(Disclosure: products mentioned in this post were donated by Pretzel Crisps, Gymphoria, Muscle Milk, Air Aerial Fitness, Ms. Tech, Nutrilux and Mark Bars. As always, we only talk about the stuff we love)

Have you ever been to a networking event at a bar? There’s always a weird thing with the overly-aggressive-networker or the person who ignored the memo about the two-drink limit. And who has time for focused networking? With everything you have on you plate, sometimes fitting in a workout, on top of work and networking is too much.

Last night, we packed the house for FabFitChicago’s first monthly Sweatworking event at Air Aerial Fitness in Lincoln Park. What’s sweatworking, you may ask? Sweatworking is a way to give busy women a chance to multitask two of the things that matter to them – maintaining relationships with their network and staying healthy. We at FabFitChicago believe that you can have it all, you just have to get creative.

Why does last night’s event matter to you, FabFitChicago.com reader? Because sweatworking is hitting the streets of Chicago and you’re invited.  April 23, we’re excited for the workout-focused networking event at Crosstown Fitness in the West loop. More to come on that.

And now back to #AIRSweatworking.

(Photo credit: Christiana Basso)

Our workout, led by Cat Aldana, on AIR’s legendary silks (at least to me, they’re legendary) was well-rounded, focusing on everything from strength to cardio and flexibility. The silks look pretty, but they can deepen movements and turn exercises into something that’s deceptively difficult. Cute, but tough – like all of your favorite fitness instructors.

We started by warming up and limbering out and with a little fun in the hammocks!

Laura and Erica got comfy after their day at Nike’s NTC offices.

(Photo credit: Christiana Basso)

Then we used the silks to help get deeper into some of your favorite exercises – sort of like a TRX band – taking up the intensity on crunches, planks, push-ups and triceps dips.

       

After the work, we took to the air for some poses. Sue, who runs the social media at Soaring Solutions by day and teaches at Indigo Studio by night, was born to do suspension tricks.

Kristen – Digital content writer by day and FabFitChicago contributor nights/evenings/weekends rocked her Nike Studio Wrap with style and grace.

Never fear, sweatworking does not come without its rewards!

Everyone in attendance took home a gift bag packed with giveaways from our amazing sponsors including Pretzel Crisps, Gymphoria, Muscle Milk, Air Aerial Fitness, Ms. Tech, Nutrilux and Mark Bars. Don’t worry. I’m not just going to rub a gift bag in your face, we’re giving one gift bag away this week. Stay tuned!

We raffled off prizes including a $50 Nike gift card to Nutrilux’s fabulous Registered Dietitian, Mindy.

Two Sweaty Bands went to a Bridal Sculpt regular, Libby, who fits fitness into her days as a Groupon Recruiter.

Two 50-point prize packs from Gymphoria went to Kelly, PR and event maven at Weber Shandwick and Allison who works for Yahoo!

Liz, who rushed over from her day at Brightroll took home the Muscle Milk Zooma Run yoga mat.

Couldn’t sweatwork with us this time? Stay tuned for the next Sweatworking event. If you want to hear about events first, email me at [email protected] and I’ll make sure you get the inside scoop.