Things I’ve learned from our #powerful (women)

I’m about a week away from a big milestone birthday and it’s got me feeling pretty reflective. 

Union Fitness has been a huge part of my life for almost three years now, and in that time I’ve both learned and change a hell of a lot. Taking this job was a huge career and life change, and I’ve done it all with a singular focus in mind – to introduce as many women to the power of strength training as I possibly could. I brought it up on my very first interview with Casey, and it continues to be my “one thing.”

I found lifting in my early 20s and figured it out largely on my own (with the help of the internet, naturally). It taught me how to find my own strength, and that in turn helped me build the courage to get myself out of some messy life situations and put me on the path to where I am now. Since our opening in 2016, we’ve seen our women’s class grow from 3 or 4 solid regulars to two BIG classes twice per week. We also have some former regulars who have moved on to their own programs, and a few who even come to class just to hang out and help out. I am proud of each and every woman who has come through this class – especially those who gave it a shot having absolutely no strength training experience. 

And while I go into each class with the aim of teaching and empowering the women who trust me with that task, I finish each class having learned something from all of them. Now, as I leave my 20s behind (gooooood riddance), I’d like to acknowledge some of the things I’ve learned from this community of strong ladies that I’m grateful to hang out with each week.

Lifting looks different on everybody. 

We have a huge variety of women that show up to class each week – all ages, shapes, and experience levels. Working with so many different people has reinforced how important it is to know that there is no universal “correct form” with regards to most exercises. Every body is going to look and function a little different from one another, so every individual will have to approach each lift differently. A particular example that always sticks with me – I LOVE programming zercher squats. Maybe too much. And I’ve learned that doing zerchers with a big chest means you’ve really gotta do some wedging if you want to be comfortable. I’d never had to think about it, and now I know how to prepare new people who are better endowed than I am!

No one likes zerchers as much as I do. 

Too bad ladies! They’re making you better!

You don’t need to wreck yourself every workout to make great progress.

I’ve been playing with the structure of the women’s class over the last two years, and I think we’ve finally settled on a layout that works for everyone. Programming works in three week cycles, doing a variation of the main movement (eg. A slow eccentric deadlift week 1, a speed variation week 2, a heavy deadlift week 3) and the SAME assistance work over all three weeks, with a goal of PRing in volume or weight on those movements each week. We do maybe 7 movements in total, and unless there’s a finisher, rarely do ladies leave class feeling like they’re dead or dying. And yet, they’re still all making progress towards their strength goals! There’s a time and place for going so hard you want to puke, and it’s certainly not multiple times per week.

Many women that are new to benching like to pick their feet up and flail them around when the weight gets heavy. 

I still don’t really get this one, but we’re all working on it! 

Doing hard things is better when you’re doing it with friends. 

I’ve seen so many close friendships blossom in this class. It can be incredibly difficult to establish new friendships with other women once we’re out of high school and college, and I truly feel that some of the best relationships are built when everyone involved is trying to better themselves individually. 

As UF grows into our new space, the women’s program will grow along with it. Keep an eye out for some time and teacher expansions in the new year!

To all of the women I’ve been privileged to work with this past year: thank you. From the bottom of my heart, you’ve all made me a better coach, athlete, and person. I look forward to making this program even bigger with your help. 

Truthfully, I have been struggling with what to write about. I have ideas, but I don’t feel like I have enough resources yet to put out information. I have a few I am excited about that will come alive soon enough. 

So for now I am writing about something that has been acting on my soul lately. For the past six years or so I have read an exorbitant amount of self-help, self-improvement, personal development, non-fictional-real-life-learn something from the latest guru type of book. Sure, I made my way through the cornucopia of personal development land, learned new things, new skills, and new strategies for sifting through life’s whirls and winds. I was utilizing reading more to learn than to feel and this was an issue.

Maybe I used the Dr. Seuss quote too literal- “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

Literary fiction provides something that no fact driven, non-fictional book could give or even sometimes, what real life can give us. The range of emotions literature brings out in us, we may never experience throughout life otherwise. It puts us in more situations than we could probably ever simulate in a life time and some of the situations we might not want to be in however, fiction provides perspective and can create some to develop empathy. And these novels, stories, and dramas give us situations to help us reflect and understand life’s intricacies.

The creative side of our brain needs this. This is termed “Theory of Mind.” This lights up a part of our brain that allows for de-construction of the character at hand, giving us the ability to identify with the character and all their desires, cravings, grievances, etc. Think abstract whereas non-fiction is more cut and dry. Fiction can also speed up time, go back, or even go into another dimension of time. We envision what it is like to go through a marriage and divorce, how murderers think, the atmosphere of the ultimate party at the Gatsby Mansion, or the exhilarating trip through the back of a wardrobe and into an imaginary land of winter ruled by a White Witch. Our brains like stories, to find meaning and go through the mental motions of what we are reading…as if we are there.

I used the self-development books to think they would fix me or the more I read the more I would be healed, find the link to happiness, know all the secrets and feel ready to take on life. And that could not be entirely further from the truth. These books are an aid, and they are just that. The self-improvement books are like sitting down with a therapist and leaving; not actually processing and practicing. Just simply negating all we had talked about.

How do we get stronger in the gym or change our body composition? Through consistency and patience. Through sticking to a program, eating well, knowing when your body is stressed, knowing when you did not get a good night of sleep and knowing to make adjustments the next day to accommodate. I should know this, but I did not realize it then. Sometimes life creates a lovely tunnel vision for weeks, months, or years and you can’t see it until you are on the other side *dramatic chest rising sigh*… finally. 

I would feel a sense of guilt for reading too many pleasurable fictional books and this would guilt me into picking up more educational or fact driven books. My time now is different. Less about myself and more about others. Connections. Research has shown that reading literature helps humans develop empathy and that is just one way to connect and feel for someone else’s story. Reading is a timeless way to explore the world. Or gloat on the feeling of warmth and innocence as you are re-reading some of the Harry Potter novels or The Chronicles of Narnia. Fiction also has a way of making us think in faint yet powerful and dynamic ways.

I am still reading every day. I am rotating between fiction and non-fiction however; I am allowing the wonder and creativity to take the reign. Both are necessary and coming from a science degree I can’t ignore my lunatic love for research, facts, new discoveries, etc. As a matter of fact, my next book will be a non-fiction for purposes of learning about new research and how this can hopefully impact our future in a specific area in our lives, but I can’t talk about it yet because it I will be in one of my blogs soon! 

All books serve a purpose in some way. This blog was not to be one-sided, it was to show there are more sides that we often leave behind and sometimes we need time to immerse ourselves in a story and take on another experience.

A book I am diving into as of recently is Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of The Wild Woman Archetype. This is probably one of the most empowering books I have held in my hands. The author is incredible at story-telling and analyzing the myths and folk tales of the “Wild Woman” and the psyche of her. This book engages with Carl Jung and his theory of the archetype. I am ending this blog with a quote that I love from this book:

“When we accept our own beauty, it is put into perspective, and we are no longer poignantly aware of it anymore, but neither would we forsake it or disclaim it either. Does a wolf know how beautiful she is when she sleeps? Does a feline know what beautiful shapes she makes when she sits? Is a bird awed by the sound it hears when it snaps open its wings? Learning from them, we just act in our own true way and do not draw back from or hide our natural beauty. Like creatures, we just are, and it is right.”

By Alexa Ferri

What Is Self-Efficacy and Why You Need It In the Gym

When you walk up to a heavy barbell, attempting to squat a new PR do you feel like you can rise up and crush that lift or do you place it on your back, feel the heaviness you’ve never felt before and re-rack, deciding to give up in defeat? When you’re faced with a new movement or a new class or a new challenge are you the little engine that could or do you doubt your abilities? If you are the type of person to view challenges as a task to be mastered instead of feared, or the type to recover quickly from disappointments and setbacks then chances are you have a strong sense of self-efficacy.  

Self-efficacy is the belief in your own innate ability to succeed and achieve goals. It is a central concept in Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which examines how we learn from one another through observation, imitation and modeling.  Self-efficacy plays a role in how we determine what goals to pursue, how we go about accomplishing them and how we reflect upon our performance. Our belief in our ability to succeed is important to how we behave, how we feel about ourselves and how we feel about our place in the world (or gym).  

So what happens if you’re the type to re-rack your barbell when it gets too heavy or shy away from taking that class you’ve secretly wanted to take?  Have no fear; there are ways to build self-efficacy.  According to Bandura, there are four major sources of self-efficacy: 

1. Mastery Experiences

Bandura describe this as the most effective way to build a strong sense of self-efficacy and it’s simple—perform a task successfully.  Want a new squat PR? Then squat lighter weight with confidence, and repeat. And don’t forget to celebrate your successes, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Write it on the PR board, gloat on social media or simply just gush to your coach about your new success or goal accomplished. 

2. Social Modeling

Or an easier way to put it is: watch others perform a task successfully. Cue group classes—they’re a great way to get in some social modeling.  Or if the whole group fitness thing isn’t your jam, then simply look around while you’re at the gym, watch some YouTube videos or take a peak at our Instagram for some inspiration. Witnessing others similar to you succeed at something raises our belief that we possess the capability to succeed as well. 

3. Social Persuasion

This is just a fancy way of saying, “ask for some verbal encouragement”.  Seek positive affirmations. Ask your coach for some feedback. Accepting positivity and encouragement can lead to overcoming self-doubt.

4. Psychological Responses 

Building a strong sense of self-efficacy isn’t just about doing or performing either. It is also about how we think, feel and act towards ourselves. Our own emotional responses and reactions are important.  Learn how to minimize stress and increase positive mindsets/moods. Practice looking inwards.

Goals, if you haven’t noticed yet, are an integral part of Union Fitness.  As a staff, we regularly sit down to talk about our personal and work-related goals.  We often discuss with our members the importance of setting (and achieving) realistic targets, plans and objectives.  You see, the thing is–we don’t want to just build strong bodies at Union Fitness, we want to build strong minds and a strong sense of self too. We want you to be successful inside the gym and out too.  We want you to be able to crush goals here, but also enable you to feel like you could tackle any obstacle that comes your way outside of a squat rack too.  Your own belief in your abilities is a good predictor for how motivated you feel to continue onwards with your goals.  Self-efficacy is also important for how you feel about yourself and when push comes to shove, we want you to feel great here, there and everywhere.