WOW what a whirlwind the past 5 months has been. For a girl who really loves her routine, this has been quite an adjustment. The hardest adjustment of all for me has been how I am currently trying to overcome an injury from birth that has impacted my mental health, my daily life, my coaching career, and my fitness. It has been hard to come to terms with the fact that my greatest gift of all – my baby boy – has led to some level of pelvic floor dysfunction that I NEVER envisioned would impact me. It is no secret that I felt pretty confident going into labor, I was in shape and worked out all through my pregnancy, I considered myself prepared, my mom was a midwife, I was born at home, both my mom and Byron’s mom did not use meds during labor…I can DEFINITELY handle it...Read more

I think we can all agree that meal prepping can be a daunting task.  And nobody wants to waste precious time on something that could be made easier. Whether you’re meal prepping because you’ve got a crazy schedule, you’ve got some health & fitness goals, or both. There are ways to streamline this task. And if meal prepping is an important piece of your happy nutrition puzzle, we’ve got to find ways to simplify the process.   Here are 3 ways to meal prep and make it easier on you. #1 Weekend Batch Cooking This is traditional meal prep – taking a couple of hours on the weekend to prep a number of meals for the week. Now if this is the style that fits you best, here are a couple of ways to make it easier. Keep it simple, use your crockpot, and only cook large batches of food that...Read more

Since the beginning of time, we’ve been debating what’s better for your health – a Vegan diet or one that includes meat. Now chances are, you feel pretty strongly about your food choices – because those choices do help define who you are as a person. But the answer to the vegan vs meat eater debate isn’t so black & white. Fact is, you can be a healthy Vegan or an unhealthy Vegan. You can be a healthy meat eater or an unhealthy meat eater. So instead of debating the differences, and the pros & cons of each, let’s talk about the fundamentals of being a healthy vegan or a meat eater. #1 Quality Food Sources There’s a HUGE difference between a McDonald’s hamburger and a grass fed steak. There’s also a HUGE difference between a bag of Doritos and a bowl of lentil soup. I’m not saying don’t ever...Read more

Just here to share a story and maybe it can shed some light on past and future training habits. Yes, this story is about weightlifting. Surprise.  A couple years ago. I was at the CrossFit games. (Surprise, I know)  One of the “side” events they had was a Lift off where many famous lifters were going to build to a heavy 1 in numerous lifts. A kind of supertotal if you will. The lifts included everything.  Clean Snatch Back Squat Jerk Deadlift Bench Press.  So yeah, this took a while. There were many famous lifters/athletes such as Morgan King (Olympian), Kristin Pope, Elijah Muhammed, Adrian Conway along with others. The person this story is about though is Wes Kitts. A little back story on Wes, first he is one of my favorite lifters. He lifts out of Cal strength. Snatches 180kg/396, Clean and Jerks 223kg/490, and Back squats 300kg/660 just to give you an idea...Read more

On May 14th, the city of Chicago entered the “Bridge Phase” of reopening (get excited ?). Bluprint Fitness is following with a Phase 4.5 of the Reopening Bluprint Blueprint. Below are the details that all participating members need to know and follow for a safe transition back to unmasked in-person training. WHEN Start Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2021End Date: TBD (Based On Reopening Chicago Guidelines) CLASS SCHEDULE (subject to change) Monday: 6:00am, 7:15am, Open Gym 8:30-9:30am, 4:30pm, 5:45pm, 7:00pmTuesday: 6:00am, Open Gym 8:30-9:30am, 7:15am, 4:30pm, 5:45pm, 7:00pmWednesday: 6:00am, 7:15am, Open Gym 8:30-9:30am, 4:30pm, 5:45pm, 7:00pmThursday: 6:00am, 7:15am, 4:30pm, 5:45pm, Open Gym 7:00-8:00pmFriday: 6:00am, 7:15am, 4:30pm, 5:45pmSaturday: 8:00am, 9:00am, Open Gym 10:00-11:00amSunday: Closed PHASE 4.5 CLASS PROTOCOLS In-House (Class Limit 20-24 Person Capacity): Classes Monday-Saturday with a strength & condition focus on Mon/Wed/Fri and a conditioning focus on Tue/Thu/Sat. Masks are required at all times within the space. Space is equipped...Read more