What the heck is MELT METHOD? How it changed my life!

I recently discovered a simple self treatment system that anyone can do called "MELT Method".  I must admit, I was very skeptical at first. What can little balls that you use to roll on your hands and feet actually do for your body? 

Some of the benefits I read about were better sleep, release back pain, release neck pain, lower stress levels, increase metabolism, easier breathing, improved grip, improve flexibility, help with migraines. The list went on!

I still chose not to try the system. As a kettlebell fitness coach I work with an array of clients that are all ages, shapes and sizes. Some of my clients would come in from their stressful work week with neck pain, migraines, lower back aches from sitting too much at the computer or driving long distances and just a ton of tension all over their body. Many of them do yoga too. It would bother me that I didn't have anything for them to do at home other than the normal mobility protocol, continue to move throughout the day and show up to your sessions.

I was getting very frustrated about this. I was also on a quest to figure out why my wrists continued to feel stiff and achey. I did gentle massage and a ton of mobility exercises especially focusing on my wrists daily.  I thought maybe it was from doing push ups or pull ups. So I would take some time off and the wrist stiffness would still be there.

I began looking in to neuromuscular therapy. This is when MELT came back on to the grid. I  finally decided to give MELT a try. I started implementing the MELT hand and foot treatments several times a week. I began with the mini treatments and then worked my way to the soft ball treatments. I noticed in just a few treatments that I wasn't waking up with soreness in my wrists. In fact the pain and stiffness was COMPLETELY GONE!  That's it, I was hooked! I almost couldn't believe it. This sh%t straight up WORKS!

I knew I needed to learn everything about this and understand the WHY and the HOW. I still couldn't grasp why this worked so well. I felt how the treatment would work my connective tissue by gently hydrating it with the compression techniques, then when I would rinse and apply friction I felt the tingling sensation of the water and blood circulating throughout my body. Not just my hands feet!

It was time to learn directly from the creator! I took a leap and signed up for a certification. When I signed up for the certification, you had to read a ton of material, take tests and write about it. It was my kind of certification. One that tested how well you understand and teach, not just how tough you are! I loved that you needed to do your homework and understand the science before showing up as well.

When I arrived at the  3 day course, the founder of MELT, Sue Hitzmann, taught the "geeky" science behind this entire system in the most beautiful, funny, digestible manner possible. It truly created an experience that was mind blowing. It was everything I hoped for and more. All of the anatomy I took in college was a joke compared to this course. I UNDERSTOOD IT! It made sense!

Since receiving my Hand and Foot certification, I've jumped head first into using this method with my clients. In just the very FIRST MELT Hand and Foot Intro Class, here are changes that happened during our assessments.

- Increased flexibility
- Grip increased
- Feet were more grounded after the treatments (perfect before a strength session)
- Balance improved
- Felt more calm and relaxed
- Better night sleep (had feedback the next day after the class)
- Wrists were more mobile and less sticky
- Felt lighter on our feet.
- Hip released and didn't feel "stuck" anymore

This is just from ONE small hand and foot treatment while learning how to use the method. Do this several times a week and it becomes life changing!

I'm pretty excited about this stuff as you may be able to tell. So excited, that I opened up 8 spots to teach this via Skype exclusively for members in Lauren's Playground. With the session I sent them each a MELT soft ball, since that's all you really need to get started. The spots filled up immediately! I will be opening up more spots soon. Please email me to be the first on the list. 

In the meantime if you don't want to wait, you can order the entire kit with the DVD directly from the MELT Method store and start sooner than later.  She also has a great book that will teach you the science behind it. 

If you learn better in person I offer privates or group class settings in the San Diego area. I also offer private lessons via Skype or Facetime if you want to wait until I have more spots available.



I'm so excited to incorporate this approach in to our practice here at On The Edge Fitness. The global hydrating effect that MELT has on your body is priceless. No amount of massage, eating right or exercise will give you the connective tissue hydration that your body is begging for, like these MELT treatments!  Get started now!

If you're local we will be having another Intro MELT Hand and Foot Workshop on 

Feb 19th at 10 a.m. in San Diego (Encinitas) 75 minute workshop.

Sign up below

 Members Sign Up here | Non-members Sign up here  address will be provided after sign 

up. 
Spots are limited.
*balls not included with class price

If you want a ball or a kit please email us ahead of time.

  Members Sign Up here | Non-members Sign up here  address will be provided after sign 

up. 
Spots are limited.
*balls not included with class price

If you want a ball or a kit please email us ahead of time.

The PERFECT Nutrition Program

Would you believe that 10 people could be on 10 completely different diet protocols and still get to their goals? I get asked regularly to share sample eating programs. I've written my share of articles describing an eating protocol that will fast track you to weight loss. Does the advice work? Absolutely it works. Does it work for everyone? No way!

Would you believe that you can be on the perfect program, count your calories to the T and still not lose weight? You're even working out every single day but not seeing the scale move. I admit, this is frustrating. Most of the people who fall in this category, not all, have something else going on. Usually it's from too much stress, lack of sleep, complete burn out and their central nervous system is fried. 

If you fall in this category above, chances are you will do much better figuring out how to lower your stress levels. A few ways to do this.

1. CHOOSE LESS INTENSE WORKOUTS - yeah I know, this sounds counterproductive.  Just maybe your body needs some love instead of beating it up all the time. If you find that when you're done with that spin class and you can't stop eating for the next 3 days, reassess the training choices you're making during this time of your life. Or if you feel completely beat up for 2 days after showing up to a local workout, you didn't do yourself any favors. I know it's weird to ask you to do this, try and give it LESS effort. Maybe go lighter. Spare your body some reserves for life.

2. GO TO BED EARLIER - if you're not sleeping enough, you're not healing your body to its full potential. Many new moms and dads suffer greatly from this. New moms start working out really hard when they first have a baby to "shed that baby weight". Then they find theirselves catching every darn virus and bacterial infection around. On top of that putting themselves in to a deeper postpartum depression. The best thing to do when you're not sleeping is to do low stress training as stated above or "short" bouts of training, that doesn't over stress your body more than it already is. Grab extra zzzz's when you can. It's not being lazy, it's doing what's called, SELF CARE!

3. SELF CARE. self care. self care. - I use to think that self care meant destroying my body by getting the hardest deep tissue, painful massage I can handle. It's what I needed. I'm tough, I can handle it.  WRONG.... So wrong.... Running after pain with pain only creates more stress and dehyration in the body. I'm not discounting deep tissue massages or rolfing. I'm a huge fan of those self care protocols, when done the right way. In fact they're vital for athletes and people who lift heavy or those who suffer from chronic pain, when your body worker understands your daily routine. 
In reality most people can't just get a massage when they want or need. Many of you are lucky to take 15 minutes for yourself. I have students all over the world that have 1 to 11 children! The most inspiring part is, some of these mothers work full time or if they work full time at home, they do it all! It's a miracle how these ladies do it all. Talk about strong!

People often ask me how I do it all.  Let me tell you, I try not to do it all. It takes practice. I learn to delegate and have to say no more than I want to.  I force myselt to take 3 - 5 minutes to myself to just breathe, to take small mental breaks, unplug. I like to call it a mini vacation. With as many balls in the air flying around, it's imperative for me to choose training protocols that don't excite my nervous system too much. I know living in a flight or fight mode all the time will cause major burn out! 

When my plate is full, if I trained half as hard as some of you, I'd be in bed for the rest of the week. I don't look at this as a sign of weakness. I look at this as knowing what I have in the bank. Not overspending the money I have and working from a major debt. When you get yourself in debt, things begin to break and collapse around you. Putting money in the bank and knowing how to use what you have, is the key to finding balance. 

4. KNOW WHEN TO PUSH THE ENVELOPE - Challenging yourself or pushing the envelope from time to time is good stress. It makes you feel alive and shows what you can accomplish. For example, if you practice your pull-ups just 5 minutes every day, not pushing it too hard, you may end up achieving 5 pull ups in 6 months. No pain, no stress, just a bit of relaxed practice and bam you got there with ease. Or you can work youself to the ground by practicing pull ups an hour a day. You may get your 5 pull ups sooner, but suddenly your neck hurts, your traps hurt, your elbow is in pain all of the time. Your pull up days are now over for good .This is because you pushed it too hard too soon. Your body wasn't ready for what your mind wanted. Know when to push the envelope.

My point for all of this, is there is no perfect solution for everyone. Even the "PERFECT NUTRITION PROGRAM" may not get you to your goals.  Some of you feel best when you follow eating habis such as  vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten free, peanut free, FODMAPS, Grain free, dairy free, no legumes, raw food, soy free. 

Whatever your fancy may be, make sure it's the one that your body needs, just because you read it somewhere and people claim it works for them. Experiment from time to time. You are not them! We are not all made up the exact same. We all carry stress differently.

I can tell you one thing for sure about nutrition, people do better off eating whole natural foods. If it comes in a box and you don't understand the ingredients or you see a list of chemicals across the board, chances are it's not good for human beings. If you're drinking soda, even natural soda, chances are it's not really quenching your thirst. When you're thirsty water is the best. Add lemon, ginger, cayenne, probiotics, apple cyder vinegar. Those are all great too. Drink water!  If you don't want to feel like sh#t, eat less sh#t. PERIOD!

On another note, many members in the Playground are finishing up with the Rock Solid Kettlebell program. People have emailed sharing with me that they're stronger than they've ever been, they can actually see their muscles and they FEEL so good. This program was specifically designed for people who have stress in their lives! It's chill but effective! Now that our students in the playground are finishing up with Rock Solid we will be adding some new workouts in to the playground over the next few weeks. 

If you haven't tried the Low Volume program, I would highly recommend you check it out, if you're wondering what to do next. In the mean time try the new workout in our new section "Todd's Workouts" designed by Coach Graham. It's a 15 minute simple, yet challenging workout, where you only need one kettlebell. Go light and pace yourself! Members can sign in here to hit up these programs. 



xoxo, 


p.s. A few Announcements

1. If you're not a member in the playground yet, what are you waiting for? Get access to every workout for every goal. Strength, conditioning, fat loss, muscle gain, mobility, balance. You name it! Now that we've added so much content, our price will be going up soon. Get in before the price goes up so you can be grandfathered at your special rate! Learn more here

2. Todd is forming a Winner Circle for men. He will be taking a very small group of people for this first group. If you're interested please email sales@ontheedgefitness.com.  This group will be dedicated to helping even the busiest most unmotivated, especially those in the corporate world, to incorporate health and fitness in a realistic way, with personalized programs, nutrition and accountability phone calls. 

3. Upcoming Kettlebell Fitness Coaching Workshop (San Diego) - This will be a one day workshop focusing on the depth of proper movement patterns and protocols of training for all fitness levels. This will focus on making kettlebell fitness accessible for almost everyone. More info to follow and date will be announced soon. If you're interested in this unique one day course, please contact us at sales@ontheedgefitness.com  

4. LOCAL San Diego (Southern California) Only - If you're looking for local private instruction or group training we are taking on more students. If you're visiting town we love when you book a session with us. Nothing cooler than meeting you in person! We've had lots of vacationers come in this month! We love it! 

The 5 Minute Full Body Kettlebell Workout

The 5 Minute Full Body Kettlebell Workout

Don't have time to train? What about 5 minutes? Studies show you can make incredible health benefits even in just 1 minute a day!

For more workouts like this, check out Lauren's Playground. We have hours and hours of life changing videos and programs that will get you moving every day!