Our FitFactor Winners!!!!

The winner has been decided This year's FitFactor Program winners are RICHARD SLIMMONS!

Take a minute to watch the video they submitted telling us why they thought they deserved to win.

Richard Slimmons Week 6: Critiquing the Team

Emily on Ty

I was the last to join Richard Slimmons way back in the day when we were applying, and I didn't really know Ty very well at the time. We had met earlier in the year at a party, but we'd never really talked. When I met Ty again, all I could think was "wow"- he looked absolutely incredible. Hillary shared with me that Ty had already lost a bunch of weight in the middle of an intense weight loss process, just as I was thinking about starting my own. Ever since, Ty has been a constant source of inspiration to me. Whenever I'm feeling down about Fit Factor, or losing weight or being healthy in general, I look to Ty as an example of someone who has worked so, so hard and has benefited so, so much from discipline, positivity, and a commitment to a healthier lifestyle. From waking up to go to spin class at 5 AM before Fit Factor to making healthy eating choices all the time, Ty is doing so much not only to lose weight healthily, but to maintain it. And he knows how to work hard AND play hard- he's the master of working hard and playing harder and letting himself enjoy life. And have you seen Ty's eyes? Because they are GORGEOUS. Did I mention I'm in love with him? Cuz I am. But in all seriousness, getting to know Ty better has been one of the major perks of this process and I cannot imagine a more wonderful person to wake up to at 6:45 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays.



Ty on Jack

Smug Jack

For this week’s blog post, we decided to write about our experience working with another team member during Fitfactor. I got Jack. But the thing is, guys, I don’t really care for Jack. Jack is smug. So I decided to write about Jack’s hair, which to be honest, has a lot more redeeming qualities than Jack himself.

Jack’s Hair

It’s beautiful. While the rest of us roll out of bed at 6am looking like we shut the keg down the night before (RIP), Jack comes to Spac as though he just hopped out of the set of Madmen. When asked his secret styling techniques he simple says, “I just don’t wash it, and it looks great.” What a great response smug Jack. Enjoy this lovely collection of Jack’s hair styles, compiled for your viewing pleasure. All of these were created with a simple hair swipe by Jack himself – that is, no styling products were used (P.S. Can you catch which one isn’t Jack but a look into his near future? The person in question is actually Michael McMillian, an actor from “What I Like About You.” – Winner gets my love and affection).

<3, Ty

Jack on Hillary

Before FitFactor, Hillary was a regular Janey Briggs (for a description, see here).  She even tried showing up to our first meeting in smelly gym clothes.  But that was then, and this is NOW (the guys can't get enough)!!!!  Honestly though, over the course of the past few weeks I have noticed a palpable change in H. Gayle Thornton.  Throughout are collegiate careers, Hillary has always been committed to exercising - but there's been a real difference as of late.  I can certainly tell she feels stronger by her defense on the hardwood alone (our 1-on-1 basketball games have gotten.. well... bruising).  But more than that, it's clear to me that Hillary is feeling more and more confident and - I must say - her legs have never looked better.  Because of Hillary's consistent dedication to exercise, I can attribute this new change only to the Edge's ability to get her off the elliptical and on the bandwagon, a bandwagon of squats, drags, pushes, and pulls.  So while there may still be a little paint on the overalls, I for one am very happy for Hillary to have experienced and committed to this program.

Smoke em' if ya got em' (reit),
- Jack


Hillary on Emily

Emily Olcott is quite possibly the single busiest person at Northwestern. It is renowned that homegirl straight up doesn't sleep. 7am workouts were the last thing she needed, but lol gives herself 100% to everything that she does. She often comes to our FitFactor workouts on 30-90 minutes of sleep and KILLS IT. She has lost weight throughout this process, and, in her Mee-Ow show this weekend, she was exuding confidence in a way I've never seen from her. She has owned FitFactor, despite having tendinitis in her knee the past several weeks. Even though this injury has sidelined her, she has remained unbelievably pleasant and funny and happy to be there and that has been contagious for the rest of Richard Slimmons. Like yeah, her workout apparel still needs some work, but because she doesn't wear see-through shorts, I think she has potential. I am so proud of lol. She has been the ideal teammate.

Honey Badgers Week 6: A Bumpy Road

There were some bumps in the road this week for the Honey Badgers. Two members missed training due to illness and a surprise trip to the ER (unrelated to The Edge).

 

Mike introduced some new warm-ups using small, weighted balls. You have to hold the balls out in your hands and draw numbers 1 through 15 in the air. This took a lot of concentration for some reason, but it did warm up our rotator cuffs. We also did this insane anti-rotation move with the bands. I could tell it was working after just one rep. I feel like now I have a book of moves that I can easily replicate when on vacation or otherwise not training with Mike...now there are no excuses.

Richard Slimmons Week 5

As week five of FitFactor comes to a close, I'm gonna be really real and let you readers know that this process has not been easy.

I once read somewhere that it takes 21 days for something to become habitual. I think that's true. Richard Slimmons is now used to the early morning workouts. Our biological clocks have adjusted (aside from maybe Emily who isn't a real human and often functions on 60-90 minutes of sleep). High-fiving Mike Geesey has become muscle memory. Leaving Powerade bottles in the backseat of my car has become a habit for my teammates, as well, as the count was up to ten the last time I checked. For better or worse, we have consistently invested in the FitFactor process enough to show up every day.

However, in order to become truly fit, we have to let FitFactor change more than our biological clocks. We have to learn how to say 'no' to things. It took me five weeks to realize that saying 'no' is the key, but better late than never, right? As a Chronic Indulger, this has been the hardest habit to change. It's straight up difficult to turn things down. At any point in any given day, you can ask me to go to Chili's, and I will be there, strawberry lemonade in hand, within the next ten minutes. Additionally, my extended family has always had a rule that Cookies Don't Count. We will all finish a meal, eat 2-8 cookies and THEN someone brings out the cakes and pies. This is a problem, you guys. I can't speak for the rest of Richard Slimmons, but I'm not a person who has license to eat whatever I want just because my routine includes some fitness. I really have to work at both.

As a seasoned veteran of FitFactor, here's what I've learned/adjusted about my indulgent habits:
+ Mike has talked to us about portion control. We don't need a LOT of food to be satisfied.
+ At restaurants, I have begun to ask for a to-go box when I receive my food. I put half of my meal in the box immediately and eat it the next day.
+ Emily, Tyler and I all use the iPhone app called 'MyFitnessPal' which allows us to track everything we eat so we are aware of precisely what we're consuming each day.
+ One cookie isn't bad for me. Ten cookies are.
+ You know that inevitable point in a meal where you think, "I'm definitely not hungry anymore. Should I keep eating?" and then you do and the next thing you know you're adjusting your belt and/or laying on the floor in pain and/or crying a little? Put your napkin on your plate right when you realize you're not hungry!!!!!!! In the history of mealtimes, no one has ever lifted their napkin up to continue eating. That's just... not a thing.

This weekend, Jack and I went to a Mardi Gras parade/celebration in St. Louis. We found ourselves in a tent with unlimited cajun food. That's right. Unlimited cajun food. How did we keep from stuffing ourselves to the brim?

We ate one plate and then did some classic Mike Geesey squats on the dance floor.

Flawless form! He's not straining his lower back or his knees! And you have to be sure to keep your eyes up or Mike will restart the clock!

Life's a system of balances. The love you take is equal to the love you make.

Honey Badgers Week 5

All I have to say is that ropes were really, really hard – but the sleds are SO MUCH HARDER! Mike custom makes extremely heavy “bags” of weight using towels, cowbells, and baby diapering techniques. It’s actually quite impressive. Fortunately for me, my sled usually isn’t loaded up with extra cowbells like some of the others. Although I struggled a lot dragging the weight backwards, I seem to have hit my stride pulling it sideways. We also started doing these new squat sets – 30 seconds with cowbells, 30 seconds without weight, and then 30 seconds holding in a squat position. I definitely felt that workout all weekend long… Perhaps I need to do a little more foam rolling

Fit Fab Five Week 5

Well, FitFactor Followers, we're more than halfway through. It's definitely gotten more intense in the last week. We've started doing more exercises, challenging our bodies more, getting less water breaks. What I think I'm surprised most about though is that I still manage to wake up in the morning and go to work out at 7am twice a week! For me, that's absolutely insane. The Edge is really great to get you actively working out and taking a real interest in your health. It's not just exercising regularly in the gym; it's also support to work out outside of the two days we go in, it's to work out smart every time we work out - with or without the trainers, and it's in general the support to lead a healthier life. Our personal trainer, Mike, talks to us about food and diet and he gets down on a personal level, letting us know what's best for our various bodies. It's been a great experience learning what works best for me. As the weeks go by and the weather fluctuates, I'm glad I have my team members there with me as we fight on through. The early mornings don't seem quite so brutal and the workouts are full of smiles and laughter. I couldn't have asked for a more positive work-out experience. Here's to another great week of training!

EDGE Valentines Day Promotion!

Want to train with THE EDGE like our FitFactor Participants? You can get a special 20% Discount for one day only this Valentines Day. Just go to our website at http://www.fitrec.northwestern.edu/special/promocode.html and record the promo code that fits the service you want. Then call the membership office and use the promo code to sign up and receive your discount.

Did you get referred by a friend? Be sure to tell us so that your friend can receive 30 days of free training!

**Promotion excludes Edge Training System Plus and the Edge Training System Two Week Trial

Richard Slimmons Week 4: Halfway Done

Salutations readers,

Having now reached the halfway point in our journey, it seems appropriate to take stock of our results thus far.  The reviews are in.. and they're GOOD.  We just finished only week four of the process and we are now definitely beginning to observe tangible results.  I've lost 10 pounds, ten pounds off a kid who's done nothing but gain since high school!!!!!  I've heard Emily make similar statements, while Hillary and Ty look more like *athletes* every day.  For those of you who saw the reinvented rain advertisement during the SuperBowl (by Toyota) - where rain makes people skinnier - we all know that, in reality, rain just kinda gets you wet.  The closest thing we have to reinvented rain, however, is working smart and efficiently with help from the Edge (at least in my experience).

[Check out our sweet new Edge swag.]

From my perspective, this has to be attributed to the discipline and methods of the Edge training with NU FitRec.  For me the most important thing about working with a group personal training group is the discipline.  Is it sad to say that even getting to the gym twice a week would have been an improvement for me?  Yes.  But it goes beyond that, we have off-day work-outs and a supportive team who makes it happen  together.  Yesterday, for instance, Hillary and I took it to the hardwood for a little bball (for those keeping score at home, there was a dominant d. rose esque performance outta ya boi).  But beyond just getting us here, the Edge enables us to work smartly and efficiently, getting the most out of our effort in every work-out.  The circuit training allows us to burn more calories by providing diversity and variety in our regimen.  Yes I hate the ropes.  I despise them.  But I can do them for 20 or 30 seconds.  And maybe in another minute or so.. I can do them again.  And in the meantime, I'll do some TRX pulls, and then some boxes.  In short bursts I exert more energy than I ever did on the treadmill.

 [Even more paraphernalia from our friends at Nu FitRec]

I worried that I might be too busy, but at anything I feel like the workouts have made me more productive.  While I wouldn't yet say that I have the "increase in daily energy" that people say comes with exercise - we get up awfully early every Tuesday and Thursday after all - I am definitely taking more advantage of mornings throughout the week.  Along with the Edge, I've been able to balance preparing for the LSAT (which I took on Saturday), four classes, piano lessons, intramural sports, job interviews, habitat for humanity, and I'm starting yoga this week.  I even gave blood a few weeks ago.  While I was worried taking on getting-in-shape might be overdoing it (my dad's trademark phrase, "don't overdo it."), I have been succeeding in every area with what I consider to be better results than I would have expected even if i had focused on them individually.

While I think I would be seeing -slower- results without adjusting my diet, following some of Mike-the-Pike's tips on eating have helped to grease the wheel (for instance, try to avoid eating the greasy foods and wheels).  For a pre-valentine's day treat, Richard Slimmons sans Emily Olcott got together for a healthy dinner.  We had salad with artichoke hearts *guffaw*.  Watching the Grammy's together, I can definitely say  that this experience has brought us closer together.

[We'll leave the recipes to our friends the Honey Badgers]

So far, I truly consider FitFactor to have been a worthwhile and eye-opening experience.  I hope you continue to follow our results and wish anyone reading this the best in their efforts to get in, or stay in, shape (including if you're applying for Northwestern's Sexual Health & Assault Peer Educators).  If you've been thinking about getting in shape for a while, there's no better time.  The Edge at NU FitRec will get you there.  One last thing, try to steer clear of Ty when he's armed with lettuce.  Especially if its some sort of photo shoot.

Fit Fab Five Week 4: Austin Gets a Wake-up Call

 When my alarm goes off at 6:25am, I walk across the room and grab my phone. Turning off my alarm, I carry my phone back to bed with me. That kind of defeats the purpose of putting my alarm across my bedroom to begin in the first place! Thankfully, Johnson is not only my Fab Five teammate, but he is my roommate. I get a cheerful text at 6:29 on the date every day reminding me that I do in fact have to get up. While it may be difficult to get up in the morning initially, I fell so invigorated once we arrive at SPAC. The brisk winter morning prompts us to run inside SPAC, where a colorful welcome message adorns the glass entrance doors. Mike Geesey pumps classic tunes as we get to work. The sixty minutes fly by and I love the energy and physical rejuvenation of the workouts. The exercises are quite organic and we use our muscles in a natural manner that encourages genuine growth. We have a wonderful balance between strength and conditioning. As I build muscle mass, I also increase flexibility and balance. It is really an awesome opportunity to take a big step towards getting a body characteristic of those men in the movie, Immortals! Check back in a few weeks to see the progress!

Honey Badgers Week 4: Mixed Up

 We all got a really great workout this week. Mike brought in some new programming to mix things up! By far the hardest for me was basically dragging a heavy weight across the gym floor while running backwards. Apparently I need to work on my quads a bit. I'm interested to see what else Mike challenges us with next week.

Week 3: Fit Fab Five On Being Fit

I even cut back on the hot sauce in my diet. Something is happening.

Richard Slimmons Week 3: Some thoughts from Emily

Three words to describe Fit Factor circa Week 3: It's. Getting. Real.

Some might call it the ultimate hump week. Weeks 1 and 2 felt like our tester weeks. Sure, we could all get up at 6:30 AM to get to SPAC on time because we were excited and pumped to see what this new, shiny, scary personal trainig thing would feel like. Slamming heavy ropes on the ground, kettlebells (balls?), squat jumps, medicine balls, sure, we can handle that- we're about to become newly fit! Exercising on the off days? Changing up your diet? You bet! Look at us go!

Then, Week Three rolls around and all of a sudden, it starts to feel a lot harder. Not just because the workouts have intensified, but because we're finding ourselves smack dab in the middle of Winter Quarter. And she can be a tough mistress. We're in the swing of things with classes, activities, rehearsals, midterms, you name it-- and Fit Factor is no longer a novelty item, but a fact of life.

Which makes me think of New Years, particularly the resolutions we make at the start of every year with the hopes that they will carry over and change EVERYTHING. I know that in the past, I've made so many resolutions that lasted for a month and then slowly died as life got too busy to put energy and focus into difficult goals. And a lot of them have concerned fitness before- change my diet, work out every day, drink more water, do yoga every morning, stop eating chocolate, carry weights in my purse to lift in between class (okay no), you name it, it's been on my list of things to work on. Sometimes I've stuck to the goals, but most of the time things have gone back to the way they were before the minute things get stressful.

Which brings me back to FIT FACTOR. This is right around the time when people either forget or give up on their resolutions. But me and my teammates and everyone on FF finds themselves in a totally different position: about halfway through a fitness process that literally FORCES us to not give up on those goals that are so hard to set and maintain.

So yeah, 7 AM has started to feel...well, early. And I'm sweating a little harder during training. And I find myself in a very complex love-hate relationship with foam rollers. But maybe that's what getting in shape is really about- it just becoming a fact of life. A total lifestyle change. Working out and treating your body right shouldn't be something you resolve to change and then give up on. It should be a lifelong priority for your health and happiness. I think! I'm learnin'!

Not to mention friendship. Having a team to experience with this has been pretty amazing. Here are some things I'd like to share about us that I'm learning and loving.:

-It was widely agreed that Hill KILLED it on Thursday at Fit Factor
-Ty and I were a little jealous and expressed this quietly to each other
-Jack and I are in a Political Science class together and both wrote interesting papers for it on Thursday...VERY interesting papers
-Jack can sometimes get in these very quirky moods
-Ty will sometimes not sleep and go straight to SPAC at 5 AM to take spin classes and then do Fit Factor. We're all amazed.

- Richard Slimmons IS SO READY FOR WEEK FOUR!!!

Honey Badgers Week 3: Mike's Trick

Team honey badgers discovered Mike's trick this week. It's all about foam rolling! Even after a REALLY hard workout on Tuesday, I wasn't sore at all the next day. I know that I look ridiculous rolling around on the ground with this thing, but I swear by it. The best one is when you have the roller under your upper back and you stretch out by leaning back and rolling back and forth. Apparently there are more techniques we can use that Mike hasn't taught yet. He said that the program is changing in the next week or so, so we'll probably find out then.