Category Archives: Life Health

Science Behind Variety in Cardiac Training

It is easy to become stagnant in your training. No matter your goals, there are pros and cons to everything you do inside or outside of the gym. I want to do my best today to give you some basic science to different styles and variations in training. Let’s look mainly at heart health, as this topic could go on for hours, and I am not that entertaining of a writer.

 

Resistance Training for Heart Health. 

 

Resistance training when it comes to heart health is often misunderstood. Lifting and heavy lifting can do an amazing job in helping reduce cardiovascular disease. Too often, people assume that heart health is only about cardio, and we will get into these benefits later, but it is important to understand how resistance training can also aid in cardiovascular fitness.

 

The science on this topic is pretty clear. We know that when one does resistance training, the left ventricle will become thicker and stronger. This means that the heart has the ability to pump harder. However, with any benefit, there is also a down side. As the ventricle becomes stronger, it does not necessarily hold more blood. This means that in strong individuals, the heart has the ability to pump more blood by emptying the left ventricle with a more powerful contraction. This results in increased stroke volume. With stroke volume being the amount of blood pumped form the left ventricle per beat.

 

In addition to the increase in stroke volume, resistance training can increase blood pressure to extreme levels. This may sound like a bad thing, yet in an acute sense this is a great thing. Squatting tends to show the greatest increase in blood pressure, with numbers over 300/200. This is great news for these vessels that are under this extreme acute load because it allows adaptation in many ways. Firstly, it can make the vessels more pliable. And secondly, it can help clean these vessels of the junk that creates issues. Yes, I know that last sentence was very scientific. Just trust me it’s good.

 

Cardio/Conditioning for Heart Health.

 

I am sure everyone has heard how this is important. Heart health and cardio are linked together like peanut butter and jelly. Kenneth Cooper wrote the book, “Aerobics” in 1968 and since then, the answer to all things heart related is Cardio workouts. While this book makes some great points, it is still from its time and is a bit solipsistic. What should be taken from the book is that cardio is rarely a bad thing to do. But what type?

 

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is great to stress the heart. I believe that everyone should stress their heart intensely once or twice a week. This type of training is similar in its adaptations to resistance training. While HITT is great, it can be overdone and does create a lot more stress for all parts of the body.

 

LSD or Long Slow Distance training has been referred to as Zone 2 training. In simple terms, this is keeping your heart rate at a controlled pace for longer durations. With this tyoe of training, you can track it based on heart rate (try to stay under 140) or just try to have a conversation during exercise. For example, if you can’t talk then it’s too fast, and you should slow down.

 

The biggest adaptation from LSD training is an increase in stroke volume due to an increase in volume that the left ventricle can hold. This is where stretching of the left ventricle occurs to make more room for blood. This will add to stroke volume, and if you do this in conjunction with increasing the strength of the left ventricle, then you will be a blood pumping machine.

 

LSD training can be done with walking, biking, hiking, jogging, or an any machine. Again, the key is to just keep the heart rate elevated for 20-60 minutes and you’ll reap the benefits.

 

After all of that, I’ll finish with this basic set up to your cardiac output training. Do LSD training 2-3 days a week for 30-60 minutes. Do your strength training 3 days a week for an hour.  Lastly, add some HIIT training in 2 days a week, with focusing on just getting that heart rate over  or at 90-%.

 

 

 

 

Meet the Interns; Michael Dowling

My name is Michael Dowling, I am a senior earning my Bachelor’s of Science in Exercise Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Since January of 2023, I’ve had the awesome opportunity to be an intern at here at Union Fitness. For almost four years I have been going to the gym five to six days a week trying to better myself and get stronger. In the future I plan to compete in some powerlifting competitions, my first meet being Unions very own private “Push Pull” on April 23rd, 2023. I also plan to eventually compete in bodybuilding competitions in a few years after some more growth. My hobbies outside of the gym include cooking, spending time outdoors, being a cat dad, disc golfing, and watching sports. 

 

Union fitness is unlike any other gym I’ve ever heard of or worked out at. Not only do we get to work with the awesome and strong community of the north side, but we also get to work with Point Park University and Chatham’s athletic teams. As a young and still learning student in the fitness realm, I’d like to pursue a future career in strength and conditioning, more specifically as a strength coach. Union has provided me with awesome opportunities to help build these skills required to be a strength coach. So far, I’ve gotten to work with both men’s and women’s: soccer, track and field, baseball, lacrosse, and hockey teams. Working with these teams has been nothing but awesome. I love watching a team grow stronger as a whole and closer together as a team through working out and bonding. 

 

My goal as a future coach is to try to make my athletes truly enjoy and believe that working out is good for them as people not only physically, but mentally. I also would like to help any individual achieve any goal they have set out. I believe physical fitness is an extremely important aspect of human life on earth, the human body is an amazing thing and will find a way to compromise in any situation. You may be a grandparent trying to pick up your grandchildren, a college basketball player trying to increase their speed and vertical jump, or a powerlifter trying to increase their total at the next meet; you should always try to push yourself harder than last time. The weight room doesn’t discriminate against anybody, and exercise should never be seen as a punishment. 

 

I’ve been extremely lucky to have a mentor like Todd Hamer, who is one of a kind. When we first met, I could tell Todd was a genuine person who wanted to share his knowledge from 20+ years of strength and conditioning experience with all those smart enough to listen. He has been an awesome mentor thus far and has taught me a lot about strength and conditioning and a lot about the importance of interactions with people throughout life. Due to covid, the internet, and many other factors, face to face interactions and experiences are at an all time low. Todd often reminds me to seek out human interactions and the little things in life, even if it’s just asking your cashier or server “what’s your name, where are you from?”. 

 

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be here every day of the week at union, and I hope to meet you some time. Please say Hi if you see me! 

 

-Michael Dowling 

 

mwd32@pitt.edu

Don’t Worry About the Fringes

I have been working in this industry long enough to see arguments of all types. I have too often participated in arguments that were not worth my time and have seen great coaches as well as trainers make this mistake as well. Often times it begins with a simple statement such as, “calories in vs calories out is what matters”. This is often where get lost on the fringes. “Calories in vs calories out” holds a lot of truth. But, is it perfect? No, nothing is perfect. Yet, if we don’t get lost on the fringes of this statement then we see how true the statement really is.

 

KISS & SAID Principles. 

 

I love these two acronyms. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and SAID (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands), cover most topics we feel so inclined to discuss. KISS principle is beyond easy. It is simply just a reminder to not overcomplicate the whole process. If you want to get stronger then lift weights, if you want to lose weight then burn more calories, pretty simple right?

 

SAID principle is also straightforward. SAID entails that if you want any adaptation to occur then you must make it specific. If you wish to run a marathon then you must run. If you wish to be bench press 500 lbs then you must do some bench pressing. Your body will adapt to the specific demand that you place upon it. This is true in anything that you do. To build on this further, If you want to be more educated then read more and if you want to be more flexible then stretch more.

 

The beauty of these two principles is that they keep us grounded. If you are keeping it simple and specific, then you cannot get lost on the fringes. It is very easy to see thousands of crazy (often unnecessary) exercises online, avoid these and stick to the basics. So go get some hard work under your belt, while also finding some consistency.

 

I will leave you with this. There are no life hacks. When someone says, “no one cares work harder”, I want you to remember that I care. As a coach, trainer, GM of a gym, or whatever other hats I wear, I know it is easy to get lost and frustrated in a sea of information. Many times it just takes a mere step back in order to look at the issue again. This allows us to see the solution in a more simplistic manner.  So remember this, when you get confused and want to avoid the fringes of the issue, just take a step back and show up again tomorrow.

Meet the Interns, Bryce Bevins

Hello everyone! My name is Bryce Bevins and I am a senior Sport Psychology major at Robert Morris University, and am originally from Vero Beach Florida. I have played football at Robert Morris University for the past four years. I am now entering the transfer portal in search of a new team where I can continue to play football and also complete my Masters in Business. This spring semester of 2023, I am interning with Union Fitness, where I am assisting collegiate teams in the area and fitness classes. I have always been drawn to the strength and conditioning aspect of sports for most of my life, and I find it interesting the ways to get better in the behind the scenes of a sport.

 

I am happy to be at Union Fitness and I am very eager to learn from everyone’s coaching style and philosophy. I have already learned so much in my time here and I am excited to see what else is in store. My dream is to own a gym like this one in the future and to help not only collegiate teams, but also the younger generation, reach their aspirations through hard work!

2023 Push Pull

We are excited to host another in house push pull this year. If you do not know what a push pull is I will give you a brief overview. If you have done our push pull in the past we hope to see you back again this year.

 

What is a push pull?

 

A push pull is a shorter version of a powerlifting meet. It is a bench press and deadlift competition (we remove the squat for many reasons). The meet will be run in flights, a flight is a group of lifters, normally 10-15 lifters. Lifters are arranged by first attempted weight. Bench will always be first, and each lifter will lift their opening attempt. After this attempt the lifter will tell the scorers table what their next attempt will be. Each lifter will get three attempts. Once all bench press flights are done we will move on to deadlift. The deadlift is run the same way as the bench. At the end, the winners are announced based on a Wilkes or Dots score. This takes into account bodyweight and total weight lifted.

 

Who should do the UF push pull?

 

Anyone! This meet is open to all gym members and friends of UF. We have had people use this meet as an opportunity to train for a bigger meet, dip their toe into powerlifting, or even just to set a goal and go for it.

 

When is the meet?

 

This year the meet will be held on April 23rd. Lifting will start at 10 AM. Weigh ins will be 8:30-9:30.

 

What is the cost?

 

We will be charging 25 dollars for this meet. We will donate part of the money to a local charity (working on which charity now). We have donations going out this week to the Mario Lemieux Foundation, the Urban League of Greater Pgh, as well as a local women’s shelter. We are open to suggestions on where to donate.

 

Why do the meet?

 

Because it’s there! Seriously, why not come out, have some fun, test yourself, and learn!

 

Todd Hamer

Take It Easy

Hello UF Team!

 

I don’t know about you, but January flew by in my opinion. I can’t believe there’s only 1 week until it’s February. It is that time of the year when everyone is starting to focus on hitting their 2023 goals and worry about whether they are on the right track to do so.

I’m here to tell you to take it easy on yourselves when it comes to worrying about those goals. Sure, achieving everything that you had set out for yourself is a great feeling, but so is stepping back and taking a break for yourself. Just because you decide to step back for a period of time doesn’t mean you won’t hit those goals; it just means you are slowing down and taking your time to do so.

I have learned that it’s important to take mental, physical, and emotional breaks. The benefits are endless. I have listed ways and tips for how I personally take the time to focus on these below:

 

Tips to take a break mentally:
1. Take some time to meditate alone, and work on some deep breathing while doing so.

 

2. Go outside and walk, bike, hike, skate, run, swim (maybe not in January actually). The weather may be dreary, but still try to get out and move and enjoy the beautiful outdoors!

 

3. Put the phone down. I have recently started to turn my phone off for a few hours at a time on the weekends (during the hours that I don’t need to be available to answer our staff here at UF). This allows me to be present and not feel like I need to be on my phone scrolling through social media.

 

Tips to take a break physically:
1. Sleep away – sleep is so underrated. Try to get to bed a little earlier than usual or hit that snooze button (just once, maybe twice) in the morning.

 

2. Take some time away from exercising. I personally took a week off from lifting recently just to have a sort of physical reset. But that’s just me… Maybe you only need a day or two off and then you’ll get right back into it.

 

3. Going off the point above – maybe try out a yoga class here at UF to still get you exercising, but also allow you to relax, move, and breathe.

 

4. Get a massage and/or have a spa day. Use this to help you feel relaxed and maybe even have your muscles feel like brand new.

 

Tips to take a break emotionally:
1. Read a new book or a book you have been meaning to read. Disconnect yourself from reality for a little while and enjoy by reading away.

 

2. Try to do absolutely nothing – even if it is just for a little bit of time. I know this is easier said than done, but you never know until you try!

 

3. Take some time to bring out your creativity and maybe do something like build a puzzle or paint/draw something to express yourself.

 

 

I hope that these might grow on you, too, and I also hope that you have some ways of your own that you could teach me!

 

Toria

Movements for Health

I am sure most of you have heard the advice about taking 10,000 steps a day. This is great advice coming from a well meaning place. Yet, with anything that is easy to digest, it is only partially true. From all I’ve read (and it’s a lot), the real number is closer to 7,000 steps a day. The point still doesn’t change. Be more bipedal. Walking is truly what separates humans from so many other animals. Today I am going to give you a list of some movements I believe you should do everyday for general health.

 

  1. Bodyweight squat. Get yourself into as deep of a squat as you can, this can be done with or without weight. Just squat and squat deeper. Many will argue over foot placement, foot angle, and a ton of other details. The reality is that squatting is just good.
  2. Lateral lunge. This can be done as a lunge or a Cossack squat. Just step out to the side and lunge as deep as you can. The deep musculature of your groin will thank you.
  3. Twist. For this one I will keep it open ended. Make sure you turn your body side to side daily. Early in my career I was afraid of the word twist, this was a huge mistake. In life we have to twist and rotate. So take yourself back to elementary gym class and do some side to side twisting.
  4. Standing supported quad stretch. As a society we fold forward too often, to fight against this, stretch your quads. It is important to do this supported (even if your balance is great). The reason you should stay supported is  because when you stand on one leg,  your body will guard against you falling by the contraction of the muscle that you are putting into it. This will reduce the quality of our stretch.
  5. Touch your toes. I just said we bend forward too often. Yet still being able to touch your toes is important. Once again, go back to gym class and touch your toes for a few sets of ten.
  6. Reach up and back. Seriously just reach up and lean back. Man you will feel great.
  7. WALK.

 

This is my superior seven stretches and movements that will help you feeling awesome!

 

Hamer

!A Comer Con Dahveed!

One of my biggest pet peeves in the fitness industry is the notion that your diet has to consist of rice and bland chicken. Why do so many people think that you have to subject yourself to this torture of eating bland and boring food? Today, I am going to give you some tips on how to introduce more sazón and excitement into your diet.

 

To start the journey of adding more flavor into your meal preps and meal plans, you have to start by trying to mix up your classics. Let’s say you always have chicken and rice; mix it up by cooking the chicken differently. Whether it is a change of seasoning, cooking method, adding different vegetables, or even the cut of the meat; small changes can actually make you look forward to eating your meal, instead of just eating it for sustenance.

 

Next, I would try investing in a simple cookbook and start playing with the recipes. You don’t immediately have to start changing the recipes of the book, but making small changes can change not only how you feel about your food, but your confidence in the kitchen. Follow the recipes and try them, then see how you can improve them to fit your diet plan. It is really fun to find a new recipe and give it your own twist! For example, I recently got a cookbook called “That Sounds So Good” by Carla Lalli Music. There is a recipe for a greens, beans, and sausage soup but I decided to give it my own spin by making it into a stew by adding extra protein and different seasonings. Let me tell you, that stew was “soooo good”. Not only did it have all the required macro and micro nutrients my body needed but I had turned it into something that was my own. Practicing turning recipes you know into something you love can really empower yourself in the kitchen.

 

Lastly, I would recommend trying new foods. I know that trying different kinds of food can be intimidating, especially if they are foods from other countries and different cultures from your own. You don’t have to go out to a Venezuelan restaurant and try mondongo or go to a Nigerian restaurant and eat fufu; start small, with lighter flavors. I always like to introduce people to Venezuelan food by having them try an arepa because it is easy to understand and replicate. Plus they are a very good source carbohydrates for a good pre lift meal.

 

I really hope you found these tips useful, and hopefully they will make your meals a little more exciting and a little more you – buen provecho!

 

Dahveed

Our Unintentional Influence on Others

As some of you may know, I play for the women’s professional football team for Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Passion. Last year was my rookie season and I quickly realized I was stepping into a whole new world of sports. At this level I did not realize the impact I was going to have on young girls in sports. After my last home game of the 2022 season, I was walking out of the facility and a mother with her two daughters stopped me. The two girls had their hair in double braids with colored extensions added (just the way I wear my hair every game day.) And the mom told me I was the girl’s favorite player and they wanted to wait for me to get pictures and autograph their shirts. This interaction hit me a little different than other fan interactions/autographs that our team does because they were only just fans of the team, but they looked up to me and they had been watching me. It gave me more motivation and a larger sense of purpose when it came to my role and the movement of women’s sports. I want those young girls to know I am doing everything I can to pave the way for them to have it easier than my generation of female athletes.

 

I wanted to start with that story because it shows how much of a positive influence we can have on people without even realizing. Somebody may be following your story, and your progress, so it’s so important to keep moving forward and realize that whatever you are doing in this life, you are not only doing it for yourself but for others too. I will give Curtis at Union a shoutout because with him announcing him moving on from his position at Union Fitness, so many members started expressing the impact Curtis had on them throughout his time here. He probably never even realized how many people he helped, because he always led by example and by being himself. When people see how hard he works and his dedication, they naturally follow.

 

So here is our call to action: see yourself as the force you are. We are all going to have an impact on this world, so make it a positive one. And, if somebody else is that motivator for you, don’t be afraid to tell them. They may need that. I know that my interaction with those two young girls and their mother changed everything for me as an athlete and as a person.

 

Maria

How I Failed You.

I was a columnist writing for elitefts.com for about a decade. During this time I wrote a column monthly covering topics surrounding strength and conditioning. I am proud of the writing that I had done and it was an honor to share what I had learned from my years as a coach. One article I wrote that I often think about what entitled, “Know YA.” YA stood for Your Audience. Since coming over to Union Fitness I have struggled to understand our audience.

 

Who makes up Union Fitness?

 

When people ask me what I do for a living I say I run the worlds most unique gym. We have at any time 30-100 competitive lifters, we have over 100 people taking classes and growing through class, we have around 50 people doing personal training. We also have people who come here just to use a treadmill or do some basic lifting. On top of all of this we oversee the training of more than 400 collegiate student athletes. This means we are diverse, and we have diverse goals. With this in mind I have done some soul searching and figured out one way that I have failed each and everyone of you. I have not given the basics of training in a form that could help you.

 

Today I will try to not fail you with a list of things you should know about training. Here are some basics that I hope helps you.

  1.  3500 calories equals one pound. So if you want to gain one pound you must find an extra 3500 calories and if you want to lose a pound then you have to find a way to burn 3500 calories.
  2. The human body has three energy systems. The first is ATP/PC and is for sprinting and lifting (it lasts about 7 seconds of all out effort). The second is glycolysis this is sets of 20 reps and running a 400 meter sprint (this can last for almost a minute and this is the one that burns). The final energy system is aerobic, this is when the body is functioning smoothly (sleep is 100% aerobic).
  3. A calorie is not a calorie. Remember 3500 calories is a pound. Here’s the rub, if I eat 100 calories of celery and you eat 100 calories of donut then we will each have a very different outcome. The thermogenic effect of food is huge. Celery will use a lot of energy to breakdown, whereas the donut has very little thermogenic effect. In basic terms this means you get 100 calories from a donut and 50 from the celery (those numbers are not factual, yet you get the idea).
  4. Muscle burns more calories daily than fat does. This is simple and often stated with some random number assigned to each. I can tell you there is not magic formula. Just remember muscle=good.
  5. Water is the single best supplement. The human body is made up of mostly water. Dehydration affects our ability to burn fat, it also affects more processes than I could list here. Remember that drink your 8 glasses of water rule, well it was a made up number. Even knowing that it is a fictional number I still recommend it, as it can’t hurt.
  6. 10,000 steps a day is another made up number. So what! The rule of thumb is still this, walk more!
  7. Whatever your goals are there are only two things that matter. First is progressive overload, do more, better, faster than last time. Second is SAID principle, Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. This is simple, the body will adapt to the demand placed upon it so make it specific to your goals.
  8. Last one! Set point theory. If you weighed the same amount for a long time then yes it will be harder to change that number. The body gets comfortable and finds its equilibrium when you have stayed at a consistent weight. This means that if you want to make a change you may need to make a drastic change in order to see the scale move up or down.

 

I hope this helps each and everyone of you with some basics of training, health, and generally being better.

 

Todd Hamer