It’s time to talk about summer bodies. That’s right – summer bodies are made in winter. Caitlin and Danielle encourage guys and Dolls everywhere to make fitness a part of their daily lifestyle. Sweat now, shine later! This comes with hard work, determination and a combination of clean eating, supplements and an effective fitness regime. Oh, and don’t forget fun, you’ve got to let loose in order to stay on track. We sat down with Anne Mahlum Founder, Owner and CEO of [solidcore] to talk about Chicago’s new workout craze.
As yoga instructors and fitness fanatics, we stay in tune with all the new fitness trends. When we learned from Social Media that the new workout craze, [solidcore] was coming to Chicago, we had to try it out! Each [solidCore] class is a 50-minute session, led by high-energy instructors. The class is taken on reformers, much like pilates for low impact on your body and incorporates other fitness style elements in a bootcamp format. The output is high impact, low intensity movement done very slowly. It also burns 700 to 900 calories, and close to a third that many over the next 24 hours.
[solidcore] is not just a workout. We are on a serious mission to help you create the strongest version of yourself inside and out.” – Anne Mahlum Founder, Owner and CEO
One of the goals of [solidcore] is to use a specific series of lunges, planks and squats in a slow and controlled movement pattern to fatigue your muscles. During your rest between workouts is when you see the magic happen, a transformation before your very eyes. [solidcore] fans start to see results after two weeks of attending class two to three times a week. After a month Guys and Dolls noticed a drastic increase in their strength. The classes only have about 14 reformers so you are getting the proper attention from the instructor to create great form and movement.
After trying the [solidcore] system, the Dolls were lucky enough to sit down with Anne Mahlum, Founder and CEO of [solidcore], and this is what they learned about this Goddess.
Dolls: It’s nice to meet you… Welcome to Chicago, have you been here before?
Anne: Oh yes, I started a non- for profit that I ran for 6 years called Back on My Feet, running to help the homeless and I’m from North Dakota so I use to come here a lot as a kid.
Dolls: Awesome! Well, welcome back! Please tell us a little bit about [Solidcore]?
Anne: I worked out all the time running. I did 11 marathons, biking, boot camps- you name it. I felt I was doing so much cardio and I wasn’t seeing results. While I was in LA, I walked by a studio that had these interesting looking machines and I thought, “Oh that looks fun. I’ll go try that.” I’m an athlete and I was so sore the next day. I was shocked, I didn’t even know you can work out like this. I didn’t know you can move so slowly and have such an intense workout. So, I started to learn more and more about the concept. I got a license to a similar workout and soon after I realized I didn’t want to be apart of this. The machine wasn’t really working for us, so we decided to make our own machine. I designed the machine we used in the [Solidcore] class. We are the only one’s who have them. The machines are patent pending and we can grow wherever we want to and we have a very extensive expansion plans for the future.
Dolls: Very, Very Cool! So going back to what you said about wanting to change your body, like getting abs (etc…) , we are doing a whole wedding series on Once Upon a Dollhouse right now.
Anne: YAY!
Dani: Caitlin is getting married in August!
Anne: Congrats!
Dolls: So you know how that process works… What key things are brides looking to tone and develop leading up to the wedding?
Anne: The science behind the workout is all about ripping the slow twitch muscle fibers.
Dolls: Are those the ones that make us shake after the workout? We are actually still shaking 15 minutes later.
Anne: They help you get long, lean and developed muscles. This is what brides are looking for. Using resistance is what creates those toned muscles. Obviously with the [Solidcore] workout you get toned everywhere. Abs, arms and thighs are the first places I saw results. I do our signature [Solidcore] workout three times a week and nothing else and it’s the key thing that works. I’m active, I walk around, I play racket ball and I don’t run at all. Cardio is not where you are going to see the changes you want – you have to do resistance training. If you don’t want to get bulky, slow and controlled will keep you long and lean.
Dolls: What is Self Love to you?
Anne: Self Love is energy, especially for women. There are a lot women out there who don’t want to see other women succeed, and I’ve dealt with that my entire life. People sort of just wait for you to fall on your face because you make them feel insecure when you’re rising in your life and your light is shining. I’m very particular about who I spend time with and I have a great group of girlfriends, and we know that if one of our lights shines brighter they shine brighter for everybody and there is enough light for everybody to go around. I spend a lot of time with the right people and I have no problem creating boundaries for people who don’t contribute to the positive energy in my life.
Dolls: Good for you! OK… It’s cheat day- Pizza or pasta, or both?
Anne: SO funny, I think cheat day is such a horrible thing we have done to ourselves. If I want a piece of pizza, I’ll eat that. I just know if I ate something that would be considered a cheat for breakfast that I need to not have that for lunch or dinner. For someone who has gone through bulimia and not eating, and eating to binging and splurging… I believe in no restrictions, yesterday I had fries, twice. Today I won’t. I don’t believe in cheat days, that puts me in a place where I’m beating myself up for what I enjoy. Too many women stress about food all the time and your body feels that. I was 20 pounds heavier when I was running and restricting my diet all the time, it’s just too much stress. I don’t allow that to be part of my life anymore.
Dolls: That is very inspirational, If there is one more thing you want future clients to know about you and [solidcore], what would that be?
Anne: We are all about helping people become the strongest and the best versions of themselves. I think you feel that in the community when you walk in this room. It’s a certain type of person that responds to this workout, that is not afraid to work for what you want in life and you’re going to put yourself out there. No offense to all the spinning studios out there, but you can’t just come in and think Oh, I’m going to head to the bike in the back… There is no bike in the back. You have to show up, I think people really learn to empower their lives in this studio because if you show up in here in this studio, you sort of view it as a representation of what you do in here, you will do out there in the world. You learn to be the leader in the room, it’s a very empowering community.
Dolls: Lovely, thank you for your time.
The Dolls were sore in all the right places for days after their first [solidcore] experience. While we have regular workout routines at OTG Bootcamp and various yoga studios, Caitlin and Danielle plan to incorporate this challenging workout into our routines in 2018. Stay tuned for feedback on how transformative this workout is.