All posts by rnagy

Powerlifting: Where to begin

Uncategorized

It’s no surprise that here at Union Fitness we are very well known for our powerlifting community. Many of our members and staff have competed in both sanctioned and unsanctioned meets, or are in the process of preparing for their first meet in the near future. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to hold two sanctioned powerlifting meets here each year with the help of the United States Powerlifting Association (USPA), and Doug Nostrant and his amazing team. Along with this, we recently held an unsanctioned push/pull event which we will now be doing twice per year going forward. This event is great for the first time individual who wants to get their feet wet, have some fun, and learn the ropes of the sport.

 

One of the stigmas involved with powerlifting is that all of the lifters are gigantic, angry, and can all lift 1000lbs. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, a large majority of the individuals who compete in powerlifting events are those who have been training for only a short amount of time and want to set new goals to challenge their self. A powerlifting event is a great way to do just that. You don’t have to have a lot of experience and there are no prerequisites. All you need are some goals, an understanding of the rules, and a strong work ethic. What you will find  at a powerlifting event is a group of people who are very similar to yourself who have very similar interests and a passion for working hard and achieving goals. 

 

So, how does one get started in powerlifting? My first recommendation would be to find a group of individuals who you can learn from. This is considered a training group. Training groups seem to be very undervalued and underutilized in today’s powerlifting, but possess a great opportunity to learn, grow, build new relationships, and challenge each other. If you don’t quite think you are ready for a training crew but want to learn from someone experienced, then just ask our staff here at Union Fitness. Todd Hamer, Charles Jasper, Cayt Neff, Cody Miller, Jared Caroff, Catlyn Brooke, Sara Runser, Steph Stehovic, and myself have all competed and would be more than happy to help you along the way. So if you think you might be interested but don’t know where to begin, just stop by and talk to us and we will get you started on the right track. You can also check out our upcoming meets on June 5th & 6th, as well as September 11th and see what you think. As always, stay strong, my friends.

Thermometer vs. Thermostat

Life Health

Let’s get our brains bumpy today!

 

I’ve got a question for you. Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?

 

Thermometer: you react to the temperature around the room. When it’s hot, it reads hot. Think of this as a knee jerk reaction to a situation. Usually when tension is high, these people lose their cool and become irrational and act on impulse. In a leadership position, thermostats won’t inspire trust or commitment.

 

Thermostat: regulate the temperature/ monitors the environment of the room. These people have a pulse for the energy of the room. When things get too hot, they can cool us down and think calmly. When times are good they give us that needed kick in the bum to press towards our goal. These leaders build trust & confidence with educational, thought out responses.

 

Which type of person are you, are you both at times and which would you like to be more of?

 

Stay cool my friends,

 

CeJ

New Class, What is Old is New Again

Fitness, Training

We are excited to bring back an old class with a new twist, and one of our throwback trainers. Racheal (from cardiolab and bootcamp fame) is back! Powerful Bootcamp is also back!

 

The new and improved Powerful Bootcamp will be a little different. We will have this bootcamp on Monday and Wednesday night from 6:30PM-7:30PM. On Monday evenings the class will be held in the cardio lab and we will be using the weights that we now have in the cardio lab, be prepared for a mix of weights, cardio, and a great playlist from Racheal. Wednesdays will be an outdoor bootcamp with two instructors, and we will use a different location each week. The locations will be within a half of a mile of UF and will use the natural topography of our region to train. If weather does not permit us to go outside we have some special plans using our buildings here at NoVA Place.

 

The class is being designed a good compliment to our Powerful class. It will involved some aspects of strength training, yet will be more focused on conditioning and getting outside to enjoy the natural environment.

 

This class will begin May 3rd and will continue with the outdoor work as long as the weather permits.

 

 

Table Time Project

Life Health

I am excited to announce a new option I will be offering for massage here at Union Fitness and I hope you are excited as well! If you have been interested in trying massage for your first time or you are a regular but a specific area starts to bug you in between sessions, this is your time!

 

Here are the details: 

 

When?

This will be starting the first week of May on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4-7pm. The dates will include May 4th, 6th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th, 24th, 27th, and 31st.
Sessions will be available at 4pm, 4:30pm, 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm.  Each session can be a max of 20 minutes, providing at least 10 minutes transition time for the following client.

 

What is the cost?

Sessions will be $1 per minute.

 

Why?

Very specific work on an area bothering you
Experience Massage Therapy for your first time!
Less time commitment.
Less financial investment.
Easy scheduling
.

 

How to sign up:

At the start of the week a sign up sheet will be posted at the front desk.  You may also contact me, grab me in the gym, or simply sign up a few minutes beforehand if something is bugging you during your workout and the time slot is still open.

 

Cayt 🙂

USAPL Collegiate Nationals, Recap

Uncategorized,

This past weekend I had the privilege of competing at the USAPL Collegiate Nationals meet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as a part of the University of Pittsburgh Powerlifting team. Unfortunately, it was both my first and last Collegiate National meet as I will be graduating in a few short weeks, but I can confidently say this weekend was in the top 5 of my favorite weekends since getting to college. As a team we spent 4 days together, and competed during 3 of those days, based on our weight classes. The majority of the team that competed trains here at Union so it was great to all get to prepare for this meet together and then watch each person compete after weeks and weeks of hard work. 

 

I competed on Friday afternoon in the 83kg (183lbs) weight class. Overall this was the most fun I have had competing even though I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I finished the day 5/9 with a 652.5kg/1438 total. I wound up squatting 237.5kg, which to say the least, was my absolute max on the day. On bench I only ended up hitting my opener at 145kg and same with deadlifts at 270kg. I ended up failing 152.5(337) on bench for my second and third attempt, just didn’t have it on bench that day. Deadlifts I failed 282.5(623) on my second attempt due to not setting my grip and then came within inches of finishing the lift on my third attempt but was just too gassed at that point. My main goal coming into this meet was to total over 1500lbs, which while I didn’t accomplish this goal this time around, I know that I am capable of it, I just need to execute better. 

 

I have a few takeaways I’d like to share from this experience.

 

  1. Have multiple plans… this one applies to both powerlifting and just about anything in life. I came into the day with a plan that, had everything gone the way I had planned would have worked out great I believe. However, as always, nothing ever goes the way you plan it to. I should have had multiple plans for the day as opposed to just one so that I could more easily adapt to the situations that arose. I still may not have hit my goal with those plans but would have come much closer to them. 
  2. Adapt… this one goes along with the previous. The biggest thing I had to adapt to during this meet was getting accidentally skipped during weigh-ins. This caused me to have almost an hour less to rehydrate and get some food in me. Because of this when it came time to squat I didn’t have enough time for my food and water to digest so I was very bloated, and it made bracing for squats pretty uncomfortable. I should have lowered my attempt selections to equate for this and save some more energy for bench and deadlifts. I was so set on the plan I had for the day that I stuck with it, when in the long run, had I adapted to the situation at hand I may have performed a bit better on bench and deadlifts. 
  3. Weight cut vs water cut… personally I had never done a water cut before so I was questionable on doing one, so I chose to go with a weight cut. Looking at how I performed compared to those who did a water cut instead, I should have water cut. By doing a weight cut, I likely lost some strength due to the lack of food I was eating. Most people who did water cuts were able to rehydrate in the 2 hours before stepping on the platform. This is definitely something I will be taking into consideration for the next time I compete.
  4. Have fun and take the time to meet new people, especially at national level events… I had the opportunity to meet so many individuals this weekend, some of which I’m sure I will keep in contact with. The day after I competed, I was handling one of my teammates the next morning and saw one of the guys I competed against the day before. We started talking and it turns out he goes to Cornell University and is in Army ROTC as well. We talked a lot the rest of the day and I’m sure we will keep in contact. 

 

This was definitely an experience I will remember for a long time, and I’m glad I was able to experience the entire weekend with my teammates. Everyone performed well and I’m excited for some of the younger people on the team to get to experience this again next year. 

20 Years and 20 Lessons

Fitness, Life Health, Training

I have competed in one form or another in powerlifting for over two decades now. It may be a bit longer but I ain’t counting. No matter how long it has been here are a few things I learned along the way.

 

  1. Consistency is the only thing that works in any program.
  2. Stop looking for a coach and start looking for training partners.
  3. Know that you don’t know and learn from everyone.
  4. Somedays it is best to throw the program out and train with the group.
  5. If your gym doesn’t allow chalk, find a new gym.
  6. Find those stronger than you and follow them.
  7. Respect the IRON.
  8. Respect others training around you.
  9. Be patient, results take time and return to lesson one, consistency.
  10. Ride the wave. Somedays you are not in control and that’s OK.
  11. Don’t throw out the program because of one failure.
  12. What works today may not work tomorrow.
  13. What may not have worked in the past may work tomorrow.
  14. Over time how you approach each lift may change (this could be mental or physical).
  15. There is only three reasons you aren’t getting stronger (fear of pain, fear of weight, fear of injury).
  16. The pendulum will always swing too far. Whatever you think is right today will be assumed to be wrong tomorrow.
  17. You have two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you speak.
  18. Most deadlifts aren’t missed they are given up on.
  19. Quitting is OK. If you don’t love it don’t do it. If you love it then keep fighting.
  20. Make this a team sport. Enrich your life through the sport.

 

This is my short list with an assist from Curtis Miller.

 

Hamer

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar, and HFCS

Clean Eating, Diet, Fitness, Life Health, Nutrition,

The good old American diet, quick and assessable greasy fat or sugary foods. YUM, am I right? In America, there is heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and an obesity epidemic. There is room to point fingers at a lot of reasons but in this, we’ll focus on added sugars like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  

 

HFCS was invented in 1965 and in the 70s it was being marketed. Over the years, this has been used more often for food and drink products. Which is found in most of the foods and drinks we consume (e.g. bread, soda, juice, canned fruit, cereal, & coffee creamers, etc). This has become a common ingredient because it is cheap and easy to manufacture. 

 

High-fructose corn syrup is an artificial sugar made from corn syrup. HFCS needs to be broken down into glucose, glycogen, or fat by the liver before being used as fuel. In America, the increased sugar consumption per person per year has greatly increased. This increase consumption can cause serious health issues mentioned in the beginning. Glucose will stimulate the area of your brain that controls appetite, whereas, fructose does not, which means you could eat more than planned. Are you wondering what overeating can lead to? Well, have you heard of visceral fat? It is the most harmful type of body fat. HFCS will promote visceral fat build-up on your major organs such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestines, and heart. This can increase your risk for heart disease, stroke, artery disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

 

I’m not saying avoid HFCS or sugars at all costs. These sugars are everywhere and can be hard to avoid, especially in our more sedentary, grab-and-go society. Just try to be mindful of what you are putting into your body. 

Tis’ the Season for Outdoor Bootcamps

Fitness, Life Health

Good people of Union, the sun is shining and so are we!

 

We are excited to announce that our Summer Weekend Pop-Up Boot-camp classes will be popping up at locations near you very soon. We are looking forward to joining forces with local businesses in the Northside and Pittsburgh community to give you a little fun in the sun, explore Pittsburgh and support our local small businesses. These boot-camps will be open to members and nonmembers of all fitness levels. Our Bumpiest Coaches will be there to make sure you have fun, stay safe, get sweaty and make some new friends. We plan to make every boot-camp have some charitable donation to give back to the community that has given us Pittsburghers so much. Have no fear, we will give you enough of a heads up to come and crush these weekend (Saturday) bootcamps with us and who knows, there might even be a few prizes or drinks at the end.

 

We have a few places in mind but if you know of a local business that you want to support or a cool place you would like to have a pop-up at, please let us know and we can work to make that happen! Let’s get excited, shout this news from atop of the Mount Washington Inclines, get your friends and get Bumpy with our Summer Boot-camp series.

 

The very first bootcamp will be May 1st with our friends Allegheny City Brewing. ACB has been a good friend of UF for years now and we are excited to kick off our outdoor season with them.

 

Cheers,

 

CeJ

Does the Weather Control You?

Life Health

If you are reading this then odds are you live in Pittsburgh and know much about clouds and grey skies. We all know that Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing and affects many of us in this region with long dark winters. No matter how much you try to not allow the weather to affect you, it does. This is basic science, long dark days are not great for your health.

 

Now we are in spring time and the sun is back above our heads, the clouds are clearing and we are beginning to see the pandemic coming to a close. This is the time for consistency from you. Today will be sunny, warm, and the perfect day to train. Get outside, get into the gym, sweat, bike, run, walk, hike, just do something. These are the easy days to use the weather to motivate us. I commend you for doing this. I also now ask you to not rely on daily motivation, rely on your discipline to create consistency.

 

As I type this I can see one of our hardest working members jogging slowly on the treadmill. Jessie Theisen committed to doing a show over a year ago. The pandemic hit and she saw a huge hurdle before her. She did not allow that hurdle to slow her down. She decided to jump over it and keep on running. This is consistency at it’s best.

 

Now back to the weather. A strange thing happens anytime it rains, less people attend our classes on these poor weather days. I now ask you, if you want to reach your goals are you going to allow the weather to control your decisions? Too often we look outside and see the rain, and this is just the excuse we need for not coming to the gym. Let’s all help each other and support one another so that we can overcome this and help hold one another to a new standard of consistency.

 

Now with today’s perfect weather go do your conditioning outside. Skip the gym today, get your vitamin D.

 

Trying to be your sunshine on rainy days.

 

Hamer with support by Matt Grayson.

 

Massage Frequency

Life Health

This is one of the most commonly asked questions I receive as a massage therapist. Now the answer won’t be the same for everyone. Depending on what training cycle you’re in or whether you just need to relax, the answer will vary. If you are someone who just wants relaxation, once a month to six weeks is probably a good fit for you.

 

Depending on your training cycle, if you were going really hard in training or getting ready to compete, your body is going to need a bit more recovery. You may have areas that bother you often or areas of tightness, and that’s going to require more focused work and that takes time. My suggestion for those clients is that we spend an entire hour working on the problem areas and that they come back every 2 to 4 weeks. If you feel like “I just can’t give up an area of the body” I would suggest going for 90 minutes so that we can have time for focused work but also allowing the whole body to receive the benefits of massage. After a competition or a race it may take multiple sessions for the body to get back to homeostasis so to speak.

 

In the recovery session the therapist would use lighter strokes paying attention to how the tissue responds to pressure. Using modalities, such as Swedish massage encourage blood flow and toxin removal through lymph drainage and improved circulation. This really helps to alleviate soreness in the muscle. A more focus session or deep tissue session involves applying sustained pressure using slow, deep strokes to target the inner layers of your muscles and connective tissues. This helps to break up scar tissue that forms after an injury and reduce tension in muscle and tissue. This modality can promote healing by increasing that all important blood flow and reducing inflammation.

 

The body has a mind of its own and after exercise induced trauma the muscles may only allow so much work from the massage therapist. Make sure you are having these conversations with your massage therapist. That way you both can be on the same page about your expectations and the goals For each massage session.

 

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the massage therapy staff here at Union Fitness and we can help to get you started feeling and moving your best.

 

Sarah Paladin