Category Archives: Training

What is Your Favorite Form of Exercise

Fitness, Training

We all know that exercise is good for us. It is good for the soul, brain, heart, etc. It can help us lower our stress levels, sleep better, reduce heart disease and other risks, and feel better overall. In my opinion, the greatest thing about exercise is that there are so many ways to do it. It is almost impossible to become bored with it. You have options anywhere from running to climbing to weightlifting and all the things in between.

 

I asked some of our trainers here at UF about their favorite form of exercise, and I wanted to share those answers with you just for fun!

 

Ethan – “Weightlifting because with this you can accomplish a little bit of everything (mobility, cardio, etc.)”

 

Dahveed – “Swimming is my favorite. I wish that I could do it more.”

 

Jared – “Weightlifting because I enjoy getting stronger but also striving to push myself and hit new numbers.”

 

Dylan K. – “My favorite form of exercise is ever evolving. However, I always enjoy a good pump, so hypertrophy training is my favorite form of training.”

 

CJ – “Making the average exercise weirder. And walking with my dogs.”

 

Zain – “Weightlifting because I don’t like running.”

 

And finally, myself – My favorite has to be hiking. I love everything about it. Especially the views that come after a difficult climb, and how accomplished you feel afterwards.

 

Thank you to all our trainers who participated in this brief and very broad survey and thank you to those of you who tell us what your answers are!

 

Toria

New Class Alert, CardioLab Blitz

Fitness, Training

CardioLab Blitz

 

Hello everyone! We are am writing this blog to inform you all about our brand new class.

 

This class will be called Cardio Blitz and it will be held on Tuesdays and Thursday at 7am. The class will be for approximately 30 minutes and will be very similar to Cardio Lab. We started this class to allow our powerful class members to get a solid cardio workout in after their class, and to allow anyone else to come in for a quick 30-minute workout. The Cardio Blitz will consist of high intensity interval training, weightlifting, running, plyometrics and more. The aim of the class will be to get the participants heart rate up, and put everyone through an efficient and difficult workout. The first Cardio Blitz will be on July 18th. We hope to see you all there!

 

Team UF

Intuitive Movement

Fitness, Life Health, Training

Earlier this month, I received a deep dive into intuitive movement during a weekend retreat with Bobbie Marchand, professional modern ballet dancer turned yoga instructor, and Nami Soga, master reiki healer and yoga instructor. The experience was both magical and inspiring. 

 

Coming from a bodybuilding background, my approach to movement has historically been goal-oriented, strategic, structured, and rigid. I spent years training my mind to override the messages of my body, messages of no thank you, I’m tired, not that exercise, not today. If it was on the plan, I did it, regardless of what my body said. The cumulative result of this training was a work ethic and physique I was proud of — along with exhaustion, chronic injury and a general inability to relax. 

 

As I’ve transitioned into yoga, I’ve found a more compassionate and healing way of interacting with my body. Still, my physical approach to classes has tended to follow an anatomical goal, whether increasing hip mobility, targeting the transversus abdominis or engaging the pelvic floor. My time with Bobbie and Nami invited me to shift my inquiry from What can I achieve? to What do I feel?  To move from a performance mindset to one of playfulness, non-judgment, and curiosity.

 

We spent time rolling on the ground, feeling the grass beneath our feet and the heat on our skin as we moved through sun salutations to the East, West, North, and South. Our spines waved like serpents in an organic flow, and I watched my body improvise according to music, which changed every minute to a different genre. I felt the natural impact of sound and rhythm on movement, and experimented with the energy-shifting practice of Qigong. I moved through familiar shapes in new ways. I bounced, flailed, shook and sang. And my habitual energy began to shift.

 

Bobbie believes that, since the pandemic, our bodies have been stuck, almost frozen in time in response to fear and extended sits on our sofas. Moving creatively, intuitively and without regard for what something looks like can help us move into new spaces, not only physically, but mentally as well. New movements mean new neural pathways, and new neural pathways mean new possibilities. Giving ourselves permission to shake the bones of our body like a dog after a swim not only can shed tension, it can shift our nervous systems.

 

Bobbie’s nervous-system approach to movement also manifests in stillness, in healing practices of self massage and meditation that carried her through cancer treatment. In transitioning from energetic jostling to quiet rubbing of the earlobes and neck, I felt my whole being stabilize within my skin. I felt light, open, authentic and free. 

 

This month, I am flowing with the theme of intuitive movement in my classes here at Union Fitness. Experience new ways of moving in vinyasa 6-7 AM Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, or discover dynamic stillness in yin 10:30-11:30 AM on Saturdays. I am so grateful for the lessons I received from Bobbie and Nami, and can’t wait to share them with you!

 

Haley

Hiking For Health

Fitness, Life Health, Training

Hello my lovely explorers,

 

As the great lyricist Mungo Jerry once said ” In the summertime when the weather is high. You can stretch right up and touch the sky. When the weather’s fine, you got hiking, you got hiking on your mind. Have a drink, have a drive. Go out and see what you can find.” Or something like that.

 

So today I will be teaching you about the benefits of hiking. Close your eyes and imagine the crisp warm sunshine lighting up your soul, the sounds of the gentle water trickling down the creek, wind flowing through the trees above and the cool soft earth below your boots. Dang does that sound peaceful or what?! This imagination can not only become a reality but also provide some wonderful physical, mental and emotional health benefits.

 

Hiking is a great way to exercise, no matter what type of trail or stage of your wellness life you are in, you’ll get a whole body workout. Some physical benefits of hiking are; building stronger muscles and bones, improving your sense of balance and proprioception, improving overall cardiovascular health and decreasing the risk of certain respiratory problems. Being outside has shown to increase life expectancy, improve sleep quality and decrease cancer risks. Natural outdoor spaces are more enticing for physical activity and are more likely to motivate people to exercise leading to advanced levels of overall physical fitness. Studies have even shown that being in nature is relaxing, something we all could benefit from is relaxing more. This helps reduce our stress, cortisol level, muscle tension, heart rate, calms anxiety, leads to lower risk of depression and improved stress recovery, how lovely. Being in nature can help open your senses to your surroundings and increase sensory perception, bringing you focus and attention. Also you do not have to trek alone, lace up your friend, family member, neighbor or dog’s boots and hike with a partner or group. This is a marvelous way to strengthen relationships, increase quality time and increase the distance and motivation of your hike.

 

Go get away, step outside and take in the sights, smells and feelings of nature.

 

Whether you’re climbing up the steepest peak in the Rocky Mountains or trotting down a winding dirt path, hiking is a superb opportunity to get a workout. For the hikers out there, what have been some of your most enjoyable hikes from your adventures? A few of my favorite places to hike have been Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, Rocky Mountain/Estes National Park & El Dorado State Park in Colorado, Glacier National Park in Montana, Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, The Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Hikes in Asheville North Carolina and probably a few more that I am missing. Send me your favorite hikes and let’s go explore.

 

-CeJ

Importance of Mobility

Fitness, Life Health, Training

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Zain

Progressive Overload

Fitness, Training

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Toria

Presence in the Gym

Fitness, Life Health, Training

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

 

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

 

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

 

-Z Trainz

The Art of The Deadlift

Fitness, Training

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Toria

ACB Bootcamp and Beers

Fitness, State of the Union, Training

What is rolling my good party people!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Cheers and I hope to see you all very soon.

 

CeJ

Baby Steps

Fitness, Life Health, Training

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

April