Trainology Fitness

Wow– I cannot express how much fun this work out was. It was my first time gliding and at first I thought it would be silly. The side of my abs were working hard as I gliding back and forth. I was stumbling at first but Michael gave me a lot of direction and before I knew it I felt like a pro. (Note– I felt like a pro, not that I was or am. Ha).
If you want something different that will get you sweating and laughing. Try Trainology. First class is complimentary and it’s a great value too! I highly recommend this boutique studio.

Trainology is great! The studio is located right off the brown/​purple line which makes it so convenient on my way home from work to hop on and off. I knocked a star off for the locker room which doesn’t have a lot of space and you place your belongings on a long bench near the stairs. Not a big deal but it always make me a little uneasy when the next class is hovering over your items.
The classes are great. I love the hike and run classes. I’m not a fan of glide partially because I’m terrible at it. My arms swing all over the place and I look like a hot mess l. The hike class kick your butt and you will feel it the next day. The trainers will give you modifications for the floor exercises and will push you to do your best. They are also very friendly and welcoming. If you haven’t taken a class I highly suggest you do!

Trainology is challenging but completely accessible to people at all levels. You will just have to ask for modifications, when necessary.
I have generally loved all of the classes but I especially like the Hike and Run classes with lower and total body.
I burn more calories here than I do at other places and most classes are only 45 minutes long!

I thought Monday’s Run/​arms/​abs class was rough, that is a cake walk compared to Michael’s Thursday’s Hike/​Arms/​Abs class. I took this class earlier this morning and am sore… I just know that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I will be even more sore. Love it as I know it’s working my muscles and is getting me out of my normal class routine. This class is hard… like let’s run at a level 15, 18, 21, etc. kinda crazy hard! However, Michael is very nice and super encouraging. He’s made me a convert… instead of using my 3 classes per month (ClassPass) on Mondays, I will now be a loyal Thursdayer :)
Studio is clean and the workouts are always varied. Love how they incorporate weights, body weight and TRX.

If you’re looking for high intensity, varied cardio workouts, Trainology is the best gym in Chicago. I became hooked after taking classes through classpass for a few months. I’ve always loved running, so was admittedly seeking a gym with treadmill interval classes. Trainology provides that and much more. Their varied, full-​body workouts have helped me to build up speed and stay injury-​free (two things I’ve always failed to do concurrently in the past).
There are, of course, comparable gyms in Chicago. I tried most of them while I was a classpass member and found that, although similar, none of the other treadmill HIIT gyms were as motivating, varied, challenging, or fun as Trainology. The instructors at Trainology are excellent: friendly, motivating, knowledgable, and creative. By now, I’ve gone to classes taught by almost all of the instructors and have yet to be disappointed. Their unique method of directing intervals based on your perceived effort (80% effort, as opposed to 8−10mph) really helps me to honestly push myself during class! No two classes are quite the same and, as I get stronger, they keep getting harder.
First class is free, so there’s no excuse not to try it out!

LOVE this place, Wes and Michael are awesome… so friendly, welcoming, accommodating and FUN. Highly recommended for anyone who works or lives in River North!

Now slide, baby, slide!
Oh, yeah, this place is fun. I’ve been in an anti-​cardio funk for awhile now — the days of spending 45 min or an hour on an elliptical or treadmill are behind me. But this place makes it fun. I took a Glide/​Hike45 class with Michael Wollpert (that name should ring a bell for Flywheel fans), and there were so many interval changes I never got bored. And only noticed the time when we were rocking a best effort at a 27 incline ;)
Anyways, the glide board is crazy fun, and we mixed it up with holding and rolling huge weighted balls (never thought I’d mention huge balls in a Unilocal review), getting down on the ground for mountain climbers, pikes, etc., and off the board for squats. The hike portion was killer, and Michael would let us know when to adjust the incline, but the speed was up to us. We’d rock intervals of best effort, but know there’s huge variations in everyone’s speed so you will never stick out. When it comes to best effort there’ve been days I’ve been at a run, and other times I’ve only been able to up my speed by an extra mile an hour. Oh, and there’s showers and coat hooks and benches to toss your stuff. But if you’re still undecided — during one of my classes not only did Michael rock Madonna’s Vogue (and I may or may not have almost landed on my ass vogueing on the the treadmill), but I got to shake my ass to Paula Abdul’s Vibeology on the way out. Winning.

This review is not related to the actual workout I received but rather the customer service and staff. I went to an early morning class with two friends and it was fine. Nothing mind blowing. After class I took a shower (only one shower) and remembered I left my black lululemon zipup on one of the medicine balls out there. I completely forgot as I was rushing to work. I contacted them and asked them if they had it and they did. Until I showed up and they mysteriously couldn’t find it. I called 3 more times, showed up another and was promised it would be returned to me and the owner would call me. No one ever followed up with me and I had to hunt them down to get an answer. The second time a showed up one guy told me if it was Lululemon the generally put it in a different spot, what? Sketch city. 2 Weeks later, still nothing. I finally got a response from the manager who told me they did not have it and someone must have walked off with it. Meaning, it was there and an employee helped themselves and now they can’t track it down. How do you have it one minute and then not? I still never heard from the owner and neither myself or my friends will ever be returning. I get it, if you leave something behind its your own fault. I am just disappointed in how they handled the situation and took them 2 weeks to tell me they «lost it». Warning… do not trust any of your nice stuff here.

I had a good experience and hope to be back. Highly recommend!!! The reason why this review could be missing a star is that I was new and the instructor did not correct my moves. So I felt like half the time I was doing things wrong. Especially the gliding. I did my best, and did not call the instructor’s attention, so perhaps the lack of attention was a courtesy. I am still a fan and hope to be back!
During the treadmill portion, one of the girls let out a huge terrible hiroshima fart that stunk up the whole area. There is little ventilation, so the awful smell took several minutes to clear. How rude! How gross!!!
Other than that, I feel that I had a great workout. Give it a try but beware, these ripped chicks fart like godzilla on a bean diet.

Holy cannoli, I can not overemphasize how much this class kicked my butt. Seriously. I went to Dani’s HIKE60 class after reading the rave Unilocal reviews, and this class did not disappoint. The studio is conveniently located right above the Dunkin Donuts by the Chicago Brown line. The room we were in was borderline too small for the group, but we made it work.
Dani split the class of about 10 in half, with most of the group started on the treadmills, and the rest of us starting on the floor. She cued up the treadmill group while giving a quick rundown of the floor exercises, and the monitors on the wall showed a time clock of the class. I don’t know how Dani kept all the timing straight (the floor and ‘mill groups are not on the same schedule), but I was so impressed by her ability to keep track of both groups at once, provide timing cues throughout the class, remember what incline intervals came next, AND offer form corrections and push us to work harder when things got tough. And it. was. TOUGH.
When the other Unilocal reviewers complimented the professionalism of these instructors, they were not kidding– Dani was one of the best instructors I’ve ever had. The class was very hard, especially the incline treadmills, which we worked all the way up to a 30 incline. You know you’re getting a good workout when continuous squats and jumping jacks on the floor seem like a nice «break.» I’d absolutely recommend this class, and will definitely return!

Great class. Small group treadmill and weight intervals. It didn’t feel rushed or like the instructor was trying to fit too much in to the workout. I will be back!

Trainology is the best of the best. Perfect size, energy, and trainers. Michael has struck perfection with this little gem of a gym by hiring intelligent, enthusiastic, and completely approachable staff. The classes are challenging, but welcomes all levels by merely asking for YOUR personal best. The music for each class is just loud enough to get you moving and the words of encouragement given by Michael/​staff is just right. Even the lighting is just right –the first gym that doesn’t over do it with gross, intense you-​can-​perform surgery in this lighting atmosphere. I have visited and/​or joined almost every gym in the city and it is so refreshing that someone finally got it right and stepped outside the box of cookie cutter idiot gyms and avoids all of the typical douchebaggery. Oh, and if that wasn’t impressive enough, I walked into Michael’s gym at the end of August with an impossible request. I asked him to prepare a first time trekker in a month’s time to climb to Everest Base Camp I. Thanks to sheer will, a great guide and Trainology, I made it. I will forever be a believer in Trainology.

I’ll preface this review by saying that I’m accustomed to high-​energy, total-​body workouts, having been to Shred 415, FlyWheel and being a Yoga Sculpt instructor at CorePower Yoga.
Whenever I try out a new class or format, one of the more measurable components I look for is if the class, activity, etc. shocks the body. Not just to the point of fatigue, but to the point where you know the cross-​functional movements are playing guessing games with your large and small muscles and you wake up the next few mornings feeling like you were pushed to the point of exertion.
With that said, I tried out the Hike-​Glide fusion class at the encouragement of my friend, who is close with Michael Wollpert, our instructor. I’ve taken Michael’s classes at FlyWheel back when I lived in Chicago, so I was familiar with his style of instructing in group-​ex settings.
The drills entailed 60 minutes, alternating between 10 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the glideboards, repeated 3x over. The treadmill component (or, should I say «hike») was designed to be used to hike uphill at various degrees, ranging from 0 to 30 degree inclines. In true interval style form, you are expected to alternate between various degrees, HIIT-​style, so to speak, but the catch is, you are in control of your own speed. Unlike Shred, where the instructor suggests a recommendable speed to help you find your edge, you have to use your own best judgment. Truth be told, this is probably a sensible approach given that the class is determined to be a «hike» to elevate the heart rate, as opposed to run/​sprint, and the incline is much greater.
The glide component I struggled with, somewhat. There were varying degrees of expertise in the class, so first-​timers will probably see the seasoned pros and try to emulate their speed and agility, but likely have a tough time finding the coordination and balance to nail down the drills as efficiently. Still, the workout itself is actually fascinating: it focuses on balance and agility while attacking the small muscles in the leg through isometric holds. The sequence also mixes in mountain climbers on the board, pike-​ups, burpees, medicine balls, squat jumps and other plyometric activities to keep the heart rate high. In addition, there are some «Yoga-​esque» postures such as knee-​up twists and foot taps to improve coordination.
Overall, I left feeling very satisfied with the outcome of the workout. Michael, of course, is a no-​nonsense trainer who takes a pragmatic approach to muscle confusion and training. He is very personable and approachable, and you can tell he has a great rapport with his regular students and clients, a critical aspect of bringing a group-​ex class from great to excellent. Moreover, Michael was very adept at maintaining the pace of the class so that it didn’t feel like it was ever dragging, and was spot-​on in cuing the transitions based on time, which is really tough to do (I learned that through Shred).
As the concept grows and develops, there are of course some areas for improvement. For one, the music situation could be elevated a bit. This might be because I took my first and only shred class with Kara in Old Town, and her music was just awesome. I’ve also taken 3 – 4 of Michael’s flywheel classes and know that he essentially designs his classes to be music-​driven. The song selections for Hike/​Glide were good, but could have been more energetic, I think. My guess is that as the trainology brand grows its business, this will become a central theme moving forward, so I wouldn’t be too concerned.
Overall, I highly recommend taking this format. Regardless of your gender or physical fitness level, you’re bound to have a lot of fun doing the workout. What could be better than combining fitness with a smile?

Wow what a great energy exerting workout. The hike 60 was awesome! Instructor was super motivating and the music was upbeat and loud perfect for a 6am workout! I like the layout of the facility as well as the coziness of the small space. I noticed they have a bathroom for changing and also offer small towels to use during your workout. Will definitely be coming back soon — would say it’s the best lower body and cardio workout I’ve been to in the city!

I first came across Michael Wollpert at Flywheel Sports in Chicago. Since, I have had the pleasure of doing personal training with him as well as being an avid fan of his spin classes. Trainology is his newest gift to the Chicago fitness community. As his recent honor of being recognized as one of Americas top 5 fitness trainers by «Live with Kelly and Michael» illustrates this man knows how to motivate, train, and inspire clients of all shapes and sizes. As the competition in the boutique fitness industry in Chicago continues to increase, Michael makes sure his Trainology stands above the rest. He has hired a great team of instructors that challenge you in different ways. He has added times and classes that keep workouts fresh and exciting. The studio is the perfect size to maximize the instructor/​client ratio. Unlike, similar classes at other establishments, each client is able to get one on one help with form, advice, and hints on how to maximize their experience. They offer a heart rate monitor and have two large TV’s that keep track of your progress throughout class. My personal favorite is the gliding. I was hesitant to try this but after some nudging from Michael and some friends I gave in. I am happy I did. The gliding is like nothing I’ve ever done in any class or workout. It works on muscles I never even realized I had. As in all his endeavors, Michael adds his own flare to his classes that keep it fun yet challenging. I recently have added the Amplified Pilates Studio into my workout routine. The two of these studios compliment each other perfectly. If you are looking for a fun workout that kicks your ass, give Trainology a shot. I am certain you won’t be disappointed.

Fantastic workouts at a great studio. For years, I tried various methods to get in shape on my own and through classes. Michael Wollpert’s expert classes have been the only ones that have worked for me. No repetition here; plenty of variety with Hikeology, Trainology, & Glideology to build endurance and strength. Looking forward to the new lineup of classes. Give it a try!

This studio is exactly what you need if you are looking for a challenging change your body workout. The instructors are great-​Michael, Dani, Will, Emily and April are the ones I have tried so far and each brought something new to push me further. An excellent series in Trainology, Glide and Hikeology! Keep up the great work!

This is a great workout studio and a great workout experience.
I have been to Trainology twice, both the TRACKology class at 808 N Lake Shore Drive with Dani and the HIKEology glass with Will. The classes themselves were very straightforward, but the coaching and professionalism of the trainers was what hooked me. Booking a class online is easy. The space is great, conveniently located off of the Chicago Brown Line stop in River North.
Looking forward to trying more classes. Would definitely recommend!

I tried Glideology for the first time last week and I had a blast! The glide board is great for endurance and stability training which helps me when playing ice hockey. Michael combines the glide board with strength training intervals that get you a total body workout in 45min. To top that off you can wear a heart rate monitor throughout the class to make sure you are pushing yourself. I would highly recommend trying Trainology’s different classes. It is not your run of the mill fitness studio.

Chicago might be the new mecca for workout studios because there are so many! But not many great ones… here comes Train Chicago Studios.
It is located in River North above the Dunkin Donuts, you have to buzz to get upstairs to the third floor and you might even walk past it since there is limited signage. Once you’re let in, the stairs should prepare you for the work out you are about to do, the stairs to the studio are incredibly steep! This is a no-​nonsense facility with two bathrooms, two showers, and two small changing areas. It is all kept very clean and they offer towels and water, but there are no lockers. Each class is limited to about 16 people.
I did the Trainology class which includes a series of treadmill work, then bosu ball exercises, floor core work, and then some work with a TRX suspension rope (referred to as T-​rex because it will «wreck» your body)! I never got bored of the exercises since the music was great and the instructor Mike was very hands on. He did not let me lose form or take breaks! Because it was a smaller class he gave each student individual attention and corrected our form. There were some students in the class that opted for the heart rate monitoring and their heart rate zones were displayed on screens throughout the studio.
The price per class is $ 25 without a package and $ 22 with a package. I think with the individual attention you receive the price is a bargain compared to paying someone for personal training (similar area and training I used to pay my personal trainer $ 40 each session). I will definitely go back, but after work where I can go immediately to my house and shower.