Project Summer: Meet Jules Fultz, Program Director for POP Pilates

We asked the instructor and mom of four to share her go-to workout and her power food.

This summer, we’re bringing you inspiration from some of the top celebrity fitness teachers and athletes and sharing their summer workouts, power songs and more. Your dream summer starts here.

You’ve met POP Pilates creator and our August cover story gal, Cassey Ho. This week, we’re introducing you to POP’s program director, Jules Fultz, a mom of four, Texas resident, coffee lover and POP instructor. We asked Fultz to share her ideal summer day, and her go-to summer workout. (Try her favorite POP moves at home, or in a POP class near you!)

24Life: What’s your go-to source for inspiration?

Jules Fultz (JF): My go-to source for inspiration is watching a masterfully taught group fitness class. Seeing a group of individuals sharing the journey toward wellness as a team lights my soul on fire! And being able to help instructors, through training, discover their abilities to coach others inspires me beyond words.

24Life: What do you teach and why?

JF: POP Pilates is my favorite class to teach because it is an intense workout all about mobility and strength with low impact on the joints. And it feels like a dance on the mat. I also love Les Mills BODYFLOW because it is a quick-paced, athletic style of yoga.

24Life: Why is fitness so important to you?

JF: I move for my mental health. Initially I started working out to look a certain way, but after battling anxiety and depression I learned that movement is the key to my calm.

24Life: What is your ideal workout (that is 24 minutes or less)?

JF: I love to teach and take classes, but if I am short on time I squeeze in a POP Pilates-inspired workout, with signature moves like the curtsy lunge to fire up the glutes and get the heart rate moving. I then focus on mobility with our signature POP Pilates floating angles and dancing dogs before transitioning down to the mat for booty work with elevated leg circles and the POP Pilates hot potato.

A bit of ab work comes next, incorporating the Pilates hundreds with roll-ups to make sure my core is warm before I complete three cardio intervals. I do a series of plank walks and plank jacks for 30 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds before repeating the series three times. After the cardio intervals I hit those abs one more time with a challenging move like the POP Pilates sprinter.

I always make time to stretch after any workout session because mobility is magic. My go-to stretches are the figure-4 stretch and the POP Pilates half rainbow stretch.

Here is my favorite on-the-go move from POP Pilates: the single leg squat lift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lXVlKTtTYU

24Life: What’s your greatest passion, outside of the work that you do?

JF: I am passionate about nourishing my family with home-cooked meals. I love everything about cooking, whether it is finding the perfect recipe or the best produce at the farmers market. The whole process of creating a meal to share with the people I love is delightful.

24Life: Describe your perfect summer day.

JF: My perfect summer day would start with coffee! A morning POP Pilates class would be the next order of business before heading to the lake to SUP (stand-up paddle board) with my four kids. Finding a food truck in downtown Austin before an evening of live music would make for the perfect summer day.

24Life: What is your power food?

JF: My power food is actually a drink. I am a coffee lover. My favorite is a local Austin, Texas roaster called Cuvee Coffee.

24Life: What’s your number-one stressor and your surefire stress buster?

JF: My number-one stressor is over-scheduling. Trying to balance family and work commitments can be a challenge for me because I am very passionate about the work I am privileged to do. I struggle with wanting to “do it all,” instead of prioritizing the right projects.

My surefire way to bust the stress of an over-scheduled day is to throw a bath bomb into the tub and soak off the stress. After a hot bath and quiet time I can sit down with my calendar and re-set the schedule to better align with family and work goals.

24Life: What is one thing people may not know about you?

JF: Most people think that I am an extrovert because I love teaching, but in reality I feel very awkward in social settings. I am a home body and I much prefer the company of a few close friends and family to that of a crowded room of strangers.

24Life: What’s your secret to getting stuff done?

JF: I spend a lot of time traveling for instructor training workshops on the weekends, so during the week I keep a strict routine and schedule my tasks by order of priority. I even schedule in technology breaks so I force myself to walk away from the computer.

Using reminder notifications in my calendar keeps me focused on task completion and helps me to stay true to the priorities I have set in my calendar.

24Life: What is your power song for summer?

JF: “Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2 is my summer jam. Every time I hear it I am transported to rural roads in small-town East Texas feeling breathless in the hot summer sun on a long run.

24Life: What book is on your night table?

JF: I just finished “Daring Greatly” by Brené Brown and I just started “The Couple Next Door” by Shari Lapena. I love a great mystery, but I balance that with books to help me live my best life.

24Life: What’s your secret for a great night’s sleep?

JF: A hot bath and a consistent bed time ritual. I also try to go to bed around the same time every night.

24Life: Any interesting performance rituals that you have before you teach, work or train?

JF: I still get excited butterflies in my tummy before every class, whether it is a convention of strangers or my weekly students. I don’t have a ritual just an excitement to share fitness with others.

24Life: Best advice you’ve given or gotten in 24 words or less?

JF: Treat your body like it belongs to someone you love.

Follow Jules Fultz on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Photo credit: Jennifer Hitt