Kristal Frisque- May Member of the Month at The Strength Collective Galesburg

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Kristal in her natural habitat 🙂

This month’s Member of the Month is Kristal Frisque! Kristal is an artist and Owner of Art Defined Studios (check out the Facebook page here to learn more and get artsy!). She recently ran the St. Jude Half Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee. Read on to learn more about Kristal:

Q: What got you started working out?
A: My health. I knew that I needed to take better care of myself & have always liked strength training, so it was a good place to start. Plus, there’s lots of health problems that run in my family, so I wanted to be as proactive as I could be to fight off genetics.

Q: How many days per week do you typically work out? What groups are you a part of?
A: 5 days a week; I take the lunch class at SC & run with my running group, Sole Sisters.

Q: What’s your favorite exercise?
A: Riding my ElliptiGO! It’s super fun and great on your joints.

Kristal’s ElliptiGO! (It’s like a bike/elliptical hybrid!)

Q: What’s your favorite post-workout meal/snack?
A: I’ve never really had a routine with this, but I have used Advocare Spark & protein shakes….beer is great too!

Q: What do you find most challenging about working out?
A: My workouts are mostly solitary, in that I go for long runs or bike rides in the country by myself. Being a long distance runner, I not only have to prepare my schedule for the time I dedicate to my workouts, but also the mental game. I know that I’m going to have my aches & pains, but I have to endure through them when I’m out in the middle of nowhere & accept that I have to run back using the muscles that hurt.

Q: What keeps you motivated to work out regularly?
A: I love the pain! Seriously. The mental accomplishment keeps me going every time. The fact that I owned that workout is very gratifying.

Q: What advice do you have for someone who’s thinking about getting started in the gym?
A: Just do it! Don’t overthink it or you’ll never start. And your body, your level of fitness is enough. You do not have to fit a visual mold or wear the right gear. You are worth it & deserve to be healthy. We all come in different shapes and sizes, different areas of struggle. There’s no judgement at the gym. Everyone is super supportive and motivating.

After a hard Lean&Strong workout!

Q: What is something you couldn’t do when you started, that you can do now?
A: My core muscles are so much stronger! I still can’t do those blasted pushups, but that’s a long term goal to do them well & in good form.

Q: Tell us a random fact about yourself that people might not know:
A: I was born in Japan.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about working out at The Strength Collective?
A: Hands down the support and one on one help. Lord bless her, Jenna is SO patient with me! And both she & Kat will correct my form, so I can improve. The group is also amazingly supportive.

Thank you for being an awesome member, Kristal! We love having you as a part of our community!

Warrior Strong Women's Kickboxing

Gin Gartin- April Member of the Month at The Strength Collective

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April’s Member of the Month is Gin Gartin- she’s a 30 year old Distribution Coordinator at Dyna-Gro Seed from Galva and she has been absolutely crushing her fitness and weight loss journey since last June.

Q: What got you started working out?
A: Wanting to be more comfortable with myself and become a stronger version of myself.

Q: How many days per week do you typically work out? What groups are you a part of?
A: I try for at least 4-5 days a week. 2 of those are of course the Warrior Strong kickboxing class which I love!

Left: Gin before starting her health and fitness journey.
Right: Gin at the end of February-so much amazing progress already!

Q: What’s your favorite exercise?
A: Um kickboxing of course!

Q: What’s your favorite post-workout meal/snack?
A: I am sure this sounds lame but it’s a protein shake. Right now I’m working through the ice cream sandwich flavor I have. If you haven’t tried it you need to!

Q: What do you find most challenging about working out?
A: I am still really heavy so any of the cardio stuff is still a struggle for me but I am working on that!

Q: What keeps you motivated to work out regularly?
A: Seeing my results on the scale and my clothing fitting better.

Q: What advice do you have for someone who’s thinking about getting started in the gym?
A: Don’t think about it just go for it. Even if it is something small to start with just go for it! Everyone has to start somewhere. Find something you actually enjoy doing.

Left: Gin before starting Warrior Strong Kickboxing last October.
Right: Gin at the end of February

Q: What is something you couldn’t do when you started, that you can do now?
A: Walk my dog around the block around the block without being out of breath.

Q: Tell us a random fact about yourself that people might not know:
A: I probably have at least 20 pairs of Nike shoes if not more lol

Q: What’s your favorite thing about working out at The Strength Collective?
A: The support. From the ladies in my class to the coaches. Everyone is there for you to cheer you on and help you through it!

Gin, you are awesome and we are so proud of you! Thank you for being one of our amazing members, and keep up the hard work!

Dalton Buckman- March Member of the Month at The Strength Collective Galesburg

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We have such awesome members that we wanted to tell you all about them, so we decided to start this new monthly feature so you can get to know the community that makes up The Strength Collective.

Our first ever member of the month is Dalton Buckman, a 20 year old Strongman competitor and huge supporter of The Strength Collective since we opened in July 2018. Dalton works at both Target and GNC in Galesburg. He is passionate about Strongman competition and is eager to spread his knowledge and love for strongman style training to others. One way he is doing this is by organizing an all-levels Strongman Competition in June 2019, hosted by The Strength Collective. His goal is to get both new and experienced Strongman competitors to come together to spread the word about the sport and encourage people of all ages to give it a try. Stay tuned for more information on dates and times as we will be releasing those soon!

Q: What got you started working out?
A: Lifting weights for football in high school and wanting to be stronger.

Q: How many days per week do you typically work out?
A: 3-4

Q: What’s your favorite exercise?
A: Deadlifts and Yoke Walks

Q: What’s your favorite post-workout meal or snack?
A: Steak, rice, and a protein shake

Q: What do you find most challenging about working out?
A: Using time effectively. My workouts take a big chunk of my day making time management key to my busy life.

Dalton won 2nd place at the Strongest Damn Leprechaun strongman meet on March 16th. Member Kierstin Johnson also competed and won first place in her division. Congrats!

Q: How do you stay motivated to work out consistently?
A: Competing in strongman helps constantly needing to be stronger for meets. But all in all I love spending time at the gym, it’s like a second home. Even the hard days that I feel awful there’s no other place I’d rather be.

Q: What advice do you have for someone who’s thinking about starting or just getting started in the gym?
A: Find something that interests you about working out and become obsessed with it. If you can’t find anything a positive friend that will stick by your side will take you a long way. Having like minded people around will always be a huge motivator!

Q: What fitness accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: Taking second in the Teen division at a national level meet. Also holding a national deadlift record when I was 18.

Q: Tell us a random fact about yourself that people might not know:
A: I take medication for ADD. I would say training helps me build my focus a lot and it does make school difficult sometimes but so far I’ve managed to be in honors almost every semester and will have my associates at the end of this semester.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about working out at The Strength Collective?
A: The environment is very different from anywhere else in town and I can train how I need to in order to be a national level athlete. Being able to have access to the equipment I need and being able to store my equipment at the gym has made a huge impact on my training and I couldn’t be happier!

Thank you Dalton for your support and always encouraging others!