Mint Mobility and MintCalisthenics

-Mobility + Mind and Muscle Connection: Discover ranges of motion through out the body while simultaneously strengthening specific muscle groups in this work shop. Also, understanding the natural kinetic chain throughout your body and how to better engage the mind with the body to maximize results.

-Calisthenics Level 1: Do you want super human strength? Do you ever go to the beach and what to workout by the water but don’t know what to do? Enjoy this calisthenics class which entails your body in space. Learn how to leverage your own body weight against gravity for an intense workout. Calisthenics will target every muscle group in the body and can be used for toning , increasing mobility and flexibility, strengthening, endurance, increasing lean muscle mass, and reducing body fat.

MINT Personal Trainer, Nariman V

MINT community… meet The Coupe, located just a few blocks away in Columbia Heights (3415 11th Street NW)!

The Coupe is an everyday French-American cafe, coffee house and bar. They source their meat, eggs and dairy from local organic farms, their coffee through Counter Culture from small production family farms, and their booze from some DC breweries and distilleries. They spend the money and the time connecting with these small operations because they believe it brings the community a better tasting product that is better for the world. By avoiding factory farms and national chains they contribute to the small economies that support individuals.

The Coupe is a place to connect constructively with your community over fresh and delicious food and drink where all walks of life are welcome.

MINT members receive an extra hour of happy hour from 5-8pm instead of 5-7pm. They also receive a 10% discount on coffee in-house and to-go!

At Glen’s Garden Market, there is plenty of amazing, unusual produce and unique, local products – and they want to teach you how to cook with them! Use the ‘Glen’s Recipe Series’ cards (or stop by their Dupont or Shaw locations to pick one up) to learn more about how to prepare their food and why it’s so special.

Today’s featured recipe is: Chicken & Broccoli!

Enjoy!

Got someone special in your life who deserves a

FREE personal training session at MINT?

THIS WEEK ONLY, FEB. 13 – 17: Buy a special low-priced 10-pack and get a free session to give to anyone. 10-Pack with Trainer-Level Trainer = $790 10-Pack with Master Trainer-Level Trainer = $890 10-Pack with Advanced Master Trainer-Level Trainer = $990 (Including the free session…that’s equivalent to an 11% saving!)

BUY YOUR 10-PACK HERE!

The following terms and conditions apply:

Available to purchase by members only, but the free session may be gifted to anyone, even a non-member.
The free session cannot be used by the purchaser.
The package has a one- year expiration date.
Purchase Monday thru Friday this week only (FEB. 13 – 17)

There’s lots to love this week…

…especially our 2-for-1 membership special!

To celebrate both Valentine’s Day and MINT’s 11 year anniversary this week, we’re offering 2-for-1 memberships this Monday through Friday ONLY! This offer may be used by members and non members.

Purchase your 2-for-1 membership here!

Photo credit: POPSUGAR

The following terms and conditions apply:

Not eligible for anyone who has been on 2 for 1 at anytime in the past

New members and current members may take advantage

Both memberships included Cardio + Strength + Classes

Lead member on this agreement is purchasing a 6 month membership at $148/mo that renews on a monthly basis at same rate

Add-on member is included for 6 months, as a 2 for 1

Add-on automatically renews month to month after 6 months at $148/month

Add-on may not be a current or active member and may not have been an active member at anytime within the past 6 months

Upon renewal, lead member assumes payment for both memberships at $148/mo each

Memberships may be split to be paid per-person at anytime via your club GM or emailing accounting@mintdc.com

Start membership via credit card, ongoing payments via ACH billing only, credit card monthly payments +$12/mo

This membership is cancelable in-term with a $49 cancellation fee per cancelled member and 30 days notice prior to billing date

Did you know? February is National Love Your Body Month!

We want our members to love their body all day, every day (no matter the month), so we’ve gathered a few quotes to help you celebrate and remind you how awesome you are! Because you’re a rockstar! 🙂

Join the MINT Ambassadors for a happy hour at Sauf Haus on Feb. 21 at 7pm!

Here’s what you can look forward to:

Happy Hour specials, including $2 off all pretzels, beer, wine, and spirits.
Meeting MINT Ambassadors and fellow MINT members! Who knows, maybe you’ll meet a new workout buddy!

DYK? Every week, Sauf Haus extends happy hour prices on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7:00-9:00 PM to MINT members who show their MINT key tags! At Glen’s Garden Market, there is plenty of amazing, unusual produce and unique, local products – and they want to teach you how to cook with them! Use the ‘Glen’s Recipe Series’ cards (or stop by their Dupont or Shaw locations to pick one up) to learn more about how to prepare their food and why it’s so special. Today’s featured recipe is: Chicken Tikka Masala!

Enjoy!

Why do I keep getting the same injuries when I run? – Part 2

In last week’s blog post ( week of January 30, 2017), we discussed how your knee is usually not to blame when it hurts during runs. And we specifically addressed how often over-pronation issues can really impact the knee. There is an old saying that is ‘as the foot goes so does the knee.’ This is very true. Pronation is not inherently a bad thing. In fact we need to pronate through our feet. It is how we properly transfer forces through our body. Pronation is the foot movement in which your foot rolls in causing your arch is getting to get lower. But when we over-pronate we put our other joints as risk for injury … including our feet. But how do you know if you pronate too much? Do you know if your shoes are enough to provide the support you need? Try this: Get the bottom of your feet damp and then step on a piece of paper. If your footprint has no gaps/indentation in it, you most likely have flat feet and need more support than you could get from most shoes.

[Aside: if you read Born to Run and think everyone should be running around barefoot, we have about 100 past patients that were injured by running in minimalist shoes who would tell you differently. Barefoot running can be appropriate for some runners, but certainly not all of them.] Over-pronation can often be caused by having flat feet. The arch is NOT meant to be a weight-bearing surface of your foot. When your arch becomes a weight-bearing surface, problems begin to happen. The knee collapses and the hip begins to rotate inward. If you repeat this enough, injury is not far off. So what can you do if you over-pronate and are at risk of injury (or already hurting)? A good pair of supportive shoes is a great place to start. Since every foot, body type, and running style is different, we can’t suggest specific shoes here in this article without evaluating your feet. So our best advice is to make sure you choose your running shoes with the assistance and guidance of a professional who has a lot of experience working with runners and shoe selection. Though strength is very important, when your full body weight is coming down on one foot during your running stride, there’s only so much that the muscles in your feet can do. For those who severely over-pronate and collapse through the arch, even strong feet and supportive shoes may not be enough to avoid running injuries at the foot, ankle, knee, hip, or low back. In this situation, Custom Orthotics are your best bet. They are an assistive device that are placed in your shoe to provide the exact level of support you need and to help distribute forces more evenly through the foot and up the leg. We have seen people with debilitating foot, knee, hip and back pain get amazing relief and the ability to return to running once they started using custom orthotics. The market is filled with many options of what to put under your feet. Most over-the-counter shoe inserts and arch supports do not provide the support needed by someone who has significantly flat feet. At Manual Medicine Spine & Sports Physical Therapy, we are experts in evaluating the foot and in the creation of custom orthotics. If you have any foot, knee, hip, or back pain when you run, it may have something (or everything) to do with your feet. If you’d like to have a free assessment of your feet and whether or not you would have less running pain with custom orthotics, call me at 202-670-8874.

Join us at Sauf Haus for Yoga in the Biergarten on Sunday, February 12!

Join us for a community yoga session, lead by one of our instructors, on the Sauf Haus rooftop biergarten. This hour long session will begin at 10am. Please arrive by 9:30am. All experience levels are welcome! A great way to begin your yoga journey if you are just starting out. This event is 21+. Bring your own mat.

How to RSVP

This session is free of charge, but an RSVP is required. Please RSVP via the EventBrite link, accessible from the Facebook event page. Space is limited, so please notify Sauf Haus if you cannot attend after you have RSVP’d.

Post-Yoga Fun!

With your RSVP, you will receive a complimentary mimosa after the session, and $5 Mimosa, Biermosas, and Bloody Marys until 1pm day of. Stick around afterward to chat our MINT Ambassadors and fellow yogis!