Hey ya’ll! Betty here, checking in one last time. I am writing to you from the finish line of a very tough race, and you know what’s here at the finish line? Pumpkin spice lattes! Pumpkin spice lattes and what turns out to be another leg of the race. Re-introduction of the forbidden foods is the home stretch! In recap: for the past 21 days I...
Wowza! What a week. Turns out this challenge is indeed challenging! A few hurdles snuck up on me this week and I may have metaphorically tripped on those hurdles and face-planted smack into the ground. Hurdle 1: I may have underestimated how difficult it can be to say no to the bakery and the brewery, especially when your friends are asking you to be there. I...
Congratulations to our October Athletes of the Month, Elizabeth Wrigley-Field and Jane Sumner! Elizabeth Wrigley-Field joined us back in April. She was looking for a new gym and had done some powerlifting training, but had taken a break for a while and was looking to get stronger. She is now a staple of the Solcana powerlifting team and she also hits up mobility classes with astounding consistency. In addition...
The tent of women next to me had been talking all night. Somehow, I fell asleep for about an hour, only to wake up to one of them saying, Shut up. But she wasn’t saying it to make her friend be quiet. No, she was just saying it as a statement of disbelief. To which her friend responded, No, you shut up! I checked my phone....
Hello everyone and welcome to my first ever blog post! I’m Erin, loud and proud member of Solcana for six wonderful months and loving every moment of it, even on heavy wall ball days. My most recent endeavor at the gym is the Essential You 101 class and the built-in 21 day nutrition challenge. For the past couple of years I’ve been battling some pretty severe and inconsistent pain in...
So much has changed for me since starting at Solcana in September 2015. I joined out of a weird competitive streak I have and then slowly remembered how much I disliked working out. Like, would do anything to get out of running--for example I switched to the keeper position on my soccer team to avoid running (but keepers can also legally slide-tackle in the keeper...
It's that time of year, Fall Challenge time! The Fall Challenge is an opportunity to establish accountability, work towards a specific goal, and be part of something the whole community is doing. This year the Fall Challenge is: 1 RM Front Squat 1 RM Push Press 1 RM Power Clean The Hendrickson Beep Test That's right, this challenge is a FOUR-PART extravaganza of strength and endurance. Next week, sep 18th - 25th,...
Hello! I hope you have been having a great summer! We are looking forward to bringing you another year of great programming and fun for kids ages 3-12 on Saturday mornings. This year we are offering a new format. We will have three 6-week sessions throughout the school year for your family to choose from. Sign up for one, two, or all three of them. Fall: Oct 14th...
Congratulations to our two September Athletes of the Month, Kelly Kohlbacher and Nicole Conti! Nicole Conti was probably the toughest sell I have encountered so far, and to my great joy she joined us and has turned out to be one of the most engaged, curious, and dedicated members of the Solcana family! She has a hip condition that led to surgery. After physical therapy, she wanted to lift...
What first drew you to adding mobility into your routine? I’ve always enjoyed yoga, so I was excited to try out Solcana’s version. What was your first mobility experience like? It was nice. More relaxed with longer poses than other classes I’d been to. I definitely felt the focus was on rejuvenating my muscles rather than working them. What are the benefits you've noticed from incorporating mobility? Increased flexibility, which...
What would consider your biggest achievement since starting at Solcana? Becoming competent at squatting. I stopped focusing on how much I was squatting and focused on how I was squatting. This was a direct result of an awesome group of people at the gym who were doing the powerlifting thing at the time. The first powerlifting meet I ever did I was dq'ed on every squat attempt...
Our most recent #comeasyouare project was a huge success, and we ended up with over 100 photos of you awesome people looking powerful at the gym. My favorite part of this project was seeing so many of you reflect on the struggles of showing up in your own body, as well as the triumphs of owning who you are. To follow up on this project,...
Amalia Nicholson (she/her) @amalianicholson What type(s) of community work do you engage in? I work in the advertising + film community, primarily. When I'm not working, I'm still working... But on launching a super cool podcast called Borrowed Interest with a couple other rad ladies of color in advertising! We're going to take a critical and fun look at what it's like to be a person of...
A promo picture of my co-star and me, for our current Fringe show. * I was sitting at cafe by myself last week, when Lauren published her latest blog (which you should totally read, if you haven't already). And, per usual, it was amazing and I envied everything about her: the writing style, the confidence, but most obvious, her general Lauren Anderson-ness. What I wasn’t expecting, though,...
Kory LaQuess Pullam. He, Him, His What type(s) of community work do you engage in? I do a fair amount engagement with the community through the arts. Also, workshops and Improv clinics with youth are things that I have found myself giving my time to.. Why Solcana? Why now? It's a perfect time for me to join Solcana because I want to take better care of myself. I like...
Congratulations to our August Athletes of the Month, Kristina Meanley and Kristin Nierengarten! Kristina joined us in May of this year ahead of preparing for a physical law enforcement exam. Here is what we love about her: Gubby: I worked with Kristina Meanly before her big erg test and she blew it out of the water -- very committed -- and she has been working out since then...
Kira has been a steady, consistent and fun presence in the mobility classes! Thank you, Kira, for always showing up and taking the time to balance your efforts in the gym with gentle, restorative movements. Read on for what Kira shared about her mobility experience... What first drew you to adding mobility into your routine? Growth. Physically, my body was getting tired and stiff from CrossFit and Beginner...
Hector Chavarria (He/Him) @biggaymexican What type(s) of community work do you engage in? I am a performance artist known as The Big Gay Mexican, tell your friends. My work has been seen in various cabarets and social events throughout the Twin Cities. There is so much fat-shaming, homophobia, and racism flooding the Internet, primarily in social media. The reason I began Big Gay Mexican was because I...
This week we are finding our 1 rep max for back squat, bench, deadlift and snatch. Such an exciting time! Remember to make sure you get those numbers tracked into WODify and keep them in your memory bank for the future. If this is your first (or hundredth) time maxing out, here are my suggestions going into this week. Don't repeat an old number. Warm up...
I am so excited to announce that we picked our scholarship winner(s)! We raised $1980 to sponsor an athlete for a full year. We had over 20 applicants, and in the end we just fell totally in love with two people, so they are both coming on board! Eli and Karina are two folks that I am thrilled to welcome to the Solcana family. I hope...
Last night, I went to Red Cow in North Loop by myself. My plan was to sit down at the bar and write this blog, but the happy hour fates had other plans. I opened the menu to the back page, and in an almost aggressive manner, the word poutine threw itself towards my mouth-hole. For everyone reading at home that have never been touched by...
Patrick Stephenson (@patiomensch on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) | He, him & his What type(s) of community work do you engage in? Well, I’m all about bikes AND bike community! FOR STARTERS: I’m the co-founder of 30 Days of Biking, a pledge to ride your bike every day in April and share your adventures online with the hashtag #30daysofbiking. There’s no required distance for this pledge (around the block counts just...
I make a lot of mistakes. Most of the time, I’ve misplaced something: my wallet at an airport, my phone in my refrigerator, my master’s thesis on the day of my defense. Some of these mistakes are trivial, like I can just borrow a pencil that day. Some are funny, like getting briefly stuck in a bathtub, and some are a little more dangerous,...
The Biggest Loser was my second favorite show growing up (the first being Wheel of Fortune, but that’s because I’m a widowed grandmother trapped in a gay man’s body). Every week, my mother and I would sit and watch while we ate dinner, and then dessert, and then fistfuls of buttered popcorn. We would ogle at the spectacle, maybe in part wishing that one day,...
I was an athlete growing up - team sports mostly and I liked playing basketball and rugby. I was kinda good. It was kinda fun. But there was always crap that I didn't care for. Drama with parents and coaches (like jfc), travel with rugby, competitions for positions -- it's like I wanted to get better for me but it always turned into a competition...
Introducing July's Mobili-Buddy: Hope Hansmeyer! Thank you for sharing your insights regarding the many benefits of mobility both in and out of the gym, Hope. We are so grateful to have the time with you that we have! What first drew you to adding mobility into your routine? Initially, it was because it was incorporated as part of the Body Adapt program. I was establishing new routines in...
This month we have two magical unicorns as our Athletes Of the Month: Drew Stever and Alicia Tatley. Both of these two super humans started with us at the same time and came in excited to get to work. Since then they have become an integral part of our community, both jumping head-first into the gym challenges and events, as well as using their extra...
Hello Solcana Fam! I am really excited to let you know we're adding some more options to our mobility schedule for you. In addition to our current schedule, we will be adding 5:00pm Mini-Mobility classes on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday starting next week! Wednesday will also have a Mini-Mobility class at 11am for the day-time folks. We will look into adding more day time classes if there...
To donate: http://squ.re/2tc82g4 To apply: http://bit.ly/2sIKcHo Right now at Solcana we are raising money to fund a scholarship membership.This scholarship opportunity has been afforded to us by our generous members and friends, who have donated their money and time to make this scholarship possible. We have raised $830 of the $1980 needed to cover a whole year of membership for someone. If you would like to donate, the donation page...
I am a tall person. I have long limbs, and I am almost always taller than everyone around me. This has been my reality from a very young age. It’s not like I had a sudden growth spurt in middle school. I was the kid that couldn’t fit in the tiny chairs in kindergarten because of my long legs. My whole life I have had...
