Category Archives: Fitness

Importance of Mobility

Fitness, Life Health, Training

What is mobility and why is it important? When it comes to a definition, mobility can be defined as potential for movement or the ability to get from one place to another. In other words, the ability to move with purpose. However, in the fitness world, mobility is commonly thought of as a person’s range of motion or flexibility. Words like external rotation, internal rotation, sit and reach, abduction, adduction or other fitness related terms are commonly thrown around to describe a person’s mobility. But what is the obsession with mobility and how does it impact us as humans?

 

In short, without mobility, we cannot move our bodies the way they were intended to move. For example, if a powerlifter has poor ankle mobility, then they may be unable to squat to proper depth. This lack of mobility in the ankle can lead to a compensation in other parts of the body that can lead to larger problems. In a worst-case scenario, it can lead to a severe injury or possibly a major setback in a person’s training.

 

At the end of the day, if you do not use it then you lose it. Staying active, exercising, stretching, and moving our bodies the way they were intended to move leads to a more pain-free joyful life. So if you have spare time during the day, take the time to do some mobility exercises that will keep you moving through your older years. Down below are some of the stretches and exercises that I have begun to incorporate more into my daily life if you want to give them a shot!

 

  1. Deep Squat- Sitting into a deep body weight squat
  2. 90/90s with a reach
  3. Scapular Wall Slides (aka Wall Angels)
  4. Knee Dips from a Deep Squat Position
  5. Shoulder CAR’s
  6. Hip CAR’s
  7. Thread the Needle
  8. T-Spine Wall Rotation
  9. Childs Pose
  10. Cat Cow
  11. Prone Press-Up

 

Zain

Hamer’s B Day Trip

Fitness, Life Health

We each celebrate our birthdays in our own unique ways. Some people party, some people eat cake, I ride my bike. Today, I hope you will take a trip with me on my bike (figuratively and maybe one day literally). This year my good friend Nick Showman decided to jump in on the ride with me.

 

I began riding multi-day rides in 2010 when my father and I decided to ride from my house in Pittsburgh to his house in DC. I have basically done this ride or a similar ride every year since. Every year I consider not doing it and then someone calls and asks if I’ll ride with them and then I am back. This year I decided to do something different. The plan was to ride from my house in Sewickley to the Montour Trail, ride all the mountain biking trails off the Montour Trail. Finally, ending in West Newtown, PA off the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). I could not do this ride because a tunnel on the Montour Trail is closed.

 

The new route I picked was to take the T from the North Side to South Park. Ride the fun trails of South Park, take the connector trail from the park to the Montour Trail. From there I would follow the GAP to West Newton. This reduced my trip from 80+ miles to 50ish miles. The next day I planned to ride to Ohiopyle, spend Saturday hanging out there. Sunday I was to wake up and ride the 80 back to the Northside.

 

This ride would be different as it involved both mountain biking and trail riding. The highlights of the ride were the awesome camp site at the GAP Trail Campground. I highly recommend this spot! West Newton also has a great bike shop that did a great job fixing up Nick’s bike. Ohiopyle was the same beautiful place it always is. The only negative thing was service for our food was not good (to be fair it was Memorial Day weekend). Sunday was a lovely 80 mile cruise back to Pgh. It was great to get in and see the city alive with the beginning of summer. The beer at Federal Galley was also a perfect way to end this adventure.

 

I write this blog to remind you that challenges are all around us. We can go do things or we become shells of humans. My advice is take the ride, read the book, and do something, anything! I am also inviting you to ride with me next year. Toria has already said she is in for next year.

 

Hamer

 

Progressive Overload

Fitness, Training

If you do any kind of strength training, you’ve probably heard the term “progressive overload” before. The simple definition of progressive overload is increasing the intensity of your workouts gradually over time to challenge your body to work harder than what it’s used to.

 

You might ask yourself how do I know when I’m ready to increase the intensity of my training sessions? A good rule of thumb is that when you complete a set of an exercise and you feel like you have some left in the tank, you know you’re ready to up the intensity a bit. Increasing the intensity of your workout can mean several different things, but below are the most common:

 

  1. Increase number of reps
  • Instead of 10 reps, try 11, and so on.
  • If you’re looking to focus more on strength, don’t worry so much about this. You’ll want to focus more on increasing the weight (#3).

 

  1. Increase number of sets
  • Instead of 3 sets, try 4, and so on.

 

  1. Increase the weight
  • Try not to jump in and add too much weight too quickly. Start light and easy and work your way up.
  • An example of this – I have been benching 75lbs with a chain on each side the past few weeks, and it started to move quicker and better. So, I decided to add 5lbs, making it 80lbs plus a chain and that was a solid way to start progressing to a more challenging weight for me.

 

  1. Increase the frequency of your sessions
  • Add another day or two into your typical schedule.

 

  1. Select harder variations (tempo (time under tension) or positioning)
  • An example might be doing tempo squats or pushups from the ground vs a bar/bench.

 

  1. Decrease rest time between sets
  • Challenge the body to work when it wants to rest. This can help increase endurance and also cardiovascular fitness.

 

You won’t want to utilize all 6 of these all during one training session. Try to focus on one of these variables at a time so you don’t confuse your body.

 

If you’re a beginner, you will notice that you can progressively overload at a faster rate. However, after a while when your body becomes more well adapted to exercise, your progress will become slower. You might even plateau, which is totally normal in training and there are ways to overcome it.

 

Without overloading and challenging the muscles to do more than what they’re used to, there are no adaptations. When we challenge the body, it responds over time.

 

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all method for using progressive overload. You will have to figure out what kind of training works best for you and your goals!

 

Toria

Presence in the Gym

Fitness, Life Health, Training

I want to start off by stating that being in the gym in the first place is an accomplishment in itself. There are many people today that view exercise as a chore, unneeded, or a waste of time. However, the fact that you are showing up is half the battle and you should pat yourself on the back for doing so. Nevertheless, that brings me to my point about what you are doing with the other half of the battle. Often times, I see people exercising that are not fully present during their exercise regimen. They may be socializing for far too long, constantly checking their phone, or going through the motions. I am not naïve to the fact that there are days where going through motions may be all you can muster. Life throws curveballs at us all and may leave us drained for our workouts. Despite life’s obstacles, if you aren’t too strained, then I challenge you to try to be more present in the gym. Accomplishing your goals is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life and will ultimately provide you with more happiness. Down below are some of the things you could apply at the gym to remain more present.

 

  • Do not use your phone while you are at the gym. Consider investing in another form of music like an IPOD
  • If you need to use your phone, then avoid using all social media while you are at the gym. If you need to record your videos, then do so and put your phone down afterwards
  • If you socialize at the gym or have a large social life at the gym, then consider only socializing before or after you exercise. This will keep you concentrated at the task at hand
  • Time your rest periods. This will prevent you from resting too long and losing focus
  • Create a before workout ritual. This could be jamming to your favorite songs on the way to the gym or listening to motivational videos. For me, I just force myself to get moving by doing some dynamic mobility. Dynamic mobility isn’t too strenuous and I have noticed that it puts me in the best mood to exercise
  • Come with a plan. Whether it is doing cardio, yoga, weight training, or a program. Have a goal in mind for that session so that you have something to execute on

 

Next time you are in the gym, try some of these tips. You may leave the gym a little more satisfied or happier. As always, keep crushing your goals and moving on to the next one. If you do use any of these points and see me around at Union then please let me know how it went!

 

-Z Trainz

The Art of The Deadlift

Fitness, Training

What’s up UF! I hope your week has been off to a strong start.

 

Today I want to briefly talk about my personal favorite lift, the conventional deadlift. It seems that the deadlift has the reputation of being most people’s least favorite lift. However, I am one of those oddballs who loves it and how strong it makes me feel. To have a strong deadlift, you want to make sure that your form is correct, and that you leave little room for any error. Since I only use conventional form, I wanted to touch on the set up and the performance of this specific lifting form.

 

To start, when it comes to finding your stance on the platform, it is completely up to you. If you are unsure of where your feet should be placed, there are ways that you can test out what might feel right for you. One of these ways is the pullup bar test. This involves just hanging from the pullup bar and then dropping down from it to see where your feet land, and then using that measured distance as your deadlift stance.

 

Once you find that stance, you will need to find the correct starting position for the bar. Typically for me, I have the bar straight across the middle of my shoelaces. This seems to work out the best, because if you position the bar too far out in front of you, this will cause your hips to rise too quickly when you start, and you will fall out of your form immediately. If it is positioned too close to your shins, you will end up propelling the bar away from you when you reach down to start the pull. If the bar is positioned straight across the middle of your shoelaces, when you go to reach down for the bar, your shins should touch the bar, but they shouldn’t push it away from you.

 

When your stance and the bar are all set, next is finding out where to put your hands/arms and your head positioning. When it comes to the conventional deadlift, you want your hands/arms to stay close to your legs, but not directly up against them (right outside of the legs is a good spot and encourages you to keep your chest up throughout the lift). You will want to keep your head in a neutral position throughout the lift as well. You don’t want it facing down as that might cause you to round your shoulders and lose your positioning.

 

After your set-up is all good to go, it’s time to brace and pick that weight up off the ground. Once you brace, you will want to tuck your lats into your back pockets (in other words, pull the slack out of the bar and then think about pulling those lats together and down), keep that chest up, and your head position neutral. Push your feet down through the floor and pull yourself and that weight up while keeping that bar nice and close to you (my shins have bruises and scrapes on them from the many deadlifts I have done and that just means that I am keeping that bar close to my body throughout the entire lift). I like to think of my arms as hooks while deadlifting. You don’t want to bend them or move them throughout the lift, they are only there as hooks to hold onto the bar while you are lifting that weight off the ground.

 

And there you have it; this is a basic guideline for the setup to a conventional deadlift and how to execute it properly. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me directly or ask any of our other team members/trainers here at UF 🙂

 

Toria

ACB Bootcamp and Beers

Fitness, State of the Union, Training

What is rolling my good party people!

 

It’s that time of year again, where the Pittsburgh Sun is bright, the Allegheny City Beers are cold (and crisp as always), the bootcamps are bootin and we can all come together for the community. That’s right, you heard it here first, it’s Summer Bootcamp time! Go ahead take a few seconds to clean off your screen from spitting your drink of choice all over the place and expelling a celebratory victory screech of excitement, I’ll still be here.

 

Welcome back, folks. Let’s get you some juicy details about this glorious event. We are partnering with our good homies over at Allegheny City Brewery for a 1 hour FREE bootcamp for charity + a beer on Union & ACB. What’s not to like about that?! The free bootcamp will be held on Saturday, May 20th starting at 11am and going until Noon. After that we’ll hang-out at ACB and enjoy their handcrafted nectors of deliciousness while celebrating the good times. For this bootcamp we will be asking for clothing donations to help our Northside neighbors at Light of Life Rescue Mission. Get a head start on your wardrobe clean up and let’s give for good. A reminder that if you are nervous and a little bit hesitant about working out in front of others or that this may be too difficult for you. We are welcoming all levels from beginners to seasoned vets of exercisers and are skilled and educated coaches that can tailor and modify to your specific comfort level. We are all here to promote health, wellness and exercise while supporting our local community businesses and neighbors.

 

Please spread the word and let’s kick off this first summer bootcamp the only way we know how to, Big & Bumpy! You can sign up online on the Union Fitness website under classes or reach out to CJ for this all levels welcomed bootcamp.

 

What: ACB & Union Free Charity Bootcamp & Beers
When: Saturday, May 20th from 11a-Noon
Where: Allegheny City Brewing side parking lot
Why: To promote wellness, celebrate local business and support a good cause
Who: You, your friends, members, non-members, beginners, experts & all who want to have a blast with new & old friends.

 

P.S. If you know any local business or company that would be interested in Union holding a bootcamp at their local, please reach out and let’s get more parties started.

 

Cheers and I hope to see you all very soon.

 

CeJ

Ham’s Training Log

Fitness, Life Health

Marathon season is over in Pittsburgh. I love seeing people come together and strive towards a goal, any goal. We at UF host numerous events each year, and we want to find ways to get you working towards your goals.  The bigger events we are known for is our powerlifting meets. As a person who came from the powerlifting world these events are near and dear to my heart. While I haven’t competed in a few years I still try to train hard. With that said, let me tell you about how I am keeping myself healthy, and strong(ish) as I try to fight father time.

 

Monday, Day 1

 

On Monday’s I bench. This used to be a squat day, yet after an adductor pull I moved days around to give myself a few extra days rest.

 

Neck and mobility. Since adding our neck harness I have been doing extra neck work. In the words of my old training partner Toan Chu, “big neck, look cool.”

 

Bench with 2 chains per side 205 5×5. I started this at 185 and have just been chipping away each week.

 

1a Arnold Press 3×10 50# I have tried to take my time and feel the muscles on this one.

1b Curls 3×10 30# I added these because I like curls.

 

2a Neutral Grip Pull Ups 4×5.

2b Lat Pull Down 4×10 Slow and big stretch.

 

3a Straight Arm Lat Pulldown with strap 3×20.

3b Cable Curl with strap 3×20.

3c Pushdowns with strap 3×20.

 

Tuesday, Day 2

 

As I stated earlier I was dealing with a small adductor strain, so I have been taking it easy on lower body work.

 

1a Deadlifts 5×5 325.

1b Box Jumps 5×3 (lowish box).

 

2a Pitshark Squats 3×10 5 & 1/2 plates .

2b Chins 3×5.

 

3a Glute Ham 2×8.

3b DB Upright Row 2×15 30#.

 

4a Blast Strap Face Pull 3×25.

4b Band Pull Apart 3×20.

 

Wednesday, Day 3 

 

Bike day. Just enjoy the world!

 

Thursday, Day 4

 

Incline press 3×10 185# I have been progressing with 10’s on this for a few weeks. I’ll move to 8’s next week.

 

Lat Pulldown 3×10 .

 

1a Lying Cable Tri Ext 2×15.

1b Overhead Lat Raise 2×10.

 

2a Partial Lateral Raise 2×10 50#.

2b Lateral Raise 2×10 25#.

 

Friday, Day 5

 

Box Squat 6×3 225 # Taking these slow and keeping my adductor happy.

 

Barbell RDL/Row 3×10 145#.

 

1a DB Pullover 3×15.

1b 45 Degree Hypers 3×15.

1c Sit Ups off stability ball with a band 3×25.

 

Other than running 2-3 times per week and biking 3-4 times this is my basic set up. As my hip and adductor progress my lower body training will become more intense and I’ll add volume. Yet, I have learned, jumping too early in load or volume is never a good thing so be patient.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Steps

Fitness, Life Health, Training

I don’t know about you, but I often have an all or nothing personality when it comes to new things. It’s a theme I’ve also recognized in others when it comes to fitness and nutrition. Often times new clients want to hit the ground running with training sessions, improving their diet, and altering their schedules. It’s awesome to see the eagerness and drive people have, but at the same it’s important to remember that these big changes don’t happen overnight.

 

When your mind and body take on something unfamiliar it takes time to adjust. Therefore, it is important that you start small and build from there. Why is this important? Why can’t I just go for it? Well, you absolutely can just go for it but if you want to have a sustainable routine and long-term success, I believe it’s best to build up to those things.

 

For example, let’s say you would like to start weightlifting 5 times a week, but you currently have no training regimen in place. Where should you start? I would recommend that you start by picking two days out of the week. This way it gives your body time to recover from the sessions and adjust to the implementation of a new task. After you’ve done this for a couple of weeks, and you don’t have to put much thought into doing it because it’s now a part of your routine, then add in a third day. From there, you would just repeat this process until you have successfully worked up to that five days a week goal.

 

The same thing goes for implementing healthy changes into your diet. If you go from eating fast food every day to trying to eat salads every day, you won’t be able to keep up because your body is so unfamiliar with it. Start by choosing two days out of the week to make food from home instead of eating out and go from there. Again, once your body has adjusted to that new habit and it becomes something you don’t have to put much thought into, then you can continue to build upon that.

 

All in all, it’s so important to set yourself up for success in a sustainable way. If you put your mind and your body into overdrive, it’s very possible you will get overwhelmed easily and discouraged when you fall short on one of the many tasks you have given yourself. Start by taking baby steps. Be patient and kind to yourself and you will get far!

 

April

The Best Exercise You Aren’t Doing

Fitness

In the world of exercise, fitness, and strength there are too many exercises to think we could know all exercises. One easy way to help with this is to create a menu of exercises. What I mean by this is list all exercises that work your legs the most, then ones that are full body, arms, chest, etc. If you do this then you can grow your menu and pick and choose what works best for you. Today, I am going to pick one exercise out of my full body menu that is underutilized. The Single Arm Overhead Farmer Walk.

 

SA Overhead Farmer Walk.

 

How do you perform this exercise?

 

Grab a Dumbell and press it overhead, then go for a walk. It is really this simple, yet here are some tips.

  1. Do not let the weight twist you. This is an anti-rotation exercise.
  2. Do not let the weight pull you forward or backward. This is also and anti-flexion and extension exercise.
  3. Do keep a steady gate. Try to walk as normal as you do everyday.

 

There it is in all its glory. The exercise you should be doing but, probably are not. There are many reasons why I believe this exercise is so underrated. First and foremost, this exercise uses all three planes (transverse, frontal, and sagittal). Second this exercise makes us bipedal. One thing we know is that humans should walk more, so walk. Last point I’ll make is that this exercise uses almost all of our muscle tissue.

 

How do you program SA Overhead Farmer Walks?

 

I would put this exercise in two places and for different reasons. Use it as a warm up or a finisher.

 

When using this as a warm up there is no need to go super heavy. Grab a reasonable weight that you can easily put over head and go for a walk. Walk 10-30 yards (depending on weight), switch hands and walk back. I like to mix mobility exercises in with this one. An example would be three sets of walks doing a different mobility drill for 5-10 reps between each set. The beauty of using these as a warm up is it will get the mid section ready for heavy, dead, squats, or just add some volume before you press.

 

Using these walks as a finisher. This is just a fun way to end a lift. When I do this as a finisher I tend to go heavier. The reason I go heavier is because I am already warm and I am not worried about fatigue for my upcoming exercises. This again can be done in a superset. Add in any rehab or just some pump exercises for fun at the end.

 

Give this exercise a try to begin or end your training session. Add it in one day a week for 4-6 weeks and see how you progress and how you feel.

 

Hamer

Creating Balance

Fitness, Life Health

You have probably heard many times in your life, “be sure to find a balance” whether we are talking about health, fitness, career, relationships, finance, etc. But I like to say it is more about creating balance than finding it. The goal is to live a full life without losing yourself, and that doesn’t always look the same for everyone. So, you must create your own life with whatever the perfect balance looks and feels like for you.

 

I like to look at balance and life as a “wheel” with different components of things that we value in life, those things I mentioned before (health, fitness, career, relationships, finance, etc.), and the beautiful part is that nobody’s wheel is the same, and you can create your own to build your own life and your own happiness. And a little tip- never compare your wheel to someone else’s. You may have a larger portion of career in your wheel than others, because your career makes you happy and you love your job, and that is perfectly okay if you feel fulfilled and balanced.

 

I wish I could tell you that I have mastered my perfect balance, but truth is like many of us, I haven’t even come close, and that is okay. Because just like we ourselves are always a work in progress, so is our balance. I am constantly changing where I give my focus and time, trying to figure out what feels right. In my own life, I have several different pieces to my wheel: career, school, football, and fitness. But lately I have felt like something was missing, so I did some work on myself to try and figure out what it was. Which we must do many times in our lives. So, I tried something new and went for a hike by myself, something I haven’t done before. It brought me stillness and gave me a chance to relax from how busy my usual day-to-day is, and I realized this was what I was missing, and I am going to make room for it in my wheel of balance.

 

We are creating that balance for ourselves every day, and I hope that you can create yours to find your own happiness and fulfillment. Remember, your wheel is your own and it is always a work in progress, just promise yourself you will always keep progressing.

 

Maria