help out another startup
Of course now I've gotten certified and am working as a personal trainer and am pursuing other stuff in the wellness industry and I'm stoked.
Hella Sound: That's awesome. What's your favorite drill or exercise to put people through?
Sandra Possing: My favorite drills are what we call a "Moving Feast". This entails combining short bursts of varied cardio with strength training. Since we're typically running from one location to another to another, we can't carry much equipment and use primarily our own body weight or simple equipment like bands and medicine balls.
Hella Sound: Right on—body weight exercises are awesome, and incredibly grueling. And very practical, in comparison to say something like bench press with free weights. How would a typical "Moving Feast" section go?
Sandra Possing: I also like combination exercises that use your full range of motion. Rather than isolating one muscle, we try to use several muscle groups and put your body through movements that promote "functional fitness".
Hella Sound: Exactly.
Sandra Possing: A typical Moving Feast would go something like this:
(We start every workout with a warmup run and some dynamic stretching, but after that..)
Suicides (the basketball drill) for 2 mins
20 burpees
10 pullups
then run to the beach
hold a plank in the sand for 1 minute
plank medley (a bunch of variations of the plank)
pushup medley (varying pushups like tricep pushups, extra wide pushups etc.)
jog to the stairs
toe taps on the step for 1 minute
frontal and lateral extensions with the band
squat medley
run to the next location
...and so on
Hella Sound: woof! That sounds like an awesome variation
Sandra Possing: The idea is to keep them moving the whole time but break up and vary the cardio to keep it interesting
Hella Sound: Incorporating the whole "keep your muscles guessing" approach
Sandra Possing: Ya. "Muscle Confusion." :)
Hella Sound: You've started your own personal training consultancy? Are you taking new students?
Sandra Possing: I do 1-on-1 sessions as well, yes. And I'm definitely taking new students!
Hella Sound: Dance, to me, is the most obvious manifestation of the link between music and physical activity. As a dancer, what do you think about the tie between music and motion?
Sandra Possing: I think it's magical :)
Obviously you can have one without the other but it's like you have a much more profound experience of either one when the other is present. You can run or workout without music, but your drive and energy increase when you've got the right music pumping!
Hella Sound: I feel like there's something primitive and elemental about it—that it's evolved with us as we evolved, and is "part of our DNA"
Sandra Possing: That's why I still go to the gym on occasion. I like the classes with music.
Hella Sound: So as a trainer, you're cool with students running to music?
Sandra Possing: Totally. With dance, you can be as technically advanced as you want. But the real magic happens when you let your body move instinctively to the music.
I encourage people to listen to music if they're running on their own. It really helps their motivation. In class, it depends. Most days, it wouldn't work to have people with headphones in cause they need to be able to hear us.
Hella Sound: What are your 3 favorite musical discoveries of the last few years?
Sandra Possing: Hmmm that's a tough question. I tend to be most enamored with music that uses cultural influences
or is a fusion of genres that you wouldn't expect. For example, Delhi to Dublin
Hella Sound: Indian curry pub music...? (kidding)
Sandra Possing: They're amazing.
Hella Sound: ...There is, incidentally, an Irish pub in San Francisco that solely serves Indian curry dishes. Never seen anything like that before, but it makes sense...
Sandra Possing: Delhi to Dublin does traditional bhangra + Celtic and dub. The driving fiddle melodies blend in with the traditional Indian instruments so beautifully.
Hella Sound: Wow!
Sandra Possing: They have great energy live. People dance like crazy. I also love:
Pink Martini—the vocalist sings in like 10 different languages.
Thievery Corporation—dub, latin, lounge, reggae—crazy awesome world fusion!
And Gotan Project—tango + electronica. Beautiful, haunting. Also great live.
Hella Sound: Well thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today!
Sandra Possing: My pleasure!
Contact Information
If you would like to contact Sandra about personal training (or if you want her to blog about your band or music-related website), you may reach her via the following:
- Gym: www.basictrainingsf.com
- Music Sites: www.MixMatchMusic.com & evolvingmusic.wordpress.com
- Facebook: Sandra on Facebook
- Twitter: @spossing
- Certification: ACE Profile
- Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Consult with a physician and/or fitness expert before beginning or altering your training program. Please review the Terms of Service for more information.
Photos of Sandra courtesy Michelle Pattee.
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