Not a Blogger: A Corporate Fashun Blog

We wanted to take today to discuss the benefits of one of the most useful (and hated) of all exercises: the push-up.  First off, why should you even care? It's a great exercise to do any time, any where. No equipment needed. It targets multiple muscle groups. Get a lot of bang for your workout buck. This is really 2b: It's good for your core. A strong core improves your posture and can help prevent lower back pain (something you will struggle with if you sit a lot during the day and as you're getting older).  Calorie-torching! (Let's call this one "2c".) Because you're using so many muscle groups, you burn more calories with a push-up than you will for other strength exercises that involve only one muscle. (Want to burn even more calories? Do a burpee- a push-up and a squat jump. They're awful. Katie 1 says that Katie 2, the primary author of this post, is evil for even mentioning burpees.) They can be done no matter your fitness level. Yo...

Orangetheory Fitness is all the rage. When high intensity internal training (HIIT) came onto the scene with a vengeance, OTF was one of the first studios to really gain traction. Around our office, several women rave about it. As does Heather Dubrow. So we decided to try it for ourselves, since Orange Theory locations are everywhere. We each went separately, so as to not impact the other's opinion with our own. Our experiences were fairly similar, and surprisingly we all ended up with very similar opinions. A quick note to start: Orangetheory offers a free class your first time, but this offer is only available at your local studio. For most people that isn't an issue, but it was a little annoying for Katie 2 when she wanted to try the class when she went to Michigan to visit family for the weekend.  You can go online to get information or you can just show up at the studio and tell them you want to try a class. They will let you know what class is available. Once you...

This was a topic that we have wanted to write about for some time. For one, we know quite a few people that work out during their lunch hour (and not just men) and we've always been impressed by their ability to do so. We also know that working out in the morning  either is your thing or it isn't (for us it really isn't, as much as we try). And getting your sweat on after work can be difficult either because you end up working late, or you have to get dinner on the table (or, let's be honest, you just want to have a cocktail instead). We starting asking ourselves if we could possibly get in a workout on our lunch break, so *we decided to try it. (*The Katies. Elizabeth chose not to participate. We will explain below.) Why are we trying it? Because we like The Try Guys. Oh, and because we are #dedicated to answering all your questions that we make up ourselves because you don't really ask us any. (We know you're out there! We see the page views!!) We've ...

We had several great ideas for our first Workout Wednesday of the new year, including trying a new workout and sharing our thoughts. We were going to try out SWEAT, but realized that they are only offered here in Chicago, which isn't much help to those of you not here. But while perusing their website, we came across a section called "On-the-Go Workouts" . The page lets you pick from nine different categories, based on your location and what equipment is available to you.  Each category offers six different workouts. That's 54 new workout series you can try for free! So if you're on the go, or looking to jump start your fitness, or just looking to mix it up, try it out and let us know what you think! We may still end up trying SWEAT, and we will let you know what we think if we do. But in the meantime, this may be a good way to cross train.

It’s the end of the year, folks- just a few days left in 2017. Now is the time to sit and reflect on your year. Or if you’re like us, it’s the time to just sit in your pajamas and slippers on the couch, using up the last of your vacation days. It’s also the time to think about the new year, and with that comes the obligatory New Years Resolutions. [Note: Katie 2 does not make New Years Resolutions. Instead, she makes birthday resolutions, because she feels as though birthdays are a much better way to track progress or lack thereof in her life. Elizabeth’s New Year’s Resolution always is to write the correct year on her checks. Small victories, people.] We wanted to talk to you about how to make better resolutions and increase your chances for success in 2018. Before we get into our own advice, we want to make sure that whatever you decide to work on in the new year (or any other time you make a goal), make sure it is SMART (Specific; Measurable; Attainable; Relevant; Time-boun...