The Daily Feed: Sites We're Searching 10/16

Credit: Danielle Walquist Lynch at flickr

Maybe it's the weather--it went from sunny to dreary and grey. Maybe it's the marathon I'm recovering from--legs are fine, brain is fried. As a result, I seem to only have the energy to sleep, stare blankly at the TV and click links online. Here's what I've been reading in the last 24 hours:

Who doesn't love a feel-good story? Maybe this one about the Chicago Marathon's final finisher will melt your heart. Thanks ABC Local, you won me over.

No wonder I'm always so tired after the Recruit class's warm-up. It mirrors the moves featured in Health Central's The 7-Minute Workout, which could be comparable to hours of moderate activity.

QuickFit: The Short But Sweet Workout

So many machines tackle in so little time!

Tabata taught me that quality workouts don’t have to mimic the long, enduring suffer fests of Ironman training. The strength training intensity at Hard Pressed (and its predecessor) showed me how to exhaust my muscles with weight—and a lot of it. But still, my Ironman-affected brain couldn't completely grasp the idea of a workout that was as long as a short pool swim but maybe as intense as the feeling that flows through my body on grueling bike days. That is, until I met QuickFit.

Thanks to a promotion between Lateral Fitness and lululemon, I tried QuickFit last week. It was a break away from my desk, it was the featured class of the week, it was free with a lululemon code and it was taught by Lateral’s co-owner Erik Marthaler. Erik had already kicked my butt once—the first 15 minutes of his Recruit class are no joke—so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with another one of his workouts. And if I didn’t like it (Me not like a workout? Not in Chicago.), it was only 30 minutes wasted.

The Lateral-Lululemon Connection

A look inside Lateral Fitness

I've walked past lululemon athletica locations enough times to note that each shop chooses a local yoga instructor to teach their weekly community classes. I've taken enough group fitness classes--and maybe even cyber-stalked the local lululemon page--to find some of their workout favorites (they'd flock to ambassador Gideon Akande's Breakfast of Champions and Shockwave classes when he was still a trainer at Equinox). Not that I wouldn't expect the lululemon employees to find the latest and greatest workouts, instructors and trainers in the city, but their studio selection for the month of May has me dancing at my desk.

Lululemon chose Lateral Fitness, the posh River North boutique gym that opened in February and would easily land on my Top Gyms list if I were to create one. Lululemon not only named them the 'studio of the month' but the 'studio of the quarter' meaning Lateral will be highlighted from now until July and their yoga instructors will be leading the free Sunday yoga class at lulu's 900 N. Michigan location.

Love Is In the Air, Love Is In the Workout

Credit: moonlightbulb

Going out on Valentine's Day is overrated, I'd rather work out. Or ski. I know it's a pretty bold statement, but you're dealing with special menus that usually come at a higher cost...and the crowds...and the difficulty with finding a reservation in the first place. I don't need the champagne, chocolate, roses and fine dining. Just give me a good workout with my lover and I'm happy.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who shares that sentiment, at least in the Windy City. Whether it's to make some sparks fly for singles or give couples alternatives to dining out, some Chicago spots are giving the sweat sessions the royal treatment this Valentine's Day.

Time to Get Lateral

Lateral Fitness's main floor 

The last time I went to a bootcamp-like workout, I hated it. The minute hand on the clock wouldn't budge, the recruits kept to themselves for the most part (or whomever they already knew in class, which spelled disaster for this newbie), the fearless leader was more into shouting commands than motivating or correcting our poor form (you know that bootcamp persona that you either love or hate), and the moves, while challenging, often seemed to lack a sensible purpose (probably because of my poor form).

My first visit to the Recruit high intensity interval class at the newly opened Lateral Fitness was the exact opposite. The class flew by, the recruits were properly introduced to one another and class size was limited to eight, the leader--Lateral's co-owner Erik Marthaler--was engaging and motivating, and the moves--if you did them correctly--got you to notice your weaknesses (hello tight hip flexors, nice to see you again) and reach a point of full-on exhaustion.

Considering I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I accepted the invitation less than two hours before class (thank you cancellation), I was pleasantly surprised. And I got a killer workout. I had already broken a sweat before we finished our first 10 minutes where the burpees, jumps, push-ups and sit-ups hardly felt like a warm up. My quads screamed for relief during the lunge and squat set. I didn't know medicine ball throwdowns could crunch your obliques, while standing up, or that the minute rotations through cardio and strength on the gym floor could be so exhausting (I'm blaming the treadmill hills climbs). And my abs literally gave out on me halfway through the core section, protesting the crunches. Where one intense workout failed, Recruit soared with flying colors--and reassured me that I can fall in love with intervals outside my comfort zone.