We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: nutrition is the foundation for achieving your fitness goals. And making sure you have a healthy and nutritious meal available at all times can help you avoid those greasy quick options you turn to in times of desperation. Meal prepping not only helps you avoid unhealthy meals but also takes the pressure off of planning to cook when you come home tired from a long work day. Imagine a day with all the cooking is already done and all you have to do is pop the food in the microwave! Now I know the meal prepping can be frustrating, but here are three tips can help make meal prepping the easiest part of your fitness journey:

 

Buy in bulk

The best way to make meal prep easy is to always have food to cook. If you run out of food to cook the chances of you just snacking all night or buying food out goes waaay up. So, when you are at the store, buy in bulk. Buy the frozen pack of chicken or the large frozen pack of vegetables. Buying frozen also helps since it lasts longer. This allows you to limit the number of times you go to store as well as always having the food you need to cook.

 

Plan a day to cook

Sunday Funday! This is the stereotypical meal prep day in the fitness industry. But you will need to have a day that you can cook all of your meals. This day can be spent at the house with the family playing board games while everything is cooking in the oven. If you are trying to gain muscle then you might need two days to cook. Ideally you want to have these meals ready for times that you are on the run.

 

Cook meals that you will eat

This one is the most overlooked but probably the most important. I find that when people start meal prepping they tend to cook boring meals. You know, chicken breast that usually tastes like rubber, brown rice, and broccoli. Yes, these will help, IF you eat them.  This doesn’t mean you should overdo it will the sauces, but do try to add some variety to the meals. Get creative with it, add some spices, maybe different carbohydrates, and bring some color to your vegetables.

 

Hopefully these tips take some of the annoyance out of meal prepping. We promise getting in that meal prep habit will help you reach your goals faster.

 

We know you’re busy, but we also know you still value your workout time. To help you keep your training interesting this winter, we’ve got a few quick cardio workouts to add to your schedule. No excuses: whether you have a full 45 minutes to dedicate to a grueling cardio class or just 5 minutes to spare between conference calls, there’s something for you here.

 

If you have 5 minutes:

Get in a quick Tabata! Tabata intervals will tax your cardiovascular system and allow you to burn calories even after you finish your workout. Best part? You only need 4 minutes. Get on the cardio machine of your choice (we love the spin bike or elliptical for this) and prepare yourself mentally. All you need to do is 8 rounds of :20 as hard as you can, then :10 full rest. It gets hard quickly, but also gets the job done.

 

If you have 15 minutes:

Work some hills into your cardio. Hop on the treadmill or a bike and spend 2 minutes warming up at an easy speed with the inline on 0. After that, you’re going to increase hat incline by 1% every minute for 12 minutes, ending at a very steep incline that’s a challenge to keep up with. Spend the last minute backing your incline back down to a 0 for a quick cooldown. You’ll feel great after.

 

If you have 30 minutes:

Let’s work on your 5k time! You may not be able to complete a 5k run in 30 minutes yet, but with some consistent run/walk intervals over time, you’ll get there. We love the Couch to 5k program for this, which you can find here. There’s even an app you can download to walk you through it while you listen to music!

 

If you have 45 minutes:

This one’s easy: take a Cardio Lab class! Classes range from intervals intermixed with mobility to straight up HIIT to some tough endurance circuits, so there’s something for everyone. Even better, we’re now offering classes in 7 different time slots each week, and there will hopefully be more to come soon. You can check out our schedule here.

 

As a fitness professionals, we often see people slaving away and working hard at the gym only to sabotage their progress with poor eating habits. We preach that diet, nutrition, rest and recovery are equally as important as the time you spend here at the gym. So what are the best and worst diets out there?  The following, in no definitive order, are what we believe to be possibly the worst diets in history.

 

The Baby Food Diet:

Designed to promote weight loss, this plan entails eating 16 jars of baby food per day instead of regular meals and snacks with only one “regular” meal per day. Although one of the “safer” diets on this list, it’s still not recommended. While it may help you shed some pounds, it is most likely a short term success and definitely on the “fad” list.

 

The Tapeworm Diet:

As crazy as the name suggests, at the turn of the century these little parasites were sold in pill form to help you lose weight. Besides lacking any evidence or research that this is even slightly effective, it can be downright dangerous.

 

The Cotton Ball Diet:

Yep, you guessed it— eating straight up cotton balls. The idea is that you fill up on these calorie-less puffy beauties and you aren’t hungry for much else. Considering that there are essentially no vitamins, minerals or other macronutrients in cotton balls, you can add this to the dangerous diets list.

 

The Vinegar Diet:

Made popular by Lord Byron in the 1800’s, this diet included drinking massive amounts of vinegar and water daily.  This, in turn, caused spells of vomiting and diarrhea.  It’s really no surprise this famous poet started shedding pounds.

 

The Fletcher Diet:

Originating in San Francisco by art dealer Horace Fletcher, this diet involved chewing each bite of food 32 times and then spitting it out.  “The Great Masticator” declared his body would absorb the nutrients without packing on the pounds.  False information like this diet is not bound by science or logic and is inherently dangerous. Yet another add to the “Do Not Attempt” list.

 

The Cigarette Diet:

Before Surgeon General warnings, this diet was made popular by, you guessed it, cigarette companies. Ad campaigns swirled around touting the many benefits of smoking, including suppressing the appetite and weight loss.  One company said “Light a Lucky and you’ll never miss sweets that make you fat.” This should go without saying, but avoid this diet at all costs. Bottom line is it is dangerous and deadly.

 

 

So after a mind blowing and crazy list of bad diets, what are some good and healthy diets to try?  Our answer here at Union Fitness will always be: Ask the professionals! See a nutritionist or registered dietician.  Unlike all of the crazy diets above, this is a surefire way to promote a healthy lifestyle through diet changes while remaining safe. Each and every body is unique and has its own obstacles to overcome when it comes to safe and effective weight loss. A nutrition professional will help you navigate those issues without tapeworms, baby food, cigarettes or any other unhealthy or dangerous means!

 

New year, new UF! Or at least some new classes, a new coach, and a greatly expanded schedule. Here’s what you need to know:

 

1. We’re happy to welcome Ryan McUmber to the team! Ryan moved here from California to be part of our UF family. He earned his BS in Exercise Science and had been coaching strength and conditioning classes closer to home until his move here. He’s already jumped right into our #powerful and Fatbell Revolution classes and has proven himself to be an excellent coach. Come test him out sometime this week!
2. Introducing the Cardio Lab! We tested this concept out a little bit last year, but we’re now fully up and running for 2018 with a bunch of new equipment and classes offered 5x per week. Stay tuned to a future blog post with more details on this one.
3. Power Nap with Alison! If you’ve ever been interested in trying meditation, now’s the perfect opportunity. Every Wednesday at lunch Alison will be guiding you through a quick meditation practice, followed by a relaxing power nap. As she likes to say, this class is BYOB: bring your own blanket.
4. We’ve seen the attendance in our #powerful classes slowly rise all through 2017, and in response we decided it was time to offer it 5 days per week! We’ve added two 5:30am classes for our early risers, and now have options for #powerful every weeknight at different time slots. What’s better than lifting with friends?

 

If you’re new to UF (or new to our classes), we’ve put together a class trial pack just for you. For $15, you get to try every type of class we offer! You can purchase this trial pack online, through our app, or by stopping by the front desk the next time you’re in. See you soon!

Union Fitness is built on a community. So anytime Union can contribute back, we will. A friend of the Pittsburgh fitness community unfortunately was diagnosed with cancer. After brainstorming some ideas UF decided that the most effective way to raise money is do what we do best, share our knowledge and passion of lifting.

 

The seminar was an absolute success. We had fifteen attendees that were curious about the art of benching and deadlifting. People were overly generous with their time and monetary commitments and it gave the #powerthroughcancer series a great jump start. The seminar was split into two sections. The first section of the seminar went over proper bench press technique and the second section was deadlifts. In each section Casey and Yessica first went over main technique points followed by letting the people perform the exercise. While performing the exercise Casey and Yessica walked around to give specific cues for the athlete’s needs. Some of the cues that Yessica and Casey went over for the bench press were to externally rotate your hands,  drive your legs and keep your back as tight as possible. You could tell from the look on each of the athletes faces that there was some confusion in the cues but each person was determined to work on the technique. After some reptitions, more people started to understand what each cue meant and the confusion soon changed to excitement. After grabbing lunch at the Federal Galley we headed back for the deadlift session. This is where the intensity picked up. AC/DC started blasting while a fog of chalk filled the room. Casey and Yessica went over important cues such as keep your hips down, drive your feet into the ground and keep your chest up during the lift by flexing your triceps. After the cues were said people started putting on the plates. One of the athletes decided to go for a Personal Record and ended up hitting 4 reps instead of one! Overall the seminar went very smoothly with people walking away feeling good from the new personal records and the feeling of helping a friend.

 

This seminar is a great example how here at Union fitness is able to bring people together to help other people in the community. Casey and Yessica plan to continue doing these seminars every weekend this month to help further raise more money. The next seminar will be at Arsenal Strength on Sunday January 14 at 9 am.

 

With New Year’s Resolutions in full effect, I’ve begun to put away the computer, phone and television in exchange for healthier habits.  It’s not exactly the brand new year that’s encouraging me to ditch the zombie-creating devices (although it definitely helps!) but rather an innate need or quest for knowledge.  Trying to skip the fake news and clickbait articles, I’ve opted for good ole fashioned books.  Here’s what’s currently on my reading list:

 

Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance by Dr. Kelly Starrett

Although I’ve read this book numerous times before, I always come back to it.  It is a must have resource for coaches and gym goers alike.

 

Weightlifting Programming: A Winning Coach’s Guide by Bob Takano

If you know me, you know that one of my greatest loves is Olympic Weightlifting. Learning the lifts are one thing.  Learning how to coach, program and implement them in training is a whole other ball game, which this books describes in depth.

 

Conscious Coaching by Brett Bartholomew

This one has admittedly been on my list for a couple months (Sorry Casey!) but I’m excited to dive in to explore the psychological and emotional sides of coaching.

 

Whole 30 Cookbook by Melissa Hartwig

Ok so it may not be a page turner, but having a healthy cookbook handy certainly helps with keeping the nutrition and healthy meals in check.

 

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Swami Satchidananda

Here is another one that is a constant on my reading list.  I see this book as a day by day guide to living a meaningful, purposeful life through the guidance of ancient yoga philosophy.

 

Restorative Yoga For Life by Gail Boorstein Grossman

Restorative or recovery yoga is something we love here at Union Fitness! I’m constantly searching for new poses and techniques to implement into my own personal practice and into our Slow Flow Recovery yoga class here on Wednesday nights.

 

So it’s great to have someone’s current reading list but the real question is: What are the best fitness books to purchase? The answer is simple— whatever you’re interested in! My list will look a lot different than yours so I encourage you to head to your local library or book store or Amazon and just browse! See what catches your interest.  Happy reading!

 

It’s almost a brand new year and we know what that means— new goals and new resolutions.  Some of the top resolutions each year are to get into shape, lose weight, and be healthier.  Most of the time those goals come with a brand new gym membership.  While the staff here at Union Fitness is always here to help you accomplish those new goals, the first step is often a literal one— walking in the door. Just the thought can be overwhelming and anxiety producing. So how can you overcome gym-timidation?  Here are a few tips to help you take that first step.

 

1. Schedule a free New Member Orientation

 

Did you know Union offers a free introductory course to the gym? It’s our New Member Orientation and any member is welcome to schedule a session with one of our staff members. Afraid you won’t be able to find the water fountain? Or when you can use the Cardio Lab equipment or use the room for stretching? This brief orientation will take you around the gym, giving you the basic details of where, how & when of the inner workings of Union Fitness.

 

2. Schedule a session with a Personal Trainer

 

Still a little unsure? Schedule a private one-on-one session with one of our  certified Personal Trainers.  This in depth session will include things like discussing your goals and how to achieve them, your health history and of course, safely leading you through a goal-crushing workout.  Plus, the consultation will always be free! So there’s no harm in just meeting with one of       our trainers to see if you jive!

 

3. Take one of our Group Fitness Classes

 

There’s nothing quite like a group of like minded individuals (future friends!) to keep you motivated. Whether you’re in our strength classes or yoga or cardio lab classes, you’ll get help from one of our coaches and encouragement from everyone else.

 

4. Ask for help!

 

There will always be a staff member available to answer any questions or give you a little guidance.  Need a spot? We got you.  Need to vent? We got you. Can’t figure out how to work the leg press machine? We can show you.  Please don’t ever hesitate to ask any questions, whether you think they’re silly or not, we are a family here at UF and will always be supportive without judgement!

 

5. Don’t compare yourself to others

 

It can be easy to walk into a new place and instantly compare yourself to everyone around you.  Remember that everyone is on their own fitness path and as soon as you walk in the front doors, you’re with friends.  No one here is judging you.  Everyone wants to support and encourage you.

 

6. Be confident!

 

Yes, you may be new to the gym scene but be confident as if you’ve been doing this for years (But don’t forget, safety should always be your number one priority so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it!) Remember the age old advice, “Fake it til you make it!”

 

So how can us veteran gym-goers help out the newbies? Leave the resting gym face at home.  Yes, we know that your back squat sets can be grueling and burpees can remove any trace of friendliness from anyone’s face but try to reserve those faces for just the mirror.  A smile can go a long way, not only to show those burpees who’s boss but to encourage all of our novice members.  Here’s to a brand new year, new goals, new resolutions, new PR’s, new badass-ery, and overcoming gym-timidation!

 

Watch out 2018, here we come!

 

It’s almost the 2018, so let’s talk about it: New Years Resolutions. I know I’m thinking about mine, so I’m betting your thinking about yours. And of course, our goal for every year at Union Fitness is to help our members reach theirs. With that in mind, I like to encourage my clients to set SMART goals, and no, that’s not just a snarky pun.

 

In this case, I’m referring to Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, Time-bound goals. Let’s break that down:

 

Specific: Instead of setting the oft-cited and then oft-neglected goal of “losing some weight,” let’s tighten that up. Maybe you have a goal of losing 15, or losing 2 inches off your waist (or adding an inch to your biceps, we don’t discriminate). We want to make your goals as clear as possible, so that we know when they’ve been reached, what’s keeping us from reaching them, or when it’s time to move on to bigger things.

 

Measurable: Playing into “specific,” we need to make sure our goals are measurable, otherwise we’ll never know if we’ve accomplished what we wanted! Habit tracking apps can be really helpful for this. Maybe you have a goal of walking for 20 minutes each day. That’s easy to measure, all you need to do is check off each day on your calendar or habit tracker. Looking more long term, a specific and measurable goal would be to walk 20 miles in 40 days.

 

Attainable: We all get ahead of ourselves sometimes, especially when it comes to weight loss goals. You may feel motivated enough to lose 30 pounds in 2 months, but the reality is that this goal isn’t really attainable (and worse, is definitely not sustainable). For weight loss, a goal of losing 1-2 pounds per week (depending on your size) is difficult but doable. For other fitness goals, like shaving a few minutes off your half-marathon time or getting your first pull-up, ask us! We’ll help you figure it out.

 

Results-focused: We’re looking at the final picture, not the individual steps that will get you there. Those specific goals like losing 10 pounds are better able to be realized than a more general goal like “eat more salad” or “eat less donuts.” I do still encourage process goals, like mentioned above with the habit tracker, but they still need to be specific – “eat a vegetable at every meal” for example. Still, for a good resolution, think final result.

 

Finally, Time-bound: Put a date on it. Lost those 15 pounds by June 1, just in time for vacation. Get your first pull-up by February 15. Cut 10 minutes off your half-marathon time by the Pittsburgh Marathon in May. Again, ask us for help setting those time goals. Having a specific date in mind will help motivate you after the initial thrill of the New Year wears off. Everyone needs a sense of urgency sometimes.

 

Now that you’ve got an idea of how to set those goals, get working on them! I’d actually encourage you to get started as soon as possible, ie. BEFORE the New Year. We’re trying to encourage that with our December new member special: sign up for a contract in December, get your second month for free! If you have a fitness goal that you want to reach, we’re here for you, right now. See you soon!

 

OH – and we’re hosting FREE Classes all day long on New Year’s Day. So stop in and see what Union Fitness can do for you!