Retro Fitness

So, not that long ago someone asked if I would be interested in trying out a gym and blogging about it! Of course I said yes, yes I am!! (note: yes, this is a sponsored post, but as always all opinions are my own!).

So, the last week of January, I headed over to the new Retro Fitness in Carol Stream to check-out their open house.

Treadmills!

Immediately I was struck by how bright and fun it looked. Red and yellow everywhere. Beyond looks though, my second thought was how friendly everyone was. The staff was great. And oh, did I mention we got to try some of the smoothies? Because, yum!

Rocking the compression sleeve!

I met one of the personal trainers and was instantly put at ease by him. I've talked before about my lymphedema, and it's something I worry about. Certain exercises I just can't do or I will make it worse {but in general, exercising is good for it}. T, the trainer I spoke too, impressed me first by knowing what lymphedema was. As we spoke further, he told me he was trained to work with people who had issues and felt confident he could help me.

I left so excited about being able to come back for a month and use the gym! Which is a great thing, because a) I am not athletic and b) these days exercising scares me because of my arm and the anemia that is still a problem and c) I'm not exactly a gym rat by any stretch of the imagination!

working out is so much more fun with tv lol!

So, the open house was all well and good. I left excited, but let's be honest. I wanted to really try the gym, to go work-out and experience it!

So last week, 3 times I went over and worked out! The first two days I stuck with the cardio machines - treadmill, elliptical, bicycle, and stair climber. {side note: the stair climber is by far the hardest thing for me. I thought I would die lol!} Friday I met with the personal trainer and had a training session. It. Was. Awesome.

I loved the machines. I love that I could plug my phone into them to stream music or netflix. I love that I got to watch tv on the machine - not just a few tvs spread out around the gym.  And the trainer? He delivered! He didn't just talk the talk, but he walked the walk. He worked me out perfectly - in a way that I felt pushed, but not too pushed. He didn't do anything to my arm that made me wonder should I be doing this? Everything was perfect. I even did more sit-ups than I ever thought possible with him. Of course, when he told me to do sit-ups I mentioned that I couldn't even do 1. Turns out I can! ;-)

Smoothie bar

After two of the work-outs, I decided to get a smoothie. Mostly because they are delicious, but also because I felt like I needed to reward myself for going and the smoothies aren't only just a nice way to do that, but they are healthy. Traditionally I might have rewarded myself with some extra chocolate, so, smoothies are definitely a great option!

My son in the child care room

The staff continues to be wonderful and amazing! A few times I've had to ask "hey, how do you use this?" and they answer without making me feel like a complete idiot for not knowing! I love it!

I haven't been back this week because a) we were out of town and b) my car broke down. But I will definitely be going back and using the gym for the rest of this month.

There are some cool areas I still haven't used (like the theater room) that I want to try out and definitely come back and share with all of you!

That said, if you are local, you should absolutely stop by and check Retro Fitness out and give them a try. I don't think you will regret it!