BETH LEARN, co-founder of Fit2B is a mother of two children who found herself turning to online communities for fitness resources. She recognizes that online fitness may not motivate everyone but, for a lot of folks, it’s the perfect answer to fitting one more commitment into their already busy schedules. Photo courtesy of Fit2B
BATTLE GROUND-based, Fit2B, is an online fitness studio developed by Beth Learn and her business partner, Chris Behnke. Here Learn is on set filming an outdoor workout soon to be released called the 5x5 Challenge. Photo courtesy of Fit2B
HERE LEARN is on set filming an outdoor workout soon to be released called the 5x5 challenge. Photo courtesy of Fit2B
Battle Ground resident Beth Learn founded an online fitness studio in 2010 and now has close to 100 videos for Fit2B members to choose from at whatever time works best for their schedule.
“I saw a huge need for moms to be able to work out at home with their kids and with an instructor who could understand them and relate to them and not intimidate them, so I wear modest clothing and don’t yell and scream,” Learn said.
With a degree in exercise and sports science from Oregon State University, specializing in fitness program management, Learn has all the tools necessary to build practical, useful and safe exercise routines for her customers.
Prior to establishing Fit2B, she worked in athletic clubs for 20 years and has been a certified instructor for 18 years.
As a mother of two children, Learn found herself turning to online communities for fitness resources. She recognizes that online fitness may not motivate everyone but, for a lot of folks, it’s the perfect answer to fitting one more commitment into their already busy schedules.
Fit2B has workouts for all needs and time slots. There’s Fit2B in 10, 20, 25 and 30 (minutes) where Learn showcases a selection of routines based on the amount of time a member has available to them.
Learn is the instructor in every video and offers meditation, relaxation, yoga, strength training, floor aerobics and step aerobics, to name a few. She has focused offerings for children, chair workouts, women who are pregnant or recently had a baby. Fitness levels are taken into account with her Beginning, Advancing and Challenged routines.
The membership at Fit2B is diverse with people from 30 countries and a wide world of belief systems. That said, Learn has a strict policy about negativity, foul language and spam on her site and what she’s cultivated is a positive environment where members encourage one another and provide the support and motivation that might seem to be lacking in a storefront gym setting.
“We have a private Facebook forum for our members and in that forum there are magical things and beautiful things going on. People will get on there and say, ‘I just lost a baby. I need prayer,’” Learn said.
Which is another area that evokes passion in Learn.
“We are radically different from other fitness providers and online studios in that we don’t do crunches and sit-ups,” Learn said. “We provide diastasis awareness. Over two-thirds of women who have ever had a child have diastasis. They have abdominal separation and most instructors are not trained in it.”
As she explained it, a lot of common core training methods will contribute to diastasis recti (abdominal separation), in part because abdominal exercises are taught or performed incorrectly. Once a person has diastasis recti it will not heal on its own and will be further aggravated by performing traditional core strengthening exercises.
Imagine a line running down the center of the stomach from the sternum to the pelvic bone, which many people can actually see when standing in front of a mirror. On either side of that line are three portions of muscle running vertically making up a six pack, which the stomach muscles are sometimes referred to as.
In the midst of all that is connective tissue called fascia. When the stomach is stretched out from baby weight or bloating due to poor diet, for example, that tissue weakens and separates. The result is abdominal separation.
Learn went on to say that diastasis recti is underdiagnosed and often misdiagnosed and some of the symptoms are incontinence, digestive issues, poor posture and low back pain.
All of the routines available through Fit2B are taught with diastasis recovery and prevention in mind. Learn shared that strengthening the transverse abdominis is key and can happen in as little as four to six weeks with proper instruction.
For those who don’t wish to engage in online fitness classes, Fit2B is also developing a kind of online fitness university where people can participate in e-courses compiled by experts across the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada. These e-courses come with lessons, quizzes and videos to help individuals gain a better understanding in several health-related areas.
For more information on Fit2B, go to www.fit2b.com or connect with Fit2B on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google Plus.
