Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m old and I Love it.

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I have now competed in powerlifting for over 20 years. I was supposed to compete in 2020 but my meet was cancelled. I am so old in this sport that some of my shoes are older than some of the lifters we have here at UF. I remember meeting JM Blakley at one of my first meets. He was there to sell his VHS (I told you I’m old). So let me give you some thoughts from a guy who’s been doing this for a long time.

 

1999

 

Prince always knew that we could one day party like it’s 1999 and let me tell you we did. Inzer bench shirts and marathon deadlift suits are all we knew. Raw lifting was something that we did to prepare for putting our gear on. When I look back on it now the absurdity of it amazes me. Gear was too much, and lifters were too heavy. But, we did have some fun and I don’t regret any of it.

 

This brings me to yesterday when I was scrolling da gram. I saw JM Blakley came back into my life. He has a post reminding us that today is the youngest we will ever be for the rest of our lives. This one hit me and reminded me that I ain’t dead yet and I know I have some more fight and lifts still in me. So with that here is a short list to help me grow and have fun as you age.

 

  1. Don’t be a knucklehead (my dad always used this phrase as he didn’t swear).
  2. Try something new (you will only regret what you didn’t try).
  3. Risk it (nothing is guaranteed so roll the dice).
  4. Help the ‘others’ (look around the gym and see the lifters who is clueless? Give them a hand and help them find their way).
  5. Know that you don’t know (knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing).
  6. Read more diverse topics (we will get new ideas from outside of or bubble).
  7. Reach out to those you disagree with (our society needs this).

 

And remember we are all floating down the same river of life. Every time you make wake it affects everyone around you. So have some fun, rock some tunes, and try to respect the others floating around you.

 

Peace and Love,

Hamer

Wyatt’s Intern Experience at UF

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My name is Wyatt and I am one of the interns at UF and as I am sure some of you know me by now, I go to school at Robert Morris University. I am majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Sports and a minor in Education. I have been here a little over a month now, and I feel like a stormtrooper that decided to try and become a Jedi master. I am sitting here trying to figure out how to turn the lightsaber on while everyone else is using the force to throw people around. 

 

The staff all know that exercise science is not my background, so they make sure they simplify things for me to understand (turn that lightsaber on). Some of you might be wondering, “Then why are you here?” Well, psychology and exercise science kind of go hand in hand. I say that because not too long ago I learned to increase maximum force and velocity; psychological techniques can help increase both. The psychological techniques that enhance motivation also increase effort, and effort is closely linked to motor unit recruitment. Another example of this is most people know that anxiety also plays a factor in performance. If you are going to hit a PR you will most likely experience cognitive and/or somatic state anxiety. By learning arousal regulation techniques, you can help keep anxiety at a level where you perform your best, and you can go on hitting those PRs. 

 

I plan to become a sports psychologist to help athletes mentally but learning the exercise science background gives me a whole other set of tools to use. When dealing with a team’s lack of progress, instead of a mental aspect creating the challenge, it could come down to the program they are on. This internship is very hands-on, so this experience is helping me come out of my introverted shell and become comfortable with coaching people. During the week, Anthony and I get to help out with training sessions, sometimes with college athletes or other times with a powerful class. Training athletes is a great opportunity for me because that is the area I want to start off working with: high school to college-age athletes. 

 

Since interning here, there has never been a dull moment. I wake up looking forward to coming in, learning, and hanging out with everyone. The staff here really knows their stuff and are diverse in the field of exercise science. I have never heard of a gym having former college strength and conditioning coaches, a physical therapist, a soon-to-be physician, a massage therapist, and someone who does research in exercise science. On top of that, they are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Union Fitness needs to adapt the old slogan from Olive Garden- “When you’re here, you’re family.” Since the start of my internship here, I feel that I have been accepted into a family of people motivated to help others and better their knowledge of exercise science. I feel lucky to be a part of it. If you ever want to talk and you do not find me in the office, I am probably doing the splits, hanging upside down, or swinging across the monkey bars. 

Happy B Day to THE WIZARD

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Today let’s all take a moment and wish the happiest of birthday’s to our own CeJ.

 

I have been working in the strength industry for over two decades now and very few people have had as much of an impact on me as CeJ (you can decide for yourself if he is a good or a bad impact).

 

Seriously though I want to take a few minutes today and make sure that we celebrate our one and only CeJ, The Wizard. CeJ and first became friends over a decade ago when he was just a young college student looking to cut his teeth in strength and conditioning. He has been a presence in my life ever since. When I was given the oppurtunity to take over Union Fitness as the general manager I knew we had to increase CeJ’s presence here. At the time he was running his own class. Powerful with CeJ was a different version of Powerful as CeJ does everything his own way, and it seems to work.

 

Now CeJ is here at UF full time and my biggest complaint is that the guy spends too much time at work. There are many days that he is here for morning classes and evening classes, he has helped grow our college training program from zero to where it is today (we train almost 100 collegiate student-athletes). In addition to what he brings to work his positive attitude is what truly makes CeJ such a special part of UF.

 

So today take a moment and text, DM, or just stop CeJ and sing Happy B Day to this (not so young) fella.

 

Member Spotlight

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Union, we love our members so much it’s time we show you off and have CeJ climb the incline like King Kong, and shout your presence from atop of the highest point of Mt. Washington!

 

This week we’d like to shout out Josh Conroy .

 

Ladies & Gents, here is the what is about, Conroy in his own words.

 

“What’s up everyone! My name is Josh, I’m 34 and I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and currently live in Oakdale. I work for Colussy Chevrolet in Bridgeville (which is the oldest Chevy dealership in the country) where I work in the service department.

 

Why I started training is like most people, I found my health declining due to being extremely lazy with poor eating habits. Shortly after turning 30 I thought I had a heart attack, thankfully I didn’t but it was what I needed to light a fire and make a change.

 

My father was really the reason behind me getting into lifting. He was as strict as you can be with nutrition and training. He always wanted me to better myself and always looked out for my health. So I joined the gym down from his house so we could train together and I could follow his guidance, unfortunately he passed away too soon due to cancer. He always told me to find something I’m passionate about and I did that with powerlifting.

 

After about a year of weight training, I stumbled into powerlifting. I started to bench press, squat then deadlift. I really enjoyed it. I became more serious with wanting to progress and I joined a dedicated powerlifting gym in Pittsburgh at Celli’s Fitness. I learned to love training, being strong and seeing what the human body is capable of. After they closed to move to a new location I found myself looking for a place to train as I was prepping for USPA Nationals and I decided Union was the place for me. Since joining Union I feel like I found a home, everyone here welcomed me with open arms and that was greatly appreciated as I’m someone who hates change. While I love training and competing, I have met some of the best people in the gym and consider many of them family.

 

My favorite lift is forever changing and really depends on the day, currently I’d say deadlifts would be my favorite. Some lifts I’ll never forget are my first 3 plate bench and first 600 pound squat and deadlift. Some of my training goals would be 405 bench, 650 squat and 700 deadlift. But the main goal is to stay healthy and continue making progress so I can get back on the platform later this year.

 

If I were to build my ultimate celebrity training crew I think I’d definitely have Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan brother!

 

My friends would describe be as someone who is loyal, sarcastic, personable and selfless.

 

Being a bigger guy it’s obvious I like to eat. If I could eat one type of food for the rest of my life it would definitely be hibachi!

 

Since I’m a larger dude I’d say if I were any piece of equipment at Union I’d be the leg press, monolift or belt squat.

 

My PR song would be BMF by Rick Ross! This song always gets me hyped.

 

If you ever see me in the gym come say hi and feel free to reach out if you need a hand!”

 

Thank you Big Josh Conroy for being a great member of our gym community!

 

Cheers,

CeJ

Training Update and the Benefit of Just Showing Up

Training, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Earlier this week, our General Manager Todd Hamer wrote a blog about his good friend who recently passed away and the importance of showing up, even at times when you may not feel like it. This can help those close to you in more ways than you might know. If you haven’t read it, be sure to slide over and give it a quick read. It may be just what you need to hear right now. Today, going along with what Todd touched on, I am going to discuss the importance of showing up for yourself. More specifically, the importance of just showing up to train, even when you don’t feel motivated.

 

If you’ve been training for any decent amount of time, then you have certainly experienced your share of a lack of motivation. When you were new to training, motivation was something that was much easier to come by. You had this vision in your head of what you wanted to accomplish, and woke up every day just waiting to be able to walk into the gym. Over time you realized that this is a very challenging journey filled with many ups, downs, and crossroads along the way. 

 

In today’s world, it can be easy to believe that if you aren’t moving forward then you aren’t making progress. Well I’m here to tell you that just showing up can lead to much progress and success. As humans, we cannot be full throttle at all times. Imagine driving your car as fast as it will go at all times. It won’t last very long. We are no different. If we are constantly pushing forward without pulling back on occasion, bad things will happen, and we may inhibit our ability to see through the road ahead. This is where it can be necessary to simply “just show up”. 

 

Being in cruise control at times is not a bad thing. It can help you reset, refocus, gain a new perspective, and analyze your current situation. This can all provide an opportunity for growth and progression in the future. Recently, I’ve just been showing up. Part of this is to help my training partners, members, and friends at the gym, and some of it is for me and my mental health. Although my routine is a bit different from what it typically would be, it is what I need for the time being in order to reset and rebuild for future opportunities and progress. Not just with lifting, but life as well.

 

Sample training week:

 

Day 1:

Pit shark goblet squat: 5×8 w/ 2 second pause

Leg press: 7x 20, 15, 12, 10, 12, 15, 20

Bulgarian split squat: 4×10 each leg w/3 second eccentric

GHR back extension: 4×15 w/2 second pause

Hanging leg raises: 4×15 (strict)

 

Day 2:

Bench press: 5×5 w/2 chains per side

Incline DB press: 3×20

Barbell tricep extension: 5×10 

Single arm rows: 5×10 each arm

TRX face pulls: 4×15 (slow and controlled)

 

Day 3:

SSB good mornings: 5×5

Banded RDL: 4×10 w/band around hips (3 second eccentric)

Bent over barbell rows: 5×10

Hammer curls: 5×12

Ab rollouts: 4×12

 

Day 4: Optional

Fatbell bench press: 10×10 w/60 seconds rest

Weighted dips: 5x 20, 15, 12, 10, 8

DB OH press: 4×10

Lat pulldowns: 5×12

Lying fatbell tricep extensions: 5×10

Let’s get loud!

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I found an assortment of 7 songs that have been really hittin it hard while I train. Let me drop them on you and see what you think.

 

The Sword “Freya”- Hailing from Austin Texas and formed in 2003, this song jams about Freya, the Goddess of Love and Fertility.

 

Priestess “Lay Down”- Influenced by Black Sabbath & AC/DC this Montreal band was formed in 2002 and this song rocks out to moving on and living your life.

 

Red Fang “Prehistoric Dog”-  From out way on the West Coast this Portland Oregon band begun in 2005 and this song blasts about aliens, zombies and prehistoric dogs.

 

Killer Be Killed “Deconstructing Self-Destruction” – This 2011 Supergroup of Soulfly, Mastodon, Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan just dropped a new album in November and this opening track really gets things going.

 

Quicksand “Fazer”- Throw it back to 1990 for this New York City post hardcore band and their song about making a positive change in your life.

 

HIM “Soul On Fire”- This 1991 Helsinki band that if you are a CKY/Viva La Bam Fan, you already know what’s up.

 

Nekrogoblikon “No One Survives”- This band has a Goblin in there group…enough said.

 

These have been the 7 song running in my mind while I have been training these last few weeks. Give them a listen and let me know what you think. Drop a line and let us know the songs that have been running in your head while you train.

 

Turn the volume to 11 and let’s get bumpy!

 

Cheers,

 

CeJ

Member of the Month

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Union Family,

 

Today, raise your dumbbells, burry your squats and let’s give three cheers to Ryan Russman for being Member of The Month. We’d like to thank him for all his hard work and positive energy he brings with him. Lets get to know Ryan a bit more.

 

Ryan grew up in Pittsburgh and resides in the Northside. He works as an accountant executive at a software company. Here are Ryan’s own words. “I have been wanting to build muscle and strength for a while but didn’t really know where to start, what lifts to do or how to do them properly and definitely didn’t know how to create an effective workout. With the suggestions from a couple friends and UF members I tried the powerful class, and immediately knew this is what I wanted. The welcoming attitude and knowledge everyone has at UF was exactly what I was looking for. It didn’t take long for me to find that my favorite lifts are squats & deadlifts, with my technique improving weekly I am seeing some great strides with these two lifts. I am always playing, “Don’t Stop Believin’” in my head as I try to hit a new PR, that extra motivation to never stop believing in how much I can push myself at the gym. UF has given me so much knowledge and helped me gain so much strength but more importantly, it is giving me the confidence & self-assurance that I never had when it came to lifting weights.”

 

Ryan, thank you for all you do and bring here to this community. We appreciate you!

Who will win the next Member of the Month?

 

Cheers,

CeJ

Uncategorized

We have been trying to find ways to serve you our members more effectively. We have made some changes this year and have one more coming.

 

Here is a short list of improvements we have made in the last 12 months.

 

  1. Opening of the performance lab and our outdoor turf space.
  2. Rearranged the fitness center to give our fitness center members more room to train.
  3. Added bumpers into the fitness center to give fitness center members more options.
  4. Rearranged the strength lab to more effectively use this space.
  5. Moved yoga into into it’s own quieter space.

 

Now we are adding one more change that will hopefully help us serve you.

 

We will move our opening time on Saturdays from 9 AM to 8 AM. We understand many of you save your longer training sessions for the weekends, and with this in mind we felt it was best to give you, the members, an extra hour to get in and train before the crowds arrive.

 

Starting this Saturday January 30th we invite you to come in at 8 AM and get your weekend started out STRONG!

Meet Wyatt.

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We are happy to introduce you to our newest intern Wyatt. If you see him around the gym say hello. Now I’ll let Wyatt introduce himself in his own words.

 

I am Wyatt Sloan and I am from St. Louis Missouri. I am a senior at Robert Morris University, majoring in psychology with a concentration in sports and a minor in education. Applied to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for graduate school for a master of science in kinesiology with a specialization in exercise and sport Psychology.

 

I am Interning at Union Fitness to get the experience and learn from all their trainers about the exercise science aspect. This will greatly help in the future as a sports psychologist because I will be able to mentally and physically help athletes perform better in their sport. If you do not see me in the gym, I am playing hockey, video games, or watching movies. Fun fact about me is I am flexible enough to do the splits and my shoulders can rotate around to make my elbows clap. 

How’s My Squat?

Fitness, Uncategorized, ,

We all know that Instagram has become most people’s go to for training information and videos. We could debate all day long whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. In my eyes the sum of it all is a good thing. I do see the down side, which is mainly ego. Yet I will take this, if it means that we can learn from some of the smartest people in the world.

 

This week I received a few messages about different pro athletes training. I find it concerning anytime that one comments on training that they were not present at the session, and know the background of the training. So when these questions are posed to me I tend to be honest yet give a non-answer.

 

Let’s break down a few of the different squats we see online.

 

  1. The Ed Coan squat- This is the squat that is well below parallel and looks perfect. We rarely see these.
  2. The Westsider- Super wide and no deeper then we need to be. Often times a bit on the high side.
  3. The ATGer- Low as can be with a side of knee cave.
  4. Front Squat- This gets two different groups, the Oly lifter who looks perfect and the the powerlifter who can’t get in the right position and looks miserable doing the lift.
  5. The NO Eccentric Box Squat- Race to the box, slam as hard as possible, and try to snap your spine (please don’t do this).
  6. The Rock and Roller- This is another variation of the box. Hit the box rock back and try to slingshot yourself back up.

 

Ok with me now judging everyone the truth is this. People have become strong doing each and everyone of these. So instead of telling someone what they should do you should probably just sit back and learn. People have become strong doing all of the above and while you can argue what is “right” it doesn’t matter as it is not your training.

 

Be Strong!

 

Old Man Uncle Hamer