running, baking, + life adventures: Self Work Out in the Park

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Self Work Out in the Park

Yesterday I went to the Self Magazine Workout in the Park event in Chicago.

It was really really awesome.

I picked up the tickets for my roommate and I on gilt city last weekend on a whim, and boy am I glad that I did! Very much worth it. We got there around 10:30 to register and then got in line. They didnt open up the park area until 11AM, but after that point it was jam-packed with things to do.

There were two smaller fitness areas apart from the main stage where there were smaller more individualized workouts. We did a pilates one that killed my ab's, but it was quite short - maybe 10 minutes or so. But hey it worked!

The main stage was the best part - plenty of cardio and strength training based workout's with the chicago skyline in the background.

I did a few of the group fitness classes. One was a kickboxing type cardio class, which was fun. We caught the end of a bollywood style class called masala bangrha by Sarina Jain who was literally awesome. I'm almost tempted to go out and buy some of her workout videos. It reminded me of zumba, and was super fun. We then did a Jillian Michaels style circuit which I'm pretty sure really contributed to my soreness today, which is typical for Jillian workouts.

There also was a Rebook cross-fit area that was awesome as well. A bunch of squats, burpees, and lunges that all killed my butt and hamstrings. All in all a great success.

The event was huge, but didn't feel crowded, most of the vendors were great about supplying their tents with enough free swag that even at the end of the day we could get a few more things to go.

And boy did we collect some swag. By the end of it, a lot of the vendors were just trying to get rid of things, so we took advantage.