Looking for a new way to spice up your workout? If your current workout routine includes a lot of cardio, running and walking, it's likely that you could benefit from crosstraining in a different way. The Dailey Method, soon to be open in downtown Elmhurst, is a structured discipline that integrates ballet barre work, core conditioning, yoga, muscle strengthening and orthopedic work into a unique format that can improve your posture, body awareness and muscle tone.

The Dailey Method was created in 2000 by Jill Dailey McIntosh, an exercise professional and Pilates instructor with a degree in kinesiology, as a more assertive way to reshape her clients' bodies while still focusing on posture and alignment. You'll find influences from her studies with the Lotte Berk method, as well as her early dance training. And since the opening of that first studio, many others have trained under McIntosh and opened their own studios.

Owners and Elmhurst residents Lorna Samatas and Tammy Reidy are passionate about this method of training. Their new studio, located in City Centre at 155 N. York Road, is targeted to open in early February.

Samatas, a certified yoga instructor and all-around athlete, says she felt an immediate synergy with the alignment principles of the Dailey Method.

"The Dailey Method is about strengthening your body from the inside out," she says. "It's about finding your best alignment, the deepest connection within, and from there experiencing more freedom of movement."

Reidy, who is Samatas' neighbor and friend, was suffering from an injured tendon in her ankle when Samatas brought her to a class in La Grange.

"It was one of the few workouts I could do while injured, and I fell in love with its challenging yet gentle nature," she says.

Reidy says there is a large focus on the mind and its integration with the body's movement in this method of training. The class allows her to tune out any chatter from her daily life, so it serves as a meditative discipline as well.

"When the workout is complete, my body feels strong and my mind is relaxed," Reidy says.

The group classes are one hour and feature precise, low-impact movements that work every muscle group in the body. You'll not only work your abdominals, but also learn to integrate core activation and proper postural alignment, while sculpting and strengthening other muscle groups, such as the legs and glutes. Classes will include ballet barre work, as well as floor work that is appropriate for all levels of exercisers.

And who doesn't want to have the body of a dancer?

The studio will offer classes six days a week, with morning, afternoon and evening options. Yoga classes also will be offered for both adults and children. The owners are mothers, themselves, and will offer childcare onsite so parents can attend easily.

But to really understand the benefits of the Dailey Method, Samatas and Reidy believe you have to experience it for yourself. They will offer free classes on their opening weekend and invite everyone to come and try it out.

Ultimately, it's really about each person's individual practice, Samatas says.

"It's so empowering to engage in an intentional practice that inspires you to tap your own best energy. The energy of the instructor, the class, the community is there to support that experience of listening to your own body, and offering your best," she says. "The physical practices of the class also train and wire the brain, so alignment and balance are much more than just physical results."

For more updates and information, please check out The Dailey Method Elmhurst's Facebook page, or call (773) 592-1874.