Category Archives: Life Health

Meaty Potato Tacos

Being of Irish descent I believe that potatoes could NAY should be used in all meals. With this said I tossed this meal together as I had the ingredients and felt like the right thing to do.

 

Ingredients

1 lbs of grass fed ground beef (local).

Taco seasoning.

8 small potatoes.

2 Tomatoes.

2 Avocados.

Hot Sauce.

 

Directions

Brown the ground beef, then add the taco seasoning and water.

Slice the potatoes and sauté in butter.

Make the cooked potatoes the base of your taco, add the meat on top.

Add sliced tomatoes, cheese, avocado and any other greens or topping that you desire. Hot sauce should be on everything so don’t forget your hot sauce.

 

Simple and delicious. On a side note as I typed this we debated, is this really a taco as it has no shell and I agreed with myself (and no one else) that it still is a taco. Hope you enjoy.

 

Why do we do this?

This Sunday about 40 people gathered here at Union Fitness to have a great training session as well as raise some money for our friend Harry Lorusso. It was early on a Sunday morning, and we trained for about an hour and fifteen minutes and from what I saw many were challenged and had a good time. In addition to this we raised almost 600 dollars for a good cause (more on that later).

I have been competing for nearly twenty years and have done many other physically challenging events in between my competitions. I often ask myself why do I do this and then I ask, why also do others do this? When I see a day like what I saw Sunday morning here at Union Fitness,  I am reminded that we only have one trip on this earth and part of this trip is about pushing ourselves.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt

I believe this often referred to quote by Teddy Roosevelt best express why we do what we do. We know we are going to fail and that is OK we must keep pushing forward which takes me to my friend and our member Harry.

Harry was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. He was a young man with his life in front of him. I have often thought how would I handle news such as this. Could I handle it? Would I break down? Am I tough enough? Even though I have only known Harry a few months he has shown that he is the epitome of toughness dealing with this disease. I found out about his issue when he posted on instagram that he was training on his final day of chemo. That made me think, this is why we do what we do. We do what we do because as Henry Rollins said,

“Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.” Henry Rollins

So Harry reminded me that we have an opportunity and he also reminded me that we all only have a limited time on earth so let’s make the best of this opportunity. For this I thank you Harry and hope that each of us can be thankful each and every day that we get to walk into the gym and push ourselves to be better than we were yesterday.

Thank you everyone who came out and donated to help end cancer and make the world a better and stronger place.

 

 

 

 

Three takeaways from the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I competed in both a powerlifting meet and my first full marathon. It’s a goal that had been rattling around in my head for a couple years, but one that felt both completely ridiculous and completely out of reach. As luck would have it, I found two events happening close to where I grew up, on the best possible weekend, that worked together perfectly. I wasn’t about to pass that up, so in August I started training like crazy (you can see some of those training logs in the Union Fitness blog archive). That prep time was whirlwind, but it all came together two weeks ago.

 

Ultimately, I finished the meet with a 280(lb) squat, a 175 bench, and a 325 deadlift, setting a significant bodyweight personal best. I finished my first marathon in 3:50:24, which was my reach goal. I sobbed at the finish line. It was the hardest athletic event I’d ever done. 

 

Here are some takeaways:

 

Training and Competition will always be different

Meet day wasn’t perfect. It never is. Equipment is different, the day is almost always long, you’re probably operating on too little sleep. These are things to expect and to plan for. 

 

I had two big hurdles at the meet. The first, I NEEDED to eat a lot that day so I’d be fueled for the run, but it was a struggle from the moment I woke up. My meet day jitters are intense, and I didn’t plan well enough for that.

 

My second hurdle was not considering the toll driving out to York (and the length of meet day) would take on my hips. By the time we started deadlifting, I was feeling shot. I’d pulled 350 in the gym and it moved pretty well, so when I asked Casey to put 345 as my second, I wasn’t worried. The bar we were using was a little thicker and stiffer then I’d gotten accustomed to, and that combined with my fatigue meant it was not budging from the floor. I did everything I could, including gritting my teeth through a nasty RPR reset, but the iron bested me that time.

 

How do you combat that? Get your head right. Expect the unexpected, as cliche as that is. I went to that meet to do the very best that I could on that day, and then turn around and do the very best I could at another event the next day. And I did. I brought out my intensity going up to that bar on my third attempt, but as soon as I missed it, I was grateful for the opportunity, conscious of the mistakes I made, and ready to move to the next step.

 

As for the marathon? I was PROUD of my prep. I worked up to a 21 mile long run and it felt fantastic. In an attempt to simulate what the full meet+marathon weekend would feel like, I was doing my long runs the day after taking heavy singles in all three lifts. I was proud. Too proud maybe. Because when I woke up at 4:30am on race day, my hips HURT. More than they ever had in training. 

 

My appetite was still low but I forced some carbs down, walked outside on a cold rainy morning in downtown Philadelphia, and got on the shuttle to the start line.

 

I made another critical mistake here. I arrived about 90 minutes before gun time to a cold, muddy, pitch-black start. Because of the meet, I didn’t attend packet pick-up the day before (Philly mails it to you, super cool), so I wasn’t really sure where things were. I figured out gear check, then realized I needed to use the bathroom before the race started. I had about an hour at that point, so I got in line. I’ll cut the drama and just say I was still in line an hour later when the gun went off and the elites started. I was in the third big corral with all the predicted 4 hour finishers, which meant I had about 10 minutes to get out there if I wanted to start with that group and the pacer. Missed it. Still in line. 

 

I got out just as the last corral was leaving. I didn’t warm-up much at all, my feet were frozen, I had a lot of slower runners to zig-zag though, and I was obviously a little freaked out since I’d almost missed the start! Rookie mistakes. Next time, I’ll arrive a whoooole lot earlier and spend more time figuring out the layout of the start. 

 

Pain is temporary

The combination of the skipped warm-up, my frozen feet, and my already fatigued hips meant that my pain point in this race came a lot earlier than it normally did on training runs. The first 10 miles were great, you run around the city, there are tons of people out cheering. Then you cross a bridge and run down Kelly Drive, along the river, all the way out to Manayunk. Runners then turn around and finish the same way they went out. I knew about this. I thought I’d prepared by always running looped courses here in training. 

 

My hip pain got more severe around mile 16. I knew I had 10 miles to go, and we were just getting to the out-and-back portion of the race. I passed mile 17 as the faster runners were coming back passing mile 23. My mind started reeling at this point, seeing the pain on their faces, knowing how much I had left, feeling my own pain getting worse with every stride. 

 

I am a stubborn person, I HATE quitting things, but those thoughts came up several times in the last 10 miles. I was maintaining my goal pace, but the pain kept coming. Soon my left knee started to throb. I could feel it swelling. My right hip flexor was locking up, so my gait was getting pretty funky. I was struggling with getting nutrition down as I moved, but luckily had no GI issues. 

 

I’d never experienced this level of pain in an athletic event. Someone was holding a sign that said something like “You paid a lot of money to feel like this” and that really hit home. I knew I wasn’t going to stop unless I collapsed, and I was able to hold it together to the finish. I even picked up it as we passed mile 26.

 

So what does that say? I was in so much pain for 10 miles that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to go on, but then in that last 0.2 I found more speed. It’s all mental. I made a choice over and over with each step to continue, to not give up on this ridiculous dream I had to finish a marathon, to not let myself down. And it came together in that final stretch. The pain was temporary. The intense discomfort was temporary. And we are capable of withstanding a lot more than we think we can when we ask that of ourselves.

 

Pushing to your limits yields personal growth

I feel very different after completing these events. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but I feel like my ability to accept what IS has gotten better. I’ve always struggled to let things go. I’m a perfectionist and deal with a lot of unwanted anxiety, so I’d get caught up in an idea of how things should be and could never let that go in the face of reality.

 

For whatever reason, it seems a lot easier now. If I were to guess, I’d say it’s because I got some quality practice in with these events. I missed my third squat, not because I wasn’t strong enough, but because I didn’t dial in my technique. I missed my last two deadlifts even though I knew it was a weight I could handle, causing me to miss my “A” goal of an 800lb total. I experienced the sadness and disappointment that comes with not meeting a goal, and then I moved on. I can think of tons of things I’ll do better next time, but I’m not still dwelling on those missed lifts. 

 

And the race. Doing something that long and that hard teaches you, again, that pain is temporary. That you can withstand that pain, that discomfort, for as long as you need to to get where you want to go. I can’t turn that off now. The discomfort of every day stress is real – having difficult conversations, enduring people or situations that make you uncomfortable, the non-stop grind of work or school or family or all of it. But it’s endurable. And you truly learn that when you push to your physical limits. See what you’re capable of. It applies everywhere.

 

I’m still working through the emotional changes I’ve felt since finishing that race, but suffice it to say, it was all worth it. And I’ll be doing it again (but not for at least a year).

 

Bonus: These aren’t individual sports

I want to thank everyone who followed me during training, who sent words of encouragement and cheers via the RaceJoy app (I heard them all!). I want to thank all of the people at the Philly marathon who helped me get on the course on time, who showed me where things were, that were excited for me to do my first full. I didn’t know a single person there but felt cared for the entire time. I am so grateful that I got to see my parents at the finish, desperately trying to get photos, unsure of why I was crying so much. 

 

I especially want to thank the amazing people who drove all the way out to York to watch me compete. To say I was floored would be an understatement. It meant the world to me to have you all there. Diane, Alex, Sara, Mariah, Ang, Cayt, you made my weekend. I love you all.

 

And finally, my best friend, driver, handler, force-feeder, shoulder to cry on. I thought I could do this all on my own, and maybe I could have, but I’m glad I didn’t have to. Thank you.

 

The people I’ve met through these sports are some of the best I’ve ever known. Nothing compares to our community. If you’re reading this thinking about attempting some athletic feat, be it a 5k, and strongman competition, or an Ironman – do it. You’ll meet your family, you’ll test yourself, you’re learn and grow. All the pain and struggle is worth it.

 

Meal of the Month, It’s not a cheat month!

It is officially upon us the holiday season. This is the time of the year that stress levels tend to increase. We have family pressures, our time become less ours and more dictated by outside forces, we also have ample opportunity to eat poorly. I am here to tell you it’s ok and we will get through this better and ready to attack 2020! Here are 7 tips to make it through this holiday season guilt free and wearing the same pants size you do now (or maybe even an improved body).

  1. Don’t let guilt win. When at the holiday party enjoy yourself. The extra calories are fine as long as you don’t do it everyday.
  2. Don’t count calories at the party. Akin to the first tip, be a human and have some fun.
  3. Know when you cheated and get back on the right path the next day.
  4. Drink 1 gallon of water a day. Not only will it keep you full, it will also prevent you from consuming too many liquid calories.
  5. Forgo on the flavored holiday latte flavor before the party. Like a caveman drink real coffee for a few days.
  6. Keep track of weight and how your jeans fit. These two methods or measuring your stress levels have stood the step of time. If you see an unwanted increase don’t freak out just get back on track at your next meal.
  7. At the holiday party be sure to start at the veggie plate. Fill your stomach with some carrots before going straight to the desert tray.

Bonus tip;

Create a chart with 7 days and 4 boxes per day, each box represents an eating opportunity. Every day put a check in a box when you stuck to your plan. Put an x in a box when you cheated on your plan. Score yourself out each week. Do not be too harsh. If you only followed your plan 50% of the time then just get back at it next week and aim for 60%. If you try to be perfect all the time you’ll only get frustrated and fail. So enjoy the time with friends and family, get some exercise and enjoy the sweets, just not all of them.

 

 

Guest Blog Post, Tim Cortazzo

Today we have a guest post from our friend and owner of FSQ sports, Tim Cortazzo. Tim trains athletes and non-athletes in Trafford, PA. I have been friends with Tim for many years and I have always respected the work he does with everyone he trains. So here is the post from our friend Tim.

“5 Things you can do RIGHT NOW to get on track to a healthier lifestyle”

What does the term “Healthy Lifestyle” mean to you? For some, it’s a strict, clean diet and 7 days a week at the gym. For others, it’s simply doing enough during the week to enjoy pizza and beer on the weekend. Either way is fine! However living a sedentary lifestyle where you don’t take care of yourself is not. Let’s be realistic, we all know the steps to follow to get on track to a healthier lifestyle. Its pretty simple, eat better and move more. I also feel like the majority of the population WANT to be healthier. But why don’t we all actually follow these simple steps. There is more information available today to help people get healthy than there has ever been. However, there are still over 90 million people in the US who struggle with obesity. 

These numbers are even more staggering (according to HHS.GOV):

  • Less than 5% of Adults in America participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day.
  • Only 33% of Adults in America get the recommended amount of physical activity each week.
  • Over 80% of Adults in America do NOT meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities and more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough aerobic physical activity to meet the guidelines for youth.
  • Reducing the sodium intake in America by 1,200mg per day can save up to $20 BILLION a year in medical costs. 
  • Reports project that by Year 2030, half of all adults in the US will be obese. 115 MILLION PEOPLE PROJECTED TO BE OBESE!!!

I’m not using this article and platform to spew out stats about how unhealthy we are. I’m also not using this as a way to revolutionize a movement against fast food chains and pizza shops. I simply want to figure out a way to help as many people as I can by getting them started on the right track to feeling better and taking control of their health.

“GETTING STARTED IS THE HARDEST PART”

I don’t necessarily agree with this quote. It seems that gyms are crowded with New Years Resolutioners each and every January. I think getting started is pretty easy. SUSTAINING is the hardest part. It’s the reason people fall off the wagon so quickly. Maybe the available health information is just overly crowded. It seems like a new diet, Netflix show, or workout fad hits the market each week. With this type of overload, I’m not sure people actually know where to start with their diets and training. Hopefully this article can help jumpstart your journey to a healthier life!

 

  1. MAKE A PLAN FOR SUCCESS

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Yes goal setting is an important part of this. But if you don’t have the road map, it will be a lot tougher to get to your destination. Take your time planning out your journey and refer back to it often! Set realistic short-term goals and write down the necessary actions you must take to reach these goals. Also set a timeline. If you don’t have a timeline, then your plan will be a free-for-all. Celebrate (but not too much) every time you hit a milestone! Use these short-term goals as a path to your larger, long-term, ultimate goal. Another important part of achieving your goals is developing the habits and skills necessary to reach the goal. For example, if you want to lose 10lbs, you must acquire the skills necessary to lose 10lbs. These skills may include “Meal Prepping,” “3 Days a week at the gym,” etc… To acquire these skills, you must develop the habits necessary to get better at that skill. “Waking up on time,” “Consistently getting to the grocery store,” etc… I find a flow chart to be the best way to accomplish the tasks at hand. This basically gives you a step-by-step guide to navigate. Here’s an example of a flow chart you can follow to start crushing your goals: 

  1. MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF

We are all limited to 24 hours in a day. If you add it all up, we have 168 hours each week. How we choose to spend that time varies. If you can spend just 1 hour each day working on improving your health, you will more than likely be setting yourself up for success. 7 HOURS A WEEK!!! Make these 7 hours a priority. Let’s check out an average time breakdown for a working adult and see where we can fit these 7 hours. Feel free to plug in your own schedule.

-56 hours of sleep (average 8 hours each night)

-50 hours of work (commute included)

-14 hours of eating (assuming 2 hours each day spent eating)

– 5 hours of personal hygiene (hopefully at least that…)

– 7 hours of working on your health!

1 hour of planning

2 hours meal prepping

4 hours of physical activity

That’s a grand total of 132 hours each week doing the absolute necessities. That leaves you 36 extra hours to be spent doing whatever else you’d like to do. It should not be difficult to carve out 60 minutes each day to invest in your health. Here are some more tips on how to do this:

  • DELETE YOUR APPS. There’s an app for everything nowadays. More apps = more time spent on your phone. Delete your pointless apps that are eating away at your “you time.” Social media isn’t the devil. In fact social media can be a great tool to stay connected to our friends and the world around us. However, aimlessly scrolling on social media will destroy your productivity. Try to limit your time spent on pointless scrolling and use that time to do something productive for your health. 
  • Set up “out of office hours” for yourself. I understand that people get busy with work. And depending on what you do for work, you may need to be attached to your phone all day. However answering emails and calls all day long will make you feel busier than you actually are. Prioritize the urgent messages and calls and shut it down! It’s ok to set the phone down for a few hours and limit how often you respond. Set up your “out of office” message and enjoy some time disconnected from the world. Just for the record: Absolutely no phone is allowed during your time working out.
  • Workout early in the morning. Lay out your workout gear right before you lay down for the night. Get to sleep an hour earlier than you normally do the night before. Sleep the same amount of time. Wake-up an hour earlier in the morning. Working out in the morning will be a great jumpstart to your day. Training early can boost your metabolism, improve your mood, increase your focus, and improve your energy for the day ahead. You will also feel accomplished after completing your first big task of the day.   
  1. HIRE A COACH

Now this one can be tough! There are a lot of snake-oil salesmen out there right now in the training/nutrition industry. However, there are plenty of really good coaches both online and in gyms that can be a huge asset for your journey. Coaches, whether its for your diet or training, provide structure! They will hold you accountable for showing up on time, working hard, sticking to your plan, reaching your goals, and ultimately sustaining your goals. Here are a few tips for hiring a coach:

  • Ask your trusted friends for recommendations
  • Check online for trusted reviews
  • ASK QUESTIONS!!! How long have you been helping people? What are your professional qualifications? Where did you receive your education and what was your area of study? Do you have any progress pictures or testimonials from clients? What will this process be like? HOW CAN YOU HELP ME?
  • Make sure they are a good fit for you. The worst thing you can do is hire an educated, experienced professional with great reviews IF you don’t really like them as a person/coach.   
  • Check for certifications. This one can be tricky because not all certifications are the same. And with that being said, being certified doesn’t necessarily mean they are qualified. Holding a certificate doesn’t equate to being a good coach. But it does give that coach some credibility and can give you, the client, a piece of mind. Some of the more respected certifications include: 

National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)

National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)  

American Council on Exercise (ACE) 

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

Precision Nutrition (PN)

  1. JOIN A PRIVATE GYM/STUDIO

Lets face it, private coaches can be expensive and may not fit into your lifestyle or budget. That’s fine! There are plenty of other ways to get the most out of investing in your health. The big, general public gyms can be intimidating. There’s a lot going on. People everywhere, tons of different machines, no structure especially if you don’t know where to start or what to do. Private gyms and studios are a great option to avoid this! Joining a private gym or studio provides a great sense of community. A positive attitude community with motivational coaches can provide accountability and structure to keep you on task. The clients at these training facilities have similar goals and are on similar journeys! There are plenty of different private facilities out there with different types of fitness. Same rules apply as hiring a coach. Ask friends where they workout, check reviews, look for professional qualifications, etc… Most importantly, find what you enjoy! There are facilities that specialize in strength training, yoga, cycling, CrossFit, even pole dancing? (The pole dancing one isn’t for me but hey!!! Whatever gets the job done for you) Try a couple different places and find the best fit for you.

  1. STOP WAITING… START RIGHT NOW!

Don’t wait for Monday, don’t wait for next month, start immediately. Procrastination is your enemy. If you don’t start right now, you run the risk of never starting. The second you finish this article, use your newfound motivation, and go start planning. I promise you wont regret it!

 

Turkey Burn Week

Welcome to Thanksgiving week. We at Union Fitness hope that this holiday is filled with many good times with friends and family. We also understand that this season can be stressful for many reasons. Balancing the different personalities can be more stressful than preparing a great meal. With this in mind here is a short list of ways to escape the stress of the holiday and relax.

  1. Come to our Turkey Burn workout and bring a canned good to donate to those less fortunate.
  2. Use our get your headspace app and meditate for ten minutes.
  3. Use or get your MetriLife app and track your stress to see how far you have come and how you can improve.
  4. Before or after your meal take a family walk.
  5. Before or after your meal take a walk alone (sometimes we need this).
  6. Do not worry about calories on thanksgiving day. Just be sure to eat healthy the rest of the week.
  7. Do some volunteering this week. There are many great groups who need help as the winter closes its grips on us so help the needy.

This is a very short list of different ways that you can help others and yourself. Also, remember on this holiday that helping oneself does not need to be a zero sum game. We can volunteer and still help our mental state or exercise and empower those around us to exercise as well.

Happy thanksgiving week our friends!

Meal of the Week (burn your turkey edition)

This week for our Meal of the Week we are going to change things up just a bit. We are now 8 days out from Thanksgiving. We all know that this is the ultimate “cheat day.” Here at Union Fitness we truly believe in helping each and every one of our members in and out of the gym. You may spend 1-10 hours a week in Union Fitness and we hope to empower you during that time to be your best self and live your best life. Too often as strength and fitness professionals we all lose sight of the end game, a better life. So with this in mind we are preparing to stuff ourselves on Thanksgiving day with friends and family and invite you to do the same and feel no guilt about enjoying your day.

The other thing we want to do is take care of yourself and others. On Thursday November 28th we invite you (and friends, member or non-member) to come down to Union Fitness and join us in our biggest class. We have named this class the Turkey Burn. If you are using our discount and running the Turkey Trot with our friends at the YMCA we will let you slide on this one. If you are free come down and join in the superclass. All we ask of you is three things:

  1. Bring a canned good so that we may donate to those less fortunate than us. Don’t worry there will be coffee for after the workout.
  2. Bring your Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) and maybe some friends or family to raise their holiday spirits too.
  3. Sign up for the class online so we know how much coffee to bring. We have already added more spots to this class three times so let’s burn some turkeys.

The workout will consist of some cardio class, some lifting as well as a special Powerful with CJ workout. We will have the entire gym to ourselves so should be a great day of training. The workout will begin at 9 AM and wrap up at 10 AM, just in time to check your burnt turkey at home.

If you have any questions please ask any of our staff members. Now let’s empower each other for greatness.

Meet the staff Monday


Happy Monday to all of you and let’s get this week started right with a Meet the staff Monday. We are doing our best at making sure our staff knows all of you and you know our staff. We appreciate you coming to Union Fitness and we also realize that we are what you make us. So with that said we are going to introduce you to our staff. Please feel free to speak to our staff with anything you need. Even if we are training we are still here to serve each and everyone of you. Now Catlyn will take the mic. 

Hey folks, 

Welcome to this week’s edition of Meet the Staff Monday! My name is Catlyn Brooke and you can catch me in the Strength Lab Monday/Friday for 6:30a #powerful and Tuesday/Thursday for 6:30a Bootcamp.  

I started at Union Fitness 2 years ago as a training client with Lindsey, at the times I was 6 months post hernia repair. I had a foundation in strength training from CrossFit (not how I got the hernia), and I wanted to learn how to squat “right” before lifting heavy again. After training for a few months with Lindsey and getting some women’s #powerful classes under my belt (you get it?), I decided Union Fitness was the place to continue my fitness and coaching journey. 

I have met so many amazing, hardworking, bad-ass people here who are my IRL #fitspo. The members who have come into my life in the past few months and have broken me out of my lifting slump. I was pretty much indifferent to training, not sure if I ever wanted to do it seriously or compete again. BUT! I have been convinced (aka hyped up) to do a meet in March with them. So now, instead of just seeing me teach classes or greeting your lovely faces at the desk, you will also see me lying on the floor after a set of 20 belt squats programmed by none other than our new General Manager and all-star beard grower, Todd Hamer.

What do I do when I’m not at UF? I spend the majority of my time at ASCEND Pittsburgh as the Events Director and a personal trainer. I also spend a lot of time singing annoying songs to my cats, baking, and reading. 

Come see me in the morning if you want to hear more about my cats (no, I won’t sing their songs to you) or if you would like to request a certain baked good(s). If morning isn’t your thing, you can find me at ASCEND in the afternoon, probably lying on the floor there too after slipping off a climbing hold.  

See you soon! 

Catlyn 

PS – ((Warning: Shameless self-promotion.)) I post about my cats a lot on Instagram. @catlyn_

 

Meet the Staff Monday

This Monday we introduce you to another one of our staff members. This week we bring you one of our personal trainers as well as our finest musician on staff, Mr. Ethan Raese. Ethan is one of the early trainers here at Union, he has been here for a few years now. Speak to any of his clients and you will see that he is as committed to seeing improvement in each and every person Ethan meets.

Here is a short list of some of what Ethan has done in his life.

9 years working in collegiate strength and conditioning.

7 years teaching olympic style lifting.

6 years working with Carnegie Mellon University.

Degrees in Psychology/Anthropology, Temple and Exercise Science, Pitt.

CSCS and USAW Certification.

Now let’s delve into the fun, Ethan has over 20 years as a touring drummer. Ethan began his first tour at the age of 15. Ethan has toured the world as a drummer for numerous bands. If you want to see him on tour search for one of his current bands Steel Nation. Why do I care so much about this? I want all of you who are reading this realize that we are more than what we see in the gym. Our goals here at Union Fitness is to empower you everyday to be your best and with someone like Ethan your can see that your best may occur inside the gym or outside the gym either way we are here for you.

To close this blog let me say Happy Veterans Day to all of our veterans!

 

CJ is ready to compete…will you join him?

Hello to all my Bumpy friends, 

For those of you who don’t know me, I am CJ and I teach #Powerful w/CeJ on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 5-8pm. I have been a college strength coach for 7 years and a Union Fitness coach for over 2 years. I’ve worked with the New York Mets, Ohio State Football, various universities (Slippery Rock, Robert Morris, Morehead State and Youngstown State) as well as youth athletes and weekend warriors. I have a passion for educating others and myself while motivating people to achieve their health and life goals! 

I am currently 1 week out from a powerlifting meet in Canton Ohio that 11 other Union Fitness Crue members will be competing in (come out and show some love). This will be my second powerlifting meet and I am excited to crush my Squat, Bench and Deadlift personal records and make the UF Crue proud. Since I am 1 week out I will be reloading (we don’t deload, we reload) and working on recovering and prepping my body for the meet. I plan to do some light Squat, Bench and Deadlift work and then lighter bodybuilding movements just to get new blood flow to my muscles and work out any aches, pains and kinks I have in the old body. Heck, I might even get a massage from one of our great massage therapists at UF and I definitely will do some mobility. 

My excitement is building as we creep closer to “show time” (Beetlejuice voice). The motivation and training environment at UF with the Crue have been amazing for months now and we’re about to show Canton Ohio all the work we put in. I will say I am more confident and stronger than before and I can contribute that to all my training partners. November 9th is soon approaching and then it’s time to Get Bumpy. 

Stay Strong My Friends, 

Saturday Squat Training:

1a. Dynamic Warmup-Mobility-Band Glute Activation

2a. Speed Squats 3×3 Work on Technique

3a. Fatbell Reverse Lunges 2x8e 3b. Fatbell Single Leg RDL 2x8e

4a. GHRs 2×10 4b. Hanging Leg Raise 2×10

5a. Band Ankle & Lower Body Stretch 5b. Donnie Thompson Hip Series 5c. Body Tempering

6a. Recovery Shake & a solid meal

CJ