Category Archives: Life Health

Improve Your Sleep

Life Health, , , ,

Do you ever wake up from a night of sleep or a quarantine nap and swear your body secretly did a super intense workout? A lot of factors can contribute to your quality of sleep, but one somewhat simple solution could be due to your sleep position. Now of course, altering your position won’t help you fall asleep quicker or ensure a deeper sleep, but it will help your body feel better in the AM.

 

You’re probably wondering “what is this magical sleep position”? You might also be wondering how am I supposed to monitor this if I am asleep? The good news is that however you choose to sleep right now might be okay with only small adjustments. The bad news is that you can’t watch, you’ll have to pay someone to stay awake and splash water on you every time you move. Just kidding, thankfully.

 

So, here is the simple answer. The spine needs to remain neutral and what that means is that all three curves of your spine need to be aligned. This includes your cervical (neck), thoracic (mid back), and lumbar (low back hip area). With that said this does eliminate certain positions but still leaves you with probably your most favorite. Here’s a breakdown of a few tips:

 

Sleeping on your side: This position is one of the most popular and while it is good for pregnant women, it’s still a valid option for others as well.

 

The downfall: your upper leg will stay in hip adduction and internal rotation pulling the lumbar spine. Your bottom arm may also become numb which can lead to impingement. If sleeping on your side with your knees also bent in fetal it can cause shortened hip flexors which can affect the position of the pelvis.

 

The fix: place a pillow between your knees to prevent your top leg from pulling on your spine. A little bit trickier considering you are asleep, but try to rotate sides throughout the night or at least every night to avoid the same arm being on the bottom. Finally, stay on your side if you’d like, but try to keep your legs straight rather than bent.

 

Sleeping on your stomach: Also a comfortable position and may help ease snoring.

 

The downfall: Your head may be turned for breathing, your arm may be overhead, and the cervical and lumbar spine may be more elevated than the thoracic.

 

The fix: Sleep with your face flat down on a pillow by placing your forehead on the pillow allowing you to still breathe but better align your spine. You can also add a pillow under your stomach to raise that to a neutral position. It would also be beneficial to keep your arms by your side.

 

Sleeping on your back: The position commonly known as “the best”, but it still has its own advantages and disadvantages.

 

The downfall: It may aggravate low back pain or sleep apnea. Pregnant women should also avoid this position, at least towards the end. The positive side is that your spine is in a neutral position. There is not necessarily a fix given your spine is already neutral; however, if you suffer from sleep apnea or low back pain it may not be the best choice. When it is all said and done, the most important factor to keep in mind is that your spine remains neutral, no matter the sleep position you choose. It’s a nice treat to know that you still have the ability to choose a favorite way to sleep while also helping you feel much better when you wake. So, grab a few extra pillows and play around with the way you sleep. Your AM self will thank you. 🙂

 

 

Salutations Sultans and Sultanas of Swing.

Fitness, Life Health, Training, ,

Today we are going to play a game to help us understand and know the difference between Sprains, Strains & Tears on this episode of Know…Your..Lingo! (Audience participation and applause)

 

Let me lay down the terms and facts about them first. You will be tested on this so bust out your writing utensils, be it quil, dip pens, ballpoint or #2, and paper, parchment, or clay tablets and toss that thinking cap on, even you back there Billy!

 

Sprains go down when a joint (ankle, knee, wrist, shoulder, ect) is forced into an awkward or unnatural position. Sprains are the overstretching or tearing of ligaments. Think of a ligament as a fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bone to bone to help stabilize them together. A scenario this could happen is when you are walking on an uneven surface and then your ankle turns/twists one way. People often say twist when they refer to sprains.

 

Strains materialize from repetitive movements over a long period of time or from a single incident, where overstretching or tearing of the muscle or tendon occurs. Muscles and tendons are fibers that connect muscles to bones. A chronic strain would be from repetitive movements overtime whereas an acute strain is a single instantaneous stretch or tear. A scenario this could happen is when you are picking up a heavier box from the floor and feel a “pull” in your lower back. People often say pull when they refer to strains.

 

Tears stumble into existence from the ripping of ligaments, muscles or tendons from related actions that would cause those fibers to overstretch and is far  more serious and could take months to heal. Tears could mean surgery or rehabilitation depending on the severity. You may see a tear happen in sports, one of the most know tears would be at the knee more commonly thought of as an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear.

 

Fill in the blank Test.

(Sprain Strain Tear)

Select the correct term above to fill in the blank. 

 

1. Todd was frolicking down Penn ave listening to Hatebreed when he awkwardly stepped in a pothole and _______ his ankle.

 

2. Big Curt has been throwing fast balls all season for UF’s baseball team, but after throwing the game winning pitch in extra innings he felt a pulling sensation in his shoulder muscles. Big Curt believes he _______ his shoulder.

 

3. During the Wizard’s Powerful class one of the members crushes a lift and hits a new PR. Upon celebration the Wizard performs his special PR dance and then magically goes down gripping his knee. Upon further review is appears the Wizard has suffered a ________ at the Knee

 

4. When Sky’s favorite gym reopened (UF) she was thrilled to go train. So elated, that she jumped on the deadlift platform, loaded the bar to 500lbs and gave it the old fashioned college try. About halfway up on the lift she feels her low back get tight and drops the bar. The crowd grumbles and rumbles, saying she must have ______ her low back.

 

5. Mr. Rogers was leaving his television station WQED on a cold Pittsburgh winter day. As he was walking down the stair he slipped on some slippy ice and caught his fall by extending his arms and landing on his writs. He felt like his wrist was jammed or twisted and said “Awe shucks I ______ my wrist.” He immediately healed because he is Mr. Rogers.

 

Thank you for learning and playing on today’s episode of “Know Your Lingo”. Tune in soon for more fun and as always Stay Bumpy my friends.

Cheers,

-CeJ

Answers: 1) Sprain 2) Strain 3) Tear 4) Strain 5) Sprain

Four Pillars: Sleep

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

I won’t talk too much about what someone can do during this pandemic. I believe that enough people talking about how to maintain your fitness during the current situation. What I do want to talk about is what I believe to be the four pillars to success in any fitness goal. These are the four subjects that I start with everyone I work with and constantly maintain status on them. Especially, if you feel like you hit a wall or stuck in going forward revert back to these four:

 

Sleep, Nutrition, Training, Water.

 

In that exact order as well. I realize that these might seem obvious but through a series of articles on each, I plan to cover certain points that I find people miss.

 

Let’s start with sleep. Sleep is by far the most important key to achieving any goal you have. Especially any physical goal. If you want to understand how important sleep really is I highly recommend looking into Dr. Matthew Walkers research.

 

Again everyone knows how important it is but how do you optimize it. Well besides sleep hygiene (no tv before bed, going to sleep at the same time each night, and no blue light an hour before bed) I believe there to nutritional deficiencies and air way problems that seriously hinder your sleep.

 

  1. Vitamin D
    1. Vitamin D is highly important for calcium absorption but less known that low vitamin D levels are associated with sleep disorders. Dr. Stasha Gominak has done some great work in looking at deficiencies in vitamin D and B vitamins with sleep disorders. Now, I am no doctor or dietitian so I highly, HIGHLY, recommend getting blood work. This helps establish where you are now. Another thing I want to make clear is when you get the test is important to note that the “normal” range for vitamin D is 30ng/mL – 100ng/mL which is a HUGE range. That just makes sure you are not sick that do not show optimal levels. Just because you are not defined as sick does not mean you are not showing symptoms that are effected by not being in an optimal range. I shoot to keep my levels around 60ng/dL. I do this by being outside as much as I can but also supplementing vitamin D. Again talk to a health professional but here is a link for further info on Vitamin and sleep which could help tremendously

 

https://drgominak.com

 

  1. Magnesium
    1. This one you might have heard of. A lot of sleeping supplements out there load this one up but the real question is why would so many people be so deficient in this one? I believe people consume an abundant amount of diuretics which can flush out important electrolytes and minerals. If you are drawing a blank let’s run through an average day. Waking up to a great cup of coffee is your first diuretic, then maybe around three you have another cup of diuretic and maybe it’s been a particularly long day so you have an alcoholic beverage or two to finish the day with a strong diuretic. Even before that hit’s you, most people’s magnesium levels are lower than optimal since magnesium is green leafy vegetables, which most people don’t consume. Again we are talking about optimal levels and since it’s not fat-soluble you can flush these real quick but also replenish quickly too. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian before supplementing but since magnesium is water-soluble it is fairly harmless to supplement. If you want to consume magnesium through food try a spinach smoothie with more than a cup in it as well as snack on Brazil nuts, which unfortunately taste like dirt.

 

  1. CPAP Machine (Continuous positive airway pressure)
    1. I want to give a client experience with this one. I had a client that wanted to get into powerlifting. The first thing I do is bring up my four pillars (for any goal). At first, he would always say that his sleep was great but after a while, he finally mentioned how he snores rather constantly through the night. Realizing that snoring is not a good sign I recommended a sleep study. It took some time but eventually convinced him to get a sleep study. My client was diagnosed a CPAP machine right away. Let me make something extremely clear, before this he told me he got “good” sleep, he didn’t wake up that tired, and normally felt energized throughout the day but once he got the CPAP machine one of the first things he told me was “I didn’t realize how poor I have been sleeping for so long.” One point I want to stress, the more I work with people the more I realize how common this is. I have seen all shapes and sizes have this problem so just because you don’t have a neck like some of our powerlifters doesn’t mean you don’t have it.

 

You might feel that you are sleeping “well” but I would argue that you also might be sleeping so poorly for so long that your baseline could eventually be one of your worst nights of sleep. 

Side note his blood pressure went down that was on the higher side for some time.

 

I hope you noticed how many times I mentioned “optimal.” It’s important because it’s not usually that giant red flags that hold us back from our goal. It can be the little things over a long period of time that ultimately restricts us from accomplishing our goals. Optimizing the little things can have a profound effect.

Here are added articles/videos that go more in depth:

https://www.sleepdiplomat.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCyJd-9VFq8&t=3s

https://thesleepdoctor.com/2019/02/12/5-vitamin-deficiencies-that-can-affect-your-sleep/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/sleep/ask-the-doctor-sleep-and-magnesium-supplements

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27225921/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6212970/

Qualities That Help Us Get the Most Out of Life

Life Health

Throughout my career, I’ve always tried to learn from those individuals who have built their success on learning how to get the most out of life. A majority of those individuals all seem to practice very similar habits and poses certain qualities that help them achieve their goals and live their life to the fullest. The following are six qualities that I believe are some of the main staples that will help you live your fullest life.

 

1. Have passion and drive:

In my opinion, these two things set the tone for everything else that we are going to discuss coming up. Passion is something that carries over into all aspects of life. Whether it’s with your career, relationships, hobbies, etc., having passion for something will allow you to achieve great things. We all understand that there will be hard times and tough situations that come along the way. That’s inevitable. But being passionate about everything in your life is one of the only things that can keep you moving even when it seems like everything is standing still. Whatever you decide to do in your lifetime. Do it with passion.

 

2. Believe in your abilities:

Believing in ourselves is something that we are all taught to do from a very young age, but something that we seem to forget along the way. Maybe this is because we let others influence our thought processes and decisions, or maybe it’s because we actually stop believing in ourselves. Either way, a majority of the time the difference between us achieving our goals or falling short comes down to how much we truly believe in our ability to succeed. Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”. The mind is an extremely powerful thing, and positive self-talk is an extremely beneficial tool. If you one hundred percent undoubtedly believe in yourself and everything that you set out to do, you will be successful.

 

3. Don’t be afraid to fail:

Failure has the power to teach us some of our most valuable lessons. Without failure and learning from our mistakes, there is no growth. I think can all admit that we have been able to take something positive away from something that we failed in the past. Maybe it was a sporting event growing up. Maybe it was a test that we took in college. Or maybe it was a job opportunity that we missed out on as an adult. All of these failures presented us with an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and become better prepared for our future experiences. However, it’s not just as simple as failing and getting better. We have to be open-minded to the situation and willing to learn in order to see the benefit of the lesson. If we choose to play the victim or develop a fear of failure, we will never have the courage to take advantage of the opportunities that are placed in front of us.

 

4. Value all relationships:

Throughout our lifetime, we are all involved in relationships with others who have had an impact on us. Think about your family and friends. People who have supported and helped you along the way in your efforts to achieve your goals. Maybe they even believed in you in times when you didn’t believe in yourself. Without these relationships, you would not be where you are today. It’s also important to value past relationships, even if they even had a negative outcome. Even though we don’t like to think of those, it’s important to understand that we still grew from those situations. Without even realizing it, those relationships helped shape us into who we are today. Whether good or bad, relationships have taught us things that hold much value, and have helped us to learn and grow along the way. Don’t ever take them for granted.

 

5. Balance:

If you want to live a full life, you have to have balance. The tricky part is understanding that balance is not always going to be 50/50. There will be times where it becomes necessary to put more focus on some areas of your life than others. Understand that this isn’t a bad thing, but do not lose sight of the importance of the other areas. Maybe one of your goals has always been to start your own business. In order to make that happen, you are going to have to make it a number one priority. Know that a large majority of your time and effort will be spent on achieving this. At the same time, understand that those other things in your life such as family, friends, your health, etc., all play a role in your success. Without being able to balance those different areas of your life, you are potentially risking the chance of losing them all. By having balance in your life, you can in fact achieve all of your goals while living a more fulfilled life in the process.

 

6. Pass on:

Each of us has our own unique experiences and skills that we have acquired throughout our lifetime. However, those things mean nothing if you do not share them with others. Teaching and helping others is one of the most rewarding things you can do. There is nothing better than being able to share your knowledge with those eager to learn and get better. We all were once in that same place, wanting to know more about the particular topic. Most of us were fortunate enough to have a mentor, teacher, or friend that had the patience to share a little bit of that with us. We should each strive to be that person for someone. Not only are you passing on skills and knowledge to others, but you also end up learning more about it in the process. Ultimately, we all should aim to be a teacher, passing on our knowledge to those eager to learn.

 

– Curtis Miller

Jocelyn’s Nutrition Series

Clean Eating, Diet, Life Health, Meal Prep, Nutrition

Union fam, welcome back for PART 1 of Nutrition with Jocelyn. If you missed my first post on the UF blog about this new series, no worries because you’re reading at the right time. For those who aren’t aware, this is a new series I will be writing not only to keep my own spirits high and excited during quarantine but to aid in a hands on approach to what I am currently learning through my Nutrition Certification. I’m thrilled to be able to write such content for those interested that also encompasses my terrible humor you all might experience if you just so happen to see me during work at Union Fitness.

 

The first in our series is going to focus on eating well during quarantine. I’m not going to bore you to death with scientific information and I’m not going to tell you what you need to do, I’m simply here to help you find ways to fuel your bodies and encourage you to make small changes that ultimately will set you up for success post-quarantine. 

 

I know right now we’re all feeling a little blah and I’m not going to lie, I’ve indulged in a few pints of Ben & Jerrys here and there, drank a little too much and some days just really wasn’t feeling hungry at all. This is all a product of my own emotions, we as humans are very complex beings and with that comes actions that sometimes necessary don’t align with our overall goals (especially if you’re a female and it’s that time of the month). I’m here to tell you its OKAY to have days or weeks like this. The goal is to not let it be something that drags you back into a place that you worked so hard to get out of. This also doesn’t mean you have to make drastic changes all at once, I simply want you to start right where you are and start small.

 

Let’s start with an exercise

 

Right now I want you to picture what yesterday looked like for you, let’s start with a few questions. Grab a piece of paper, a pen or pencil and answer these honestly.

What time did you get up? 

What did you have for breakfast, lunch and dinner? 

Are you snacking in between those meals? 

What did your workout look like? 

Did you workout? 

What was your mood upon waking and before bed? 

What time did you actually go to sleep?

 

Now look at your answers to these questions, how do they make you feel? Do they all align with your goals or do only some of them align with your goals? Write down your answers to the questions below the above ones you just answered.

 

The purpose of this is to simply reflect, to understand why you made the decisions you did and how your emotions are a direct collate of those actions. There is no right or wrong answer.

 

When I talk about eating well what I really mean is mindful eating, knowing what you’re putting into your body and being mindful of how it’s going to make you feel. We are all emotional eaters, food is something that calms us and makes us feel good even if we’re not eating the most nutrient dense foods. Let’s take myself for example, what if I’m looking for an alternative to that pint of Ben & Jerrys ice cream, I might want to still eat 1 pint a week but I want something that can curb that extra craving I’m having on any given day. Protein shakes are a very good alternative to ice cream or something that can calm my sweet tooth. You can use a blender, add milk or a milk alternative and top it with whipped cream and/or chocolate chips. The consistency is almost identical when ice is added and I’m also knocking on my sweet tooth door whilst getting my protein intake as well.

 

All I’ve done is added something into my day that checks all the boxes, I didn’t eliminate the Ben & Jerrys because I’m allowed to indulge and if I want it I’m going to have it. The issue with some diets is they make us think there is only one way to eat and reframes our mind into having a bad relationship with food. Well I’m here to tell you there are many ways to eat healthy and that “one-size fits all” approach is totally bull. We need to eat for the lives that we live and every person is different from the next. What works for you might not work for me and we should never force ourselves into eating that will make us feel overwhelmed or limited into what we can consume.

 

Lastly, let’s knock on the door of those who love to snack (even though I consider Ben & Jerry’s a snack, you’ll find me eating the whole thing during Too Hot To Handle on Netflix). We’re mostly looking at those quick bites that are easy to pull out of the pantry and are something that can keep us full till lunch. Well I have an option for you and if you aren’t aware this series will also include small-business that I love and are a healthy alternative.

 

Nash Nutrition

 

Based out of Youngstown, Ohio Nash Bars are a  mouth-watering option for a quick snack. These nutrient dense bars come in four different favors for our peanut butter, chocolate and blueberry loving individuals. They are so dense that I find myself full for a lengthy period of time that I am able to get through a few more hours of work or a hard training session but also know I’m putting something into my body that makes me happy (we’re all about mood here guys). For example, the peanut butter chocolate chip option macronutrients are as followed:

 

300 calories

16g of fat

23g of carbohydrates

20g of protein

 

Most “protein” bars aren’t the most exciting things to eat, they lack taste or when we’re eating them we feel like we’re doing it to eat something healthy. Instead, Nash Nutrition does a really good job at providing options that again for me personally check all the boxes. Now before you ask, this isn’t a paid post on the UF blog and I don’t get free bars from Nash to promote, this is simply a plug for a nutritious option where if you purchase you’re also supporting a small-business during quarantine (which is something we here at Union are promoting on a weekly basis, being a small-business ourselves). 


Now back to our regularly schedule program

 

If we backtrack to our little food exercise we did, are there opportunities within that day where you could either add or replace a food with something that would make you feel better. If we start small like replacing one snack with something healthier, that one small change will lead us into making better choices day by day. The goal here just to reiterate is to become more mindful with our eating, aware of what we are putting our bodies and how our bodies are reacting to it.

 

Everyone wants to feel good but that doesn’t mean you need to stress yourself out or completely cut yourself off from certain foods. If you choose to make mindful decisions with your eating then you will find yourself having a better relationship with food and feeling better about all decisions that are food-based. 

Home Built Fitness

Fitness, Life Health, Training

If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you have been getting creative with your at-home workouts recently. It makes me happy to see everyone continuing to stick to their goals, regardless of the circumstances placed in front of us. Although this pandemic is a very rare occurrence, there is a good chance that something like this may happen again (or at least something that may keep us out of our favorite gym). Because of this, it might be beneficial to work on putting together a home gym. This way, we can pick up right where we left off without any worries or hesitation when this happens again.

 

I do understand that by being the director of a gym that relies on members, it kind of goes against the grain telling you to start putting together your own gym so you can train at home. But I also understand that what makes a gym great is it’s community. There’s nothing better than training with or around a group of like minded individuals who are all pushing each another to be better. It’s also important to be realistic, and understand that there will always be times where it just may not be possible to make it into the gym, and that occasionally a workout may need to be done at home (if possible). 

 

Now, the term “home gym” can mean many different things. It can be a collaboration of simply the absolute necessities and nothing more, or an array of equipment for a full body weight training workout. Either way, having your own at-home equipment at your disposal will allow you to get a quality workout in during a time of need, and will easily pay for itself down the line. Listed below are two separate lists of at home equipment. One for the individual on a limited budget or with limited space, and one for the individual who has access to a larger area, looking to invest a little more into equipment.

 

Budget built:

 

1.Yoga mat: If you have hardwood floors or are down in your garage, this is definitely a necessity for all floor exercises.

 

2.Resistance bands: You can replicate almost any exercise with a quality set of resistance bands. Companies such as Elitefts sell bands individually, or in a variety pack, ranging 

 

3.Adjustable dumbbells: Yes, these can be a bit pricey compared to a set of resistance band and a yoga mat, but their versatility speaks for itself. The list of exercises you can perform with a pair of dumbbells are endless, and will easily pay for itself over your time training at home.

 

Bang for your buck:

 

1.Power rack: If you have the space and the funds, a power rack is an absolute necessity for strength training. Squats, bench press, overhead press, rows, and pull-ups can all be performed using a power rack, just to name a few.

 

2.Adjustable bench: Having an adjustable bench over a flat bench with increase the number of exercises that you can perform.

 

3.Power bar: It’s hard to get strong without being able to perform compound lifts. A good quality power bar will last a lifetime, and is one of the best investments you can make.

 

4.Plate loaded dumbbells: Since you will have an array of 45, 25, 10, and 5 pound plates, you won’t need to purchase a pair of adjustable dumbbells (unless you prefer). Plate loaded dumbbells are simple, durable, effective, and can be used for almost any exercise.

 

Whichever you choose, there is no doubt that you will be able to have a quality training session during those times of need. We only get one body, invest in taking care of it so it will take care of us for many years to come.

Hello Iron Chefs of the World

Clean Eating, Diet, Life Health, Meal Prep, Nutrition
Today I bring to you some more tasty quarantine foods we have devoured. Both the Swedish Chef, Chef Boyardee and the late great Chef Bourdain approve of these delectable dishes. I present to you a snack, appetizer, meal & dessert.

Road House Kick Deviled Eggs:

 Ingredients; Eggs, Mayo (lite), Spicy Brown Muzzy (mustard), Salt, Pepper, Garlic & Onion Powder and Paprika.
Directions; Gracefully place eggs in a pot of water and boil for 5ish minutes-peel eggs,  slice them in half & toss the yoke in a bowl with all other ingredients- mix away- stuff filling into the halved eggs and dust with some more paprika and Blammy!

Jalapeno & Goat Cheese Sweet Pepper Poppers:
 
Ingredients; Sweet Peppers, Goat Cheese, Jalapeno.
Directions; halve sweet peppers, mix goat cheese and diced jalapeno into bowl, stuff filling into the sweet peps then toss in the oven at 400 for 10 or so minutes and you got some nice Poppers.
 
Hold on to Your Butt Sichuan Shrimp & Eggplant with Rice:
 
Ingredients: Shrimp, Eggplant, Sticky Rice, Chili Garlic Paste, Sichuan Peppercorns, Honey, Ginger, Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Veggie Broth, Dried Chilis, Green Onions & Corn Starch.
Directions; Cook rice- Toss all sauce ingredients into a pot and simmer til you get a thiccck sauce- saute shrimp & eggplant with any of the seasoning above- toss all together and hold onto your tongues.

Black Bean, Avocado & Dark Chocolate Brownies:
 
Ingredients; 1 can Black Beans, Avacado, 3 Eggs, 1/2 cup Unsweet Cocoa Powder, 1/4 cup Butta, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 3/4 cup Sugar (we used half stevia brown and half regular), 1 tsp Salt, Dark Chocolate Chips.
Directions; Mix it all up- layer mix over foil in a baking pan at 360 for about 20 minutes-Let cool for and few and wipe the drool off your mouth-Enjoy.

Please let me know what you think of these food ideas/recipes. If you have some fan favorites you’d like Union’s Top Chef to try, send it on over! Have fun with these and make them your own special way.
Bon Appetit,
-CeJ

How to Support Local and Small Businesses

Life Health, State of the Union, Uncategorized
Hello my friends,

 

During these strange times a lot of our favorite small and local businesses are taking a hit from the effects of CV-19 and social distancing. It’s time like these that if we are able to lend a hand to those small business and choose their products/ services over the big mega-mart business, now is the time. I know for dang sure when all this is over I want to sprint to my favorite small businesses in person and give them my love and support. I’ve ordered take out (food, craft beers & coffee) from my beloved local business and plan to order a handful of gift cards to distribute to family & friends to support while we still practice social distancing. Until then here are some ideas of things we can do to keep our friends  & cherished businesses alive.

 

Support Small & Local Businesses 

 

1) Share your go to businesses on your social media page and give them a shout out for their goods.
2) Leave a review on Google, Yelp our that business’ web-page to help boost online ratings.
3) Refer your friends to what these businesses have to offer and the current services they provide.
4) Buy gift cards now for future expenses.
5) Don’t cancel events that you planned with that business, reschedule.
6) Check to see if the business is offering online services (therapy, music lessons, financial advisement etc). Shameless shout out check out UF’s Instagram live classes they are offering.
7) Pick Small/Local over the mega-marts and big companies when shopping online or in person.
8) Take care of the service workers that you are picking up your take out or craft beer growler with a nice tip.
9) Offer your unique services that may be able to promote or assist your favorite places.
10) Give a donation.
11) Be a good person, say thank you and reach out when you can.

 

If you know a friend or just want to share your favorite small/local business please comment on and share this article. At Union we are in the works on some ways that we can support our members businesses and the places around us. I can’t wait to see you when things get under control. Stay strong, healthy and go support your local business.

 

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.” -The Beatles

 

Cheers,

 

CeJ

CeJ’s Turn on Music

Life Health, Training

Hello to all my headbangers & dance dance revolutionaries out there.

 

Some of you may not know this but growing up, I was in a rock band called “Sunday Brunch”.  Some say we were the greatest band of all time, some say nay we were just a tribute and others, well, they weren’t in our band. We would practice in my best friend’s mom’s garage or basement so we were an OG underground garage band. I was on the bass slapping down some chunky lines and belting out the occasional backup vocals. I grew up listening to motown, funk and some oldies from my parents, mainly on car rides with my Dad. The first CD i bought was Iron Maiden’s Killers because I thought the cover and song names seemed cool and the second was Tenacious D’s first studio album. Ever since then my taste in music has been vibrantly eclectic.

 

I love live music and if you know me you know I sacrifice quality zzzs to travel to shows and get in some mosh pits. So I’m gonna piggy back off Curtis and his training playlist and give you my top 5  training genres with 5 bands and my go to song that accompanies that band. If you don’t know a band or song well then you better go check it out, you might get jiggy with it…see what I did there?

 

Metal:

Mastodon- Blood & Thunder
System of a Down- Sugar
Children of Bodom- Are You Dead Yet
Rammstein- Te Quiero
Atreyu- Bleeding Mascara
Rock:
Iron Maiden- The Number of the Beast
Motorhead- Ace of Spades
Foo Fighters- White Limo
Coheed & Cambria- The Dark Sentencer
Ozzy- Paranoid
Punk:
Flogging Molly- Drunken Lullabies
AFI- White Offerings
Anti- Flag-The Press Corpse
Andrew WK- Party Hard
Transplants- Tall Cans in the Air
Rap:
Run The Jewels- RTJ
DMX- X Gon Give it to Ya
Missy Elliott- Pass that Dutch
Limp Bizkit- Rollin (Yeah I know what you’re thinking…but it’s Nu Metal and my blog, so keep rollin!)
Waka Flocka- Karma
Fun Stuff:
Talking Heads- Burning Down the House
Die Antwoord- Banana Brain
Gogol Bordello- Start Wearing Purple
Ghost- Dance Macabre

Gypsy Kings- Bamboleo

 

I hope you found some new bands or a couple that you already enjoy and want to listen to now. I’d love to know your go to training bands/songs, so let your Dood know! If you hated any or all of my selections let me hear it too,nothing better than a solid music debate. For example I am team Megadeth over Metallica, change my mind.

“Good night now ladies and gents.
That’s the end of the show, now it’s time to go.”  -Cheap Trick
-Cej

Setting your standard, and books to read

Life Health

I worked in higher education for two decades, and I’ve also been a columnist for elitefts.com for nearly a decade. During this time, I’ve presented and spoke about standards and culture and how we do what we do. I believe most universities enjoy these meetings because they make people feel good about how they are investing their time at work. This isn’t an insult to higher education. It’s the truth of human nature.

 

 

A few years ago, I came up with my personal philosophy while sitting in one of these meetings. My philosophy fits into this saying: “To improve the student through and of the human body.” This was my standard, and today as general manager of Union Fitness (UF), the only thing that has changed is that instead of students, I’m trying to improve all who enter our doors. 

 

How do you set your standard?

 

At times, I find myself frustrated when someone does something differently than how I wanted it done. At that moment, I take a step back and remember that it’s my fault. As the leader of UF, I’m in charge, and if we fail the employees or members, I’ve failed each of you. I must lead and make it clear to each and every person what we are trying to accomplish. Decide what your standards are and then communicate them.

 

In my first month on the job, we came up with the standards that we expect here. This was the seven tenants that we should follow. I posted them and shared these widely. After they were shared, I failed in making sure that we lived these each and every day. Cody Miller reminded me of this a few weeks ago when he asked if I could repeat all seven and I couldn’t. This made me realize that I failed my own standard. 

 

During this unprecedented time, we all are at home. I ask you to set your standard and ask yourself what you can do to not only make yourself better but make our world a better place to be. With this in mind, let me shift gears and give you a few books that I recommend. I hope you take this time to learn and grow.

 

  1. Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Brafman: This book taught me about investing my time. Too often, we do something and it fails. Then we do it again without making the necessary changes. This book shows real life examples of how we must change our behavior in order to grow.
  2. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: I strongly believe that reading fiction and non-fiction alike will help us understand culture and humanity. While this book is famous for changing how we look at the meat packing industry, it really is more about humanity.
  3. Under the Bar by Dave Tate: If you’re reading this, I assume you train. Follow what Dave has learned through his long lifting and coaching career. 
  4. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink: I have a funny story about this book. Someone sent me this book and there was no return address. I put the book in my computer bag and planned to read it soon. I forgot about it until someone broke into my car and stole my computer bag. A few days later I was walking down the road and saw that my elderly neighbor had a bag that was in her yard (down a wall). I jumped down to grab her bag. When I grabbed it, I noticed that it was my bag and the books were still in it. This is the lesson of the book. Own your responsibilities. The person who broke into my car should probably read this book. 
  5. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan: Michael is one of the best authors of our time. He has written on a wide range of topics and always has an amazing way of tying his topic into how it affects society. 
  6. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond: Actually, just read anything that Jared Diamond has ever written. Much like Michal Pollan, Diamond’s books run the gamut of topics, and he ties everything into how it affects humanity.
  7. Into the Wild and Into Thin Air by John Krakauer: I’ve read every book that John Krakauer has written and I highly recommend that you find any of his books and enjoy his easy writing style and amazing stories of human survival.
  8. To the Last Breath by Francis Slakey: This book has haunted me for years. Francis Slakey has an amazing story about climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents while also surfing every ocean. During his trips, he learns about humanity as well as his connection to the greater world. 

 

I’ve been lucky enough to meet and listen to many of these authors speak. I was on NPR with Michael Pollan and have shared emails with many of these other authors. I would to see what books you recommend, so please comment on our Instagram page with your thoughts.

 

Thanks and be safe.

 

 

Todd Hamer