Fit Lincoln Park Blog -

Exercising with wrist pain

Having wrist pain? You may or may not be able to exercise, depending on the degree of your injury. In most cases, wrist pain is simply due to using the joint in a new way, but we always recommend calling your doctor first to make sure there’s nothing seriously wrong.

Once you have that clearance, there are a few things you can do to make your workout more comfortable while you’re recovering.
1. First and most important, pain is a sign to stop. Ask your trainer to adjust you or find a different exercise.
2. If you’re practicing yoga poses, ask your trainer to give you options in which you can balance grasping a weight instead of placing your hands flat down. A straight versus a bent wrist can sometimes make a difference.
3. Last work on strengthening your wrists. Do hand circles 10 times in both directions twice a day. Place your forearm on a table or the arm of a chair and bend your wrist to lift your hand up and down 10 times twice per day. Stay in that same position and “wave” your hand from side to side.
4. It can also help to apply warmth or massage you’re the part of your forearm closest to your wrist.

We hope this helps! Please remember to always make your trainer aware of this or any other regular joint pain that you have. It helps us do our jobs better and gives you better results.

Quick advice for quick, healthy breakfasts

Short on time? Don’t skip breakfast. We have all kinds of ideas for you to get a quick meal in without rushing to a fast food place or ignoring the most important meal of the day.

Here’s why: When you don’t eat breakfast, your metabolism doesn’t get going. This both wreaks havoc on your ability to process calories for the day and slows your metabolism over time. In short, skipping breakfast is a great big diet “don’t.”

That’s why we’re giving you the following list of easy, healthy options to keep in your kitchen and grab when on the run.

1. Bananas. They are high in potassium and travel easily.
2. Individually-sized yogurt. Another grab-and-go item.
3. Hard boiled eggs. These are our go-to perfect protein.
4. Cuties. They’re in season and easy to grab.
5. Granola bars. Even better, package up some Cheerios into plastic baggies. You’ll get less sugar for your carbs.
6. Animal crackers. They’re not our first choice, but they are relatively low in sugar and better than a donut. Pair them with a glass of milk for better nutrition.

We hope this helps! If you have health or diet questions, please post a comment. We’d love to answer!

Have you seen our schedule lately?

If you haven’t, you should! We have a new one up, and some great classes being offered. Whether you’re a morning workout junkie or like your evening routine, we have something that will work for you and complement your training package. And if you’re working out weekly with a trainer, classes are FREE! Just call us for details. Here is what you can expect in our classes.

In the morning, we start at 6:30 on Wednesdays with Fit Bootcamp. Too early for you? We also offer 9:15 Dream Yoga on Tuesday and Friday mornings and 10:30 Core in Motion on Thursdays. Both of these classes are amazing for your muscle tone as well as your overall flexibility. On Fridays, we have a noon ballet fusion class, and Monday through Thursday, we offer solid toning classes between 6 and 7:30—a perfect time for you to hit the gym on your way home from work.

Are you a weekend warrior? We can help you there as well. On Saturdays, we have 9 a.m. Detox (a great cardio-toning-yoga combo workout), 9:30 Ripped (hard core toning) and 10:30 Core Impact (more of a Pilates-centered toning class). And on Sundays we have the ever-popular and friendly 10:30 Yoga Flow.

Come check a class out! Make us a part of your week. And remember to call us to learn about free classes to complement a standing weekly training session.

Fight the Winter Blahs with Movement

Is the Chicago winter starting to get to you? You’re not alone. In fact, most Chicagoans get some sort of the “winter blahs” around this time of year, ranging from cabin fever to legitimate depression.

While we know it’s easiest to hole up and reappear around St. Patrick’s Day, fight the urge! Get out of the house. Visit lots of friends. Most importantly, stay active! Exercise will both help your mood now and make you feel better about yourself when you can finally shed your bulky sweater and winter coat.

One way that we love to give ourselves some incentive during the winter is by choosing a race or vacation destination that we can train for. Planning for an upcoming trip to somewhere warm can do the trick, but so can signing up for a local race, whether its’ a 5K, Warrior Dash or Marathon. Just find something to get your mind thinking forward.

Last, try to make the most of the winter. Go ice skating, or find a sledding hill near you. Bundling up and getting moving can bring out the kid—and the optimist—in all of us.

Make over your fridge

January tends to mark the beginning of makeover season. Before the month is over, we suggest that instead of tackling your hairstyle or wardrobe, you go after your fridge. Here are some great ways to give your fridge a makeover in 2012.

We said this last week, but we mean it: Start regularly hard boiling eggs and refrigerating them. You can easily add them to a salad or eat them alone for a protein boost.

Toss out any sweets that you haven’t eaten in the last two weeks. If you really liked them, you’d have already eaten them. Don’t waste calories on something that you only “sort of” like. The same goes for the ice cream in your freezer.

Check the expiration dates on your dressings and condiments and throw those out, too. Once you can better see your shelves, wash them!

Go to the grocery store and buy skim milk and low fat yogurt. Now throw out your sour cream and heavy creams. You can substitute yogurt or milk in virtually any winter recipe.

Get rid of your white bread and replace it with whole wheat. Fiber is good for all of us.

Fill up your fruit and veggie drawers! Go seasonal, and buy lots. Then be sure to add veggies to every recipe and have at least two pieces of fruit per day.

Happy refrig-imaking!

Rachel’s SMART way to make your NY Resolution stick

Wishing that you hadn’t missed our nutrition seminar on Saturday—or that you’d taken notes? Not to worry. Here are some great pieces of advice from Rachel Webb, our licensed nutritionist at Fit Lincoln Park. The fabulous Ms. Webb recommends the following to get your resolutions going.
1. Make your goal SPECIFIC. Don’t say, “I’ll get healthy.” Say “I’ll lose weight.”
2. Even better, make it MEASURABLE. Say, “I’ll lose those last five pounds.”
3. Make it ACHIEVABLE and stay REALISTIC. Planning to drop from a size 12 to a size 2 may not be doable, and you don’t want to get discouraged and stop. If you need some help figuring out what is realistic, stop by and talk to your trainer, Rachel or your doctor. (We’d love you to talk to all three!)
4. Give yourself a TIME that you set to reach the goal. For example, plan to do it by April, or by the beginning of swim suit season.
Once you’ve made it SMART, get some support. Ask a friend to cheer you on, do a session with a trainer to get you started, and make an appointment with Rachel! We love to have her here, and you’ll love working with her.
Happy New Year!

Don’t Forget! Saturday’s the Day!

We have so much going on this week at Fit Lincoln Park that we need to post a reminder for everyone!

Our special pricing for training packages is over on Saturday. Call us NOW to reserve you next training sessions at the 20% discount. And if you’re a new client, you can get one session for $50 or 3 for $100 during this same sale. Remember, you only have two days left!

Saturday is also the day of our free nutrition seminar. At 2 p.m., we’ll host two discussions with our licensed nutritionist: “Eating for Weight Loss” and “How to Make the Most of your Resolution.” Stop by for both!

Last, remember that this is our week of free group fitness classes. You can take care of two resolutions at once: Keep an eye on your budget and get healthy!

See you this week!

Work Off Those Christmas Calories

Feeling a little full after all of those holiday cookies? Let us help you. Starting Sunday and running through January 7, we’ll be offering free group fitness classes!

On January 7 at 2 p.m., our nutrition partner Step Up Fitness will offer a free seminar on how to eat to lose weight.

And we’ll be offering our special discount on services through January 7! That includes $50 first session for new clients or $100 for 3 sessions (also for new clients) and 20% off all packages for current clients!

Stop by or call us to learn more!

FREE Stuff: Our Holiday Gift to You!

Happy holidays to all of our clients and friends in the community from Fit Lincoln Park! We’re excited to announce that we’ve got a great holiday gift for you: FREE STUFF! To help you get your new year’s resolution started right, we have three presents for you:

1. We’re opening up our group fitness classes to be free for everyone from January 1 to 7. Stop by to check one out, or mark your calendar to attend one a day! Just call us to let us know you’re coming.

2. For all clients who train with us at least once a week, we’ll be offering free group fitness classes starting January 1. Ask your trainer for details and advice on what classes would best compliment your training plan.

3. On January 7 at 2 p.m., our nutritionist will offer a free seminar on how to eat to lose weight.

Have a fabulous holiday week!

Take your vitamins!

We know that the holiday season is now in full swing—and that most of you are trying to balance gift shopping with house decorating and about a million Christmas-related events, but we want you to take a step back and think about doing one thing every day that will both cut your risk of lung cancer in half and keep you feeling better 24 hours a day. Oh, and it’ll keep your chances of getting a cold down, too.

Take your daily multivitamin. You can do it in under 30 seconds, and according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, regular Vitamin B intake—and not smoking—can lead to a 56 percent less likelihood of developing lung cancer.

Here are some easy ways to remember to take your vitamin every day.
- Do it at the same time.
- Do it along with something else that you automatically do, like pouring your first cup of coffee, brushing your teeth or getting in the shower.
- Do it with a partner. Then there will be two minds to remember instead of one.
- Keep vitamins both at work and another at home.
- Use your Google Calendar! Set yourself a reminder for every morning.