Alternative Wellness: Core V3 Virtual Classes

Editor’s Note: The Vail Daily’s Tricia Swenson searched the valley for alternative wellness modalities that are lesser-known and have proven benefits. Follow this series and take steps to improve your well-being and see which offerings work for you.

If you feel like you overindulged in the Thanksgiving feast this past week and know the holiday parties are just going to keep coming, it might be time to think about a fitness program that fits into your schedule and works many muscle groups at the same time. Longtime fitness guru, Stacey Vachon, founded Core V3 Fitness and co-founded Core V3 Virtual and offers Zoom classes you can do in the comfort of your own home in the mornings for 35 minutes.

Core V3 was spawned during the COVID pandemic. Like many people, Vachon had to alter the way she trained her clients during the shutdown and the program she developed and training she offered is still a core part of her fitness programs today.

“COVID was a huge challenge, you couldn’t go into a gym, and you didn’t have access to much equipment at that time, so I was introduced to Corefirst bands that you could purchase and have them delivered to you. Then, I started coming up with fitness routines around this piece of equipment that people could do in their homes because it easily attaches into a door frame. It’s great because this one piece of equipment can work your entire body and do all the modalities from Pilates to yoga, strength training, cardiovascular, mobility and stretching exercises. It hits a little bit of everything,” Vachon said.

The bands are like a bungee cord used for workouts at the gym but the big difference is there’s padding covered by neoprene, so it is comfortable when it’s wrapped around your wrists or ankles.

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“What’s also very different about this compared to a normal bungee cord, you’re not holding on to it, it holds on to you. If you suffer from carpal tunnel or any issues with grip strength, these work great. It also allows you to hold on to dumbbells if you want to make things even harder,” Vachon said.

Vachon can tailor the exercises so you can get a really good full-body workout done in 35 minutes.

“20% to 70% more muscle recruitment is happening by being attached to a band. So, for example, a normal, over-the-shoulder press when you are attached to something pulling you in a different direction is going to turn on your core muscles just because your arms are overhead,” Vachon said. “Here’s where you get the biggest bang for your buck, that’s why the classes are so short. I actually started teaching them for an hour and by the time the hour was over, you were burnt out. So, I switched all my classes to shorter amounts of time because I just know that I’m going to stay connected visually, mentally and physically the whole time.”

Vachon is joined by co-founder of Core V3 Virtual, Kathy Gendelman and Angela Daulton is an instructor who also teaches classes with Vachon and Gendelman. Many of their clients love the virtual aspect of it and can wake up and work out right at home. But Vachon stresses that these classes aren’t one-sided and there is a lot of communication and community building that happens.

“We call it “virtual made personal” and before you even do a virtual class we do a personalized Zoom call meeting where I can basically virtually go into your room where you are going to be doing the workout, teach you where to attach the anchor point, and then show you how to set up your laptop computer or phone for the Zoom class so that I can see you and you can see me during a live class,” Vachon said.

Vachon also has you go through any injuries, share your vision and what your goals are.

“During the classes I have it so I can see you the whole time while I’m teaching, so it keeps it at that personal level where I can add modifications, correct your form and uplevel exercises if you want to make it a little bit more challenging. That allows me to teach someone who’s never even lifted up a dumbbell to somebody who’s been training for the Olympics.

Vachon says the classes are for anyone from 5 to 85 or even older.

“My daughter, who is 8, started doing this with me back during COVID. We created a boy’s group on Wednesdays for 8 to 10-year-olds and we work on drills for specific sports they want to become better at, like hockey, and it is a fun and effective workout,” Vachon said. “I have someone who is 85 and in a wheelchair who still feels just as successful doing the exercises. My business partner Kathy has someone who is 99 using the bands, so the age of who can do this is limitless.”

The results are Vachon’s favorite part.

“I have people who I have done strength training with on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and I’ll tell them to just try a Core V3 class and they say, ‘I don’t want to do a band class’ and once they’ve done the band class they now say, ‘I don’t want to do the strength training anymore, I’m seeing way more results and feel so much better with the bands. I don’t need to do all these heavy weights in the strength training classes,’ so yeah, I have a lot of people who have switched or added in one of the band classes with a strength class. And these are people who have been with me for 12 years.

Vachon herself, who has been into fitness since she was a child, even switched up her workout routine.

“I literally stopped doing all my other types of strength training and I do my strength training with the bands on. And I just do those 35-minute classes. So, that is a big thing for me. I used to lift weights for an hour a day and do all the cardio on top of that and now I can kick my own butt in 35 minutes and just feel good,” Vachon said. “I feel safe and I feel strong within my body where I don’t have to use super heavy weights because I am connected to the bands that are pulling me in different directions and I have to keep the core centered the whole time.”

In addition to the virtual classes five mornings a week from 6:15 to 6:50 a.m., Core V3 has in-person classes taught at the fitness studio in Edwards. There are also Core V3 video classes specific for golf and pickleball.

“We were having so many people coming in with golf and pickleball injuries, so these classes offer exercises to help injury prevention based on movements done in those sports,” Vachon said.

The bands are so portable you actually can bring them to the golf course and attach them to the golf cart.

“We have a video where you do a 6-minute activation, so it’s mobility training that gets your core activated while you are moving through golf swing motions,” Vachon said. “I’ve had golfers who have tried this tell me it is taking strokes off their score, their ball is going farther. They feel their core turning on and feel safer playing the game and not getting injured.”

Core V3 also has a program called TeachFit Tribe where many local teachers and parents participate and create a community of support and inspiration.

“It’s fun to create that community of people and then they start to encourage each other to come to class and work out and say things like, ‘don’t take the elevator, take the stairs’ and it’s really cute to see how the teachers are interacting with each other. This class is virtual and it is done before they have to start teaching, so they can take time for themselves before their workday gets going,” Vachon said.

Although sweating and getting your heart rate up are a big part of the classes, Vachon also wants the members of her classes to think about why they are doing this.

“I really think that mindfulness is a huge part of putting everything together. Make your vision and your “why” stronger than any other excuse you could possibly have and if you keep doing that, it will keep you coming back,” Vachon said. “Also, always know you have this huge group of people who are supporting you all the way through.”

To learn more, go to CoreV3.com and check out more testimonials and see what types of memberships could work for you. They are offering a special now through December 31, so no need to wait until New Year’s Resolutions time, get after your fitness goals now.