Hidden Gems: Meet Paula Morizono of Strength for Everyday

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula Morizono.

Paula, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My fitness career started in 1999 as a Pilates teacher. I received my certification through Long Beach Dance Conditioning under the mentorship of Marie-Jose Blom.
Eventually, I started working in a physical therapy clinic using Pilates to rehab clients. I noticed that most people came from a gym background. This motivated me to receive my personal training certification from ACE, expanding my knowledge and expertise.

https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/find-ace-pro/dzvx768/paula-morizono/

In 2005, I received an offer from LAUSD to teach the largest older adult fitness class in the state with 125 people attending daily. This started my career teaching mental and physical fitness in the largest program in California. I held this post for six years. Teaching older adults, some in amazingly great shape and others in frail condition, taught me that without being functionally strong, we lose the ability to live independently.

In 2016, a West LA chiropractor that I had trained since 2000 asked me to join forces with him in his new office. We created a Pilates studio where I became the rehab and fitness expert. In 2022, he retired after 41 years of practice, the last 22 of which I was his trainer. He said my classes are “what literally kept me in practice”.

In 2020, I received my ergonomics certification from thebackschool.net. I knew that becoming an ergonomics expert would be instrumental in helping my students with injury prevention since incorrect ergonomics in the workplace is a major culprit for injury.

That same year I became a fitness writer, I wrote my first blog for the Back School, a site teaching ergonomics courses. The blog I wrote discusses using the power of the core with functional movements. https://blog.thebackschool.net/body-mechanics/pilates-core-with-functional-movements-the-perfect-marriage/ In addition, I became certified as a CEAS-certified ergonomics assessment specialist.

I also became a contributing writer for primewomen.com, the biggest site for women over 50. I wrote a popular article about the importance of breathing and core strength. https://primewomen.com/wellness/fitness/how-to-breathe/

In 2022, after having trained students in so many different settings for 22 years, I decided to put pen to paper and write a book describing my method of teaching. The book lays out the basics of injury prevention and describes how to use daily life as the key to developing and maintaining strength. It also explains the basics of developing breathing, core, posture, and hip hinge as the basis of daily life movements.
https://a.co/d/fefdR8Q

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I am credentialed and certified in so many areas and have experience teaching many different styles. This made it difficult to describe what I teach and my teaching style. I was thrilled to finally create a brand name that reflects what my brand is about. My logo succinctly states the essence of what I try to accomplish for my students. “Strength for Everyday: strength through day-to-day tasks” and I also created a website reflecting my brand https://strengthforeveryday.com/. My book describes my approach to fitness in a compact, easy-to-read format. I have received great reviews, and I am thrilled with the result. https://a.co/d/hq1dokK

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Strength for Everyday?
I would like readers to know that “my program” is about “your program”. Your program is your daily life movement. If you are a stay-at-home parent, your program is lifting your children, doing laundry, helping with homework, etc. Let’s make these movements strong and resilient to injury. If you are a chiropractor, your program is doing adjustments on patients. Let’s look at how you execute adjustments so they are bio-mechanically sound and strengthen the set-up positions to optimally protect the back. This paradigm shift in viewing daily life as fitness opportunity has built more strength in my students than I ever imagined. A student who couldn’t lift her baby without hurting herself was able to help her husband push a car.

Do not underestimate the power of every day, daily life movements. It is the key to injury prevention and staying fit for life.

What makes you happy?
I love spending time and training my grown son. I trained him since he was 16 and he is now in his 30’s. I love dancing, choreographing and performing; I am a dancer with the Ikeda King’s Orchestra. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cknyw3PjfOP/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== I love spending time with good friends. I love teaching, whether it is in the fitness realm or academic realm (I am also a certified K-12 teacher). I love being a posture expert and seeing the thrill on people’s faces when I show them how to stand up straight and maintain it. And I love making new friends!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.strengthforeveryday.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strength_for_everyday/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FunctionalPilates
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCInM4HkcXbQwfExDWrXPoAg
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/strength-for-everyday-los-angeles