A tension headache can be the splinter in your side. It’s a busy day with a mountain of work to get done, when all of a sudden pain starts to creep up from back of your neck. After a while it circles around to the front of your head. You try to stretch your neck out a little, rub your traps, but the pain seems to go away only for a minute until it returns full force. Before you go straight to Advil for a solution, there is another way to reduce the pain and possibly cure your tension headache.

Let’s look at what it is causing all this pain. The most common misconception with tension headaches is that you have “tight traps.” If you have tight traps, all you need to do is stretch them out, right? Wrong. When it comes to tension headaches, the traps aren’t tight in the conventional sense of not being able to stretch, but tight in the sense that they are being stretched out fully all the time. Say you have a rubber band. Place the rubber band on your desk. The rubber band laying there is loose but when you stretch the band out, the tension builds. This is your traps in a tension headache scenario. This is not the case for all tight muscles, but there are certain cases where this is happens. Tension headaches are all about the position of your shoulders and head throughout the entire day. You might have seen a picture of that stereotypical person at the desk with the his/her head far forward, shoulders slumped and upper back slightly rounded. This bad position causes your upper pecs, front delts, and anterior neck muscles to get tight. How to fix this bad position?

The best way to fix your tensions headache is to get in a good position. The goal now is to know what a good position feels like but also to strengthen certain muscles that maintain that position all day. Here are my 4 favorite exercises/stretches to help relieve and ultimately fix those tensions headaches.

1. Chin Tuck or Big Proud Chest

This is probably one of the most common exercises, but I believe it is frequently performed wrong. Chin tucks can be great but, the first move you do is not tucking your chin. Arching your upper back should be your first adjustment. When lifting with Casey, he always tells me “big proud chest”. “Big proud chest” is what brings your back into that proper position. Now you are not technically arching your upper back but actually making it straight. Once the upper back is in alignment, tuck your chin like you are trying to make a double chin at your best friend across the room. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps.

2. Band Pull-Aparts

If done correctly, this can be a great exercise to help strengthen the muscles that put the shoulder in the proper position. This is a common exercise to warm up the shoulders before benching, but can also be a great tool to fix poor posture. Grab one of our thin red or orange bands. This exercise is not meant to attempt to hit a PR, meaning you should be able to multiple sets and reps with proper form. Often I see people try to create as much band tension as possible and as a result people use their triceps to pull the bad apart vs. their rear delts and lower mid traps. Grab one strand of the band while keeping the arms slightly bent, pull the band apart and squeeze your shoulder blades back and down. Think about your shoulders blades in hour back pocket. Maintain the same arm position the whole time. 4 sets of 15 reps.

3. Snow Angels

If you’ve ever had me as a personal trainer or been in my #powerful class on a press day, then you have seen these (and hate them). They are one of my all-time favorite exercises. Find a wall that you can lean against with a lot of room. While leaning against the wall, round your lower back so your entire back is against the wall. The upper back, shoulders and back of your head should also be touching. Now place your arms against the wall with your thumbs facing towards the wall. Apply about 50-60% percent strength against the wall. Now your arms slide up into a Y shape and the down to a W shape. I love this exercise because you can do it all day. You might be sore from the first couple sessions but I tell people if they want they can do this 3 times a day. Complete 3 sets of 5-10 reps

4. Donnie Thompson’s Shoulder Mobility

Donnie Thompson is a well-known powerlifter who was the first person to total 3000 pounds in multi-ply gear. After totaling 3000 he went to work with various physical therapists and world class athletes to help prevent rehab injuries. Donnie is good friends with our manager Casey.

This is great for overall shoulder health. While most people want to stretch their already overly stretched traps and back of the neck you should be stretching your upper chest. This movement is half a stretch and half a strength exercise. Place the band around the front of the shoulder. Step away from the band allowing the band to pull your shoulder back. Once there is a significant amount of band tension on the shoulder, rotate your shoulder in large circles. Go up, back, and then down and then all the way forward. 2 sets of 4 rotations each shoulder.

With all these exercises in your tool belt, now you need to piece it together into a program. Some of these exercises can and should be done every day. For example, snow angels and chin tucks should be done twice a day. Donnie Thompson’s mobility can be every other day. Band pull aparts should be done every press day. Even if you don’t suffer tension headaches at all, these exercises can help a wide range of shoulder problems. Try them out and see how much better you feel.

Here at Union Fitness, we’re lucky to have access to not one, but THREE Glute-Ham Raises (GHRs, or GHDs if you’re into Crossfit and want to annoy Casey) in the Strength Lab. These aren’t frequently found in commercial gyms, so most of our new members aren’t sure how or why to use them. I’m here to clear some of that up for you today.

The GHR is primarily a posterior chain strengthener (think your hamstrings, glutes, and back, everything on your posterior). Its most frequent use is for the aptly named glute-ham raise, which targets the hamstrings. This exercise requires a lot of hamstring strength (and patience) to start. Where I would normally include a video of one of us demonstrating this movement, in this case I’m going to defer to someone far more advanced. This old EliteFTS video with Dave Tate will teach you how to set the GHR and how to properly perform the glute-ham raise:

Some key takeaways:

1. Your knee should be set right below the pad. The higher your knee placement, the harder this movement will be.
2. At the bottom of the movement, your body should be in one straight line (think plank here).
3. You’ll want to avoid arching your low back. Actively think about putting yourself into a hollow-body position. This will help take your low back out of the equation and really target your hamstrings.
4. Control the movement, especially during the eccentric (or lowering) portion, for best results.
5. Really drive your heels into the back plate to keep your calves from taking over.
6. Try to keep your toes forward (they’ll want to turn out).
7. As always, squeeze your glutes at the top.

Not everyone will be able to perform this movement right away, and that’s ok! We have a few ways to modify it for beginners. My favorite is with a PVC pipe. You’ll place the pipe 1-2 feet in front of the GHR and set-up as per the video above. Instead of dropping straight down, you’ll either walk your hands down the PVC pipe or let it bow straight out to the front. Be careful to maintain that hollow-body position here! It’s even easier to lose your low-back alignment with the PVC. Now you’ll still drive your feet into the plate and either walk your hands back up the PVC or perform the full but assisted raise.

To work up to the GHR, we use lots of hollow-body holds and dead bugs, plus a lot of hamstring curls on the stability ball.

The GHR has a variety of other uses: back extensions, sit-ups, reverse hyperextensions. To get a feel for these, try one of our #powerful classes! They’re offered every single day and will introduce you to tons new movements.

As always, if you need help adjusting or using the GHR, just ask! We’re always here to help you reach your goals.

We mentioned months ago that we were changing the format of our blogging here at UF: a focus on longer form, more targeted posts meant to inspire you and guide you in achieving your goals. This week’s blog, from Alexa, ties together a lot of the topics we’ve been hammering this year. She gets a little deeper into the science of why we need to sleep, to eat well, and to focus. I think you’ll get a lot out of this one.

The goal of this blog is to give you some insight on how you can prepare for your next training day and also, to adopt a plan that works for you.  There are three big ideas I want to touch on that I think are essential to set yourself up for success prior to training: Sleep. Nutrition. Mental preparedness. With these three, you have more than half of the battle covered.

Sleep
First and foremost, let’s talk about it. Sleep and exercise are interrelated. You NEED sleep to perform your best and for recovery. And exercise can also help promote a better night’s rest. But why is sleep important? Well if you are an active individual your body DESPERATELY requires 8-10 hours of quality sleep. Getting an adequate amount of sleep for your workout tomorrow will help reduce fatigue, improve reaction time, and performance. The majority of us have goals to reach at the gym. You can train your little heart out but if you are lacking in the self-care department, you will create a vicious cycle of stops along the way.

Sleep is when we repair and build from the repetitive microfiber tears that our muscles endure during our training sessions. During sleep, hormones are released: growth hormone (see picture below), testosterone, and plenty of others. We need the release of these hormones to recover, perform at our best, and not to mention, this will in return help improve our body composition by building muscle tissue. When we neglect sleep, we are at risk for injury, impaired judgement, slow reaction time, weakened immune response, fatigue, and possibly not even making it to the gym because we are unmotivated and sleepy. Also, leptin and ghrelin are hormones that are increased when sleep is scarce. These are not hormones you constantly want circulating, for they are hunger hormones that signal our higher brain to overeat. Want to feel better, perform better, and look better? Make sleep number one.

Pre-workout nutrition
This is a case by case variable to play around with for some. Why do I say that? Some people do well exercising within an 1-3 hours of eating…and some do not. Some people do well with glucose prior to training, some are fat-adapted, and some train fasted. However, I will give you my reasons on why eating is important and what it does.

I am sure somewhere you have heard that food is like the gas to a car. Food is our fuel.

Carbohydrates are specifically important before a workout (along with some protein). Carbohydrates are macromolecules that are broken down into smaller components (substrates) and are utilized by the cells of our working muscle tissue. We even store carbohydrates as glycogen in our muscles, however those storages are emptied after exertion. They need to be re-filled. I do not mention fat intake before training for two reasons: fat slows down absorption, meaning we need tons of extra time to breakdown and absorb them, and second, fats do not provide nearly as much energy as carbohydrates UNLESS you are in ketosis and are fat-adapted.

Some suggestions of carbohydrates to consume 1-3 hours before a workout: potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, fruit, rice cakes, oatmeal. The same goes for post-workout nutrition, get in a substantial number of carbs, preferably faster digesting like white rice, white potatoes, fruit. However, add a tad more protein for your post-workout because protein is necessary for muscle growth thus, improving out muscle to fat ratio!

Mental preparation
Having the mental preparedness to reach your fitness goals is 90% of the battle. Let’s talk about five rules to help you through the process.

Many, if not all of us have those days where we are constantly “in our heads.” Maybe not wanting to train, let alone even move…

Number one: Take a moment and recognize the thoughts. Thoughts telling us that we are too tired, weak, not in the mood, feeling like progress is slow or that it’s not even worth it to get up and move at all. Accept the stream of thoughts. Then, challenge and find what’s rational. Most of us know the “correct” answer to our thoughts. That voice inside tells us otherwise and is sometimes overpowering. Train your mind to be present. Know your plan. Prepare, but also prepare for setbacks. Take a seat and do some belly breathing. Belly breathing (diaphragmatic breathing) has been shown to ignite your parasympathetic system (rest and digest), decrease cortisol (stress hormone) and decrease blood pressure. All things we want kept to a minimum prior to training and post training. I know all of this is way easier said than done. I never said this was an easy task for me either. This is to be practiced every. single. day. Just like exercise, the more we do, the more we get better.

Number two: Leave out the extrinsic motivators. Build your fitness journey for you and only you. Don’t do it to prove anything or impress anyone. Motivation from outside factors will catch up eventually and hinder your journey. Motivation comes in bursts. There is a point where motivation does not exist and all we have is discipline to rely on. Discipline is the key to productivity. If you want it bad enough, regardless of your head talk, environment, etc. you will do it. And you will let VERY few excuses take precedence.

Number three: Learn to let go of the things we cannot control. It is the manner in which we react that counts. If you do this, you can make doing what you need to do (exercise) a heck of a ton easier. Exercise is stress to the body. Having multiple layers of stress exist in your head and body prior to exercise will not make things easier and can potentially hinder that day’s performance.

Number four: Have a plan. Breakdown your larger goal(s) into smaller, manageable parts. Your plan of action is to focus on today’s goal. This will make it easier to accomplish today while also alleviating stress by shifting focus off of the long term, bigger picture. Write things down and visualize your progress.

Number five: Remember your why. Why did you start your journey into fitness? Having that why at your forefront will make this journey more meaningful and allow for passion and effort to shine. Put in the time, learn and understand your actions, make sacrifices, and most of all have love for what you are doing.

On June 30th, Union Fitness hosted it’s first powerlifting meet. As always, we have to be a little “extra,” so we moved this thing outdoors on the plaza. Nova Place has spent a lot of time and money turning the space from a cold gray cement desert, to a green and welcoming space. So we wanted to take advantage of that, and the nice summer weather in Pittsburgh.

A worst case scenario for us would have been thunderstorms, and we would have had to move the meet indoors. A second worst case scenario happened instead- 90+ degree weather! Everyone managed with tents, huge fans, and the opportunity to escape inside the gym for some A/C.

We sold this meet out ahead of time and fortunately, 14 of our members were able to compete. There were so many highs for our members that I won’t be able to touch on them all. And incredibly, very few ‘lows,’ even with a handful of first timers. What this tells me is twofold:

1. Our members took this fun weekend seriously. They wanted to improve and trusted the process that our coaches put them through.
2. Our coaches took on the responsibility of preparing their clients with the same level of interest as they would their own prep.

At minimum, they spent eight weeks getting their minds and bodies ready to perform at their best on June 30th. Some of our members took up to sixteen weeks for the process. That’s a lot of effort to go into a one day competition (and really not even a full day).

Some highlights:
 
Catlyn Brooke, Robyn Greer, and Zach Zidian all competed for the first time on June 30th. It takes a lot of “cajones” to step on the platform in front of friends, family, and strangers to perform your lifts and be judged by the United States Powerlifting Association’s criteria. They all did it with smiles, laughs, and stone cold performances. Kudos ladies and gent.

Bill Henderson, Larry O’Donnell, and Justin Zak all competed for the second time. These guys have plenty of potential- they just need some more time under the bar. I’m excited to watch their progress through this journey.

Alex Pong, a UF intern and part of the Pitt powerlifting team, had an inspiring day. She hit some big PR’s and everyone could tell she had fun doing it! This was her first meet away from the USAPL (a different powerlifting federation) and her first meet wearing knee wraps. Despite trying some new plans during her meet prep, she executed perfectly!

Yessica Martinez came up just shy of her best total, even with two missed lifts. She’s still hitting her stride as a lifter and will add to her total quickly at her next meet.

Casey Clark had a great meet prep and it just didn’t pan out on the platform. She is a STRONG lady and will come back from this one even better. I admire how she handles herself through success and failure. If you compete in this sport long enough, you’ll experience both ends of the spectrum and it takes class to take your lumps on the bad days. Keep trucking Case!

Geno McCourt, Cody Nyegarrd, Morgan Simon, and Stew Snyder all had solid days. The interesting part is that aside from training partners Cody and Morgan, they all train completely differently, but they own it. They come to UF day in and day out, ask great questions, and execute their plans. They’re not new to the platform and they’re all finding ways to make progress. Congrats gents.

Marco Rigazio, a former personal trainer at UF, and Steve Buccilli are two of our elders. I say that jokingly because I know neither would take it as a knock. These guys have been working their asses off for YEARS trying to get stronger. I’m proud of them not only for their success at this meet, but their resolve in getting there. Injuries are a given once you get to their age. Nothing is guaranteed, not even the ability to train at any given time. They kept their heads about them and both had some really gutsy lifts including a huge squat and deadlift that would make anyone pass out!

Finally, Curtis Miller won best lifter. Curtis is a member by default. He comes up every month or so to train with us on the weekends. To put it simply- he had a great meet, but he has much more in the tank. He’ll be an elite lifter in the coming years.

In closing, I want to personally thank my friends, the Union Fitness staff (you guys are troopers), the USPA judges, Doug and Candi Nostrant, and the lifters including their supporting cast of friends and family for making the event what it was. Our community shined through with all of your help and support and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Our next meet is just around the corner- join us September 22nd for the Iron City Pro/Am. What’s the Pro/Am mean? It means we’re giving away over $2000 in cash along with plenty of prizes from our sponsors. Don’t miss out on the last outdoor meet of the year!

Last week we got into some of our staff goals: where we succeeded, where we failed, and what we’re taking on this second half of the year. This week, I want to talk about the why and how. Why did we fail at what we set out? How do we adjust and set ourselves up for success as we move forward?

Why we fail at achieving our goals

More often than not, we really set ourselves up to fail. I wrote about SMART goals way back at the end of 2017. To review, SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, results-focused, and time-bound. That means your typical “I want to lose weight” goal is out, but “I want to lose 10 lbs over the course of 3 months” is in. Go over your initial 2018 goals: how many actually met these criteria? If they didn’t, how many did you totally fail at? Probably most of them.

Ultimately, there are a ton of reasons why we don’t meet our goals. When you read through our stories from last week, you’ll notice a lot of mentions of life getting in the way. We can’t predict everything life will throw our way, try as we might. Sometimes your dog gets sick, or you get sick, or your living situation suddenly changes. It happens. But it’s important to take Ryan’s advice: pick up where you left off and don’t just abandon goals that you really care about. Casey is on track for his August meet goals despite letting training take a backseat to taking care of Lily. Ryan is working on recovering from his workouts better so he can meet his lifting goals later this year. They’re adjusting their expectations and plans to the realities they’re facing.

On the flip side, it’s important to recognize when we’re using “life getting in the way” as just another excuse. I’ll use myself as an example here. I can tell myself as much as I want that I didn’t go to Austin because it cost too much money or I was just too busy at the gym, but none of that is really true. I just didn’t prioritize that goal over the other things I had going on. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but part of the growing process is accepting those hard truths. Now I’m left to decide whether that’s a goal worth keeping, and if so, how I’m actually going to get there.

How to readjust for the rest of the year

First, sit down with your original goal list. Recognize what you’ve succeeded with and what you dropped the ball on. More importantly, ask yourself why you set those goals. If I’m being totally honest, I decided I wanted to go to Austin on a whim. The certification would be helpful for work, but I really just had the travel bug when I set it. I didn’t have a real plan to get there, I just felt like I wanted it. Sometimes simply wanting something isn’t good enough. Engage with yourself on this. If your goals really matter to you, you’ll be able to explain why to yourself.

One method I really enjoy to teasing out the why is setting a vision. Earlier this year, I sat down and wrote out what my ideal day would look like 10 years from now. I let myself get really into it, describing everything down to what my house and neighborhood looked like and what I ate for dinner that day. I looked at my work schedule, how that meshed with the needs of myself and my family, and what my social life would look like. With that ideal life in mind, I started writing out goals with more specific timelines. My 10 year goals break down into 5 year goals which break down into my yearly goals. If you’re like Alexa, you can take this all the way down to the month or week. The possibilities for geeking out at goal setting are endless! With a very clear vision of how all of these smaller goals add up, it’s easy to figure out why I really want to do certain things (and why I let “life” get in the way of goals that don’t really get me to that vision).

Now that you’ve gotten to the why, we need to refocus on the how. Take those curveballs life threw you into consideration when you’re adjusting your goals. My example: I thought I’d have a 900lb total in the bag this year. I now see that was too much of a reach. I’m keeping those SMART principles in mind and adjusting for something more attainable for the rest of this year. I can reach an 850lb total if I continue to train hard and put some more effort into recovering. I’m just extending the timeline on my original goal to be more in line with what I can realistically do. I’m not ashamed of that! We all want quick results, I’m no exception.

So planning is fine and all, but now we actually need to make progress on these readjusted goals! To get there, I like to use the same approach Alexa mentioned last week: breaking that goal down into small, manageable pieces to be completed every day or week. How that looks will vary based on the goal. For my 850lb total goal, that means I’ll need to 1) plan out my training cycle, 2) commit to training 4 days per week, 3) commit to meal prepping every Sunday so I can eat well throughout the week, and 4) reorganize my nighttime routine to set myself up to sleep better.

Process goals like these give you something to check off on a day by day (or week by week) basis. If one day you miss one, you can just make it up another day and move on! All of those mini accomplishments will help keep your motivation up, so you’ll keep working those process goals until you get to the big one at the end.

I hope you can take some of this advice and run with it (towards your new goals, of course). If you need some help pulling out those smaller goals, just ask! Our mission here at UF is to help all of you reach your health and wellness goals, however that looks.

Part One- Lindsey Pogson

We have just hit the halfway point of 2018, so it’s time to think about where we stand on our yearly goals. I’m writing this from the beach, so all of those New Years Resolutions about body composition improvement are pretty salient for me right now. Did you reach your goals? Statistically speaking, that’s unlikely. Only the very best 8% of us keep our resolutions, leaving the other 92% of us in the dust. Why is that? And how can we improve our chances going forward? Over the next two weeks, I’ll be exploring that concept.

This week, I’ll be featuring a few of our staff members. I asked Casey, Ryan, and Alexa to tell me all about their 2018 goals, where they stand on them, and how they’re adjusting as we progress through the year. Two of them sent me back novels; one sent back a paragraph (to his credit, that’s exactly what I asked for!). I’ll include my own experiences as well. In the next installment, I’ll look at what each of us did right (and wrong) and how you can learn from our experiences.

Since this is my article and I do what I want, we’ll start with my 2018:

I went into 2018 with what I now realize were some lofty goals. I’m going to stick to my work and training goals for the sake of brevity.

Professionally, I had planned to expand the women’s #powerful program to at least two classes per week, with an additional seminar thrown in once per quarter to tackle some of the issue our members face outside the gym: sleep, nutrition, stress management. This one hasn’t come to fruition yet (I’ve been spending a lot more time on our Cardio Lab classes than I’d planned and I’m not mad about it), but I am on track to get there by the end of the year with some help from the rest of our staff! I had also planned on making sure our front desk is staffed during all of our busiest periods, and while it hasn’t been perfect, this one is mostly in the bag! With the addition of Alexa, Kate, and our interns this year, plus a stricter front desk schedule for our full time staff, I feel pretty good about having a friendly face at the door most of the time.

And onto the big professional fail: I had planned on going to Austin to get the Onnit Academy Foundations certification way back in April. This cert is awesome: it integrates a ton of different movement types and implements and would be super useful for us at UF. I didn’t end up going. I could list a millions reasons (read: excuses) for why I didn’t make this happen, but I’ll spare you. I just didn’t prioritize it. I’ve had to put this one on the back burner for now.

Onto my training goals. Oh man. I always overshoot here. I want a 900lb total (squat/bench/deadlift) and a 400lb. deadlift. It’s within my reach, but NOT in the time period I gave myself. And not without some dedicated and smart training cycles. I am proud of the progress I’ve made since 2017, I’m getting consistently stronger in a way that reflects how I’m managing the rest of my life stress and recovery (read: could be a lot better). Going for the solid 850+lb total at my next meet instead. 900 will be a reach absolute end of year goal or early 2019 goal.

I’ll expand on these and go into how I’m adjusting my sights for the back half of 2018 in next week’s post.

That’s enough about me. Now here’s Alexa:

When Lindsey mentioned that we were going to do a staff blog on our goals, I went home and searched all of the places I had physically written down my goals for this year. First step to setting a goal is to physically write it. See it.

I am more of a month by month goal setter rather than a year. Each month I typically write down 1-3 goals I want to accomplish.

I will start off with one of my most frequent goals, to read one book each month. This does not always happen. In my “perfect world” it would. But really, sometimes life gets busy and it takes longer than a month. Typically, the way I set that up is I take the number of pages in the book and divide it by the number of days for that month. i.e. a book that is 315 pages divided 30 days in June would be about 10-11 pages per day. 10-11 pages is very realistic and if one day is busier and I only get to 5 pages then I will make sure to read an extra 5 the next day. I think showing realistic figures like that makes reaching goals less stressful and easily attainable. Breaking things down and having a plan will set any goal up for success.

My other goal was to reach a 300 lb deadlift by February…Well it is July and I am 70 lbs away from that. That was not a realistic goal of mine. This is a goal that will take time. Loads of patience and maybe a goal that can be set to reach for the year 2018 or even 2019. To reach this goal, I have to structure a training plan that will challenge me every week but not burn myself out. I have to structure my rest days so that when I have my deadlift days I am well rested, fed, mobile, and ready to move weight. I WILL GET THERE.

My last goal is basically a goal for a lifetime but it’s something I want to set baby goals for along the way. That is to be present. A pretty hot topic for 2018. Most of us are overloaded with technology, fast pace, wishing the weeks away, etc. I am 1000% guilty of this. As soon as I pull in my driveway, I go into the garage, shut the door, rush upstairs and get ready for bed just to begin the cycle again. I do not want to just “go through” the motions of life. What is the purpose of life if we are rushing through it? Through to what? We are always looking forward to what is in the future. The next day, the weekend, that vacation. Once that special event has arrived we are busy worrying about what we have to do tomorrow OR maybe that day that you have been building up in your head is not meeting the expectation you created and you are let down… I don’t like this. This cycle is daunting and vicious.

So, my goal starting now and every day is to be aware of the current moment. Be mindful. Take in every feeling, every touch, every laugh, every hug, every cry, every single moment. Recognize it and feel. Something that I have been practicing for the past 3 months is yin and restorative yoga. It puts me in a space that is otherwise difficult to reach alone. I make it a goal of mine to go at least once per week. When I leave, I feel. This is not something that is going to ever come easy. It is something that you must train your mind and body to do. But, I am willing to put in what it takes just so I can feel and recognize what is in front of me at every moment.

And Ryan, my paragraph hero:

For me I had a fair share of goals for 2018. Moving to Pittsburgh was just the first step to start checking things off my bucket list. The first goal was to sign up for a powerlifting meet and hit a 450 squat, 300 bench, and a 485 deadlift. Next goal was to finish two books that have taunting me for months. Another major goal was to make sure to sleep 8 hours a night while keeping up with food prep. All of this while waking up early to go for a stroll outside around the park while sipping some coffee. With some unfortunate events and laziness kicking in after work, only one was accomplished (and that was only due to the fact I have to walk to work). But it’s time to readjust. Your number one goal should be to never toss your goals away if they weren’t completed. Just adjust your goals in order to get them done in some way. So for my first goal now is to just sign up for a powerlifting meet. Maybe I’ll hit those numbers but at least I’ll be participating in a meet and that’s the bulk of that goal. Instead of finishing the books I had in mind I bought two smaller books which I was able to read quickly. Even though these weren’t the same book’s that I wanted to finish at least I got the momentum. This momentum has transferred to reading another book and eventually the books I had originally planned. As for the sleep I have been focusing on taking naps, food prepping right when I get home and instead of making it a morning walk it has turned into an afternoon walk.

And we’ll end with Casey, the novelist:

Personal:
Compete in May and August 2018
Get ‘healthy’ again regarding UC

Professional:
Open a float tank in April 2018

I haven’t competed in a large national/international competition since RUM8 in February 2015. A string of injuries, followed by a local meet, followed by a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis has kept me off the platform. As I was gaining my weight back along with my health, I set my sights on the US Open in San Diego, May 2018. This meet has a $40,000 cash payout for first place, and with a lot of work and a little luck I would have been able to take a shot at it, at least in my head. I trained hard and smart leading up to it. But in February, the universe had other plans. My first dog, Lily, was diagnosed with bone cancer. She was given 3-4 months to live, which would have taken me right up to the San Diego trip. I cried and then I reassessed- my training probably wasn’t going well enough that I could legitimately take a shot at placing in the Open. And could I really get on a plane potentially knowing that I may be coming home to a dog that had passed away. I looked in my heart and knew the answer was no. It hurts to admit failure or in this case just to walk away from a goal. But being objective is hugely important to goal setting and goal achieving.

I moved forward with training- I changed all of my timetables and prepared for August. As I write this, in June, I can say it was the right decision. Lily outlived her diagnosis- we put her down peacefully on June 22nd. My strength may very well be better than it’s ever been. Hindsight is (usually) 20/20, but I’ve accepted that I’m not Superman. Lily’s passing reminded me of that. I’m about eight weeks out from Boss of Bosses, an international meet in California, and I’m excited because of my level of preparation.

The bigger piece of this story- my overall health- is the more important piece. I finally committed to changing my diet to help reduce inflammation in my GI tract. I was putting it off for two reasons- I like ice cream and I was worried that without some ‘shitty’ foods in my diet I would drastically lose weight. Maybe a third reason…I was scared I would fail. I’ve never had to diet before. Could I commit to it? Could I follow through?

I had two food allergy tests done (I was interested in the cross over to make sure I had all bases covered). Three months later, I decided it was time to get to work. My GI tract was not cooperating. My health was starting to reverse course. To put it plainly, I just didn’t feel well and I could either put the blame somewhere or take accountability. My grandfather told me this story a handful of times- he used to be smoker, until one day he woke up and quit. I typically rolled my eyes at him, really unsure whether or not to believe him. It was a Saturday following a squat session- I made up my mind that it was time for a change. I referenced my food allergy tests and came up with a plan. I would eat roast beef and hash browns for breakfast and dinner. Then filet and roasted potatoes for lunch (2 meals). And add in carrots, guacamole, cranberry juice, and lately dried mangos have been my go to. I eat this EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And I will do so until my inflammation is nearly non existent, at which point I’ll introduce some of the foods that I have a minor reaction to- example: rice. Fingers crossed- I think it’s working. This is the first week in a long time that I’m feeling some semblance of ‘normal’.

So really, I haven’t achieved any of my 2018 personal goals. In fact I failed at one. Why? Life has a way of throwing us curveballs. I prioritized my relationship with my dog over my passion for competing in powerlifting. I was on course for prioritizing my enjoyment of food over my health, but I committed to changing that relationship with food, and I have. I haven’t won yet, and I haven’t accomplished my goal, but I’ve laid that foundation. And when it’s time to start building the first floor, and then the second and third, I’ll take pleasure in that process too. Remember, a pyramid is only as tall as it’s base is wide.

Professionally I planned on opening a “Float tank,” or sensory deprivation tank in April 2018. I failed at hitting that date, but only because my partner and I had different time tables. I became frustrated a handful of times as we changed timelines, changed locations, tank distributors, etc. But I wasn’t willing to take on all of the risk by myself, so who was really to blame? I think that’s the biggest takeaway for me from this exercise in reflection- I chose these paths. I chose to not compete in May. I chose to delay dieting to improve my health. I chose to take on a partner to reduce my risk. And all these things are OK! Now if I sat here uneasy and making excuses for why things aren’t the way I want them to be in my life, then Houston, we have a problem.

That’s enough for one post! Check back next Monday for Part Two: Readjusting our 2018 Goals.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-years-resolutions-psychology_us_5862d599e4b0d9a59459654c

It’s that time again. Welcome to June’s State of the Union.

The weather went from unpredictable to semi-unbearable. We’ve kept the Strength Lab doors closed so we don’t turn the room into a sauna. But, as always, our members pushed through and embraced the sweat.

To follow along with our core values, here is a link to our website:

About

UF values- EPIC: Education—Passion—Integrity—Community

Education: Union Fitness is unique for a private facility. As a collective, our staff has 60+ years of training under our belts that covers Crossfit, yoga, powerlifting, olympic lifting, and D1 collegiate strength and conditioning. That provides an almost limitless opportunity for a college intern. We take pride in fostering an environment that young college students want to be a part of, investing their time and effort to work alongside some of Pittsburgh’s best in the industry.

In one of our recent articles, Interning at Union Fitness , we introduced our summer interns from Pitt. I want to take another opportunity to highlight their commitment to education. The standard in both the private fitness industry and collegiate strength and conditioning community is the unpaid internship – ‘pay your dues.’ In college weight rooms, candidates typically intern, move on to a Graduate Assistant position, and finally a paid position if you’re good enough. Supply will always exceed demand in that industry, so paid spots are tough to come by. In a lot of cases, candidates will gain experience in that sector, and move on to the private sector, be it for themselves or for a private gym.

So hats off to Connor, Keenan, and Alex. They’ve grown leaps and bounds since day one with us. We appreciate their effort day in and day out, as well as their commitment to the process. They’ve trusted us with their education, and that means the world.

Passion: Todd Hamer is a long time friend of mine that joined us last month. He was the head strength and conditioning coach at Robert Morris University for the past 12 years (and at 2 other universities the 8 years before that). As college S&C coaching goes, when head coaches change in basketball and football, there is fallout. Unfortunately, Todd was collateral damage as a result. We’re grateful to have Todd because of his experience, but also because of his passion.

Like I mentioned in the Education piece, Todd has paid his dues and then some. He has learned from greats like Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell, Dave Tate of EliteFTS, Buddy Morris formerly of the University of Pittsburgh and currently the Arizona Cardinals S&C coach, Mylo formerly of RMU and currently the Jacksonville Jaguars S&C coach…I could go on. The point is, Todd has been there and done that. And this industry can burn people out. How does he show up day in and day out with the same fire as our 20 year old interns? Passion. He loves this work, and he would do it for free. In fact, he has done this for free for a portion of his career. We’re just proud to have him and we hope some of that passion wears off on those around him.

Integrity: I always like to review the definition of integrity: (1) the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles and (2) the state of being whole and undivided.

Katherine Lancaster (one of our newest coaches and trainers) and her husband Carey came to us with a proposal. Both runners, they decided to take on the Chicago marathon but for a cause close to their hearts (and to mine): to raise money for Crohn’s and Colitis research. With that, the idea of Cardio for Colons came together. Kate is putting on our signature Cardio Lab class one Saturday per summer month to help meet those fundraising goals. Any type of charity shows integrity under both definitions- it is morally ‘good’ to be charitable toward others, but it also brings people together for a common good.

Kate’s first class was a great success! We’ll be holding two more Cardio for Colons classes: July 21 and August 18 at 11am – $10 donation! If you’re interested in the cause but can’t make the class, you can read all about their efforts and make a donation here.

Community: We’ve built our community around these three values:

Education- empowering others by cutting through the BS and creating independence

Passion- providing the atmosphere and support necessary to be your best, even on days where you don’t quite feel like it

Integrity- doing what’s best for you and our community as a whole

All of these things come together on June 30th. We’re hosting our first full powerlifting meet and WE’RE PUMPED! It’s our chance to show the community the fruits of our labor- and the fruits of our labor are the fruits of YOUR labor. Whether you compete or not, our members’ successes are everyone’s successes. The atmosphere of Union Fitness is a result of your positivity, pride, and daily efforts. Thank you for including us in that.

A few weeks ago we discussed some of the funky looking bars that we have in the Strength Lab. That was all focused on the ones we use for upper body training. With this edition, I’d like to bring to light the bars we use for lower body training, along with some why’s and some how’s. And as with everything I do, you’re going to get my opinion, so filter wisely UF’ers.

To revisit, specialty bars, for the most part, were designed with two purposes in mind:
 

1. Maintaining healthy joints while allowing the lifter to continue to train as they normally would.

 

2. Putting the lifter at a mechanical disadvantage to force the body to adapt and ultimately make progress.

 
There are specialty bars for the squat, bench and deadlift but they all have crossover uses as well. So let’s dissect the specialty bars designed for lower body use. In the Strength Lab, they are all designated by ORANGE tape (our all-purpose bars use blue tape for reference).

#1 The two competition specific bars that are most easily recognizable are the Texas Squat Bar and the Mastodon Squat Bar.

Uses: Multiple- Either bar, aside from squats, can be used for benching, or rowing and deadlifting when you want to focus on your grip.

Weight: Texas squat bar- 55lbs (1-1/4” thick), Mastodon 60lbs (1-3/8” thick)

Differences: Certain federations will use one vs. the other mainly out of habit or tradition. Example- the USAPL will use a Texas Power Bar (blue in our gym) for squats. USPA will use a Texas Squat Bar. And RPS will use a Mastodon Bar. The Texas Squat Bar will be more ‘whippy’ under heavy loads than a Mastodon bar, which is the reason for the difference in thickness.

Everyone has a different preference here. Some of our females love squatting with the Mastodon bar, but conventional wisdom will tell you that it should be harder for them. I like the Texas Squat Bar because it sits more comfortably on my back, but what do I know?

#2 Duffalo bar- traditionally a “Buffalo bar,” but this was designed by Chris Duffin and was renamed the Duffalo bar. Think of it as a bent Texas Squat Bar.

Uses: Multiple- Primarily this bar is used for squats to alleviate shoulder pain and bicep impingement. Put plainly, if you have limited shoulder mobility, this is a great bar for you to squat with. It’s also a better bar to use for front squats because it sits more comfortably in the front rack position.

You can also bench with this bar. It provides a longer range of motion which can be a beneficial assistance movement to aid your bench progress. Personally, I don’t like this idea with a bar- it’s always a risk vs reward scenario. If you want a longer range of motion in the bench press, my recommendation is to do so with dumbbells or fatbells because it’s safer for the shoulder. Supposedly, it will also help with technique- the bend in the bar can force lat engagement which is necessary in all forms of the bench press. I haven’t used it enough myself to back this claim.

Weight: 55lbs

#3 Cambered bar- (“Arched” or bent bar)- this bar is from Westside Barbell.

Uses: Primarily this bar is used for squats, and will provide similar relief as the Duffalo bar for bicep pain and shoulder impingement. The added bonus- this bar will force you to stabilize harder because the weights tend to swing from front to back if your squat isn’t PERFECT, which face it, almost nobody’s is.

I’ve also used this bar, at times, for triceps assistance work like skull crushers. The set up is a bit of a pain, but it’s worth it.

Weight: 65lbs, 14” camber

#4 Safety Squat Bar or the “SS Yoke Bar” aka The King

Uses: This is my favorite bar of all time. Why? Because no matter how good of a squatter you are, this bar will make you better. Plus it saves you shoulders. The SSB sits higher on your back, lengthening your spine aka putting the bar further away from your power source- your hips. Flash back to high school physics- this bar makes your leverages worse meaning you have to put more power into moving the same load. The added bonus- it doesn’t put any stress on your shoulders. So you can improve your squat while saving your bench, or if you’re recovering from a shoulder injury, you can still work on your lower body.

Secondary uses: Good mornings, lunges, partial good mornings or arches

Weight: 65lbs

Our evening members have probably noticed three little ducklings walking around, shadowing, and being generally awkward in class. Welcome our interns! Connor Hassinger, Alex Pong, and Connor Keenan joined us this summer from Pitt. As a staff, we’re all proud of their progress up to this point, and we want to thank you for being patient with them in class.

Lindsey asked them to write about their internships thus far, with little direction on specifics. Our takeaways:

• We learned that they’re all good writers- nice work Pitt!
• They were a lot more open and honest than we expected.
• We appreciate their sense of humor and openness to constructive criticism.
• They’re actually pretty funny, who knew?

Connor Keenan

So you want to intern at a gym

So you took the time to look into getting an internship at a gym or college strength program, great. Like me you were probably eager to get the chance to be around other like-minded individuals and spend your day in a gym, but what are you actually going to learn? The answer, depends on your attitude and how you look at your situation. You will most likely be given mundane tasks, such as folding towels or greeting guests; this is inevitable and the sooner you disregard your ego, the sooner the real learning can begin. The staff at Union has been pushing my fellow interns and I to learn more and ask more.

I have been interning at Union Fitness in Pittsburgh for about a month and am just starting to scratch the surface. With every passing day that I am here my confidence increases, only to be torn down by people smarter than me (I was told my squat sucks my first day on the job, which I’m grateful for). Being around more knowledgeable individuals has shown me that I have so much more to learn. Just because you know a variety of exercises does not mean you will be a good coach or trainer. You need to have great people skills and communication to effectively direct and coach a client or multiple. Without these you can kiss your full potential goodbye. These skills cannot be learned in a classroom and take time to develop. Now if you have a good mindset and attitude about your internship you’ll realize that doing things like, folding towels and greeting members, does have some carry over to coaching. If you cannot do simple tasks, like these, correctly how can someone trust you to take the reins and coach an athlete. So far these are the main takeaways I have compiled:

• Do not become complacent
• Keep learning
• Do not be afraid to ask questions
• Most coaches and lifters are very unselfish and will help you, but not unless you ask
• Lone wolfs won’t make it in this industry
• Develop an unreal attention to detail
• You’re never the smartest person in the room
• Get involved!
• Enjoy yourself and care about your clients/athletes

Connor Hassinger

The most recent thing I learned was the barbell oriented strength class was called “#powerful” not just “powerful.” During this class, I learned countless tips and tricks from CJ, Lindsay, and Ryan for group classes which was very helpful coming from a personal training background. Figuring out how to split everyone up into groups and who will need special attention or an alternate exercise on the fly took some time. Getting to know some of the members of Union Fitness and helping them with anything as small as how many reps to do was a pleasure.

The part of the internship with the least glamour, front desk/towels/etc, ended up being very important. While at the front desk I had unlimited access to articles/videos to research topics I was uncertain about or assigned to. After I finished I could chat with any member of the staff to clarify. The notes section of my phone is now filled with more training article takeaways than passwords. Promise I was typing up important questions or comments and not texting on my phone everyday.

You might think after a morning working at a gym and an afternoon spent at Union Fitness I would be ready to head home. Well you would be wrong because 7 pm is time to train and make use of as many specialty bars, chains, and fatbells I could without getting sidetracked. Having Casey there to yell at us when my head was down or Alex’s knees were soft was an extra perk.

Alex Pong

My internship at Union has been a pretty sweet gig so far: helping out with the #powerful and Cardio Lab classes, having discussions about the various articles we read, training in a dope gym with strong-ass people. But the best thing by far about being here is that the people mentoring me actually care. They’re willing to help out not only with my training, answering any questions I have and giving me tips whenever they can, but with anything. Their advice ranges from how to use MindBody when I’m up at the front desk (which took wayyyyy too long to figure out), to my mental health (I cried at the gym 3 separate times last week), to yelling at me for my (admittedly very large) water cuts for my meets.

One of the biggest things I’ve had to work on, and am still working on, is talking to people. Just talking. You know that thing normal people do to communicate with each other? Yeah I’m really bad at that. On my first day, Casey said I was “painfully awkward” … and I mean, he’s not wrong… But I’ve slowly started to find my voice here these past few weeks. Casey told me about how Donnie Thompson turns into “Super D” on the platform – he becomes who he needs to be to get shit done. When I’m here, I don’t need to be the same shy person I am most of the time. I can create a different persona, someone louder, someone chattier, someone more outspoken and confident. Don’t be fooled, I’m still very awkward and softspoken (except when I have to yell over the music during Cardio Lab), and not super talkative, but I think I’m getting better. And who knows, maybe by the end of the summer you’ll have to tell me to shut up because I’m talking too much.