Visiting Reebok’s HQ

Yesterday I got to visit the Reebok Headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts. I was kindly invited by Reebok to participate in a focus group with 5 other fitness bloggers. They wanted to get our feedback on shoes and clothes for Fall 2014. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the new merchandise and have to be hush hush about the details, but there’s a bunch of pieces I’m super excited to get my hands on next fall.

This was my first time visiting the Reebok HQ and it was great to really get a chance to hear about their values and where they are going as a brand. We started off the day with breakfast and looking at the new lineup of shoes. It was really interesting hearing everyone’s feedback about what they look for in shoes. While we were all fitness lovers, we all had different things we looked for in a shoe depending on our “sport” of choice. For me I’m always looking for a good shoe I can wear for dance based workouts like zumba and 305 in addition to shoes that are functional for the bootcamp and HIIT classes I love to take like Uplift Strength, The Fhitting Room and Exceed. My shoes gotta be good for burpees, bicep curls and booty shaking!

Next we got to visit the FitHub which is set up like a mock store with all the future clothing lines. When we got to walk around and “shop” for an outfit all of us were audibly very excited and pointing out how cute the items were. My workout wardrobe has definitely evolved from the days of wearing any old stretchy pant and an oversized t-shirt to the NYU gym. The New York Times recently had an article about how New York is finally dressing down. I’ve definitely noticed this in my own outfits– I now look for workout clothing that’s cute enough to wear to class, but can also double as a workout outfit when I go to less sweaty classes such as barre or yoga. Maybe it’s just in New York but I feel like this is a trend that’s happening in fitness fashion– we aren’t just wearing these outfits to the gym anymore!

Throughout the day Reebok really seemed interested in hearing what we had to say– what we liked, didn’t like and what we looked for in workout clothing.

After lunch and a bit of digesting it was time to take a class at Reebok’s Cross Fit ONE Box.

I was a bit nervous about my first Cross Fit class, but excited to try it out with an enthusiastic group of bloggers and Reebok employees.

First we warmed up on the spartan obstacle course outside where we had to climb over walls, balance on logs and rope climb.

(photo credit Kelly Olexa)

At first I thought “there’s no way in hell I’m getting over these walls” but I actually surprised myself and was able to muscle my way over a few of them… at least until they got taller than me 🙂 I gladly took the 10 air squat penalty for skipping an obstacle.

(photo credit Kelly Olexa)

Walking on the “balance beam” brought back fun memories of gymnastic birthday parties from when I was little.

Back in the box it  was time for our WOD (work out of the day)- Jackie. The workout consisted of 1000m rowing, 30 thrusters, 30 pull ups. Before jumping into the WOD we worked on the skills required for each exercise. This was very helpful since I was clueless about what the heck a thruster is.

Then it was GO TIME. I scaled the workout back to 1000 Rows but only doing 25 thrusters and 25 jumping pull-ups. I must say doing pull-ups on a bar that isn’t swinging is VERY different from when I practice on the low trapeze bar! Throughout the 10 minute workout our coaches were spot on with form corrections and encouragement. The worst part for me was definitely the rowers. I struggle even when it’s only for 45 seconds during a class at The Fhitting Room or Exceed

This class definitely whet my appetite and got me excited to finally redeem my 1 month unlimited Cross Fit groupon I’ve been savoring since the summer. The workout was a lot of fun and ridiculously sweaty considering we only “worked” for 10 minutes.

It wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I feared, and of course the group was incredibly supportive and too focused on their own workout to care how other people scaled back the workout.

 

Sweaty but strong group!

Last stop was the Reebok Store. We were kindly given gift certificates and I was defiintely in the mood for shopping after a day of looking at beautiful shoes and clothing. I decided on a pair of Cross Fit Nano Uforms’s and wore them this afternoon to Uplift Strength.
The blue color was a hit and got a bunch of compliments. I wasn’t sure if they would be the right shoe for the workout since they are meant for Cross Fit but I absolutely loved them. They didn’t bother me once during the class which is full of strength training moves mixed with tabata cardio intervals. I found me a new favorite strength training shoe!

Post shopping spree it was time to head back to New York City on the train.

I’m so grateful I got to have this experience (and it conveniently coincided with my fall break!). Now it’s back to studying for the next round of midterms…

Thank you to Reebok & FitFluential for inviting me to be a part of this focus group!