Another incredible weekend is in the books for Girls Gone Strong! Molly, Nia, Julia, Marianne and myself flew out on Thursday to meet Neghar and Alli on their turf in Baltimore.
We all went to dinner on Thursday night where we met up with Jen Sinkler, Senior Fitness Editor for Experience Life magazine. After nearly a 24 hour fast, we all chowed down on steaks and huge piles of veggies while we chatted excitedly about what has been going on and our future plans.
Friday morning we were up early and raring to go. We went to this incredible restaurant called Eggspectations where we were joined by another incredible woman Karen, who is an RKC Team Leader and two genius marketing guys Adam and Brian. Over an egg white & veggie omelette, we pow-wowed over how to best market this amazing revolution that we have created. We are so grateful to Adam and Brian for their time and help throughout the weekend. They are currently helping us form our first product and we are all so excited!
After breakfast, we headed over to Optimum Performance Training Institute to train. Deadlifts, pull-ups, sled pushes, olympic lifting, weighted push-ups, waiter carries, sprints… you name it, it was done that day!
(There is an incredible video that was created that day and I can’t wait to share it with you. Hopefully we will have it by the end of the week and I’ll be sure to post it.)
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| Julia warming up |
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| Nia coaching Karen on deads |
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| Molly working up |
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| Jen Sinkler’s double snatch while Neghar coaches |
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| Neghar and Jen Sinkler getting in some olympic lifts |
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| Marianne’s weighted chin-ups |
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| Alli’s weighted chin-ups |
After training, we got showered up and ready for our photo shoot where we did both group and individual shots. We were blessed to have Under Armour provide the shoes and apparel for the shoot, and we are so thankful to them for their support. Also a big thank you to Karen for braving the cold and freezing her tush off while she helped make sure the shots looked good! I hope to have the pictures from the shoot ready to share with you all in about 3 weeks.
After another day of practically fasting for 24 hours, we headed to our pre-dinner dinner while we waited for our table. Once our reservation was over, we headed across the street for a sushi extravaganza! It was soooo good!
We got up early on Saturday morning and headed back to OPTI to watch Neghar and Karen teach a kettlebell class. It was truly a pleasure to see both of them in action. Neghar and Karen are phenomenal coaches that really know how to command an audience. It doesn’t hurt that both girls have absolutely amazing bodies that are clearly the product of hard work and dedication. You could really tell that the class participants were working very hard and really enjoying themselves. It was an honor to be there for that.
After the class wrapped up, Girls Gone Strong went to work on a product we are currently brewing up with the help of Adam and Brian. This opportunity was incredible as it gave us a chance to really brainstorm and collaborate with each other, and it reinforced just how much I adore and look up to each of these women – all of our messages are the same, even though we all have different backgrounds and have came down different paths.
Once we got this done, we got a kettlebell lesson from Karen, Neghar and Jen Sinkler. It was so much fun and I’m so excited about this! We got a step-by-step lesson on exactly how to do swings, both single and double, snatches and cleans. There is so much detail in the technique! I was thrilled to learn from them and can’t wait to start implementing this stuff into my training.
I simply can’t say enough kind words about these amazing women that I got to spend the weekend with. Each of them is so smart, strong and beautiful – both inside and out. I feel refreshed, renewed and inspired and can’t wait to take my own training and knowledge to the next level. I feel a certain sense of obligation being a part of GGS that drives me to be a better example to people and a better person overall to ensure that I am a valuable contributor to our group. I have learned over the years that your friends or partners are either making you a better person or they are dragging you down. I can confidently say that each of these women make me a better person in various arenas and for that I am deeply thankful.
I’m already chomping at the bit for our next meeting and am sure we will have something in the works very soon.
For more information on each of the incredible women I spent the weekend with, please see my “Links” tab at the top of the page.
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| Marianne Kane, myself and Alli McKee |
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| Left to right: myself, Marianne, Julia, Alli, Neghar, Molly and Nia |
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| Julia, myself, Marianne and Neghar |
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| Julia and I |
For the rest of our awesome pictures, please check out our Girls Gone Strong Facebook page by clicking here and feel free to “Like it” while you’re there!
A huge thank you to:
Neghar Fonooni for being the hostess with the mostest!
Under Armour for the shoes and apparel.
Joe Sansalone, owner of Optimum Performance Training Institute, for allowing us to not only use his fantastic facility this weekend, but to completely take it over.
Adam Foote and Brian Moran for all of their video footage and invaluable time and input.
Karen Smith and Jen Sinkler for their input, friendship, coaching and inspiration.
Please check out and subscribe to Experience Life magazine which is a refreshing health and fitness publication with solid info; not the typical misleading and regurgitated bologna that is scattered through most “fitness” magazines.
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