Tag Archives: Health

CeJ Mustache You A Question

Fitness, Life Health, , , , ,

Hello to my hairy, well groomed, bald and hairless Brothers & Sisters of Union!

 

I have a very important task I mustache you to partake in. I want your voice to be heard, and I need you to vote! Yes, of course go vote on November 3rd for a few of those political blokes, but this one has the fate of my face on the ballot.

 

Your options for this vote are Movember (Grow a Mustache) or No-Shave November (Grow it All).

 

Movember: is an annual event involving the growing of mustaches during the month of November. This is done to raise awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and men’s suicide. The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com. The goal of Movember is to “change the face of men’s health.”

 

By encouraging men (whom the charity refers to as “Mo Bros”) to get involved, Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths. Besides annual check-ups, the Movember Foundation encourages men to be aware of family history of cancer and to adopt a healthier lifestyle.Using the mustache as the driving symbol of the movement, Movember focuses on the three key areas of prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health & suicide prevention.

 

No-Shave November: The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose and letting it grow wild & free. Also, donating the money you typically spend on shaving and grooming to educate about cancer prevention, save lives and aid those fighting the battle.  

 

Whatever charity has the most votes, is what I will rock on my face for that month, set up a UF charity page and continue to educate everyone on these health issues. Please vote in the comments, DM and share this blog and let’s spread the word on men’s health.

 

Cheers my friends and let me hear you SCREAM!

 

-CeJ

Have Some Fun and Improve with Us

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Last week I wrote about knowing our Why. Why are we here working in a gym? We are here to empower, educate and entertain everyone who enters our gym. Through this, we are offering a few different mediums to accomplish these goals. Today I want to highlight some of what we are doing and hopefully, something here will pique your interest.

 

  1. USPA Drug Tested Kabuki Open (Sat Oct, 31st 9 AM). This is a powerlifting meet that will be held under the tent here at UF. The meet is sold out, yet if you want to experience competitive powerlifting for the first time, we encourage you to stop by. The entry fee is only 5 dollars, and the tent will be heated so no worries about the weather.
  2. Getting Lean for Halloween Bootcamp (Sat Oct, 31st 11 AM). Join CeJ and Matt Grayson as they run you through a bootcamp in the parking lot of one of the finest breweries in Pittsburgh, Allegheny City Brewing. This outdoor workout will be one hour long before sharing some libation at ACB’s outdoor beer garden. This class is free for everyone.
  3. Comedy Bootcamp (Fri Nov, 6th 6 PM). This is a first for us here at UF. We will be holding a bootcamp followed by a comedy show with three local comedians. We will also have The Yard bringing food and libations. This class is also free for everyone
  4. Kabuki Squat, Bench, Deadlift Workshop (Fri Oct, 30th 3-7 PM). UF is hosting the Kabuki Squat, Bench, Deadlift Workshop in our performance lab. If you are serious about improving these lifts, I suggest you look into this workshop. Kyle Young of Kabuki Strength will cover all things squat, bench and deadlift related in this workshop. This event is 150 dollars and registration is through the Kabuki Strength website.

 

As you can see it will be a busy few weeks here at UF, and we will have more to come. As with everything we do, we will be requiring masks with anything indoors. Safety and health are of the utmost importance to us. 

ACB Spooky Bootcamp Brews & Boos

Alcohol, Fitness, Life Health, Training, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!!!

 

Spooky season is in full effect with pumpkin spice lattes at every corner, scary movies on each night, and Grayson & I coming to lay down a Trick or Treat Bootcamp on October 31st, 11am at Allegheny City Brewery parking lot.

 

This will be a free charity bootcamp that anyone can come get spooky at. We ask our non-members to sign a quick waiver before you get your Saturday Scaries on. Please bring any canned goods you can spare as we will be donating all to a local food bank.

 

You know when Grayson and I get together, you are in for a nice couple of tricks! Have no fear, at the end, we’ll hook you up with the first round of treats and some cold brews from our good friends at ACB!

 

Like, comment, and share this article so we can have some spooky fun, show support to a local business and community!

 

It’s Showtime!

Staying Grounded

Life Health, ,

Every Saturday morning at 5:30AM you can find me at RAW with my other competitive teammates doing our weekly team training. A few weeks back our coach programmed a 40 minute piece that required a 14# vest, men wear 20# (mine happened to be 17# and that was rough). Normally vested workouts are something I look forward too, MURPH being one of my favorite workouts but this one was different.

 

Since quarantine my anxiety has been at an all time high. I have found it is at its worst whenever I have heavy snatches or high-effort breathing (usually movements pared together where catching your breath just might not happen and it’s all about how calm you can stay). Now imagine yourself doing a CrossFit-esque programmed workout and add a 17# vest onto your body that inhibits your ability to catch your breath fully. For 40 minutes I found myself on the verge of a full on panic-attack, I even had one of my teammates tell me for the entirety of that workout to keep breathing deeply. 

 

Picture this in your head, going from one movement to another (I was paired with a female teammates to spit the work) and I am on my hands and knees during my rest portions just trying to catch my breath – This is when I knew it was bad and after the workout was done I ripped off my vest and I just laid there trying to get full breaths in.

 

The reason I bring this up is because staying grounded not only to avoid a possible panic/anxiety attack but in your life is an important quality to possess. When we focus all of our time and attention into one thing, make it our top priority and forget about how vast life is and stay single-minded focus, we give that one thing the ability to control our thoughts and feelings. What happens if you fail? What happens if you succeed? What do you truly have to show for?

 

Staying grounded keeps you honest, humble and aligned throughout your entire life. This is exactly something that staying grounded to avoid that possible panic/anxiety attack does as well, it helps you find that calm again. When I feel these feelings of tightness in my chest, I look around me and do the following (a list of things sent to me to help me stay grounded).

 

1. Breath deeply in through my nose and out through my mouth

2. Then I will look around me to find:

5 things I can see

4 things I can touch

3 things I can hear

2 things I can smell 

1 emotion I feel

 

During a workout I mainly focus on breathing deeply and pick 5 things I can see – I’ll usually make eye contact with someone or try and cheer someone else on (even if their not on my team for that workout) this allows me to gather myself for a brief moment and find comfort in my peers whilst still being able to focus on the task I’m trying to complete, something that works for me.

 

Staying grounded in your daily life looks a little different but the application is the same, allowing yourself to prioritize other aspects of your life such as family, relationships or things that make you genuinely happy aside from the one thing that is your main goal. When we maintain balance with all things that make our life great, the achievements we obtain tastes that much sweeter. This mindset is more sustainable than one that isolates and secludes us from other aspects of our life, creating that longing sense of what next if we achieve greatness or find ourselves depressed if we are teetering on the edge of failure. 

 

The panic that set in whilst in the middle of that 40 minuet workout with my 17# vest is something I will feel on any given day if I do not have balance present within my life. My biggest takeaway from this experience is to always find my footing when life or experiences hit me in the face and stay grounded in what makes me feel calm.

 

If you too find yourself overwhelmed during training or life, take these tips and find your footing again.

Keeping it Real

Clean Eating, Diet, Life Health, Nutrition,

I took four whole days off of tracking my daily intake and it was my fault. I didn’t go to the grocery store like I said I would, I didn’t prioritize my nutrition around an unexpected busy schedule and I truthfully didn’t feel bad about it because it was a decision I made. As Curtis reminded me this morning, making sure you all as members know that even us, as coaches and employees at Union Fitness, have days or weeks where we fall off the wagon is important.

 

I’ve noticed there’s this obsession in the fitness world where professionals either always appear to be on their game or they aren’t transparent about their struggles, these aren’t the people I want to follow in real life or on social media. As a Nutrition Coach and someone who has chosen fitness as their day-job/career, it was my goal long before both of these titles to always remain honest with the world because it keeps me honest with myself. I cannot possibly coach people through their nutrition habits if I’m not honest with them that I ate a pint of Ben & Jerry’s for dinner, 3 days in a row. True nutrition is understanding that we are human and we cannot chase perfection. 

 

Outside of my professional titles I also train/compete in the sport of CrossFit, I like to say I’m average at best but I do work very hard inside and outside of the gym. Tracking macronutrients for me is a way to make sure I’m not only fueling my body for training but also making sure it is getting enough food to get me through everyday life. Aside from tracking, I see a Physical Therapist for bi-weekly check-ups and I am constantly prioritizing my recovery and sleep. Whatever I am chasing inside the gym needs to be matched outside of the gym. But here’s the thing, no matter how well I am at keeping my priorities aligned, life will always be there and something will always happen and it’s up to me on how to move forward.

 

An unplanned four days off from tracking my food intake was a mistake on my part and this is where personal accountability comes into play. I understand that I made these decisions but that my feelings around these four days were nowhere close to being negative. I rolled with the punches, I told myself to take a break and to just do whatever my body felt it needed and that when Monday rolls around I’ll get back on my game. Truthfully I had planned for Sunday to be back at it full-swing but when Canadian Thanksgiving happens and your boyfriend shows up with a pint of Ben & Jerrys, you just can’t say no.

 

The biggest lesson I can share with you all about nutrition is that when you start to dig deep and build these long-term habits, the moment you slip up, your feelings towards that slip-up change over a period of time. You can go from feeling awful about it to making better decisions and allowing yourself the space to indulge without guilt.

 

So here I am, keeping it real with you all because sometimes you just need to cut yourself some slack and do whatever you want for no reason at all but because you want to or because you wanted to take a nap over going to the grocery store.

Bootcamp Comedy Show

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UF is beyond excited to announce our first ever bootcamp comedy show. We are going to  bring together all the good things of the world for one awesome night. Friday November 6th we are going to have a boot camp workout run by our funniest and most hype trainers, Matt Grayson and Charles Jasper.

 

Following the bootcamp style workout, 3 of our local comedians are going to take the stage. We are going to set up a stage on the turf outdoors and have seats inside and outside utilizing our new performance lab space. Each comedian will have about a 20 minute set to entertain us. We have also requested that they workout with us before hand (let’s hope they are up for it).

 

We will also be offering food and libations compliments of our newest partner, The Yard. Check out their offerings and hopefully they will bring us some of our favorite cheeses and beers.

 

In addition to all the fun we are asking anyone who registers for this class to bring some canned goods.  We will donate all the canned goods to the food pantry on Brighton Rd.

 

To register for this class, just go to MindBody and this will be listed as a class. As with any of our fundraiser events everyone is welcome, members and non-members, additionally this is a free class for everyone.

 

Let’s get bumpy, share some laughs and do more good in the world.

 

Nutrition Debunking Series

Clean Eating, Diet, Fitness, Life Health, Meal Prep, Nutrition, , , ,

TODAY’S TOPIC: BEING CONSISTENT AT HIGHER CALORIES.

 

Well guys, looks like I’m making a thing out of this for however long I can find things that need debunking in regards to nutrition (which could be for a while with the number of things that bother me endlessly about society). I’ve mentioned this before but there is an immense amount of misinformation out there, companies will profit off of this misinformation leaving consumers feeling underfed and eventually unhappy in their skin.

 

In my first “Nutrition Debunking (Part One)” I spoke about a caloric intake in which only a child should be eating, 1200 calories is not a sustainable intake for anyone above the age of 8, so why are companies profiting off of a diet that such a caloric intake is being advertised? I’ll tell you why, because everyone loves a quick fix until they realize this is a quick approach to a long-term issue.

 

When potential clients come to me underfed its truly no surprise, this problem is so common that I have come to almost expect it before the first conversation. Society has ingrained in us that we need to cut calories to lose weight, while that may be true, just jumping into a caloric deficit is not the correct path (especially if the individual is already underfed). The truth is that we need to be more consistent in our eating at a higher caloric intake, such as eating at maintenance. 

 

Maintenance is the baseline amount of calories our body needs per day to function properly.

 

Working towards eating at maintenance is a perfect starting point for people who are ready to take their nutrition to the next level. Now the process in which to get to your baseline can be a month-long process, especially if the client is underfed. Consistency takes time and it can certainly be challenging for most people but our bodies love consistency, it wants to be fed properly and be fed with nutrient-dense foods. 

 

To put it into perspective for you, the average American is probably eating well Monday – Thursday but when the weekend rolls around our nutrition takes a backseat and we find ourselves ordering takeout Friday – Saturday, enjoying a few drinks then spending Sunday recovering and probably consuming less than 1,000 calories or well above what we need to curb that hangover. We could also find that some people are under-eating one week, and the next week they hit their caloric intake perfect, then overeat the following week. Our body absolutely cannot figure out what we are doing and this is when we see process full-on stop.

 

So, before you decide to “slim-down” or hop on a brand new diet, why not see what happens if you become more consistent at eating more food. Make it a 2-week goal, if the 2 weeks felt good then make it to a whole month. A lot of body composition progress can be seen with eating a higher amount of calories for 6 months or more if the individual was well underfed previously and was able to be consistent in their eating habits. Consistency also doesn’t mean we have to be perfect, in my experience following the 80% rule is a great starting point. The 80% rule means hitting your daily intake 80% of the time while also letting yourself be flexible and not feeling stressed out because nutrition should never cause you stress.

 

The mentality of going from being underfed to eating more food can we hard, it can be a huge change for some. We attach a lot of our feelings to food and with that being said, sometimes these feelings can damage the relationship we have with ourselves. Once we start to understand that food is fuel not only will you have a better relationship with yourself but you will find that your mentality is shifting, building that trust between food and the relationship you have with yourself.

Nutrition Debunking (Part Two)

Clean Eating, Meal Prep, Nutrition, , ,

Have you ever noticed that a lot of “fad diets” really stray away from consumption of carbs or labels will market foods as “low-carb,” this is a primary example of society conditioning us to believe a certain food group is bad without really allowing ourselves to process the truth. I’m going to flat out say it, CARBOHYDRATES ARE NOT BAD.

 

So, the question remains, why are we conditioned to believe carbs are bad? All good and tasty things we love have carbohydrates in them, such as: pastries, bread and snack foods. Ultimately these are things you want to eat in moderation but the sheer fact that carbs are marketed as bad leads us to believe we shouldn’t eat even the ones that do benefit us. The reality here is if the average person really looked into what they should be eating, we would find that most humans, if not all should be getting in at least 100g – 200g of carbs a day based on their specific needs and daily caloric intake. A lot of times when I have clients come to me I’m noticing if not all are in a deficit and not fueling their body properly, this comes as a shock when I actually start introducing more food into their diets. The responses I get are, “I feel like I’m eating too much,” “I feel like this is way too many carbs” – Mostly these feelings stem from eating whole and nutrient dense carbs (rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes) energy sources that will keep you fuller for a longer period of time vs pastries, bread and snack foods that only curb that hunger feeling for maybe less than an hour.

 

The reason we see low-carb diets advertised for weight-loss is because it’s an easier grab of the consumers attention then actually taking the time to educate a client on eating in a deficit and working out as a sustainable approach. This is why diet culture is insanely toxic for the human mind/body and also at the same time very profitable. Like I said in part one of my Nutrition Debunking series, quick-fixes do not yield long-term results. The idea here that makes diet culture so profitable is that it requires the consumer to continuously come back for more, it’s basically an endless cycle of dieting. Do you really want to spend your entire life dieting on and off? I’d hope not. Telling the consumer carbs are bad or to eat low-carb creates lack of trust in an energy sources that our bodies need, we’ll get used to eating a lower and lower amount of calories until we are starving ourselves and then we’ll binge and find ourselves chasing that low-carb diet again that some Instagram influencer told us to do because juice cleanses are needed to feel “refreshed” again.

 

Honestly, aren’t you sick of dieting? Aren’t you tired of always feeling like you can’t have this or that? True nutrition education teaches nutrition professionals how to bring awareness to sustainable weight-loss that yields long-term results, habit building and trust creating relationships with all types of food. The truth to the whole “carbs are bad” or eating only “low-carb” is that it’s indeed fake news. You can have that doughnut or muffin and go about your day not feeling bad or feeling like you threw your whole day off because of one thing. Allow yourself to have the pastry and then go about your day choosing whole and nutrient dense foods, making good choices that fuel your body and making sure you are eating around your body weight in protein.

 

It is my ultimate goal to educate people on eating well and never telling yourself you can’t have something because honestly thats just dumb, why would you ever avoid foods that make you happy. Life is all about balance and being insanely restrictive isn’t fun, it creates stress, makes you unhappy and feel inadequate – Trust me I’ve done the whole restrictive thing. When we let ourselves enjoy we want it less, the desire to binge becomes undesirable and honestly we become a happier, healthier version of ourself. 

 

If you’re ever curious as to what you should be consuming, grab me and pull me to the side in the gym or DM me on Instagram (@jlemay). I’d rather spend 30 min with you making sure you are fueling your body and feeling your best than have you spend the rest of your life feeling like you have no idea what you’re doing or that you’re not seeing the results you want to see.

The Power of Powerlifting

Fitness, Life Health, Training, , , , , ,

This past weekend, Union Fitness hosted the 3rd annual Iron City Open powerlifting meet. With the help of our staff, Doug Nostrant and his team of referees, along with our member volunteer spotters and loaders, we were able to have an extremely safe and successful event. I will be completely honest, this is an event that I was very unsure about happening a couple of months ago, and even up until a few before the competition. As far as I am aware, this was the first event that was held in the western PA area since before the start of the pandemic in March. 

 

What made this event special was not only the competitors that attended and the weight which they were able to lift, but all of the people who came together to make sure that everyone was safe and meeting all of the guidelines and standards necessary in order to be able to hold the event. From the outdoor tent, to the USPA referees making sure that the equipment was properly cleaned after every single lifter completed an attempt. That’s right, the bars and benches were disinfected and cleaned after each competitor touched it. You can’t ask for much more care and safety than that. All while wearing masks and face shields for 7 hours in 90 degree weather. This truly goes to show how strong the Powerlifting community is, and how much love and respect goes into it.

 

I am entering my 8th year as a competitor. During that time, I have personally competed in 15 competitions, and I have either attended and/or helped individuals in another 15 or so events. The more meets that I attend, and the more mature that I become, the more I understand and appreciate everything that the sport of powerlifting has to offer, and all of the people whom I’ve had the opportunity of meeting in the process. On the surface, powerlifting may look like a bunch of meat heads with low IQs walking around sweating, grunting, and yelling absurd statements just so they can pick something up one time and then put it down. However, if you dig deeper and spend some quality time in the community, you will meet some of the most genuine people who you’ve ever encountered, and you will witness first hand how powerlifting can help you become better in every aspect of life.

 

In powerlifting, you have to develop a plan of action and then take one step each day in order to reach that goal. It’s inevitable that you will encounter crossroads, hardships, and even frustration along the way. Over time, when approached correctly, this will equate to many small victories and lessons learned. Lessons which can not only help you become a better athlete, but can carry over into being better in your career, in your relationships, and within your own self. The best part of this is having the ability to pass on these lessons to other individuals so they can benefit from the same things which you have. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. Living, learning, and passing on.

What the World Needs is More Coaches

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What does it mean to be a coach? On the surface a coach can be defined as someone who is helping an individual work towards achieving a goal. This is what most of us think of when we hear the term. However, as we go deeper, we will realize that coaching consists of much more. The ability to coach is within each of us, and it’s something that we need now more than ever.

 

I’ve spent the last 11 years of my life as a coach to athletes, kids, the elderly, and general population individuals. During that time, my focus has always been to first build a connection with each person, and then help them to unlock their full potential with the goal of being able to become their own coach in the future. With coaching, the goal should never be to want people to rely on you in order to achieve those things, but rather possess the ability to learn on their own, and then to pass on those lessons which they have learned throughout the process. In my opinion, this is the true definition of a coach. 

 

The more experienced I become within my career, the more I realize that these actions go far beyond working in a performance setting, but rather a universal setting. In my opinion, coaching is not confined to a certain group of trained professionals, but anyone who has learned from their life’s lessons, and is willing to pass them onto others for the greater good of humanity. Each of us has a skill that distinguishes one person from another. We can use those abilities and skills to help coach others to work towards a better, more knowledgable version of theirselves. I strongly believe that this is the ultimate goal of life. It’s what we are here to do. Today, we need quality coaches more than ever. So, ask yourself “How can I help, and what things have I learned that I can pass onto others to help them become a better version of who they are?”. If we can all do this, we will be great.