June Member of the Month: Tony Bigonia

Tony Bigonia

 “Of course, I told her she was trying to kill me...!”

My name is Tony Bigonia and I have been a member of Razor Sharp Fitness on Washington Avenue since March of 2014. I have always thought that fitness should be a part of my life,  and since I was in high school, I have always had that work/life balance, including fitness in all aspects of my life. After my wife passed away in November 2013, however, that balance was not there anymore and I knew I needed some help.

My wife was also a fit person and was a member of Razor Sharp, attending many regular classes – yoga, weights. Originally, when I had met with Membership Director Laurie Swanson, it was to cancel my wife’s membership. In the end, I signed up for a membership of my own. At the same time, knowing that I could not do this by myself, I also signed up for a personal trainer to help “whip-me-into-shape.” In walks Krystal DeBaker to my life!

Let me tell you a little bit about Krystal….

First, the reason, I think, that Laurie recommended Krystal for my personal trainer is that she is a runner and I had said that I wanted to get back into running. Also, she is this little young lady that knows how to make sure you get your money’s worth from every workout. Krystal also knew my wife.

I remember, vividly (though some of this may be exaggerated), our first meeting. Krystal took me to the track area and asked me to jump on top of a 4’ high box.

I told her that she should do it first. You must know that Krystal is maybe 5’ tall and I am 6’4”, so that was funny.

Once done with that, she told me that I needed to push that box 50 yards, a couple times. She then left and came back with 50 pounds of weights to put on the box I was to push.

Of course, I told her she was trying to kill me! And that began the weekly, or semi-weekly, test of what Krystal could come up with that Tony could not do, or would struggle to do.

More recently, I went back to the Razor Spa to take an Acupuncture treatment for my allergies, since Laurie had most recently had lots of success with the treatment. I met with the Acupuncturist on a Tuesday and within a week, was medication-free and never felt better.

I also found out that some of the side effects of the drugs I was on for my allergies were causing other medical issues, of which I wasn’t aware.

So, for over one year, I have been a very happy and a healthy member of Razor Sharp.

That’s why I’m happy to host a Razor Sharp table at my business, Uncorkt on Main Street in downtown Racine, during special events. If I can encourage my customers to exercise more, I can count on their business for many more years to come! I also appreciate that Razor Sharp is a local business like my own, and that we can cooperate to build each other’s clientele, like friends and neighbors do for each other.

Enlist for Razor Sharp's Summer Boot Camp

Razor Sharp’s Summer 

Boot Camp

An outdoor fitness experience

Get the best workouts of your life

in the sand of North Beach & 

 on the turf at the Hwy 20 club

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Enlist for the fittest summer you've enjoyed in years!

The Razor Sharp Surf & Turf Boot Camp offers:

• High intensity
  
• All planes of motion
• Loaded movement training
• Work with certified trainers

Boot Camp is for you if you're: Looking for extra motivation to push harder and do "just one more rep" On a fitness plateau Seeking accountability Excited by guaranteed results (if you meet your 2x per week commitment) Into working out outdoors, but don't want to walk or run

 
You can expect all of this and more ~ from flipping tires and pulling sleds on the turf to body-weight--centric training taking advantage of the changing surface of the sand -- this will be unlike any other program Razor Sharp offers! 

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Starts June 8^th, register by June 5^th

Choose from sessions offered:

  

* 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays & Thursdays at Hwy 20

* 5:05 a.m. Wednesdays & Fridays at North Beach

--> mix it up however you'd like!

16 sessions over 8 weeks — just $240!

Contact Fitness Director Kate Rogan with questions by e-mail or at 262.321.0200

KickStart Your Way to Summer Fitness

Make sure you're ready for your special events!

Planning now for a class reunion, wedding or vacation? 

Or, are you just anticipating busting out your warm-weather wear?

If you need some help getting your fitness where you'd like it to be for the summer months ahead, act now by scheduling a KickStart with a Certified Personal Trainer.

"What's a KickStart?" you ask. A Razor Sharp KickStart is:

• A complimentary one-hour session with a professional trainer
• Available to all Razor Sharp members
• Helpful to establish your fitness goals and identify a strategy to meet them
• A way to get you out of a workout rut

Schedule your KickStart with Fitness Services Coordinator Justin Leach by e-mail, or by calling (262) 321-0200.

April Members of the Month: Michelle Westrich and Donna Hammond

Michelle Westrich and Donna Hammond just
completed the second year of their
fitness journey together

Workout buddies celebrate two years of their healthier, fitter lives!

Michelle’s Story:

“What started as a weight loss goal has become a healthy lifestyle goal.”

My weight and activity level has fluctuated over the years. I had joined gyms and Weight Watchers multiple times and would find some success but never really met my goals. In December 2011, due to poor eating habits and very little physical activity, I found my weight at an all-time high and my elevated cholesterol requiring medication.

As a cardiovascular nurse, I knew I was not headed down a good path. When Razor Sharp opened the Erie Street location I was finally ready for a change.

I worked out by myself for a few months and began tracking what I ate using the MyFitnessPal app. I made a little progress on my own, but I had so much weight to lose.

When I started working with Personal Trainer Nick Estep, things started to come together. With Nick’s help I learned to not just track my food, but to be concerned with the nutrients in food. I learned to not just exercise, but to exercise the right way.

 By training every week, incorporating what Nick was teaching me and holding myself accountable by tracking my food, I was able to lose 82 pounds, lower my cholesterol and stop taking medication. After almost two years, the weight is still off and I still train with Nick every week.

What started as a weight loss goal has become a healthy lifestyle goal. Nick continues to challenge me and help me improve and reach new goals. I still track my food; I find that if I don’t, the scale begins to creep up.

Donna and I encourage and keep each other accountable. Having a friend with similar goals is very valuable – not everyone “gets it.” Donna does. When you embark on a major lifestyle change, and losing 82 pounds is a big change, you need to surround yourself with the right people to help you succeed.

On a very basic level, losing weight is about eating less and moving more. The most valuable things I’ve learned have to do with the details of that basic premise. I have also learned that it’s not about losing weight so much as being healthy. I have incorporated these details into my life. I continue to work at it and challenge myself, and Donna and I are always there to support each other!

Donna’s Story:

“I’m NOT going back to that life.”

I joined Razor Sharp in October 2011, but it wasn’t until the following May when I finally walked in to work out. I had lost 40 pounds before, but then gained it all and back – and more. I couldn’t believe how difficult the mental battle was to get started again! However, with a family history of heart attacks – my father died at age 48, and two of my brothers survived heart attacks at 40 and 46, AND my mom survived one at 75 – I felt like I was a ticking time bomb.

So, I began working out 5-6 days a week. Still, the scale barely moved. Frustrated, I decided to add the weight machines at the gym and began using MyFitnessPal to track my food. That combination, along with consistency, finally started to pay off.

Another great help to me was doing this with Michelle. She and I had been friends and had jogged together on occasion since she lives near me. We became friends on MyFitnessPal, started going to the gym together when we could, and have been able to cheer each other on during this journey. She was working with Personal Trainer Nick Estep, and I saw her progress with strength training and toning. I was a stay-at-home mom at the time, so I felt I couldn’t justify a personal trainer when I wasn’t working.

In 2013, after losing 46 pounds, and my youngest getting ready to graduate from high school, I began asking myself, “What now?”  My answer that spring was to take the classes required to renew my teaching license.

My weight loss gave me confidence to apply for jobs and interview. I was hired at a middle school in Racine in August 2013. It has been one wild ride, but the weight loss and energy I have from exercising has given me what I have needed to handle my job.

With a paycheck coming in, I decided to start training with Nick in July of last year. I felt like I was in a rut with my exercise and needed something different to keep me going.

Nick changes things up every week, tailored to what I need to challenge me and help me progress. He is also very patient with my endless question: “Why am I doing this???” The extra toning and strengthening he’s done with me is particularly beneficial at my age, when I am naturally losing bone density and flexibility.

This past winter, I gained about 10 pounds. As I saw the scale moving up, panic crept in. My new clothes were beginning to feel uncomfortable. Six weeks before Easter, I re-committed to using all the tools available to me – though I was still exercising, I had stopped tracking my food. I also shared this new dedication with Michelle for accountability.

At the end of six weeks, I had lost 8.2 pounds and was able to wear my summer clothes on a trip to Florida. I was so incredibly excited when everything fit!  The combination of food tracking, consistent exercise, a friend who would come to my house to drag me to the gym (if necessary), some personal training, and an “I’m NOT going back to that life” attitude has been the key for me!

March Member of the Month, Jim Geiss

Jim "Chip" Geiss

Start living, or keep dying....

At the age of 54, I had to make this decision. After the loss of my sister in 2009, I fell into a depression and could not stop gaining weight. A visit to a wonderful new doctor in 2014 got me thinking differently, and I joined Razor Sharp last November.

I have been lucky to work with Personal Trainer Anthony Matoska to get me on the right track. In the first three months, I have lost 20 lbs, and my blood levels are all better than they have ever been. Not to brag, but my cholesterol is down to 130. Still at 400 lbs, I have the momentum and motivation to continue with my weight loss and body building.

All the staff and members at Razor Sharp treat me so well, they are definitely a part of my motivation. I spend an average of four days a week working out, including swimming, weights, walking on the track and using all the equipment. My trainer is a vital part of the entire experience.

Trainer Tips for Health and Fitness

Razor Sharp's Experts Offer Advice on Social Media

Kate Rogan leading a GroupPOWER class

Razor Sharp recently introduced #TrainerTipTuesday to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and we'd like to share a couple of these great tips with all of you here, too:

From Fitness Director Kate Rogan, a question:
     What is the hardest part of working out/exercise?
     Answer: Getting in the doors of the gym. 

Remember: Once you’re in, there is only one thing to do, get active and exercise!

Strategy: Schedule your exercise times in advance as a High-Priority Appointment with yourself. Then, show up -- no questions & no excuses.

For example, sit down on a Sunday (or any low-key day) and put the times and/or classes into your calendar for the following week. Stick to it and plan around it as you would a doctor, hair, dentist, happy hour appointment (whatever your fancy!).

The key is not to talk yourself out of it. Look, we can come up with ANY excuse if we want, so don’t even let yourself go there. If you keep it black and white (you’re either IN or OUT) after a few weeks (6-8, depending on how hard you work) it will no longer be the APPOINTMENT that motivates you, but the CHANGES you notice IN YOUR BODY and in HOW YOU FEEL.

Basically, if you want to get paid you have to show up to work on time right? So if you want to live longer and healthier, or reach a more specific goal, you have to show up to get those results!

If it were easy everyone would be doing it. It's hard, therefore it has the greatest pay-off: a healthier way to live!

Joseph Manussier leading a GroupRIDE class

From Personal Trainer Joseph Manussier:

Remember that healthy, fit living is a series of large and small CHOICES. Right now, parking at the mall is crowded, so embrace that, put your car at the far end of the lot and count the extra steps as a choice for more activity.

Then, in January, keep that habit, even if there are closer spaces. At the end of 2015, you'll have put in MANY extra miles by walking those few yards farther at every store you visit!

Who's With Us -- for the Ragnar Relay Chicago?

Razor Sharp Trainer Jenny Willis wants YOU!!

Jenny has been interested in putting together a team for the Chicago Ragnar Relay, and thinks 2015 is THE year to kick it off! Since now is the time to get these things together and get a 20-week training plan in place, she's looking for others who would be willing to take this on! This year's event is June 12-13.

If you're not familiar with the series, it's a 12-person relay team running three stages per member, from Madison to Chicago. Each stage is 3-8 miles, of varying difficulty.  For more details, check the website.

THEN, when you've decided that this is JUST the goal you need to move your running program to the next level, e-mail Jenny and let her know that you'd love a piece of this action!

Downtown Club Grand Opening Wrap-Up

December 5th was a GREAT Grand Opening Day -- thank you to everyone who came down to visit with us, check the place out, offer congratulations and to officially join our fitness community's newest hub in Downtown Racine.

More pictures are posted here, at our Facebook page. 

Great big thanks go out to Downtown Racine Corporation for the ribbon-cutting, and particularly to County Executive Jim Ladwig, Alderman Jeff Coe and DRC Executive Director Devin Sutherland.

Congratulations go out to the winners of our drawing:

• Anna LeGath, who won a bottle of wine from Uncorkt
• Alice Bieszczat, who won the Carriage House Liquor gift basket
• Nancy Witkofski Ford, who won a $50 Razor Sharp gift card
• Patty Strandell, who won her choice of complimentary SPS Sports Performance or Belle City CrossFit sessions
• Mike Foord, who won his choice of complimentary SPS Sports Performance or Belle City CrossFit sessions
• Laura Sanders, who won a 60-minute massage
• Nancy Ribeiro, who one a package of 30-minute personal training sessions
• Kirk Winder, who one a package of 60-minute personal training sessions
• Mike Cretton, who won a one-year Razor Sharp membership
• Gail Hemm, who won the iPad Air 

Thanks to everyone who came out! We're still celebrating, so if you couldn't make it, stop down at the new club and have a look around. And, be sure to check out and share the Grand Opening special that we're offering at any of our three locations.