Swish House: My New Exercise and Work Out Routine. The Program’s Founders Describe it as "An Adult Basketball Fitness Class."

Preface for this article: While I preparing to publish this blog post that I've been developing for a long time, I came across a video that I'd created when I initially started at the Swish House. It's rather basic; the audio is a song with noises from the workout in the background. After viewing it, something occurred to me that I needed to include.

The video showed me why I needed to start exercising more on a regular basis. What will be mentioned in the article I do work out, and I am quite active. But in my eyes, I was absolutely enormous! I'm probably still round in some areas! This video showed me that looking in the mirror isn't enough! Sometimes that different view that you can get from a picture or in my case a video will show you things that you aren't seeing in the mirror, or not being told by friends and family.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you should pay attention to the thoughts of others or give the opinions of others much weight. Especially when it comes to appearance. However, consulting with those close to you or viewing oneself from a different perspective can be beneficial in terms of health.

There is a saying that my mother told me once that I feel applies in this situation. "Those that matter won't mind, and those that mind don't matter." - Mom Henderson.

With that in mind, I also began to track all of my health data when I started this new exercise journey. (That topic is a blog post for another day. I've been working on it as well!) I bought a fancy scale, blood pressure cuff, and sleep tracker. I began monitoring my health metrics using my apple watch's activity monitor. And I got a secondary tracker with a phone application too. This way I compare the data from all of the devices and make sure that all is in check.

I wrote another blog a while back titled: "I Feel Great!" And while I did feel great that was mostly from eating and consuming the right things for my mind and body. Now that I've added this other consistent element to my routine I feel UNSTOPPABLE!

Maybe that's the title for the blog post that I've been working on...

In any case, please enjoy the blog posts. I'd appreciate any feedback, whether it's on the preface, the workout routine described, or anything else written by us. Thank you for taking the time to read and interact with us! And please remember that as a company, Department3C is accessible to all of its fans. We Are Here When You Need Us!

Some people love to work out. They love fitness, exercise, and staying in great shape. They enjoy the results of the workout after by looking and feeling incredible. They enjoy going through the actual workout itself! These are the type of people that experience runner highs and overall live for the gym.

I envy these people because I am not one of them. I can see and feel the importance of staying in shape. But as hard as I try to LOVE working out, I just don't. This is one of those "it's not you, it's me..." situations. I'm one of those people that if there were a pill that I could take to stay in shape and stay healthy, I'd be first in line to sign up!

Speaking of diet and nutrition and pills. A person could reason that well; if you just ate great all of the time, that would be like that magic pill of health! But where's the fun in that? Life is meant to be enjoyed. I enjoy delicious food! And putting myself on punishment from deliciousness isn't my idea of fun!

I have what I've heard called "fat guy tendencies." It's not like I ride around in my car thinking of funnel cakes dancing through my daydreams. Or thinking of the different toppings that I could put on one to make it the perfect snack.

Please don't misunderstand; I enjoy being active. I like all sports and the thrill of competition. Being active and moving freely while engaged in sports is one of life's true joys. Speaking about the physical nature of my job as a firefighter, picking up and performing a physical activity is imperative for my safety and the safety of the public that we serve. In my personal life, it is enjoyable knowing that I can play with my kids or play a game of pick-up basketball without being the first one to get winded.

Working out and trying to stay in a shape other than round are things that I need to do to stay healthy. I know that I need to watch what I eat. I try my best to live by one of my favorite mantras. "Everything in moderation... Even moderation".

But with all of that being said, I'm happy to say that there is a workout for people like me! It's called Swish House, and in my opinion, it is a mix of CrossFit and Basketball. The program has been fantastic for my fitness levels.

I had the opportunity to speak with the founders, employees, and some of the coaches before I published this post. Here is some of what they had to say and how they describe the fitness classes that they offer.

"Founded in 2019, Swish House is the world’s first basketball fitness class. It’s the perfect combination of cardio, skills, and competition. Members typically burn between 700-1000 calories per class. One of the coolest things about Swish House, in my opinion, is that the class experience and all the workouts are designed by former professional athletes and an NBA physiologist." -Dave Holtzmuller. 

The current Sports Performance Director for the Detroit Pistons, Trent Salo, is the architect of the Swish House 3D Bullet Proof Warmup and the HIIT station component of each class called The Swish Lab.

Another notable thing about Swish House is their coaches. Every Swish House Class is led by a certified basketball fitness coach who played at the collegiate level or higher. Representing schools like Northwestern, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and others, the coaches are super impressive, to say the least.

One of my favorites is Erica Prosser. Arguably, the best player ever at Lehigh University, Erica runs a super high-intensity class with tons of shooting. I mean, who doesn't like to shoot the rock! Also recently joining Swish House is Aaron Williams, who is coaching classes part-time as he prepares for a summer try-out with the Denver Nuggets. The best part about the coaches - they love to teach the game and make every member feel like a star.

Here in Chicago, where I'm doing my write-up, there are currently three different places to take Swish House classes.

I'll go in order of which locations I attended in order.

I first attended a class in the Pilsen neighborhood, located at 2343 S. Troop St. Chicago, IL 60608. This smaller basketball is found inside of ChiTown Futbol Pilsen. This particular court gives the class a more intimate feel.

The second place I attended class was in the Gold Coast neighborhood at The Frances Xavier Warde School, 751 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60654. This court is a full-size court, and teams sometimes are spilt more ways than at the Pilsen location just because the court is so big. In addition to baskets being at just the ends of the court, this location also has baskets along the sides for six hoops. This is a great court to focus on cardio workouts.

And the final place, which is new to Swish House's Chicago locations, is 167 Green St. Chicago, IL 60607. This location is found in the city's Fulton Market neighborhood. Again this location boasts a full-size court that is great for cardio. The court is found on the 17th floor of the building and provides a gorgeous view of the city.

Besides these Chicago locations. If you look on the Swish House website, you'll find locations in Brooklyn, NY; Detroit, MI; Traverse City, MI; and Grand Rapids, MI.

Until I hit the road, I officially can't speak on those locations. But I'm sure that if they are anything like the Chicago locations, the quality of the classes is equally as high!

So how does this workout compare to CrossFit? As was mentioned earlier, there is a HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) portion of the class called "Swish Lab." And while a traditional CrossFit class is majority HIIT. Swish House incorporates HIIT into the hour-long classes. In addition to the HIIT part of the class, there is an adequate warm-up and injury prevention portion with stretching relevant to the exercises you'll be performing. And of course, within the class, there are shooting, dribbling, and rebounding exercises.

I have done CrossFit, and I have belonged to a "Box," and it's an excellent experience for that particular fitness routine. The camaraderie within the workouts is great! Having workouts where you have to rely on a partner's effort before you can get going is one of my favorite types of exercise. This routine makes you work harder so that your partner can get a rest or so you can get a rest. Either way, when you look at it, somebody is getting some time to rest, and it all depends on the partner's exertion level.

The SwishLab at the SwishHouse is a good example of partner workouts. Partners complete exercises based on a clock system. Box jumps, for example, are one such exercise. Shooting drills in which one person is the shooter and the partner rebounds and gives passes are another option. Depending on the coach and the programming, these workouts will vary slightly.

But here is my absolute favorite part of the entire class. The team shooting competitions!

Here's a description: After warming up and stretching, teams are made up of the members attending the class for the day. And between those teams, coaches come up with different shooting or basket-making games for the teams to go against each other. I say basket-making because sometimes the shots are three-point shots, sometimes mid-range, sometimes lay-ups, and sometimes even floaters are incorporated. The point is to make shots for your team.

Since attending the classes, I've won some of the series. I've lost some of the series. Sometimes losing equals an extra workout. But I'm there to get into better shape, so win or lose, I try and do the extra work.

The team-building part of the classes is fantastic! Being on a team with sometimes strangers is fun and allows you to meet new people. And while the teams compete, everyone is so completely supportive. No one is there to be a star, no one is getting cut from the squad, and we aren't there to audition for an NBA roster. We are all there to train, work out, and in some instances, get better at a game that we love. We all make shots, we all miss shots, and no one makes you feel bad for missing. And when you make a shot, especially to seal a team game win, it makes you feel like a million bucks!

All of the games are fun, competitive, and challenging. The entire culture of the class supports the idea of getting people in better shape no matter their skill level. I'm a fan, and I plan on going for as long as my health allows me. So hopefully, that's a long time to come!

Swish House has swiftly become one of my favorite exercise routines. So, if you're searching for a fun and competitive workout that will help you get in shape and improve your basketball skills, I highly suggest trying Swish House! You won't be sorry!