Tag Archives: fitnessblog

Max your fitness training and prevent injury with Nike Master Trainer, Jason Raynor

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Have you ever been in a fitness class and felt a twinge in your knee during a lunge? Or how about that back pinch just from your regular morning stretch?  You may feel as fit as a fiddle until one of those strings snaps, reflecting an imbalance in your body.

Full disclosure: both of us discovered the sucky-ness of injury this summer with pinched nerves and bulging discs.  Stress+work/blog computer scrunching+cell phone snapping=a toll on your bod!

Trainer Raynor Time

We were curious and a bit nervous when we got an invite to try a functional movement assessment with Jason Raynor, Master Nike Trainer.  Raynor has a flex worthy list of fitness certifications and experience including a stint as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Washington Redskins.

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Traynor Raynor demoing a walking side squat

We met up with him at one of his current sweat spots, the JW Marriot in downtown Chicago, to get the rehab and rebound experience of functional movement assessments.  Think of it as self-help for your fit life!

Now let’s get to the fitty gritty deets.

Functional Movement Assessment Basics

Functional movement assessments can help you identify those instabilities, not only to prevent injury but to amp your athletic performance.  Even amateur fit fiends like us could benefit by optimizing our every day movements.

Trainer Raynor guided us through the first 3 of the 7 movement patterns of the functional movement system.

  • Deep Squat
  • Hurdle Step
  • In Line Lunge
  • Shoulder Mobility
  • Active Straight Leg Raise
  • Trunk Stability Push Up
  • Rotary Stability
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Trainer Raynor evaluating Monica’s deep squat

But that was just the warm up!  After each movement, he asked follow-up questions, gave feedback, and took detailed notes.  Both of us had different areas of strengths and weaknesses.  Kate had mobility issues with her hurdle step (think slow mo-hurdle) while Monica held tightness in her hip flexors that showed up as knee pain during her split stance lunge.  (Check our short video post on Instagram)

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Trainer Raynor teaching the proper hand and feet placement for a deep squat

Raynor tackled our tensions with personalized stretches and taught us how to move to protect from injury.  Practiced consistently, these corrective exercises will wipe out your inconsistencies and put you in peak form!

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Monica practicing a corrective stretch for her hip flexors

A detailed report is sent to you after your sesh to ensure you can “work it out nowwww” more efficiently and effectively.  Trainor Raynor doesn’t just work on your fitness (although that’s Fergalicious enough).  He targets all areas of health transformation with:

  • Team or group athletic development and coaching
  • Nutrition Consulting
  • Individualized Personal Training

We are huge fit fans of the functional movement assessment and plan on going back to complete the screening.  Ready to be that agile athlete hiding inside you? Contact Trainor Raynor for appointments and rates!  Check out his profile on the following:

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*We received one shared functional movement session in exchange for an honest unbiased review*

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Giveaway: Hydrate your Summer with Propel Fitness Water

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Summa Summa Summa timeeee…time to sweat!  Have you ever ran in 90 degree heat because you threw caution into the lack of wind?  You definitely need to replace those lost electrolytes to avoid muscle cramps and quick fatigue.

With 9 flavors, Propel Electrolyte Water wants to keep your summer humming with a prize pack!  Take the “What’s Your Flavor?” Quiz to see if you’re more of a bubbly blueberry pomegranate or competitive cranberry lime.

Get thirsty for these prizes:

  • A sweat replacing pack of Propel Electrolyte Water flavors
  • Cool it down with a Propel moisture wicking yoga towel
  • Throw shade with Propel Sunglasses
  • Class up your fitness class with a Lululemon gym bag

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Here’s our fit flavor (no wonder, we are a 2 girl fitness blog!):

Kiwi Strawberry
“You’re more of a social butterfly than a hardcore competitor when it comes to fitness.  A fun workout takes priority over the amount you sweat.  You like group workouts like Zumba, kickboxing or barre with lots of upbeat tunes, or a walk in the park to catch up with a friend.  Of course, looking good while working out is always a priority – you never forget to match and accessorize”.

 

Once you’re all quizzed up, comment on our blog on what your flavor is to win this balanced bounty!!  Winner will be picked at random and announced by 8/15.

 

Chicago’s First Juice Crawl!

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Wanna hear some juicy gossip?  You’ve probably heard of bar crawls and food crawls…but we got something fresh squeezed and new just for you: a juice crawl!

Where did we find out about this sweet event?  Last week, we attended a Fuel Flow class with Mindfuel Wellness at the James Hotel.  Owners and fitness teachers, Jacquelyn Brennan and Kelly Moore, want to ignite a passion for wellness in individuals, corporations and the community.

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The Fuel Flow class is unique in that Kelly and Jacquelyn take turns leading and blend their diverse backgrounds in yoga and pilates.  We loved the pace of the class and the 15 minute segments of each discipline.

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Mindfuel Wellness offers personalized one on one programs, community building events and corporate wellness initiatives like kitchen takeovers or movement classes.

Following class, we were treated to juice samples from Real Good Juice Co. (a preview of juices to come) and snacks from David Burke’s Primehouse.

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Now what’s the “dill” with this juice crawl?

Juice Joints: Begin at City Press Juice in Lakeview, run to Real Good Juice in Old Town and drink up with a final sampling & toast at Harvest Juicery in West Loop.

Fit Points: Squeeze out some fitness as you crawl and run between juice spots, a total 4.8 miles.  All paces of runners/joggers/hop on a divvy bikers welcome!

Cost: $40

Click here to mix it up!

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You can also get a taste of Mindfuel with Kelly and Jacquelyn’s weekly Fuel Flow classes.

Dates and Times: Sunday June 5 & 12, 4:00pm-5:15pm

Location: Spring – 3940 N. Lincoln, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL

Format: An all-level 75 minute class alternating between Pilates and yoga.

Cost: $20 per class.

RSVP here

There are so many good juice spots in Chicago so we hope this becomes more than an annual event.  Where would you love to crawl to?  Let us know in the comments!

20 Minute Toning: Ignite Fitness Review

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Admit it.  Sometimes, during tough workout videos, you lie there huffing and puffing hoping your virtual teacher won’t catch you slacking.  That feeling is slightly guilty/awesome because you know this workout is challenging you.

It may seem that 20 minutes of fitness won’t do squat (HA!) but high intensity workouts can pack a punch for more energy and toning.  We received a complementary Blu-Ray copy of the Women’s Health Ignite workout starring Next Fitness Star winner Nikki Metzger to test its fit factor.  Nikki Metzger isn’t just some gym rat of the street.  She’s a Master Trainer and owner of BODI gym in Scottsdale, Arizona.  She’s not afraid to slap you with a bad @#s fitness routine.

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Ignite fires you up with 3 x20 minute stand alone (or get crazy and plow through all 3) workouts.  Bonus: An 8 minute bananas ab sequence in case you didn’t feel sore enough.

Workout Chapters:

BUILD

More of a traditional weights workout, but still maintains an interval format. Nikki demos the moves and sets before each change.  Free weight usage is optional, removing intimidation for the recently sedentary.

BURN

Guacs, this is a doozy.  Plyometrics take center stage for this cardio heavy chapter with crazy hard moves like the evil planky bear or real move name: Lateral Bear Crawl.

SWEAT

Your muscles will get HIIT from the front and the back with this 360 high speed interval routine.  Expect 45 second sets with 3 sets in each rotation.  Moves include modified burpees with a row added, plank walk outs and our Snapchat favsie: The Starfish Crunch.

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Workout Cheers

  • These 20 minute speed workouts torch calories and slow time.  You can fit this into a busy life!
  • Nikki’s lady crew each demo-ed a different move level for beginners up to bodybuilder lost your mind mode.
  • As a trainer, Nikki is approachable and encouraging.  Also, we like her fitanista style with 3 on fleek fit outfits to choose.

Workout Woes

  • 8 minute abs was like 8 minutes confused.  Transitions were too too fast so it was hard to follow where to move next.
  • Closed caption anyone?  This is 2016 so I am sure the fitness industry would want people with hearing issues to be able to follow along with verbal cues too.
  • Why do all workout videos have drum kit music created on a Casio keyboard for their background?  We suppose it’s necessary to appease a majority of viewers (?) but we think even keyboard cat could do better.

Final (Get) Cut

Extra Extra!  Get your 20 minute toning with Ignite here.  Not ready to commit? Check out a preview of Nikki’s training here.

Looking for other workouts?  Check out some suggestions from previous posts here.

Tips for Trekking Your First Trail Run

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Now that Race-tober has come to a close, we’ve had a chance to reflect on all the “firsts” we’ve experienced this month: Monica ran her first 10K, Run 10 Feed 10, Kate took her sister to her first 5k, a very rainy yet triumphant Monster Dash and one of our most memorable races, our first trail run with the The North Face Endurance Challenge at Kettle Moraine State Park.  The North Face went above and beyond in sponsoring us, not only giving us sweet race gear before the race, but also surprising us with a backpack full of running essentials once we made our way to our hotel.

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For anyone who has been running 5Ks for a while or would love to just get out in nature more, we think a trail run could hit both those spots.

Here are some things we learned from our experience:

These shoes were made for trailin’

Invest in a pair of trail shoes.  Your feet will thank you for your generosity.  When we first received our North Face Ultra MT trail shoes, we noticed how stiff they were as compared to our norm runners.  A wise friend explained that trail running shoes and more hearty with more tread so you have better grip and can withstand stepping on wily rocks and sticks that may try to block your path.  These shoes are also waterproof to withstand wet and muddy trails.

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Climbing every mountain 

The environment of trails can vary from run to run.  You may find well groomed trails, wild overgrown ones, or paved trails in your travels.  You may find you require more stamina and time to trail run than what you’re used to so don’t feel discouraged if you are slower paced than your average pavement jaunt.

Dress to impress–the wilderness

The weather the day of our trail run was not exactly what you would expect for early October but Midwest weather is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, ya never know what you’re gonna get.  Chilly and brisk was the name of the running game for our race day.  Keeping in mind that we were going through the woods, we wore layers.  For rain, try a light or medium weight rain jacket, like The North Face Women’s Venture Jacket.  Trust us, don’t wear your poncho to run unless you want to sweat like a wild hog as you swish through the wilderness.

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And some advice from the trail running pros!

Runner’s World: 21 Quick Trail Running Tips

Active.com: 9 Trail Running Tips for Beginners

Trail Runner: The 10 Commandments of Healthy Running

Ready, set, go!

You can still take on the North Face Endurance Challenge in California, Washington D.C. and New York or try an Illinois trail run if you’re our neighbors.

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Still trail shy?

The North Face offers their free Mountain Athletics training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. to help you prep for your next ski jump, rock climb, run or crazy jazz hand competition…whatever your goal may be.

Fit Foodie 5k Race Weekend: The Most Delicious 5k Around!

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Yoga + Fro Yo Running + Risotto Boxing + Bacon…+ Beer Who says you can’t enjoy fitness AND food.  Certainly not us as we are 2015 Fit Foodie 5k Race Ambassadors! Cooking Light & Health Magazine are sponsoring a calve … Continue reading →