Movement specialist, Nikki Bybee, owner of Sugarhouse Training and Conditioning (STAC) has brought a unique training technique to Utah. It’s called Redcord, a multi-suspension point system, and it’s helping her clients improve their movement in surprising ways.
When she started teaching for Ballet West, Nikki was given some private ballet clients who weren’t making progress with their previous teacher. They agreed to try out three weeks of additional Redcord training before returning to private lessons. “By the second week, one of them was blown away with how much progress she felt she was making in her studio work, and she asked me, ‘Why isn’t everybody doing this?’”
The good news is that Redcord is not just for dancers. While Nikki mostly works with clients who are fairly active and not on a surgery list, she has had clients’ whose pain has gone away through utilizing this training.
“Redcord is available to anyone who is interested in enhancing their movement and it’s a game changer if you’re looking for something to alleviate back pain, improve athleticism, or restore range of motion,” explains Nikki. “It happens naturally when you get muscles out of their compensation patterns. When a small muscle starts doing what it’s supposed to be doing it takes pressure off that big muscle and it makes everything happier in that area of their body.”
So, what is it about Redcord that makes it so effective? “Unlike TRX, you’re never on one suspension point and that is very challenging for the body, the nervous system, and the coordination of the body,” she explains. “There’s just so many things going on when you have multiple suspension points as far as how your brain needs to activate and stabilize and so you get way more out of a multi-suspension point system.”
Nikki has continued to gain certifications in related areas to help her clients improve their movement. “In my studio, I’ve included biomechanics and respiration work, and I also do neuro training, so I have a couple of different tools in my toolbox,” she says. “I started offering biomechanics simply because of the respiration component. If the whole body is in excess tension, then it is never going to move efficiently, and respiration can be used as a tool to bring you into a calmer relaxed state which helps your muscles move better.”
Having taught ballet, fitness, and movement for over 20 years, Nikki is excited to extend her expertise to clients in the Salt Lake Valley. “The stronger your understanding of movement, the better choices you have available to you and so my whole goal is to just give people choices about how they can make their bodies move better whether their goal is to improve their athleticism, their dance technique, or simply to move their arms overhead better.”
