All posts by rnagy

Set Some Goals, Reach Some Goals, and Fail

Fitness, Life Health, Uncategorized

Back in January I decided to set some goals for myself. It is now April, the year is 1/3 over and I am no where near reaching my goals. This could easily be seen as a bad thing, yet I could not be happier at how this year has turned out. The goals I set assumed that life would not happen and stand in the way of me reaching my goals.

 

Flashback.

 

January stared strong and I was feeling good. Then I had my first injury in years. When i say injury, I mean can’t train injury. I have had run of the mill bumps and bruises. This was the first time in about 5 years that I was in bad enough shape that I had to change everything that I was doing. The beauty with this injury was that I was able to look at what I was doing, look at my goals, and decide where I needed to go from there. I am very lucky to have people much smarter than I am to bounce ideas off of as well. 

 

As I look back at this injury it was the best thing to happen to my training in years. I have not competed in years and needed a new focus. This led me to being able to work on movements and weaknesses that I have not addressed in years. 

 

As for my goals?

 

I reached none of my January goals. Well, I did reach my reading goal, yet that was never really in question. As far as movement goals, I was not even close to any of them. My question for you is, do you think I would have been better if I had reached my goals and not be injured? I know what my thoughts on this are. 

 

I have never been a person who says, everything happens for a reason. I have twisted this saying to my own view, I believe, wise people learn lessons when things happen. The world and all of its happenings can be random and if we try hard enough then we will learn lessons from all these happenings. 

We can do it all this week if we

Now go out, set some goals, fail, learn, growth , and set some new goals. Fail better and maybe one day you will reach those goals. Whether you reach your goals or you don’t does not matter as the journey is really what matters and you’ll remember the struggles more then the goals. 

An Introduction to Massage Therapy

Life Health

There comes a time in every human’s anatomical experience where they have a tension they can’t relieve, a motion they have issues moving through, or the like. Time goes by; you hope it solves itself. Eventually, it comes down to, “I cannot get this out,” whatever it is. To find relief, we take an aspirin, or apply cold or heat to the area, and these remedies can and will work in a lot of cases. But what do you do when this discomfort becomes recurring, chronic, and these tools don’t get the job done? You seek professional opinion. When you can’t fully figure out why you have dysfunction in your tissue, it is the time to ask for help.

 

The human body is resilient, and it can do a ton, but not without a conduit of some sort. Massage therapy, when it comes to soft tissue dysfunction, is that catalyst, stepping stone to more functional muscle. Conditions such as carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, a frozen shoulder, shin splints, and tight neck are obvious reasons to get bodywork done. This list of injuries continues. It is also beneficial to get work done if you are doing consistent motions, be you a warehouse worker, a bodybuilding athlete, or desk worker; bodywork maintenance will help you avoid injury and extend the life of your physical prowess. Healing and recovery are crucial parts of any person’s lifestyle. With my time in the fitness/wellness field, I profess massage therapy as an essential tool for every person, not because I want to have work (duh), but that I have produced and seen its benefits.

 

These benefits, though often can be seen soon after the session concludes, really only flourish and stick when sessions have regularity. Determining with what regularity is always a conversation between client and practitioner, based on therapist and client availability and severity of dysfunction. To give a standard, most healthy athletes I work with get seen once a month, mostly as a check. If the two of us have a project or a goal in mind, the frequency may increase to twice or three times a month. I am spoiled and think everyone deserves one every week. The more often you see a licensed massage therapist, the more your soft tissue will thank you in power and mobility.

 

The more honest and informative you can be with your massage therapist, or other adjacent practitioners, the better they can assume the skills that will most benefit you. The massage practitioner has a duty to create a beneficial, yet ultimately safe and welcome space for their clients. Tell the therapist about your past injuries and surgeries. Tell them about skin conditions you may have or relevant medications you’re taking, like NSAIDs or muscle relaxants.  No judgment is ever passed in my massage room. Everybody’s journey is different and I just want to make sure people get helped along the way.

 

Humans must do. We must play, we must work, we must do. In this ‘life of do’, we may not always know what we did to create tension in the body, or why it hurts here, or how things got this way, but there are ways to be better, to find yourself in a better position. There is no shame in asking for help to get there. 

 

College Night, Part 2

Fitness

Hey everyone!

 

It is Montrell back with an ANNOUNCEMENT.  April 21, 2022, at 7 pm, the fantastic four interns will be hosting  College NIGHT at Union Fitness! The people have asked and now we are here to deliver.

 

The first college night was a big “W” we had 19 people in attendance. We would love to see more people present so tell a friend to tell a friend.

 

For those who do not know what College night. College Night will be a full-body workout in the Performance lab hosted by the Interns. The class will be open to college students for FREE. If you are interested in joining us, please click the link and sign up. Whether you are an experienced lifter or never exercised a day in your life. Come out and help the interns sharpen their skills as coaches and enjoy the vibes of UF!

 

The fantastic four is looking forward to seeing all of you there to have some fun!

 

Best,

Montrell

How Much Ya’ Bench?

Fitness, Life Health, Training

A long time ago Saturday Night Live had a skit called “How Much Ya Bench?” This as a Chris Farley classic. It was just a bunch of meatheads talking about bench press and all things meathead. This skit is now over 20 years old and I still love it. I love it for many reasons, first reason is that it’s funny. Yet, the second reason I love to watch it is to see how far lifters have come. I remember 20+ years ago the bench was the lift everyone talked about. At Push/Pull events there were many more benchers than deadlifters. Today it is quite the opposite.

 

Lifting in the 1990’s and into the 2000’s was dominated by bench press and men. Today meets will have people deadlifting, squatting, and women crushing big weights. What we see is that lifting has progressed far beyond where it was 2 decades ago. It is now usual to see a meet that has even numbers of males and females. Also, deadlift numbers have exploded. Lifters are stronger, healthier, and look much better.

 

My point to all of this takes me back to one of my favorite quotes.

 

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin

 

As a lifter if you wish to move forward then you MUST adjust to the sport. I often hear lifters talk about how it used to be. Yes, I have great memories of “how it used to be,” it is great to recall some great times. I remember competing against and amongst some legends and I look back positively on those times. Now, I have been passed by many young lifters and I have even learned from them. I am still trying to adapt. This takes me to one other quote that I try to live by.

 

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” Oscar Wilde

 

Morale to my story is that we must keep moving forward as well learning from and leaning on the people younger than us. Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.

 

 

 

 

 

Dylan’s Triathlon Experience

Fitness, Life Health

What is one thing you find impossible?

 

Last year I decided to do what I previously thought was impossible. After joining my local gym, I took up swimming as a form of cardio. While in the pool one day I began chatting up another member and he mentioned that he was currently training for a triathlon. Feeling inspired, I went home and signed up for the next race that would take place in Maryland. With no formal swim training, no bike and only a few 5k races under my belt, I was in over my head (no pun intended).

 

Now that I was signed up, I needed to know how much I should be training (the race distances were 0.75k for the swim, a 15-mile bike, and a 5k run). So, I began working the hardest on my weakest link, which was swimming. I watched all the videos I could find on swim technique (breath count, streamline form, etc.) and developed a good stroke. I would swim three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday) with increasing volume as the race got closer. For the most part I would spend about 2 hours in the pool each training session.

 

The order of a triathlon race goes: Swim, Bike, then Run. That just so happens to be the order of importance in my training as well. While developing my best Michael Phelps impression, I also was on the hunt for a bike. With most places asking well over $1,000 for a decent bike I struggled to justify spending that for one race. I ended up finding a good deal on an old Trek road bike that is 3 years older than I am. This ancient relic is what I would do my training on and what I would ultimately use on the big day. For my bike training I rode twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday). Each ride would be between 5-15 miles depending on how I was feeling that day. I was also supplementing my bike training by riding my bike to and from work. This leads me to the reason I thought this venture was impossible.

 

At the time of training I was working 40 hours a week at my job and also 25 hours a week at a coaching internship. The only thing I did in my spare time was eat, train, and sleep. There were days I wanted to quit and skip training or call into my internship and say I couldn’t make it. In those moments I remembered why I was doing what I was doing. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what I thought was impossible. Every day I would wake up and repeat the mantra that kept progressing me forward: I am Endless. Endless energy, endless motivation, and endless determination to reach my goals.

 

I knew the running portion of the race would be the easiest for me because of my background in sports. So, I only trained 1-2 times a week and most of the time I just ran the distance of the race, which was a 5k. As time went on and the day of the race approached, I started including multiple sports a day into my training sessions. So some days I would swim then go run on the treadmill right after. Others I would even do all three sports in the same session.

 

When race day finally came, I was nervous and had doubts that I didn’t train hard enough. These doubts disappeared as I stared out from the starting line over the lake we would be swimming in. Again, I repeated my mantra and prepared for the countdown. When the start timer hit zero, we were off. As soon as I hit the water it’s like I forgot everything I practiced. My breathing was off, form was terrible, and I couldn’t see anything because of how dark the water was. But, these issues didn’t stop me from completing the hardest swim of my life. Getting out of the water I was so disoriented; I didn’t know up from down. But, I trotted over to the transition area, strapped up on my bike and took off.

 

The next 15 miles of the race were a breeze. The bike became my strongest part of the race and allowed me to catch up to many of the others. The course ventured over multiple uphills and downhills and overall we covered about 2500 meters of elevation. I took this time on the bike to pause mentally and enjoy the scenic views of Fort Ritchie, Maryland. As I had the final transition area in sight, I knew I only needed to push myself a little bit more.

 

The run portion of the race went well however, by that point I was drained. I moved as fast as I could, but every step felt like I had cement blocks around my feet. The entire run portion though I could see the finish line in my head and pictured crossing it. At the final straight away I gave it everything I had and finished strong with a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.

 

I was exhausted, tired, fatigued, or whatever adjective you want to use. But I finished and I proved to myself that I could do what I thought was impossible. I challenge you to come up with something you think is impossible for you to do and go for it. Find that local race, powerlifting competition, or speaking event that you have always wanted to do but never thought you could. Life is short, enjoy the ride.

 

-Dylan Kopp

UF Ladies Night, Part 2

Fitness, Life Health

It’s almost the time for our second Ladies Night here at UF! It will be held this upcoming Saturday April 9th. Last month’s event was a ton of fun, and we are looking forward to hosting this every second Saturday of the month from now on. We plan to keep the style the same where we will have open gym from 4:30 – 6:30pm and starting at 5:00pm we will run a mock Powerful class. With this class, there will be three separate workouts written on the white board. There will be a squat circuit, deadlift circuit, and a bench press circuit for those of you who may come in without a plan and would like some guidance and something to work through.

 

The Cardio Lab, Fitness Center, and Strength Lab will all be open for you to get your workout in for those two free hours. This event is open to both current members and non-members, so be sure to bring a friend! Please sign up online through our website under “Classes” prior to coming into the gym. We are looking forward to seeing all of you there to have some fun and meet some fellow strong ladies!

 

Toria

Northside’s Strongest, Thank You

Training

Last weekend we were able to host Northside’s Strongest Bench Press, Deadlift Competition. For some background about this event, last year we were asked to host another full meet. If we had agreed to this we would have hosted 3 full meets per year. We had a few talks about how adding another meet would add into our goals and vision for UF. We decided that two fulls sanctioned meets was enough. We also knew it was important to host a smaller push pull meet. The goal was for our members to be able to compete, as well as allow outsiders in and have some fun with us. I do believe we accomplished our goals.

 

Hosting a meet isn’t all fun and games and we need a ton of help to set this up. Our members are amazing and always helpful with this. Two people I have to thank to start off is Max for feeding our staff while they were here working and Dave for doing such an amazing job with the shirts. The staff of UF were amazing and worked their butts off to give everyone a great experience. Without everyone stepping up and helping out an event like this could not happen. So THANK YOU.

 

Now for the meet.

 

The lifting went great. One of the coolest parts was the fact that we had 51% female lifters in the meet. We saw many people hit PR’s and tons of lessons learned. For me one of the coolest parts is when someone fails and then says to me, I know what I did wrong. The lessons the iron teaches you are never ending. Some of the highlights of the lifting are as follows,

 

Tim coming back from passing out to hit his next two deadlifts.

 

Kelsey just being Kelsey and smashing weight.

 

Ava and her infectious attitude.

 

CeJ on the mic.

 

There are so many more to thank and I want to make sure each and everyone know that we appreciate you, and couldn’t do this without you.

 

Hamer

 

The Brains Behind the Brawn-Allison Ream

Life Health

“If you continue to think the way you’ve always thought, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got.”-Kevin Trudeau 

 

This quote is one that has always stuck with me, as someone who has always struggled to get my grips around the idea of change. But if we aren’t changing, we aren’t growing right? Once I’ve committed to this idea, I’ve seen great things fall into place. An example that comes out of this is undoubtedly with weight training. I know we’ve all had those thoughts while facing a bar. “I’ve never lifted this much.” or “This doesn’t seem like something I could do.” As a psychology student, I recognize the power that those thoughts have over your actions. Sometimes we may even just freeze. Part of growing yourself in the gym is mentally committing to flipping those thoughts. We must learn to embrace things that are new-that weight that is heavier than last time, or that exercise you struggle to get through (specifically Bulgarians).

 

If you strengthen your mindset, your body will follow. Once you find that sweet spot where your motivation stems from, you can take those steps to reach a place of optimal performance. Whether your mountaintops or your valleys are what fuel you, use what works. Sometimes we may find that the same thing that motivated you yesterday just isn’t doing the trick anymore. Change it! Our off-seasons may not look exactly like game time, and that’s okay. But when you practice integrity and positivity in your small moments, the big moments will come to you with ease. Your mind and your body are so powerful separate, so imagine what they do when they work in harmony!

3 Things That May Be Holding You Back From Reaching Your Goals

Nutrition

I think we have all been at that point where you’ve been making the changes, putting in the work, but feel like you have gotten nowhere. This can be extremely discouraging but it doesn’t mean you should accept defeat. This should be your sign to look closer at what you’re doing to pinpoint exactly what’s holding you back. Let’s look at some of the most common things that could be hindering your progress.

 

1. Nutrition: This is hands down, in my opinion, the number one reason people do not hit their fitness goals. Proper nutrition is so important! However, it can be tricky to get right, so let’s make it simple.

 

  • Decide your goal (lose fat, gain muscle, or maintain).
  • Calculate your macros (protein, carbohydrates, and fat). There are tons of macro calculators you can find on the internet to make it quick and easy. Here is one https://nasmbwpcalculator.com/.

 

You must choose a calculator that accounts for your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). It is also very very important that you give yourself a realistic time frame to hit that goal. If you say you want to lose 10lbs in 1 week it will probably calculate a very small calorie intake which is extremely unrealistic and dangerous. For a guide, recommended calorie intake for adult women is 1,600-2,400 cal/day. Recommended calorie intake for adult men is 2,000-3000 cal/day. Again, everyone is different and requires different things so what may work for you may be outside of that recommendation.

 

  • Choose foods that are going to help you hit your macros, and most importantly that you’re going to enjoy.

 

-For protein, prioritize fresh, lean, minimally processed sources: eggs & egg whites, fish, chicken, lean beef, plain Greek yogurt, etc.

 

-For carbohydrates, focus on whole, minimally processed sources with nutrients and fiber with a mix of starches and fruits: beans and lentils, oats, quinoa, brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole or sprouted grain bread, bananas, etc.

 

-For fats, aim for a mix of whole-food fats and pressed oils: extra virgin olive oil, cheese, egg yolks, nuts (cashews, pistachios, almonds, peanuts, etc).

 

  • Hit your macros and prioritize your protein! Following a high protein diet can preserve or increase fat-free mass, increase satiety, and aid in body fat reduction. This is especially important for those eating in a calorie deficit. A good guide is to eat 1g/lb of body weight. For example, Joe weighs 180lbs so he will eat 180g of protein.

 

2. Recovery: This is something that is often neglected. Recovery can include stretching, proper hydration and nutrition, proper rest, and even chiropractic or massage services.

 

Rest is essential for muscle growth. When you exercise it creates tiny tears in your muscles and during rest is when your body repairs those tears. This is how we build muscle. Each time the muscles tear and repair they get stronger. So, by not getting in the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night you could be killing your gains.

 

3. Patience, Consistency, & Adaptability: These things take time. You can’t do one cardio session or eat one salad and expect a six-pack. You must work hard and stay consistent. That’s where the food and exercise choices become so important. If you are gagging eating mouthfuls of kale and crying while doing burpees, then don’t ever eat kale or do a burpee again. My point is if it’s not something you enjoy, and it won’t aid you on your journey then get rid of it. Continuing to partake in things that are agonizing for you is just going to make it that much harder to stick to. Also, don’t be too hard on yourself, allow for the slip-ups. All that matters is that you get back on track as soon as possible.

 

Remember that we’re all different! What works for someone else is probably not what’s going to work best for you. This is your journey; make it about YOU!

 

Cheers to hitting your goals,

 

April

RIP Louie, A True Legend

Fitness, Training

I began working in the strength game in the late 1990’s. Back in that time there was little on the internet to learn about training. My introduction to one of the greats, Louie Simmons began in that time period. I remember buying Powerlifting USA every month to read Louie’s monthly article. Back in those days I spent most of my reading time with Louie, Charles Poliquin, and Fred Hatfield. These men made me questions everything I thought I knew.

 

Louie’s Unique Approach.

 

As I aged I have learned to use a different language when speaking to people. Louie was Louie and he never changed (this in many ways a compliment). While his approach could be brusque, he respected you. I remember as a young lifter calling Louie’s home (he listed his home number on all of his articles), and Doris would hand Louie the phone, Louie would take his time to share whatever ideas, knowledge, and experience that he possessed. I was finally able to meet Louie in 2002. It was at an IPA meet (I forget where it was), I missed a bench attempt and Louie came up to me and gave me a few pointers. He still didn’t know who I was, but clearly he wanted me (and everyone) to succeed. The only time I ever bombed out of a meet Louie was the only one who gave me white lights (must have misplaced his glasses, cause I was high on my squats).

 

From that first meeting until today I would get a call every few years with an invite to train at Westside Barbell for the day. Louie would always welcome me with open arms and he would spend just as much time with me as he did with some of the best lifters. It was amazing to see a man who was willing to invest the same amount in all lifters.

 

Here is a short list of inventions or ideas that Louie brought to lifting.

  1. Invented the reverse hyper.
  2. Invented the plyo-swing.
  3. Began using chains and bands.
  4. Integrated ideas from olympic lifting into powerlifting.
  5. Re-introduced box squats.
  6. Re-introduced the world to more texts than one could list.
  7. Authored numerous books on training (with a great editor, my wife Erica).

 

Final Louie story to end this blog. When my wife was hired to edit Louie’s books she would call me into her office and say, “What is this guying talking about?” I’d ask to show me the issue. He would have a subtitle saying bench press, then the first sentence would be akin to, here at Westside Barbell we have 8 men who squat over 1000 lbs. I’d say yeah that sounds good. Of course being type A Erica would yell at me and say, “it doesn’t make sense.” I’d have to explain that anyone who reads Louie will understand. She would shake her head and walk away not happy. The point is Louie was a complex man, and with that he didn’t not think, or see the world the way most humans do. He truly changed the world of strength training. He will be missed. I will leave you with a few Louie quotes.

 

“Normal people will accomplish normal things.”

“Don’t be afraid to fail or look like a fool. These are necessary milestones on your way to the top.”

The hardest thing for a human being to do is change. You have to be willing to change. Dinosaurs didn’t and they are gone. If the athlete doesn’t change or adjust, he is gone.”

“Weak things break.”

“Not being willing to try is the beginning of the end.”

“Don’t have 100 dollar lifting shoes and a 10 cent squat.”