We are brining back one of most popular programs of the year. The strength project 2020 is here. Let’s start out with some FAQ about the strength project.

What is it?

It’s a fitness challenge for the new year. No matter your level of fitness this program can work for you.

What you will get from the strength project?

Two months of unlimited UF membership gets you all of our classes.

In addition you will receive a 30 minute sit down with one of our coaches to help set  your goals.

5 free prepared meals from Fit Fresh Co.

What do you do?

From Jan 13th-March 14th you must attend 28 classes. This is an average of 3.5 classes per week. You are required to attend a minimum of 4 yoga classes. The other 24 classes can be a mix of any of our powerful, bootcamp or recharge classes.

And new to the strength project this year we will end it with with a push pull competition. This is a bench press deadlifting competition and it will be run in house for our members and invited guests only. The push pull will be a fundraiser (more on this to come), we are working with one of our members to help a local children’s hospital. Once all details are set we will release the information.

In addition anyone who is not an unlimited member we are giving you the opportunity to do the strength project for a one time fee of 40 dollars. So if you are a fitness center member and want to try something different give it a try.

If you are interested in this program just give us a heads up before January 13th and we will get you signed up.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. This is the time of the year in which many of us are traveling. Time in the car, airport and bus depot can lead to poor diet, too much sitting and stress. Here are a few travel tips to help get you through the holiday season without losing too much strength or adding too much adipose tissue.

1. Plan ahead with your meals. Carry some healthy snacks with you at all times. You do not want to rely on airport food in a pinch.
2. Carry your water with you. Too often when traveling people become dehydrated just do to poor planning so keep a water bottle with you at all times.
3. Give yourself a 30 minute training session. Don’t concern yourself with the specifics just move your body. The key is is to burn some calories, move your body and sweat a little. Keep it at 30 minutes as it is the holidays and you should be seeing family and friends.
4. If you are driving plan stops every hour to move. Set your timer on your phone and when it goes off find the next rest stop and get out and move your body!
5. Find a new gym where you travel. Most gyms offer day passes and this is a good way to try some new classes, machines or just a different training environment.
6. Take a family walk/hike. One of the best things that you can do for your body is become bipedal. We sit too much and need to walk. So before you take a nap, take a walk with some family and friends.
7. Do the Christmas bird count. Audubon Society has a yearly bird count, they use volunteers to count bird populations and it helps them access the health of the environment. Get outside, meet some new friends and help a great organization.

Here is your holiday travel training tips. None of these tips will help you become a top level powerlifter yet they will help you stay sane and in shape over the holidays.

I’ve spent the past three years of my life being almost wholly dedicated to Union Fitness. I love this place, the communities we’ve built here and our UF staff. I love spending all day at the gym, even when that ends up being up to 16 hours! I love watching our UF members learn new things about themselves while they learn how to move their bodies. I even love teaching Cardio Lab, something I swore up and down I would never ever ever do. 

And as we enter a new year (a new freakin decade even), I’m both excited and saddened to write that I will be leaving UF at the end of this month.

I thrive on challenge, and in 2020 I’m taking on something terrifying and new – opening a new business, specializing in a service that has changed my life, in partnership with the person I trust most in the world. And that means stepping away from Union Fitness to focus on making it all happen (and taking care of myself). 

These past three years at UF have been a period of huge growth for me – from the obvious career changes to relationship changes to health changes. My time here has made me a better coach for sure, but also a better human. If you’ve read any of my blogs over the last few years, you know I love a good list, so here’s one more for good measure:

Some real life lessons I learned at UF:

• To give to the fullest extent to others, we need to fill our own cup first. I failed at this many times in the last three years. I’m making progress on fully accepting that lesson now, and it will show in how I coach and work with others in the future. 
• It’s possible to truly love your work, but even when you love it, you need time away. Burn out is very real and very possible.
• Everyone is doing the best they can. It may not seem that way on the surface.
• It takes an immense amount of strength to say “no,” and that strength can be built just like we build strength in the gym. Either you set your boundaries or others will set them for you.
• When to go above and beyond, and when to take a step back and let someone else have the chance to make those leaps.
• There is so much satisfaction in truly being the expert of your job. 
• What’s really needed to keep a business running. 
• The joy of being the person keeping things moving from the background. And the freedom that comes with letting go of the attachment to external validation (in all aspects of life).
• To trust my instincts. They’re not always right, but they’re always useful.
• Relationships change. Sometimes it hurts, and sometimes it brings you closer in ways you’d never expect. I’ve learned who I want to have in my life (and who I don’t).
• Everything is temporary, including both excruciating pain and delirious happiness. These things are okay.
• I have the ability to do really difficult things, if I can only accept that the fear isn’t going away. We can act despite being afraid.
• How to be brave. 
• How to trust.
• And how to know when it’s time to move on.

One of my goals as a coach here at UF has been to inspire the people around me to find the will and strength to get out of their comfort zones. I also happen to think that the best way to lead is by example. Competing at powerlifting and running a marathon in the same weekend was incredibly difficult. Leaving my comfortable job for the uncertainty of starting a new business is on another level, and I am beyond confident that I will grow from the experience. I hope if any of you reading this have been struggling to make a similar decision, you find the strength to say yes to doing what scares you.

I am so grateful for the people I’ve met and relationships I’ve built here. I may be leaving Union Fitness, the facility, but I hope to remain in contact with the community. You can always reach out to me otherwise, via Instagram (@elpogs), email (lindsey.pogson@gmail.com), or even text (215-917-7332).  In addition, I’ve found that I actually really love writing these blogs, so I plan to get my own thing going soon. If you’re interested in following my training and the struggles of starting a business, keep an eye out.

And finally, maybe most importantly, I’ve discovered the joy of yelling over trap and EDM music while watching all of you sweat. I’ll be teaching one final Cardio Lab class on New Years Eve, my last day here. It’ll be open to everyone, so if you want to get one more in, I’ll see you there.

This is my training log for Thursday December 12th 2019. I am currently 16 weeks out from my first full meet in two years. I had a few members here at Union Fitness ask me if I would do a meet with them so I guess I’m doing one. Goals right now are just keep working some general strength while getting ready for the last twelve weeks when the real heavy stuff begins.

Warm Up

I begin every training session with 100 jump ropes.

After this mobility work and some rehab for shoulder and upper back.

Band Rows 100

Floor Press 205×3 225×3 245×3 245×3 265×5 done between 65-80% of my best Floor Press.

Z Press (Saviscaks Press), I always call it Z Press 4×6 135. If you do not know this lift it is a great strength builder. Just do a shoulder press while seated on the floor.

1a SA FatBell Bench 4×10

1b Bodyweight Row 4×10

2a T Bar Row 3×10

2b Tri Pushdown 3x30sec

Some shrugs and abs

In my programming I always leave flexibility at the end to have fun with. I also have learned that I must preprogram my accessories and stick pretty close to the plan or I will lose focus late in the lift.

What makes this cold weather a little more bearable? Soup, of course! Here is a recipe for a delicious, creamy tomato seafood bisque.

You’ve trained, you’ve had a great day at work and it’s time to unwind at the end of the day. Now what do you do? I ask this question to everyone as we have a plan for how to train, how to save money and how to attack many aspects of our lives. Yet do we have a plan for how to recharge? This is a mistake that too many of us make. I am writing this in hopes of helping some of you make a plan on how to recharge or “sharpen your saw.” This is one of the most underrated means of self improvement. 

I began thinking about this post over the weekend and I decided to ask the interwebz their thoughts on this topic. I then posted a question on instagram asking my friends what they do to recharge. The answers all seemed to have similarities. They were all activities that we can get lost in the process. The answers ranged from cooking, getting in touch with nature and meditating. There were others as well such as reading or napping and even a nice libation. Each of these have some positive benefit yet some must be taken with a bit of caution. So I came up with this list to help you in sharpening your own saw. 

1. Find an activity that will take you to another place in your mind. Athletes speak of flow and this can also be true with reading, cooking or even a hike. 
2. Disconnect! This is important. Make sure with your activity you remove distractions. I forget the study, yet I remember hearing about a study (I believe it was on hidden brain podcast), the study had three groups. Group one took a test with their phone in their hands. Group two took the same test with their phone just out of their reach. Group three left their phone in another room. As you probably guesses group three did the best followed by group 2 then finally group 1. So leave the phone.
3. Remember that exercise is a stressor and all stressors are cumulative. In the real world this means that stress adds up and if you had a hard work day you may have to cut back a little on your training, or if you sleep wasn’t perfect you may need to adjust.
4. Find time to sit in silence everyday. The top three areas with nerve endings are hands, feet and ears. We abuse our ears everyday so give them a break and relax. 
5. Get a massage from one of our fine massage therapists. 
6. Go back to your roots. This could mean spending time with family or taking a walk in a familiar neighborhood. 
7. Volunteer. While this may seem like stress to many people yet paying it forward can help many people recharge.

This is just a short list that we came up with after reviewing what we do as well as others ideas. Just remember that stress is a personal reaction to whatever is happening to you. So each of us will have our own way of dealing with stress. The take home point is plan your recovery mentally they same way that you plan your training or meals.

Akin to our last post this will be a feel good message for all of you. We would like to thank everyone who took part in our first turkey burn workout. We had over 50 attendees and received some great feedback. With that I want to share some pictures from the event and remind everyone that our Black Friday sales start today!

UF Unlimited is only 50 dollars for the month. This is open to anyone who is not already a UF unlimited member.

Massages are buy two get one free!!

Personal Training is $199 for a 5 pack.

If any of these interest you then sign up online or come see us Monday and we can get you set up. If not then we still appreciate you and you being part of our crew.

Todd Hamer and Team Union Fitness

From all of us at Union Fitness we would like to wish all of our friends the happiest of Thanksgivings. With this in mind I have asked some of our employees and members what they are thankful for in their lives. Here are some of their responses.

“Having a family at work that makes the good days great and bad days better.”

“My health and having the ability to do the things that I love with those with whom I love.”

“Friends, family and the ability to be active and enjoy my health.”

“My health, family, roof over my head and food in my fridge.”

“All the people around me that I call my family and friends for my ability to get bumpy.”

“All the things that physical fitness has added to my life. Confidence, health, friendship and opportunities for achievement.”

“Life.”

“Health.”

I must addd to this list my my words as well, “I am thankful for all of you and your hard work. Training is about empowering each other and yourself. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the ship here and I hope I do not disappoint anyone in how we are attempting to empower each and everyone of you.”

To close this just a reminder that we will have one special class Thursday (Thanksgiving day) at 9 AM (be on time). This is a one time super class with four coaches and the facility will only be open to the class. If you are attending please arrive early, and bring one canned good that we will be donating with the help of one of our members to a local ministry.

I’m about 10 days out from my meet and marathon. I’m exhausted, finishing up training, and hungry all the time. I let that hunger get the better of me over the weekend – I was traveling to support our friends lifting in Ohio, handled another one of our own at a meet in Bridgeville, and by the time I got home Sunday, pretty much just fell asleep. In between, my diet consisted mostly of bites of pizza, fast food, donuts, and some of the best pancakes I’ve ever had.

That’s all well and good, but I do have a general weight goal for next week and eating “junk food” makes me feel pretty crappy, so I’m cleaning things up this week. That meant taking a little bit of time off on Monday to buy groceries and meal prep. Since none of it is really special, I figured I’d lay it all out here.

Supplies:

Butcher Box 

• salmon filet, steak filets, chicken thighs, pork shoulder (had on hand), bacon

Misfit Box (a cool CSA type service for produce that looks ugly but tastes good)

• eggplant, carrots, apples, potatoes, kabocha squash

Giant Eagle Run

• tomatoes, mushrooms, green beans, kale, eggs, fancy juice, sauerkraut

Stuff I always have on hand

• jasmine rice, butter, avocado and olive oils, salt, pepper, basic spices

What I made:

1. Pulled Pork Shoulder
   • I have no secret, I use the crockpot. Rub it down with salt, any spices you want (I’ve been having some issues with even the most basic spices, so I’m going salt only), add apple cider vinegar, some honey, liquid smoke. Cook for 12 hours, no less, pull immediately.

2. Roasted Green Beans and Kabocha Squash

1. • In a huge bowl, coat the green beans in olive oil, salt, pepper. Spread on a baking sheet.
   • In another bowl, add peeled and chopped kabocha squash, olive oil, salt, pepper (shocker). Would have been good with a touch of cinnamon. Lay out on backing sheet.
   • Stick both in the oven, preheated to 375 degrees. Green beans took about 20 minutes, squash took about 35.

3. Pan Roasted Veggies

1. • Chop the eggplant and mushrooms. Keep the cherry tomatoes nearby. Preheat a large pan, add some avocado oil. Add eggplant first, salt it, throw a lid on and let it sear. About 5 minutes later, add the mushrooms and tomatoes. More salt. Throw the lid back on and let the juices from the mushrooms and tomatoes leak out and make the eggplant delicious. I let it cook down for about 15 minutes and it was perfect.

That makes up my lunches. I do about 4oz of cooked pork and a big scoop of either green beans or the roasted eggplant and tomato. That made 8 meals that I’ll pair with jasmine rice.

For breakfasts, I almost always have either 2 scrambled eggs and rice (if within 3 hours of a training session) OR I spend a little extra time making a hash with honey gold potatoes, bacon, and kale, topped with two eggs. 

For an extra meal, I’ll go to the roasted kabocha with steak or salmon. I have apples and lots of almonds and walnuts for snacks. Ready to go.

By the end of this week I’ll hopefully feel back to my normal self and be pretty much ready to go for next weekend’s adventure.

Editors note

We will be running a meet the staff Monday for the next few weeks. Here at Union Fitness we have an awesome staff of trainers, massage, therapists, class instructors and many others that are here to help you improve. We are hoping to create an environment in which everyone is comfortable working with everyone else. For this first edition of meet the staff Monday we are going to have new CJ introduce himself. Having two CJ’s on staff can be confusing so feel free to use nicknames, new CJ is CJ old CJ is CG. 

Thanks 

Todd Hamer

Hello Everyone,

My name is CJ Campbell, and I am one of the new coaches here at Union Fitness. I am from Butler, PA and attended Slippery Rock University, where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical and Health Education last May. Although I am fresh out of school, I have been working in the fitness industry for the past five years, whether it be personal training or strength and conditioning. Leading up to graduation (and shortly after), I have worked with Fox Chapel High School, Butler High School Varsity Hockey, and Slippery Rock University Ice Hockey. My deep background in sports has helped me develop my coaching and personal training skills, making it easier for me to transition away from being a competitive athlete.

I first heard about Union Fitness from current trainer Cayt Neff, who is one of my peers from Slippery Rock university. At first I was skeptical, but once I visited the gym and talked with the staff, I knew it would be a great place to utilize my skills, and learn from some great minds with experience in personal training, sports performance, and power lifting. My passion for this industry is constantly growing, and I believe Union Fitness is the best environment possible to meet new individuals, along with helping them accomplish whatever goals they set for themselves! 

I look forward to meeting some of you at the gym, and possibly having the chance to train or coach you in the near future! 

Have a Great Day,

CJ