Try it out Tuesday – DHF Lakeview

I love trying out new gyms/fitness trends as much as the next person, but as I mentioned last week it is really important for me to be consistent in my fitness routine in order to see results.  Since signing up for the Spartan Race, which is on November 1st, I’ve been looking to find a gym that would really help me develop skills I’ll need for the race.  For a long time I considered joining a local CrossFit box, but wasn’t sure which box to choose and I couldn’t get into the beginners course.

Last week, I attended a new-to-me gym called DHF Lakeview through my ClassPass subscription.  The owner, Dan Hicks, believes in a training philosophy that incorporates 5 building blocks of success in each workout:

1. Functional Movement
2. Strength
3. High Intensity
4. Total Body
5. Always Changing

All of those sounded good to me, so I decided to check it out.

DHF Lakeview is in East Lakeview which is super convenient for me to get to and from (a must for me to continuously go to any gym).  It’s a small studio, I’m talking 900 square feet, but Dan really incorporates every area of the gym into each circuit he creates.

I signed up for a ‘Group Session’ which usually contains about 6 people, but that day we only had 3 – which was awesome – more individual attention.  Dan quickly introduced himself and so did the other two men in my group before we got started.  Our workout started with warming up on the TRX bands – fitness tools I rarely use but truly love.  Most of his warm-up just involved body weight, but when we got into the high intensity circuit, he started to incorporate a lot more weights, kettlebells and a weird looking machine in the corner.

So what was is this machine I’m talking about?

from Ironcompany.com

It’s called Surge Performance Training.  There are so many different exercises you can do with this thing, that I really can’t even explain it in words.  Visit their website to see what I’m talking about – the machine is intense and you literally use your entire body in the different movements.  Loved it.

The circuit moved quickly and we performed all different kinds of movements from rowing, box jumps, squats, lunges, push-ups, the ab workout where your feet are on those moving discs… lots of fun stuff.

Overall, I loved it.  I left a complete sweaty mess, but felt great.  I plan on going to DHF at least 2-3x per week alternating between my running workouts and a yoga class here and there.  Hopefully all of these movements help increase my mobility (my squats suck) and prepare me for the big Spartan Race in November!

What studios or gyms do you incorporate into your fitness routine?

Oh, and p.s. – GO BEARS!