Author: Andy

The following is a guest blog post by Erin Rohan. We’re convinced shes mostly muscle, part robot, a little bit Irish Dancer, and all parts awesome. You were down, but never out, and now you’re back stonger than ever. Fuck Yeah

“Six months ago today (October 15, 2014), I finished an awesome NP workout and five minutes later, was hit by an SUV while crossing the street to go back home.  The last six months have sucked… to put it nicely. My physical therapist finally gave me the go-ahead to try out November Project again this morning.  I felt like a little kid on her first day back at school.  I was super nervous and didn’t know if I could do the workout. I immediately saw some familiar faces and received much needed hugs. The theme of today’s workout was ‘watch out for traffic’.  Get it? Ba-dum-ching. Very clever theme by Brent, as he knew today was the six month mark of the accident. read more

Our weather was more akin to a Friday the 13th movie with fog, mist, clamy humidity that clings to the bone and eerie lighting.

Thank goodness the workout, shiny beaming faces, NEW faces and some great Chicago “I don’t give a fuck” attitudes about our schizophrenic weather.

Tough circuit today out in the parking lot (thanks OG NP Boston for the inspiration!) Planks, then burpees followed by sprints. The trifecta relay of sweat. Everyone, and I mean everyone, had filthy hands after digging out the ground work and it was great. read more

The #NP_Chi tribe welcomed faces both new and familiar in a group whose numbers rivaled its largest turnout yet- certainly among Friday dates. The #3014Takeover is real. Notable among attendees were some of friends from the tribe up north (Milwaukee) and the lumbering brothers Graham.

The tribe is strong, and it is only getting stronger with each advancing workout and each warmer day. One of the best things about our Chicago tribe, highlighting the November Project movement at large, is its inclusiveness. This spirit was resonant all morning long. It is the community that drives the movement, and our Chicago tribe is top-notch. We seek out and welcome participants of all ages and abilities, backgrounds, and future goals. We wake up to support each other in all weather, working to improve and empower both each other and ourselves. We’re a five star tribe in a city of four. It is this shared community, of like-minded, positive, and adventurous individuals, that drive each workout. While some choose to rise when the sun is up, we choose to rise the sun. We chant, we cheer, we sweat, we hug, we smile, we have fun, we get in shape, and we #raceeverything. We’re a community of good eggs, even if we are all just a little cracked. read more

The following is a product of Kevin Waz… writer, dancer, mean mug guru

“Our fair city has welcomed us into the dead of winter in the only way it knows how: blizzard-like conditions among two back-to-back snowfalls, gifting some locals with nearly 21 inches of the fluffy white stuff. But, it is well-known that the tried-and-true training tribe of Chicago is #weatherproof … and it’s going to take a lot more weather to prevent us from inching towards our 2015 fitness goals. So, with new faces and warm embraces we promptly gathered once more at Chitown’s newest fitness hotspot: Club Igloo, 6:28a.m. read more

Yes, those ARE crabs. At least, those are what humans look like, while sideways crab running (pincers out). Today, in what can be described as gym class for kids in adult bodies, we discovered a new level of lateral movement. 30 minutes of side-step sprints, with stations of burpees and dips, tested every members early-morning resolve. No surprise, they passed with flying fucking colors. read more

The weatherproofers in #NP_Chi who show up every week, despite enduring generally shitty conditions, deserve to be applauded. Ya’ll are some tough badasses… and we love every single one of your beautiful mugs.

Today was definitely challenging on a few fronts. Damn cold out, hard workout and reliving childhood memories. We took over our local playground today and channeled our inner-gradeschooler. The result was an amazing circuit of .15 mile loops (thanks for the measurement Emily R!). Stations of push-ups and step ups were followed by a chain climb, then down one of the most “corkscrewiest” slides we’ve ever encountered. (Dubbed, the slide of death). After about 15 min into the workout skeptic smiles smiles turned into huffing and puffing but at least we were still sliding our happy asses down a freezing cold slide, all in the name of fitness! We should note that no humans were harmed in the making of this workout… And Daniel Meer isnt actually a human at all, completing 26 full-on laps. Congrats dude, the Posivity Award is a special lady, treat her right! read more

Nothing says “Good Morning!” like a sweet ass deck workout. Which is exactly what we did this morning! But not before our customary run around the baseball field.

Due to the precipitous nature of Tuesday night’s weather, we re-located our deck from the center of the baseball field to the middle of the parking lot by the Waveland tennis courts. Luckily for us, there weren’t any cars swinging through to get an early tennis game in because we took the whole lot over! When you pulled a red number card, you were baning out 10 push ups. A black number card resulted in the BEST EXERCISE EVER: Burpees. Jacks, Queens and Kings? You are now obligated to run a full sprint around the court. This is a non-binding obligation, but it is what you signed up for. Last but not least, the beloved Ace required you to apprehend a fellow tribes-mate and get your hoistie on. read more

Hopefully everyone’s gotten over their tryptophan induced food coma from last week because today we took to the Waveland tennis courts for our inaugural phone workout! First there was number swapage of epic proportions as everyone jotted down their digits and put them into a hat. Everyone then picked a phone number, and that was the blueprint for their workout. read more