All posts by rnagy

Rest & Recovery, The Wim Hof Method

Life Health

Stress is a natural part of life. As humans we are designed to handle acute stress in our lives. We have a physiological process known as ‘Flight or Fight.’ When we feel overwhelmed or in danger, our bodies release hormones that increase our heart rate, slow down digestion, and cause rapid breathing. However, if we experience this process every day for weeks, months, or even years, it can cause harm to the body.

 

We all know that one person that seems stress free. Always happy, always healthy and always seems to have endless energy. You ask yourself, “How do they do it?” The answer is simple. The difference between people who feel the pressure of stress and those who don’t, is how they manage it.

 

There are many different methods to manage stress. Meditation, yoga, exercise, walking, writing, reading, I know you’ve heard of all these before. Today, I am going to discuss a method that I personally use to manage my stress. The Wim Hof Method.

 

Disclaimer: This method is not for everyone and it is always best to consult a doctor before trying it yourself.

 

Before I list the steps of the method I believe a little background is in order. The Wim Hof Method was started by a Dutch extreme athlete named Wim Hof or more widely known as ‘The Iceman.’ With an insane resume of cold exposure world records including: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in just his shorts, Standing in a container while covered in ice for 112 minutes, and running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle, in his bare feet. In order to accomplish these incredulous acts, he created a method to control his breathing, heart rate, and blood circulation. His motto is ‘what I am capable of, everybody can learn.’ By sharing his method with others through videos, talks, and books he has created a revolution across the globe.

 

The method is based around three pillars: Breathing, Cold Exposure, and Commitment.

 

Breathing

 

The breathing pillar consists of a set of breathing exercises designed to increase oxygen levels, reduce stress, and provide more energy. For the exercise find a comfortable upright seated position or you can lay flat on your back. You will breathe in through your nose using a deep belly breath. To tell if you are doing it right, place your hand on your stomach and when you breathe in your hand should rise with your stomach. Once you breathe fully in you will breathe out using your mouth. The out breath should be relaxed and should feel like you’re breathing from your throat. After you breathe out immediately breathe in again. Repeat this process 30 times. Once you breathe out on breathe number 30, you will hold this out breath. Hold until you feel the urge to breathe and then take a deep breath into your belly. Hold this in breathe for 15 seconds then breathe out. Repeat this process 3 times. It is normal to feel your body temperature change while doing the exercise. I recommend starting slow with your breathing and as you get more comfortable, increase the speed and depth at which you breathe.

 

 

Cold Exposure

 

With all the benefits it offers (inflammation reduction, improved sleep quality, and production of endorphins), cold therapy is very popular right now. We can see many wellness centers incorporating cold tubs, cryotherapy and ice baths in their facilities. Luckily, you can experience all the benefits right from your own home.

For the cold exposure you can take cold showers, ice baths or even, if you are crazy enough, go for a dip in a local lake or river. Personally, I take a cold shower every morning. It wakes my body up and gets my mind right for the day. For the cold shower what you can do is step in and turn the water on warm then turn it to cold for 30 seconds then flip it back to warm for as long as you need. Do this 4-5 times. For any cold exposure, start with short intervals and work your way up to longer periods of time. Always end with cold being your last interval.

 

Commitment

 

The third and final pillar is Commitment. I believe this is the most important of the three. This method is a practice and takes time to fully master. Without commitment, patience and dedication your ability to improve these 2 exercises is highly unlikely. In weight lifting there is the concept of progressive overload. You start with light weights and over time when your body gets used to that weight you increase it. Slowly you are able to lift more and more weight. The Wim Hof Method behaves the same way. Instead of weight, you are increasing your stress bearing capacity (Longer breath holds and longer time in the cold). Each time you do these exercises your stress bearing capacity increases and over time you are able to handle more stress (pretty cool!). Commitment is the name of the game. Even if you don’t see results right away, keep going.

 

Stress is non-negotiable. But, with the Wim Hof Method, you can increase your stress bearing capacity and can learn to manage it better.

 

There are so many stress management techniques out there. Try what works for you and commit to it. Take time to focus on your mind and you will find yourself happier, healthier and more energetic. If you have any questions about the method or would like more information go to their website.

 

pastedGraphic.png Welcome to the Official Wim Hof Method Website

Discover your inner fire at the Wim Hof Method website. Become happy, strong & healthy with our online courses, workshops, travels & app. Visit us today.

www.wimhofmethod.com

 

For now stay healthy, keep going, you’ve got this.

 

Best Wishes,

Dylan Kopp

Meet the Ryde Instructors

Fitness, Training

Now that we are almost two months into the newest addition of cardio classes to Union Fitness, we thought it’d be nice to share a little more about the Ryde instructors over the next few weeks. Kayla, Vanessa, and Rachael are first up on this week’s introductions!

 

Kayla Hersperger

 

Hi! I’m Kayla! I’m primarily a yoga teacher but I’ve been teaching RYDE classes since this past summer. I absolutely love putting together my playlists and class plan each week and look forward to teaching on Friday mornings.

 

I started indoor cycling about four years ago at Urban Elements when Britt and Sharon encouraged me to venture outside the yoga room. I hopped around to various studios and then when the pandemic hit, I became obsessed with the peloton bike. Since buying my own, I’m pretty much riding every day between my own bike and the classes at Union Fitness.

 

In my class you can expect to ride to the beat of the music. I take extreme care creating my playlists that are often themed and always exciting. If you don’t have fun in my class, I haven’t done my job. My goal is to get your heart pumping and your face smiling. Basically, we have a party on the bike.

 

Vanessa Matthews

 

Vanessa went to school to be a chemical engineer, but left her career to pursue her passion of fitness full time.  She opened her own personal training business and has taught many different group fitness formats since 2010. In 2015 she was fitness director at a local gym, and won her first figure competition, all of which seemed like significant accomplishments, until her health began to fail in 2016.  When she had her first baby in 2018, health issues continued to spiral out of control.

 

Chronic pain forced her to change her entire philosophy and approach to health, which she believes is holistic, and more about food and mindset than it is about exercise. After a 4.5 year break from teaching, and now with a 1 and 4 year old, Vanessa is back with a new outlook on life.  In her classes, she takes her students on a mental journey as well as a physical one.  If you catch one of her classes, you will feel like you can take on the world!

 

Rachael Riddell

 

Rachael graduated from the University of Colorado Doctor of Pharmacy Program in 2014 and manages a team of Clinical Pharmacists in Pittsburgh. Shortly after finishing pharmacy school, she started teaching cycling, bootcamp, and barre fitness classes in Denver. Her love of all things fitness followed her back to Pittsburgh in 2018 where she has continued to teach around the city.

 

All of Rachael’s workouts (on and off the bike) are intended to challenge what you think you are capable of doing and leave you feeling accomplished. Look forward to a playlist to keep your body moving to the beat in every class.

 

You can catch Kayla, Vanessa, and Rachael early mornings during the week and also on the Saturday rotation!

Are You a Monster Truck or Lambo?

Fitness, Life Health

I have a theory in life that we are all just boats sharing the same river. Within this river are barges, speed boats, kayaks, and everything in between. Each of us is doing our thing yet we are all creating wake for one another. When I make decisions I try to consider not just my fun, I also try to consider the wake that I am creating. This theory stands the test of time, yet one area it never quite worked out is when it comets my training. My training has moved more into the Henry Rollins approach, it is about me pushing to be a better me. This got me thinking, how we train becomes how we look, feel, and perform.

 

Monster Truck vs. Lambo

 

Tenzing and I went to watch Monster Jam last weekend and it was a blast (he watched the trucks, I people watched). Tenzing’s favorite truck (Megladon) was not there, yet his second favorite GraveDigger was there, my truck is El Toro Loco. While watching these impressive machines I let my mind wander about training. How do torque and horsepower work together to make these machines do some amazing tricks. For the uninitiated, give me a minute of your time to revisit some science. Zatsiorsky wrote about three methods to increase muscular tension.

 

  1. Maximal Effort (ME)- Moving a heavy load slowly.
  2. Dynamic Effort (DE)- Moving a light load quickly.
  3. Repetition Effort (RE)- Moving a moderate load for multiple reps.

 

Everything we do in training still falls into one of these methods. Too often I see people fall in love with one of these methods. Some love to be explosive, and train too often in an explosive manner. While others are always “grinding,” and training too often in a heavy manner. The last group love the pump, and always  use using RE to feel “bumpy” when they  leave the gym.

 

No one method of training is perfect and every program has holes in it. The key is to not being just a machine made for torque, (using ME all the time) or one made for horsepower (DE). Training should be a compliment to your life and at times your body will need to run, jump, or shovel snow. Train your body to do all of the above. Movement is medicine and if we wish to be healthy we shouldn’t train solely to be a monster truck or a lambo. We should train to be humans who can move.

 

Another way to think about this is as my good friend Brett Bartholomew said, “lift different weights, at different angles, at different times of the year, at different speeds.” I may have messed up that quote, yet you get the idea. The goal in training is to be prepared for life and to be strong means being strong at all things. The exception is when are preparing for a specific event (powerlifting or marathon will be very different training). Once the event is over return to training for your life.

 

Now let’s all go be a chevy volt.

 

🙂

 

 

 

Meet the Interns, Tristan

Uncategorized

Hello everyone, my name is Tristan Hillebert and I am currently a junior at Chatham University.  During this spring semester I will be hanging out around Union Fitness completing my internship.  I will be graduating next year with a major in exercise science along with a minor in nutrition.  I am also a part of the Men’s Ice Hockey Team, due to this I have been lifting and training at Union quite frequently over the past two years.  Along with training for hockey I have a big passion for the weight room particularly bodybuilding. 

 

I’m excited to be working with everyone at Union and gaining knowledge about operating a gym along with working with athletes, teams, and all types of clients! After school I would love to open a training facility of my own to work with athletes and other forms of competitors.  Outside of the gym I enjoy being outdoors, hunting, fishing, and watching movies.  I look forward to seeing/ meeting everyone around Union over the next few months! 

CeJ’s Strongman/Powerlifting Experience

Training

Hello Dream Team,

 

I have been just training for life, liberty and the pursuit of bumpiness for the past few months. With no competitions currently in sight I have been mixing various training styles, implements, exercises and just rolling with them for a few weeks at a time. With that being said I do miss the time frame goal, game time feeling that competing in powerlifting and strongman provide. So that got me thinking, why don’t I talk about my experiences in both and work to inspire or push you and the strong folks at Union and abroad to try new competitions.

 

Let it be known that ANYONE can compete in either of these sports and more people will support and cheer for you than grumble and poke fun. For those people that poke fun at people competing you’re not cool or helping new people enjoy the sport you do, we can have a chat later about that. If you are competing for the first time in either of these sports, I would recommend getting a coach that has competed or training with people that have competed. This will help boost your confidence and not go into training and competition without purpose, drive and knowledge. The saying “I don’t know if I’m ready yet” is the reason we prepare and train for the competition. Have no fear, find some battle buddies, coaches and let’s get at er!

 

In the grand scheme of things the two sports (powerlifting & strongman) are similar in training. Your goal should be to have a strong base of work capacity, proficient technique in the BIG moments (Squat Bench Dead Carry & Overhead Press) , build some muscle because you can’t flex bone and much to many people’s anti-cardio hearts, have a good aerobic capacity (mostly for recovery purposes but also so you aren’t a lump after your first event). I would say another cool thing about these sports is that the majority of people competing and supporting athletes are very nice, helpful and educational. They as anyone would want to see their sport grow and attract more attention.

 

There are a few differences I noticed in training and competing for both sports. In a full powerlifting competition you will always squat, bench and deadlift in that order. Strongman however can have 3-5 or more various events that you will usually know upon signing up but could also change due to equipment or other issues (the mystery is part of the fun).  While training for powerlifting I would recommend having a squat, bench, deadlift and second press emphasis day focusing on building your competition lifts. While training for strongman I would still keep my 3 strength and main mover days going but I would emphasis the Overhead press and deadlift more since that is used more in strongman. I would throw a variation squat and bench in to help strengthen my movements and keep building muscle. Also in Strongman, you will usually be head to head with another competitor but I would tell anyone to focus on their own efforts and do the best they can.

 

Overall I had a blast competing in both Strongman & Powerlifting. I liked seeing my maximal strength in the powerlifting competition and pushing the gas pedal in the strongman competition. I will definitely be doing more of both soon and would love to talk more in person with people who are interested in joining me in training and competitions.

 

Pitter patter let’s get at er and have some fun trying new events.

The Beauty in the Team

Life Health,

Many people smarter than I am have written extensively on growth through struggle. I will be the first to admit that I have had an easy life. I know that I am just a product of all of those who came before me to help me become who I am today. I am not saying I have never had struggle, I am just saying I know many who have had much more. Maybe I have had just the right amount of struggle for the person that I am?

 

“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

– Leroy Satchel Paige

 

For the last few blogs I have been writing about my recovery and what I am doing to improve myself. Today I want to take a little different approach and try to show an appreciation of injuries and set backs. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we need to find ways to find beauty in set backs.

 

Thank you’s that I owe.

Charles Jasper- I love to mess with CeJ, yet I have worked with CeJ longer than any other person in my life. I see his approach to life and envy him in many ways.

Curtis Miller- Curty doesn’t always know how impactful his words are and he has helped me immensely.  He is a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Jared Caroff- How can anyone not love this guy. He’s smart, strong, and has less body fat then you or me. Wait, I take that back, the better question is how can anyone like this guy? I’m kidding I appreciate how much he is willing to help.

Magic Hands Malik Abrams- Malik recently joined us and he has been amazing. He has also helped me return to lifting. I have only kicked him in the face once during a massage.

Toria Crispin- Toria keeps the bills paid and the lights on at UF, so without her stepping up rehab wouldn’t matter.

Jaci and Ethan- The dynamic, olympic lifting duo won’t let me cheat my front squats. When the program says 10 second iso then I know I better count slowly or Jaci will time with her slow stopwatch.

All the other UF employees who make up a great team here. None of us are an island and without them we wouldn’t be able to have such a fun environment. Thanks to each and every one of you. The new RYDE instructors are awesome to have here, and all the cardiolab, Yoga, personal training, as well as front desk people are awesome and I am thankful for each one of you.

 

Now that I have praised all the staff what does this have to do with my injury? Everything! Without this amazing team working together there is no way I could worry about my own training.

 

 

Meet the Interns, Allison

Uncategorized

Hey everyone! My name is Allison Ream and I’m an intern here at Union Fitness for the spring semester. I am a senior at Robert Morris University, located in Moon Township. I’m majoring in Sport Psychology and I’m also getting a minor in Sport Management. I was born and raised in Indiana, PA in a big family of seven. I am passionate about physical fitness and have always had a sport-oriented lifestyle. Growing up I played volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball, danced, and did gymnastics. I got into psychology because of my fascination for the mind-body connection and how big of a role your own mentality plays in your everyday performance. Sport psychology gives me the opportunity to combine many of my interests all into one. I hope to become a certified mental performance consultant in the future. My dream job would be to be a team psychologist for a professional sports team, specifically in the NFL. Some things I enjoy when I’m not working out are coffee, sneakers, rap music, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

I chose to intern at UF to see athletes first-hand be motivated and reach their goals mentally and physically. I love the family feel you get when you step in the gym and can’t wait to get more knowledge from the employees here. I’m super excited to be a part of the Union Fitness team!

 

Editors Note. Allison trains at the same gym that Skylyn trains at in Indiana PA.

Toria’s Exercise Variety

Fitness

We all know that humans tend to be creatures of routine and habit. This same concept goes for how we train in the weight room. We can tend to become narrow minded and focused on something so specific that we forget to include a variety in how we train.

 

The body will adapt to any demand that is placed on it. However, if you’re repeating the same training regimen for too long without variety in your exercises, your body will become much less responsive and lose the ability to continue to adapt. By creating a new stimulus, this will help to introduce more progress over time. For example, say that you have box jumps programmed into your routine for 4 weeks. I’m not saying that you should stop doing them all together after 4 weeks, but instead you should try to change aspects such as the number of repetitions and sets that you are doing or introducing things such as decreased rest periods, increased box height, or adding in seated jumps vs. standing. Another example could be for those of you who primarily train aerobically several days per week. Trying to incorporate some strength and mobility training exercises within your program as well could help you see some different or enhanced progress down the road.

 

Variation in your training can also include introducing new things such as trying out a new group class, getting outside to hike/bike/etc. I know it has been ridiculously cold recently but take advantage of the rare sunny days that we get in the winter and get out and get moving. Doing this may help you avoid possible boredom and increase your adherence to staying active. You don’t have to do different things every week and switch up your routine daily, however, just be sure to spice things up and don’t be hesitant to try out some new exercises and ways to be active. 

 

Toria

Ham’s Comeback

Fitness, Life Health, Training

As you may already know I injured myself training three weeks ago. While injuries are never fun we all know that bumps and bruises are part of training. I am going to use this opportunity to fix some issues that I have ignored for far too long. While trying to return to training I am going to keep Jared’s words in my head, “In two weeks you will think you are better, then for the next two months you will do something that reminds you that you aren’t” 

 

I began “working out” the week after my injury (while it appears that my injury is 100% soft tissue, I must be smart in returning). The reason I quoted working out is because there is a big difference between training, and working out. Training has a purpose and is striving towards goals. Working out is aimless and not nearly as focused. To be fair I began this process two weeks ago, and while it seemed aimless it honesty wasn’t. The goal the first two weeks was to move, work on my mobility, and return myself to pain free (mostly) movement. 

 

Now to begin my training.

 

Today I will begin my training again. This will be the first time I train with a barbell or any real weight. I will lay out my plan below. Before I do that here are some specifics about the plan. I discussed this with many people to come up with a solid plan. First thing you may notice is that the program looks upside down. I squat last. Curtis had this idea as I will be warmed up and moving better by the time I get to my squats. In addition the only barbell movement I am doing for the next 2-3 weeks is a front squat. Here is the program.

 

  1. Slider Leg Curl 3×15
  2. Bulgarian Split Squat (31X tempo) 3×8
  3. Chins 3×10
  4. SA Bench with Iso opposite arm 3×10
  5. SA Overhead Press 3×10
  6. SA Row with Iso opposite arm 3×10
  7. Trap Bar Carries 3×20 yards
  8. Front Squat (10 count iso) 3×3-5 

 

That is it. I will still begin each day with bike 10 minutes and about 15 minutes or rehab/mobility work. Wish me luck as I will be SORE. 

Meet the Interns, Montrell

Life Health

Hello Union Fitness! My name is Montrell Newton Jr, and I will be interning here for the spring semester! I am originally from Miami, Florida, born and raised #305. You are probably asking why I moved from 90 degree weather to a place where it snows. Well, I decided to expand my horizons and pursue a degree at the University of Pittsburgh #H2P. I am a Resident Assistant at the university and a part of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. My long-term goal, is to open a hybrid facility consisting of a physical therapy clinic, performance center for athletes, as well as the general population.

 

Before I achieve that goal, I decided to enter the Clinical Exercise Physiology Masters program at Pitt. For my area of interest, I want to help people. I want to help educate the masses on health, and how to live a healthy life without making it difficult. I find it rewarding to help people achieve their goals, or assist people in different aspects of their lives. I decided to intern at Union Fitness because of the family environment it has, and also I believe the trainers here have a lot of knowledge that can help with my future endeavors. I am looking forward to meeting all of you and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

 

*Editors note, Montrell came to Pittsburgh to experience good football.