So I mentioned that I was crazy busy the last few weeks, but I made the time to check out two fun opportunities last weekend: the Club Industry Show and Green Festival Chicago. I was invited to a blogger breakfast and workout session at the Club Industry show and I was offered a pass to Green Festival by Erin from Norm’s Farms. I will do a recap of the Green Festival and my Norm’s Farms giveaway next week so stay tuned. If you can’t wait, you can check out Susie’s recap HERE. (She was a much better blogger with the pics!)
The Club Industry Show is “the must-attend event for fitness industry professionals.” It is an opportunity for fitness professionals to check out the latest trends in fitness, learn best practices and access new tools.
The blogger breakfast was an opportunity to test out new equipment, talk to some cool people and get some great freebies! I will tell you a bit about a few of my faves. This was definitely targeted at club owners and fitness folks, but a fitness buff like me still had fun. I will say running 7 miles to McCormick to get there made trying some of these things a bit tougher! Live and learn.
Lateral Elliptical by Octane Fitness
They say:
Move members in an entirely new direction, with smooth 3-D motion that goes from a vertical elliptical stepping motion to an active side-to-side motion for functional exercise that challenges the entire body for better conditioning and even better results. In fact, research shows that LateralX users benefit from a 27% increase in calorie burn and a 30% increase in inner and outer thigh work over traditional standing ellipticals. Plus, exercisers appreciate the variety in movement – and the ability to target the glutes, hips and thighs – whether they are rehabbing from an injury, training for athletics or just shaping up.
I say: Chicago Athletic Clubs, please buy this machine. Pretty please? This lateral elliptical works your glutes and inner/outer thighs. The commercial version has some really cool programs that change the stride length based on your effort and also great interval training setting. Give me this machine and the Today Show and I could get very strong! Two thumbs up for getting me out of my usual forward plane of motion.
The CRT Method uses a new fitness device that looks like a cross between a TRX and a resistance band. Founder Christie Thrasher-Rudd developed this method and device. She was kind enough to show me an arm workout and a killer core workout on the floor. This strap looked pretty innocuous, but it was a great workout in a pretty short amount of time. It was also really fun. Thrasher-Rudd teaches at Studio 49 in Indianapolis, but is now licensing her program and the device and offering training classes. I hope some Chicago instructors check it out! It seems like a great all over body workout that does not require a ton of space or time.
You can keep up with the CRT Method on Facebook and Instagram.
They say:
Imagine the best features of a treadmill, elliptical and stepper combined into one machine. The TreadClimber® by Star Trac is just that, with the benefits of a treadmill, the low impact of an elliptical and the knee and hip flexion of a stepper targeting glutes and thighs. The TreadClimber by Star Trac is a new category for your cardio floor.
I say: Yup, Chicago Athletic Clubs should get this, too! Totally low impact and it really gets your heart going. You never go over a brisk walk, but the incline and resistance can change and you get a great workout. I could really feel this in the glutes! This is a perfect exercise for people who need to do low impact and a great cross training activity. I enjoyed using this machine, but I had to pay close attention. You can’t zone out like an ordinary ‘mill! Another winner!
They say:
You want the best for obvious reasons. The Curve is unlike anything else, it is a dynamic training tool for improvoing speed and metabolics. There is no motor, there are no buttons, it is entirely manual, you could say it runs on sweat and determination. You will love the fact that you save 100% on electrical costs and have the ability to take your training to a whole new level. Does your competition have the Curve?
In endurance competition it’s all about results, and the Curve gets results! The Curve’s manual operation has been proven to burn up to 30% more calories than motorized treadmills, engaging more muscles for a superior workout. For serious athletes, nothing else compares. That computes to faster times.
I say: Wow! This is really tough to master. You can’t just jump on and run your miles. This is an awesome tool for intervals and cross fit type workouts. I enjoyed testing it out and I felt a bit like I was flying there for a minute! I watched folks doing a cross fit style workout and using the Curve for the intervals. They were really moving. I love running on the Woodway treadmills (and wish they had them at CACs, too!)
Self Care from Inbody and Hydromassage
The Inbody scales provide comprehensive measurement of weight, muscle and fat. They are “easy, quick and precise” and offer body composition analysis. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will tell you that I did not weigh myself or try any part of these scales. I just thought they were ADORABLE and I wanted to hug them.
The HydroMassage is a comfortable, convenient, and affordable form of heated massage. They say, “In as little as 15 minutes, HydroMassage provides a relaxing, rejuvenating massage.” It is basically a covered jacuzzi style massager that you lay on top of and use the screen to target your massage areas. You can change the resistance and speed of the jets. The demo was 3 minutes but since there was no line, I did 15. Heaven! The gentleman told me that some lower cost gyms in the area use this as an upsell. I would totally pay to use this at my gym or a local spa. It was pretty awesome and felt great after all of my morning exercising!
There were many more cool vendors at the show, but the target audience was gym owners and fitness professionals. I noticed a lot of gear for Crossfitters so that is definitely still a big trend and other great gym equipment.
At the end of the breakfast, I got to make some quick videos about my faves. Then, I was treated to some treats from Finds’ faves Simple Squares (new flavor Chili-Pep – review/giveaway coming soon), Justin’s Nut Butters and Suja. I also tried Protein 2.0 water. Maybe I picked the wrong flavor(Lemon Splash), but – blech.
Have you tried any new fitness trends or gear recently? Please tell me about it in the comments.
PS. Don’t miss my awesome giveaways!
Please note: I was provided complimentary entry into the Club Industry Preview and Breakfast. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.