All posts by rnagy

Cardio for the Heart-io

Fitness, Life Health, Training

There are endless opportunities to engage in cardio (aerobic) exercise in our everyday lives. You could get your heart rate up by using the stairs instead of the elevators, taking a bike ride, coming to UF and using the ellipticals, rowers, etc. By participating in regular aerobic exercise, we are encouraging our hearts to work smarter and not harder. What I mean by this is that when we perform aerobic exercise, our heart is working overtime to pump blood throughout the whole body to the places we need it the most. By conditioning the heart to pump blood more efficiently while exercising, this makes it easier for the heart to pump blood more efficiently while at rest, and as a result your blood pressure will decrease. With exercise and consistent training, the heart will be performing its essential functions while being under a lot less stress in the long run. I also want to highlight a few of the other benefits that come along with aerobic training and exercise in general:

 

  • Lowers the “bad” cholesterol levels – exercise works to eliminate the “bad” cholesterol also known as LDL by increasing the “good” cholesterol in the bloodstream otherwise known as HDL.

 

  • Decreases the risk for type 2 diabetes – exercise can increase insulin sensitivity which means that the body will require less insulin to control its blood sugar levels. The muscles also extract glucose from the blood during exercise. This helps to prevent blood sugar levels from rising too high.

 

  • Triggers the release of “feel good” chemicals in the brain – This includes serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, and dopamine. These are some factors contributing toward what helps us to be in a good mood and feel mentally healthy in general.

 

  • Reduces inflammation – exercise causes muscle cells to release a protein called IL-6 which has anti-inflammatory effects

 

  • Decreases the risk of heart disease and stroke

 

There are so many other benefits to aerobic training, but I just wanted to highlight a few today to get you thinking about how important and beneficial it is to incorporate this into our daily lives.

 

Toria

Lay The Smackdown on Seasonal Affective Disorder

Fitness, Life Health

My friends, welcome to Pittsburgh’s cold and dreary gray season. With this change of season, decrease in sunshine and drop in social interaction, many people feel the effects of SAD. What is SAD you ask? SAD is Seasonal Affective Disorder and is defined by the Mayo Clinic as a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons. SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you are like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, zapping your energy and making you feel moody. These symptoms often resolve during the spring and summer months. Less often, SAD causes depression in the spring or early summer and resolves during the fall or winter months.

 

 

Here are some signs and symptoms of the dreaded SAD.

 

  • Feeling listless, sad or down most of the day, nearly every day
  • Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
  • Having low energy and feeling sluggish
  • Having problems with sleeping too much
  • Having difficulty concentrating
  • Feeling hopeless, worthless or guilty

 

Here are 4 signs and symptoms related to Fall & Winter SAD.

 

  • Oversleeping
  • Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
  • Weight gain
  • Tiredness or low energy

 

These 4 signs and symptoms are specific to summer onset seasonal affective disorder.

 

  • Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
  • Poor appetite & Weight loss
  • Agitation or anxiety
  • Increased irritability

 

Some main factors that come into play that may cause seasonal depression are disruption of your internal clock (circadian rhythm), drop in serotonin levels and decreased melatonin production due to the decrease in sunshine.

 

 

Have no fear, there are some ways to battle these seasonal blues.

One way is exercise, which can help decrease depression by increasing endorphins, serotonin, and can clear your mind. Exercise can also improve your sleep and energy levels. Your body gets the movement it craves, which can help it relax. Movement is medicine and moss doesn’t grow on a rolling stone. Some other helpful tools to combat SAD are Light Boxes, Behavior Therapy, a well balanced diet, stepping outside to get some fresh air and sunshine or scheduling social get togethers with friends.

 

 

Don’t let the lack of sunshine get you down, come drop in to Union Fitness and let us assist you in combating Seasonal Affective Disorder. We can get you moving and grooving.

 

 

Stay bright my friends,

 

CeJ

Physical Therapy at Union Fitness

Life Health

Union Fitness is a unique facility as we offer so many different options. If you want to drop a few pounds we can help you with that. If you want to get stronger, we know a few people that can help. Maybe your goal is to become a world class lifter, we have been known to dabble in that too. On top of all of that fun stuff we also have some fun in our cardiolab classes, and we have a few hundred athletes that are here everyday to get better.  Now we are adding in new component to help you succeed in life.

 

Welcome Precision PT to UF.

 

Mike Allen is a Physical Therapist with years of experience including training athletes as well as normal people like myself. Mike has been looking to expand and so we found a partnership. Mike will be using our facility as his home base in the city. He already runs two successful PT clinics north of the city. He will run all of his services in our gym. Mike will be taking appointments through his PT company and he will use our massage room for assesments and use the entire gym for his rehab.

 

Now if you are in need of PT you have more options. Also, don’t forget we still have massage available.

 

Todd Hamer

The Smallest Changes Make the Biggest Difference

Life Health, Training

My powerlifting journey started about 3 months ago (something I never thought I’d be saying). I’ve pretty much trained like a body builder ever since I seriously got into weightlifting about 4 years ago. It wasn’t until this year, 4 months ago, that I wasn’t finding joy in my workouts, and I decided something had to change. I decided to start training full body and focus a little more heavily on gaining strength through my main lifts: squat, bench, deadlift (but mainly bench and deadlift because I hate squatting lol). 

 

As I was writing up a new program for myself, I asked Curtis for his input. As we all know he’s full of knowledge when it comes to powerlifting, technique, and so much more. From there, I asked if he could watch and critique my bench because at the time, I felt like I was having trouble making progress. During this session, he told me to correct one thing and IT LITERALLY CHANGED EVERYTHING. This is what he said, “as you press the bar off your chest, push backward into the bench and act like you’re trying to push your toes out of your socks.” At first I was a little bit confused and as I tried to replicate that in the next couple reps it was a little weird. Then it clicked for me. 

 

The next couple weeks of training were mind blowing! I remember the week after I was benching and hit 100lbs for 8 reps (something I’ve never come close to). I ran into the office and said, “CURTIS THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!” It’s crazy that all I had to do was use my legs to drive myself back into the bench in the concentric portion of my bench. Like why didn’t I think of that??

 

For the next month, I focused on that leg drive, worked on pin presses, and really pushed myself to add more weight on the bar during my workouts. I tested my 1 rep max last week and successfully benched 125lbs!! After, I really started to think about how far I’ve come over the past year. A year ago, my one rep max was 75lbs, I never would’ve thought I’d be pressing 50 more pounds a year later. 

 

Another big win I had last week when testing my maxes was my deadlift. For the most part, I’ve always enjoyed deadlifting, but I also felt like I hit a wall with making progress on them a couple months ago. When I started my new training program, I shortly realized I couldn’t keep doing what I used to if I wanted to add numbers to my deadlift. When I made the switch from body building doing 10,12,15 reps of exercises to powerlifting doing 3,4,5 reps of an exercise it was a lot harder for me to wrap my head around. I saw it as “oh well now I’m not putting in as much work as I was before because I’m doing less reps” and I would completely forget that fact that I was now lifting way heavier and therefore still putting in a substantial amount of effort and work. As soon as I was able to eliminate that voice telling me I wasn’t working hard enough is when I started working harder and pushed myself to lift heavier. I successfully deadlifted 235lbs last week when a year ago my max was probably around 170/180lbs.

 

Moral of the story is the littlest things can really change your life, and the sooner you can quiet those discouraging voices in your head is when you can push yourself to do things you never thought possible. Apply this to your life or to your training and just watch how far you can get.

 

April

Turkey Burn Time

Fitness, Training

What better day to get a sweat in and work hard than the upcoming turkey day?! We are excited to host UF’s biggest group workout on Thanksgiving morning. We will be closing UF down for the day to hold this Superclass for all of you. We will be using all the fitness center, strength lab, and cardio lab spaces for the workout, so there will be plenty of space to move around.

 

This Superclass is free and open to anyone and everyone who wants to attend. We do ask that you help support a good cause by please bringing a non-perishable food item to the class to be donated to a local food bank.

 

The fun will take place starting at 9 AM on November 24th. The class will run from 9 AM until about 10:30 AM. There will be a mixture of cardio, weightlifting bumps, and some other exciting stuff.

 

Join us and burn some calories prior to indulging in the biggest and best meal of the year. Let’s have some fun, lift some weights, and get ready for the rest of the holiday season.

 

Bring your friends, family, and/or people visiting for the holidays. Help spread the word, and let’s get strong and eat some food!

 

Use this link to sign up now! https://unionfitness.com/schedule/

 

UF Team

Squats: One Year of Improvement

Training

I was scrolling instagram on Sunday after my weekend bike ride and I stumbled upon a post about squats from a good friend Lilli. She showed her improvement in squats over a 1 year period. I reached out to tell her congrats. She said it was because of my help. I responded with maybe partially, but it was because of her work. Lilli does not train full time at UF, (even though we are trying to change that) but she is someone that I have helped out when she is here. Today we are going to delve into her squat and how it can help you get into a better squat position.

 

First thing to think about when squatting is un-racking the bar. Too often people just set the bar on their backs. This process must begin with the feet. A term that has become popular is rooting into the ground. While I am not wild about this term, if it helps you then use it. I would rather say set your feet into the ground. When you are going to un-rack a weight, the foot must be driven into the ground with weight distributed throughout the entire foot. If you can wiggle your toes then you are not driving into the ground. Think about your toes grabbing the ground and your heel being driven down as well. Then you can begin to flex into the bar. This must be an active process. Fill your body with air and engage your lats hard. I consider the lats as important as the glutes. Just like the glutes, the lats are big muscles that run at a 45 degree angle. Glutes and lats are the ultimate stabilizers. Once all of this is set you can begin to un-rack the bar.

 

Once you have the bar on your back and you are tight, BE PATIENT. Let the body feel the load. Another mistake at this point is dive bombing into a squat. You must allow the body to adapt to being under this load before beginning the squat. Now to the squat. I’ve heard start with your hips, and this is decent advice. The issue is sometimes people can overcomplicate the squat with this advice. I’ll say think there is a rope pulling your butt back and simultaneously pulling your knees forward. After overthinking all of this just remember one thing. KEEP YOUR FOOT FLAT. If your foot remains flat on the ground then 90% of other things will stay in place.

 

Now that I have covered the lower body, let’s think about what our upper body is doing. Starting with the head, keep it back (do not look up), your head should be driven back into your traps. The easiest way to think about this is push your chin straight back. Now down to our chest, the easiest cue here is keep your sternum up. Keeping your sternum up is always a good thing and will fix many issues without too much thinking. Finally, we come to your mid section. Keep air in your entire body and do not arch your low back. This was one area that I messed up too many times in the past. Keep your hips level to the ground and you should be OK.

 

This was a very brief explanation on squatting. Now back to our friend Lilli. Notice in her first squat her feet aren’t stable, her hips roll under (butt wink), her head isn’t stable, and I haven’t even addressed the amount of wasted movement at her set up. Before you think I am being overly negative, I am not. Her squat was still better than most people I see squat. Now one year later each of those issues have significantly improved.

 

Finally, what can you do today improve? First off is lift with intent. Focus on each rep as it is a max attempt. Second, address any mobility issues you may have. Stretch, do yoga, do some dynamic warm ups, just do more. Also, final advice and stay with me, get in better shape. No, your set of ten will not get you in great shape. As the adage goes, fatigue makes cowards of all of us. If your conditioning is not up to par then your technique will break down. So get in better shape.

 

Here are the two videos of Lilli. Notice the differences one year can make.

 

 

Thanks Lilli for allowing me to use your squat and thanks for being you.

 

Hamer

Discipline Over Motivation

Life Health, Training

Today, I want to take a moment to discuss the difference between discipline and motivation when it comes to our training routine and lifestyle. Which one will be the most beneficial for your long term goals. This seems to be an area that is sometimes misunderstood. By definition, the term motivation means “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” On the other hand, the definition of discipline is “train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.”

 

If you’ve been training for any decent amount of time, then you have certainly experienced your share of motivation. On the other hand, you have also most likely experienced a lack of motivation. When you were new to training, motivation was something that was much easier to come by. You had this vision in your head of what you wanted to accomplish, and woke up every day just waiting to be able to walk into the gym. Over time, you realized that this is a very challenging journey filled with many ups, downs, and crossroads along the way. At that point, the motivation may have disappeared. Maybe you missed a couple of workouts, or maybe you fell out of your nutrition routine. When the motivation disappears (because it will), discipline MUST be established in order to continue towards your goals. 

 

Motivation is great for short term progress. Listening to motivational podcasts, seeing great progress within your body and your mind, pre workout and energy drinks, and simply the excitement of a new stimulus will all have short term benefit that will wear off at some point over time. What will continue to propel yourself along the road when all of the motivation fades away will be discipline. The same discipline that wakes us up each morning, brushes our teeth and makes our bed, and takes us to our job so we can support ourselves and live the life that we want. That same mindset MUST be applied to our training if we truly want to accomplish everything that we tell ourselves that we do.

 

Often times, it’s simply about showing up. Not every day will be a spectacular training session. Not every week will be a new personal record with our lifts. And not every month will we see the change in our body that we want. However, if we keep showing up and putting one foot in front of the other, especially on those days that we just want to give up, then I promise you great things will happen. Discipline yourself to do the hard things. Make them become second nature, just like that bed, those teeth, and that career. Ride the wave of motivation when it’s present, but when times get tough and you aren’t sure what to do, the discipline to succeed will always guide you down the road to your goals.

 

Curtis Miller

How Your Environment Can Affect Your Training and Your Mental Health

Fitness, Life Health, Training

In the last 6 years I have moved 10 times. So, when talking about changing your environment, I have gone through it for sure. All of these changes have taught me one thing, that my environment is the biggest factor on not just my training, but my mental health as well. When we are not happy in our environment, you can start to feel yourself losing discipline. As your training starts to fall apart, so can your overall health.

 

Before my most recent move to Pittsburgh, I was training at a gym that I considered home. I would drive 30 minutes to train at Unrivaled Strength and 30 minutes back every day. A lot of people asked me why I wouldn’t just go to the L.A. Fitness down the block from my apartment and my response was that I needed to train in an environment that matched my goals for myself. I was happy, my lifts and my mental health were thriving. Amid your busiest work or school day, I hope you can look forward to training hard at whatever gym it is you feel your best at.

 

When I moved to Pittsburgh, I knew I had to find a gym like the one I was going to prior to the move, and the owner of that gym, Justin Oliver, recommended Union Fitness. So, not only did I begin training at this gym, but working here as a strength coach and trainer as well. I found myself back in an environment where I am surrounded by individuals with similar goals and a similar mindset to mine. I have mentors who I can train with and learn from every day. This is a gym that allows individuals to be authentic, learn from one another, and most importantly be strong every day.

 

Your gym should always feel like home, so when people ask me how I stay motivated or how I stay disciplined my answer is always the same: find the best environment for yourself. It isn’t always the same for everybody, and it may take months or years to find. But when you find it, everything will start to fall into place.

 

After all, a fish can only grow as large as the tank they live in.

 

Maria

Recovery Methods.

Life Health, Uncategorized

I was at a national conference a few years back and had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Duffin. If you do not know who Chris is, he is to say the least, interesting. A good friend of mine Dave Terry (at the time strength coach at Georgetown), saw Chris and said, “Hamer, do you know Chris.” I said we had met a handful of times. He said we need to go talk to him. So we strolled over to his booth. Chris was welcoming,  friendly, and full of good information. One thing that he said that will stick with me is, and I paraphrase, there are two things you can do for recovery. First you can do something to yourself, second is you can have something done to you. This sat in my mind for years and I have added one thought to this, I’d like to share with you my opinion today.

 

I agree with Chris that you can do something, or have something done to you, I also know that the one other thing you can to for recovery is sleep. Today, I will break each of these down for you and hopefully this will help you recover better, and be healthier and stronger.

 

Do something to yourself.

 

If you wish to aid in your recovery, you will find at times that you must move. A good rule of thumb on recovery is to do a movement with little or no eccentric load. A few examples of this are dragging the sled, throwing a med ball, cycling, or running up stairs. Remember that most muscle damage occurs on the eccentric portion of a lift, so the more we can decrease our eccentric load the better off we will be. Also, a little extra conditioning never hurt anyone. Here are a few examples of things I have done.

  1. Grab a med ball and keep it moving for 20 minutes. Just throw it, let it hit the ground and throw it again.
  2. Drag a light sled for 20 minutes non stop.
  3. Walk or push a turned off treadmill. I began doing this one over a decade ago and haven’t used a turned on treadmill since then.
  4. Get outside and take a hike. Do not underestimate the importance of a mindset to recovery. Stress is relative to how one perceives it. So sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) will be more active when we are creating stress and we want to avoid this in recovery work. Create a more parasympathetic response by relaxing and taking hike.

 

Having something done to you.

 

This is something that is much harder to do for recovery. The first issue is that you must have someone willing to help you, or pay a professional. The upside to this type of recovery is that you can just sit back and enjoy the moment. Here are a few things you can have done to you for recovery.

 

  1. Stretch. There is no need to pay for this service, just have a friend, partner, or training partner stretch you.
  2. Soft tissue work. This can be done with a lacrosse ball, steel tube, or even someones hands.
  3. Get a massage. Call Malik or Sarah for this.

 

Sleep.

 

Sleep is currently the bees knees in the fitness industry. I remember a story about Arnold and sleep. Someone asked Arnold how he could accomplish so much, his response was, you only have 18 hours a day so don’t waste time. The person said 18 hours? Arnold said yes sleep for 6. The person responded, don’t we need more sleep. Arnold said, sleep faster.

 

As we all know sleeping faster is not possible. But, getting better quality sleep is possible. So let me review some basic things we should all do to get better sleep. Yet, none of these should be set in stone as we are all unique and none should be followed 100% of the time.

 

  1. Turn your phone off. I won’t go into the whole blue light stuff. Just put away the most powerful computer you own.
  2. Cut back on caffeine.
  3. Don’t abuse alcohol.
  4. Breathe and meditate.
  5. Do active things during the day, so that you are tired at night.

 

 

There it is, Hamer’s take on recovery.

 

UF Blitz Class

Fitness, Life Health, Training

Hello everyone!

 

If you are new to the community or even if you are a veteran UF member, I wanted to let you know (or remind you) about our free class that we offer here three days a week at lunchtime.

 

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12-12:30pm, we offer a class called “Blitz.” Blitz is a quick 30-minute class that you can hop in during your lunch hour or if you have a free 30-minutes during your afternoon. The class is taught by myself, our GM, Todd, and one of our awesome trainers, April. Todd created this class about 2 years ago, and it is open to anyone and everyone. This means that you don’t have to be a UF member to be able to join in on the fun. Although this class may inspire you to join us. 🙂

 

On Mondays, the class focuses mainly on squats and lower body movements.

On Wednesdays, the focus is mainly upper body pressing and other accessories.

And on Fridays we have a total body circuit training party.

It’s a great way to get up and moving and learn some basic lifting movements in the middle of your day!

 

Come join the fun, bring a friend, and head on over to Blitz class.

 

P.S If you are unable to make it here on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday afternoon and are looking for a longer cardio based class, be sure to check out our Cardio Lab classes offered at 12pm on Tuesday/Thursday’s as well.

 

See you there!

Toria