Happy New Year! New Year, New Me! This term is used a lot and we really don’t like it, but it is an appropriate time to “Kick the New Year Off Right”. Whether you are trying to continue goals from the previous year, re-make goals into the new year or even start exercise related goals for the very first time, the start of the new year is a good time to talk about goals and to set them in place. Your coaches are here to help you figure out appropriate goals.
August
This blog was written to be very basic in nature to help volleyball players choose the right exercises during their workouts. The format I give would be best used in a 3 days/week. If you’re still practicing a lot of have tournaments you’ll want to tone down the intensity at times, especially when it comes to the plyometric/jumping activities.
Obviously if you have the ability to work with me directly that would likely yield much better results because I will be able to choose sets/reps/weights for you that will best guide you to success. Please click here if you are an athlete at Pittsburgh Elite and want to train at Pittsburgh Elite in Emsworth or at our main facility in Bethel Park. We also do remote program writing and you can email me here for more information on that.
So here is the format: (read below for the actual exercises you can use)
1a. Lower Body Plyometric/Jump/Power Exercise
1b. Upper Body Power Exercise
2a. Main Leg Strengthening Exercise
2b. Main Upper body Pushing Exercise
3a. Leg Accessory Exercise
3b. Main Upper Body Pulling Exercise
4a. Core - leg lift emphasis/”lower core”
4b. Shoulder Accessory
5a. Core - Plank variations
5b. Core - Crunch Variations
6. Conditioning (optional)
Now to explain… When there is an a + b together (i.e. 1a and 1b) that means you do those back to back until you finish all sets, then you move on to the next groupings. You do not always need to combine exercises into A + B, but it does help save time. “Main upper body pushing” can be easily switched with “main upper body pulling. You do not always need to do 3 “core” exercises every time. I normally mix in 1-2 with most programs. Like I stated earlier, the focus of this article is not on sets and reps, but in general doing 3 sets of everything will be enough. I also prefer rep ranges of 3-6 for main exercises and 8-12 for accessories. Again, that is a general recommendation. Newer athletes will generally have a higher rep range and experienced ones who can safely lift heavier will likely use towards the lower side more often. Depending on the time of year this format would change slightly too. If they were not playing any volleyball, and therefore not jumping a lot, we would likely do more sets of 1a and 1b, or even add a couple exercises. Also, if they are in the middle of high school season and playing every day, then we likely wouldn’t jump at all (much like we do at Pittsburgh Elite during their sessions in practice).
Here are a list of exercises I would recommend for each heading above. Obviously there are 100’s to choose from, but these are the ones we use most often. Click each exercise for a demonstrating/explanation. I apologize that a few of them don’t have links.
Push Press - no video
Rotational Ball Throw - no video
Step-up - can also be accessory
Any Lunge Variation - can also be accessory
Push-up - and all variations
Balance Calf Raise
Chin-Up
Pronated Pull-Downs - no video - palms away
TRX Row - or ring
Ring Fall-Out
I prefer any kind of interval work. For example, biking 30s on and 30s off for 6-10 rounds. I do not typically like my athletes ONLY running long distances. Running a few miles will help build some base endurance, but interval work will be better in the long run, especially if you can use multiple modalities such as: Sleds, Rowers, Ropes, Bike, Ski Ergometers, etc…
In conclusion, this is meant to be a basic article to give some examples/reminders of exercises you can do during your workouts and how to structure the workout in general. At the very least you have links to exercises and how to do them. In the future, I may write more information on sets/reps, but largely that information can vary quite a lot from person to person.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me an email. And of course, if you want your child to come train with me this summer click here for more information.
Thank you!
Our Summer Fitness Olympics have come to an end once again. It was once again a great year of training, competition, and lots of people who became better. Below is a nice recap of how everything wrapped up this Summer. It will be very detailed compared to my speech Friday as I have unlimited paper space. Many of you saw some incredible feats, but I saw nearly all of them and I would love for all of you to read about all of the great things that happened this summer that you may have missed. I have also included the coaches results of each event as well so you can see how we stacked up against you all. It was a lot of fun for us to compete this year as well. I think it pushed us to also become better to not only help our team, but also because we simply don’t like getting beat (especially me, coach Dan).
*Note: PR stands for “Personal Record” … you will see this phrase quite often. Also, click the event for a full list of the standings in that event.
This event was a lot of fun for me personally because I have not had a lot of people ask me to teach this exercise in quite some time. There was previously only a couple clients who did these regularly, but I have already been asked by nearly a dozen clients to keep them in their programs.
The start of the Men’s Power Clean started strong with Werner hitting 105 kg early in the summer just to get beat by Connor at 106kg shortly after. Connor kept the lead for most of the Summer, but was passed by Ben Avon the last week. However, Werner came back strong after being stuck at the 105 kg weight for the whole summer to hit a very solid PR at 110 kg to win the event.
This event was thought to be a run away victory by Candice Chalus who is a regular participant in olympic weightlifting. However, Meghan Shakespeare quickly learned the movement and impressively beat Candice out by 1 kg finishing with 70 kg. Candice tried for quite literally 3 hours Thursday night to reclaim the title, but just barely missed many many times. The women’s team scores also came down to the wire as many hit new PR’s Thursday night to sway the scores. The event finished with Dan and Anthony’s team exactly tied for 1st place and Coach Joey’s team only .2 kg behind (1 kg total out of the top 5).
Coaches Anthony and Joey both learned these exercises for the first time as well (only partially knew them before). They finished with a 60 and 85 kg score and were beat out by 19 and 11 other clients. *Note: Anthony had a wrist injury inhibiting him from going up further. Coaches Dan and Paige, who have been doing this lift for years, were unbeaten finishing with a 120 kg and 70 kg total.
This event easily proved to be the event where the most people PR’d. Those that put up big numbers early really pushed others to try bigger numbers. When people saw these numbers they pushed even harder. Honestly I would love to list off everyone who set a PR during this event, but the list would easily be 50+ people long.
This event was won by Coach Jack who called his win at the beginning of the summer. He started with an impressive 235 kg, but was passed by a few people. After some bad training days for him he finally had another good day and put up a really dominant 255 kg lift to take the lead back. Werner and Ben fought for 2nd place all the way to Thursday. Ben lost the lead Wednesday night, but took it back Thursday afternoon. Werner tried to take it back right after, but being fatigued from the day before left him just a little short.
Straight forward. Jen Smith Deadlift 160 kg and won this event. This beat out a heavy favorite of Shay who is the gym’s leading powerlifter in the deadlift. Shay finished with an also impressive 152 kg PR. I would also like to call out Emily Garcia in this event who finished in 4th place with 141 kg even though previously she had not done even 100 kg. To show how competitive this event was you should all realize that Nicole Celender, one of the all around strongest lifters in the gym and women’s gym back squat record, only finished tied for 10th place at 127 kg.
Coach Dan: 208 kg, 6th place
Coach Anthony: 185 kg (PR), 9th place
Coach Joey: 170 kg (PR), 14th place
Coach Paige: 135 kg (PR), 7th place
This event was also super competitive. Only one woman scored with a time under 4 minutes (none for men). There were some good plankers who did not finish in the top 10 to score extra points.
This event was won by Heidi Calhoun with a time of 5:30. This came as a surprise as I had not seen her do a plank close to this long previously. In 4th place I would also like to call out Lisa Talarico with a 4:32 plank time at an age of over 60 years old. Lisa is not known for her ability to push through pain, but her strength that she often forgets is there helped push her to a very impressive time.
This was an interesting one as the leader, Ed Talarico, was not OK with just winning the event. He needed to beat the coaches too (mainly coach Dan). So we had a plank off on Thursday night. I am not happy to lose, but I am very impressed once again with Ed’s determination that lead him to win our contest after my foam roller fell off at 8:30. You can’t deserve a win any more than challenging and beating the coach to do so.
Coach Dan: 8:30, 2nd place
Coach Anthony: 3:21, 15th place
Coach Joey: 3:13, 17th place
Coach Paige: 3:01, 17th place
This measurement was taken by recording the highest point that someone could jump and touch then subtracting from that the height that they could just stand and touch. This was a fun one to kick off the Summer since it was an easy one for everyone to try right away. Then we took those numbers as starting points and also had an “improvement” category by allowing people to keep retesting all summer and those that made the most improvement would also get bonus points.
This event was won by both Brandon Hanson and Jake Cunningham who jumped 32.5 inches. This was no surprise as they have been training with myself (as volleyball players) for many years. This event was interesting however because 4 people were tied in 5th place which drastically affected the final overall individual standings.
This event was pretty easily won by Jess Hanson another volleyball player who has been around for quite some time. The rest of the rankings were also not a very big surprise as it was full of volleyball players.
The improvement category was a little more interesting to watch. A lot of people really didn’t listen to us when we told them that they could still get points if they got better. The whole point of this was because obviously the younger clients and volleyball players would win the jump height, but those that haven’t trained volleyball/jumping would have an advantage in the improvement category because they have a lot more room to grow. Nicole Celender took this very easily after figuring out that she didn’t have to take as large of an approach and was able to increase her vertical by 6 inches.
This was another unfair advantage to Coach Dan as this has been his specialty for years. He easily won the guys' side with a 38.5 inch vertical. Paige also finished 2nd in the vertical for the girls with a 27.5 inch. Coach Anthony had a 22 inch vertical and Joey a 25.5 inch vertical placing them in 22nd and 18th place.
This event was the longest and therefore worth double the points as the others. Those that did it twice had a huge advantage as most people bettered their times by nearly a whole minute especially when we figured out that the order should go Rower, Ski, then Bike. It was this event that probably gave the largest point swings for the teams as well that helped determine the final standings.
As we were figuring out the technique to this event the first four men all finished within 2 seconds of each other with a time around 12:15. Then out of nowhere Brandon B. came out with a 10:37 time which I thought was impossible. The most impressive of his 3 exercises was definitely the ski ergometer which he finished in under 3 minutes. Although times got a lot better over the Summer no one could touch his time. To finish in the top 10 you needed to do better than a 11:28 time. Coach Joey and Dan finished within 5 seconds of each other for the team score as well where Team Joey received 4000 points for first place and Team Dan 3000 points for finishing 2nd.
The heavy favorites for the women were the marathon runners in the gym. However, on the final day Jenna Vogen came from 10th place all the way to first place winning by 30 seconds to edge out Liz Carr. Jenna finished with the only sub 12 minute time with an 11:48. Although the team scores were very close for most of the Summer, Team Joey took this one by quite a bit because he finished with the top 3 times for women.
It’s no secret that us coaches are not endurance specialists. We all struggled through this one. I (coach Dan) finished with an 11:10 time which at the time was 3rd place and I was super happy with it. However, later that day I was disappointed that I was beat out twice in a matter of a couple hours by only a few seconds including one by Jovian Smith a freshman in high school who had a very impressive 11:07 time. I finished in 6th place.
Coach Paige: 13:52, 20th place
Coach Anthony: 12:09, 21st place
Coach Joey: 12:06. 21st place
This event was also very competitive and not hard to do multiple times. There was a height disadvantage and an age advantage. The formula we used proved to be quite effective as in the top ten of both men and women had clients of all ages and all heights. Correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe the two that won the Deadhang event last year also won this event which proves the strength of their grip being able to win multiple events related to the strength.
This event was won by Ed Talarico with a time of 4:49 which beat out coach Jack. by 4 seconds. Even more impressive was that Ed had to redo this event to pass Jack back up the same last day as he had to battle Coach Dan in the plank. 2 victory’s over coaches in one day is pretty darn good.
Michelle Premoshis won this event with a 3:19 time. This event was completed a lot over the last few days of training as many were trying to move up the rankings.
This was by far my worst event and very frustrating for me as I attempted it many times and could never beat my first time of 2:22 which only put me in 20th place. Coach Paige also struggled with this one finishing with a 2:02 time placing her in 25th place. Coach Anthony did the best finishing over 3:04 placing him in 10th place. Joey finished in 14th place with a 2:35 time.
This event was also easy to complete multiple times. The ones that won this event proved to have a lot of patience. Many people tried different techniques to get them the longest time including single hops, double hops, skipping, or a mixture. Many entered the top 10 the last two days of the events.
This was won by AJ with a time of 6:06. AJ had the lead early on and was beat out a couple times, but always came back to claim the top spot. Also in the mix was Ryan T who finished in 3rd place with a 4:46 time. Ryan tried probably 100 times and couldn’t break a minute. His VERY last attempt he finally figured it out though to send him into 3rd place. With the help of Ben Avon who also nearly doubled his time on the last day, Coach Joey took home the victory for the team as well.
The leading spot was secured by Carolyn Kerr during her weekend home with a time of 4:57. She was almost beat by Candice who fell just 1 second short. On the final morning though, Jess Hanson came into the gym and finished with a 6:49 time to take home the victory. This time also put Team Anthony’s team total way up from where it was to barely take the victory away from Dan.
I thought I could win this event pretty easily. However, I was afraid to do the event until AJ left Thursday because I didn’t want to get beaten again after finishing. This strategy proved to be terrible because by the end of the night I had nothing left in my tank to put up a good number and was forced to concede with a 4:47 time putting me in 3rd place. Coach Paige also performed well and was in 1st place with a 5:20 time until getting beat out by Jess Hanson. Coach Anthony finished with 50 seconds and Joey with 1:14 putting them in 24th and 14th place.
This was a very tough event. I think everyone’s legs were probably on fire when they were done regardless if it took 1 minute or 5 minutes. This was the event this year that had a nice age advantage that made it tough for the younger clients to do well. To our surprise though many who had a little more weight to push still performed quite well.
For the third time in these events, Ed Talarico won this event with the only sub 1 minute time. Ben Avon came close to catching Ed with a 1:01 and Matt Michaels with a 1:02 time. Going into the last week there was only about 5 seconds difference from 5th-10th place. Many came in to redo this event though and most pushed their time lower to get them and their teams more points. TJ Smith and Chris Dattalo both helped my team take first place. However, in the last hour of the Olympics, Jovian Smith came out for Joey’s team to take the victory by an average of less than 4 seconds.
This event went back and forth a little between Jen Smith and Stephanie Ertel, but Jen Smith finished with the win with a 1:09 time.
Another event for the coaches that they did not place very well.
Coach Dan: 1:33, 11th Place
Coach Anthony: 2:39, 25th place
Coach Joey: 3:32, 33rd place
Coach Paige: 2:12, 20th place
It was tough to beat what happened last year in the Bench Press event with the back and forth that happened before Shay and Ben took home the victory. This year however we have two new champs.
Jack, Ben, and Evan all fought hard around the 120 kg mark for a bench press. However, this proved to be nothing compared to high school wrestling and track star Robbie Williams who put up 130 kg out of no where. Robbie had a busy summer and couldn’t make it in too often. He hadn’t paused bench besides a couple weeks leading up to this number and during the training he hadn’t done more than 100 kg. When it came time to max we just kept putting on more and more weight and to our surprise he completely crushed it. No one came close to his score after this.
Meghan Shakespeare took a surprising lead halfway through the summer with a surprise 70 kg score after never doing more than 60 kg before that. Shay was a heavy favorite to win this event though even with a minor shoulder injury and not doing a ton of pause benching this summer. She surprisingly put up a very nice PR of 71 kg to pass up Meghan. Meghan had another shot though to take the victory and did so with a 74 kg score which even beat out Coach Paige who finished with 73 kg. We saw many other PR’s including Jen Smith who hit 69, Claire with 64, and a ton of clients who only placed 11th despite benching 50 kg which last year would have gotten them into the top 10 when the event was a normal tap and go which is substantially easier. Gracie Gonzalez was one of these benchers who hit a solid 50 kg while only being 14 years old.
As I stated above, Coach Paige finished in 2nd place getting beat out by Meghan by 1 kg. I nursed a shoulder injury most of the summer which prevented me from benching, but luckily I have healed enough and was able to put up 102 kg which put me in 10th place. Coaches Joey and Anthony tied and beat me out however with 105 kg scores.
Many of these scores came down to the very very end. Coach Joey edged out the victory largely thanks to his free agent pick-ups of Matt Michaels and Evan who not only scored big points, but also really helped the team averages in each event that scored a lot of points and took points away from the rest of us. His team battled hard all the way to the end with Jenna Vogen scoring big points in the triathlon, Ryan and Ben in the jump rope, Meghan in the power clean and bench, AJ holding his top spot in the jump rope and working hard to put himself in the top 3 of the jump height, Jovian Smith coming in clutch on the triathlon and especially sled push where he didn’t personally score but helped his team secure the win. Liz Carr put up great times on the endurance events. Stephanie Ertel worked hard all summer on her power cleans and also scored high on 3 other events. Even sleeper picks such as Lisa Talarico and Debra scored some big points in the plank and helped with some of the bonus points for the older adults. I almost forgot A-aron Morgan who scored in a ton of events as well. Even those of you who I did not name should realize that just by participating in all the events and doing the bar math and calories every day got you 1500 points. Just a couple people like that could have swung the whole final results.
The top 10 clients were filled with a variety of ages. We had 5 women and 5 men. a few in their 20’s, a few in their 30’s, a couple in their 40’s, 1 in their 50’s and one in their 60’s. I am personally very proud of not only my team, but all of our clients who competed this year. We had at least a dozen people still here after 8:00 pm Thursday night. Many people throughout the day were there for over 2 hours trying to help their score along with their team. Sam worked hard to get himself on the board for the jump rope and the plank the very last day. Jen Smith, Jess Wooten, Joanna, Nicole Miller, and candice all were trying to better their Power clean to help their team all the way until 9:00 pm. Jorge was beat out by 1 second on the triathlon that would have given him the overall victory. He also would have tied for the victory if Ryan didn’t beat him in the jump rope during his 200th attempt in the morning. The whole Smith family including TJ competed hard Wednesday and Thursday night. Jason Blough knew he wouldn’t be super competitive, but constantly worked to improve his scores so that he could help the team averages and ended up setting a few PR’s of his own. David Kerr had a busy Summer, but was able to get in the last day to set new PR’s for himself and place him in the top ten for the triathlon with only 1 attempt. Nicole Celender hates deadlift, but got herself in the top 10 and was relentless on the power clean even though it wasn’t clicking right away. Michelle and Chris Pray only train once/week, but every week they came ready to complete an event. Fran joined the fun late, but ended up putting very good numbers up considering he hasn’t been training for the last couple years. I think the friendly competition has gotten him addicted again. Candice was a heavy favorite the whole summer, but if she slacked on just one event she would have lost the overall victory. Jess Wooten and Emily Garcia had absolute massive PR’s late Thursday night in the Deadlift. Brandon Hanson didn’t have a lot of events this year that were geared towards him, but he still learned and tried to better his score in all events. He still ended up winning the jump height and surprisingly even to himself scored in the wheelbarrow. The college kids had a harder time competing this year as the events weren’t as kind to them as last year. Still they really pushed hard and Alisa and Meghan both made it into the top 10 after religiously attempting event after event. Unfortunately an injury to Connor Anderson stopped him from doing the same. This drastically affected Team Anthony’s ability as well to score on some of the team averages. All in all it was an absolutely fantastic competition. I apologize if I didn’t call you out personally in this long recap. The point I was trying to make is that every single person mattered in this contest. And I truly thank all of you for working hard to make that happen.
Check back next week for pictures and videos along with the results of the Bar Math Test (sorry I ran out of time now)
Last Saturday I attempted to give thanks to those who have helped me get to where I am now. I expected to be emotional about it, but I didn’t think that I would be totally speechless and unable to put words together that really meant anything. This gym is quite literally my whole life.
The only friends I have here are all clients of mine or indirectly came from training. I met Nicole at the gym. Everyone we are friends with and hang out regularly with such as Brandon and Sarah, Nicole and Rocco, Jess and her husband Adam, Jorge and Emily, Shay and Issac, and Ben and Liz all came directly from the gym. Many of my other clients I would also consider friends such as Chris, Kerry, and Jeff.
I met the whole volleyball community because of the gym. Starting with Bethel Park’s boys team and from there to LA Fitness where I met Nick Bilich and Mike Calland who asked me to play in a tournament. Without that I never would have met all the volleyball players and coaches that helped us get hired by Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Club. I might not have even stayed in Pittsburgh.
Mike also became one of my first real serious clients who gave me a lot of confidence in my own abilities as a trainer during a time where I didn’t really have a lot to show for my resume. And Nick’s dad, Rudy, now has also been a client for over 4 years and is one of my favorite drinking buddies. Nicole and I are always invited on Holiday’s to their group’s parties on holidays like we’re family.
Speaking of family…
Ed basically adopted me as a son when I first moved here. He used to bring me dinner twice/week for some reason (no complaints here). His daughters even invited me to his birthday parties that were only supposed to be his family. Most of you probably don’t know that Ed was also helping me look for a new building more than 5 years ago. I was so much smaller as a business then. Maybe he was the first one who realized we could build what we have now.
David and Daryl would probably have to be my most helpful cousins who won’t ever allow me to not accept their help. They helped us put up the gym at Locke’s, put our house together, and now our new gym. And their son Kevin is the closest thing I have to a little brother as I have watched him grow up and become better.
The Hanson’s… I think I got part of this out during my attempted speech. I met Brandon 8 years ago at the start of his senior year in high school. Now we’re doubles partners in volleyball and I'm the best man in his wedding. And Sandy is even more important than that. Sandy I'm pretty sure recruited 8 out of the first 14 kids who joined my summer strength and conditioning class. If that didn’t happen I wouldn’t have had that camp. I wouldn’t have even tried to expand the high school training at the crossfit location, which means I might have had to start looking for another job. Paige was a part of that group so she wouldn’t now be a friend or partially employed here. Not only Paige, but also Brandon, Jess, and Werner are still clients. Corey and Elliott moved away, but I still consider them clients. Plus their sisters Liz Carr and Jenna Kroboth also still train with us. And it took some time, but Sandy and Kyle both now finally train with us too.
For as long as I can remember my only goal was to build a facility that was different from others and could allow me to offer clients everything they could possibly need when it came to health and fitness or sport performance. I know we’re all about becoming better, but I wanted to build the best. I care a lot about the progress of my clients. More than some of you probably care about your own progress. However, I've realized lately that I didn’t build this for any of you. Selfishly, I built it for myself. I don’t know why exactly either. I knew that as we were finishing it was going to be good enough for the party. Good enough to show the space and the potential. Probably better than anything most of you imagined it would be. Definitely good enough for people to use and become better. Not good enough for me. And for that I apologize because it should be all about you and helping all of you become better. Luckily my selfish interests I believe will benefit all of you as well. We have great new equipment, a recovery room, a chiropractor (Ken Schenk) in our space, and food available to make sure you can recover and have the right fuel in your body for workouts. I have been gone a lot lately getting things ready and I am sorry for that too. I am ready and excited to come back to training full time which I believe will be the greatest benefit to everyone because it’s what I know I do best and why many of you joined and are still a part of our gym.
Lastly, I would like to personally thank a lot of you. I mostly failed to get a lot of this out last Saturday too, but it’s important for me to let everyone know who helped make this whole dream happen.
Mark of Shark Building did pretty much all of the remodeling. He stayed twice as long as originally planned. And he worked late into the night multiple times to make sure everything was completed. He organized extra help from other contractors as well when we were running low on time. If I would have met him earlier we would have been able to finish a lot sooner and save a ton of headaches on the whole organizing of this project. I strongly recommend any of you looking to get work done to contact him (412) 304-6224. He can do Drywall, bathroom remodeling/plumbing, ceilings, demolition, construction, or even managing an entire project that you have. He will also be upfront with you on the cost of materials and his own pay. Remodeling is never cheap, but what he charges for the quality of work is going to be way more reasonable than I would guess you could find anywhere else.
Bill the electrician. Fitzgerald Electric is his company actually, but Bill the electrician sounds better to me. Bill and his two employees changed out every single light in the place in addition to moving a fuse box to allow for us to put one of the showers in. He’s very easy to work with and I also recommend him to anyone looking for minor or major electrical work. Call/Text him at (412) 498-7124.
Todd at Junk Joey’s. Todd knocked out a bunch of walls to open our space up. He has also been by a half dozen times to keep giving us new dumpsters to get rid of all of our crap. 724-949-0301
Remnant City provided us with the beautiful floors. Lisa and her daughter Leanna Talarico run and own the small business that provides very affordable carpet and vinyl flooring. You will see Lisa around plenty at the gym in addition to her husband Ed of course. Talk to them here or call them 412-885-1444. We had Tim install the floor then and I'm sure you all noticed how perfect it looks. You can ask for him when you buy any floor through Remnant City or contact him separately: 412-352-3481
Nicole obviously gets the biggest thanks for having to deal with me through this remodeling project. I was very irritated and quick to snap through the stress of nearly everything going wrong the last few months. I was hardly home besides sleeping. Our weekends together were spent at the gym getting things done instead of out at a brewery or dinner. I never really asked her to even help. She just showed up whenever she could and wanted to help get it all done. The last 8 years we hardly even took a vacation more than a long weekend or going back to see my family because I didn’t want to take too much time off from the gym because I felt like I always needed to work to accomplish this goal. I don’t think most of you would have been OK with that.
Joey. Everyone knows how many hours Joey has worked the last 3 months because he’s been the only one training any of you. As I'm sure all of you would guess, he didn’t complain once. His dedication to the gym and to all of you becoming better allowed us to grow like we have. I could only take this business so far on my own. We would have stagnated long ago if we didn’t find Joey.
My parents are obviously to thank. They raised me. I don’t know what they did to make me into me, but they did. They lead through example by always caring and always trying, the two things I care about most. They gave me space to figure out my job when I first moved here. Offered help whenever they thought I needed it. They even stopped here for a day to help us paint the trim on the door frames when they were driving back from Florida a month ago. I hope I have been a similar role model to the kids that come in here.
Ashley and Lynda from Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Club allowed me to become a part of their club which made me not care as much about adding in a volleyball aspect to this facility which was a huge reason why we hadn’t moved before. They also allowed me to come grab their squat racks for the opening party just so we could fill the space while we wait for our new ones to come in.
The professors and coaches I learned from in school and during my internship at the University of MN were invaluable in gaining enough knowledge to write programs and train people. My friends at grad school pushed me to become better because a lot of them were smarter than me and a lot of them worked harder than me. I had to keep up and that made me better.
My best friend from back home, Anthony, originally got my website running, has made modifications to our logo, gave us professional photos, and created nearly every flyer that we have ever had. Big thank you to him for his work that he did and continues to do for us.
Coach Allman of Bethel Park was the only coach to respond to my inquiries to work with volleyball teams in the South Hills. That is how I originally got started. We trained out of a crossfit gym called Crossfit South Hills which allowed us to very affordably keep our training with the high school kids alive until we remodeled the room at Locke’s. And of course a huge thank you to Sherry Locke. I worked out of there for 8 years. Our rent was probably way too cheap. This allowed us to save a lot of money to afford this new place. We likely caused Sherry a couple hundred headaches too. We ran a business that was a lot different than probably any other personal training business that had been in there before with our semi-private training options and the dropping of heavy weights. She could have asked us to leave years ago and never even hinted at wanting us to leave. Then she was super supportive when I told her we would be leaving and accommodated us during some uncertainties of when we would officially be out.
Thank you to all the clients who paid their year in advance. I thought that money would just be a backup, but it turns out we needed every last bit to make this happen. And thank you to the rest of you who have been around for longer than I can remember.
Then all the people that came to help us out to finish the facility. I originally was trying to not ask for help from any of you. I felt that you all pay us already and it was my job to use that money and my time to provide the new facility. Towards the end of remodeling I realized it was never going to get done. I think I sent out a half dozen text messages and people were here the next day helping. Jess Wooten first helped us clean the floors. Ed, Jorge, Brandon, Kerry, and Ken all helped us rip out the carpets. Jess and Emily came back to help with wallpapering and sanding. We had painting help from Sandy, Brandon, Jess, Kyle, Leanna, Brett, Jess, Daryl. David and Jorge helped with the baseboards. Nik came from out of state to visit and he ended up painting and putting equipment together. David put together the lat pull-down and a treadmill. Ed stopped in to put together another treadmill. The Hanson’s showed up every night to do anything they could. Jean came to clean up our mess and get us organized. Kerry, Jorge and Brandon helped move the large rubber mat floor in. The Friday night before the party Shay, Isaac, my Dad and sister, Ken and his family, and pretty much everyone I mentioned above came back in to get the final touches. Peggy let us use her discount code for cheaper and better paint. Anthony and his brother came to help along with a handful of their friends too. Kyle Hanson drove his truck out to Pitt Elite to get the squat racks to fill the space. Basically what I'm saying is that I never would have finished without all of you.
I moved to Pittsburgh on a whim. I didn’t know a single person. My training job didn’t work out. I worked at Walgreens for minimum wage to pay bills along with LA Fitness where I made about 15% of what the client paid. I stubbornly didn’t go back home to Wisconsin. I used the reasons I listed above for reasons to stay. And despite missing my family every day I’m so glad I stayed because I now have a new family here with all of you. This is my greatest accomplishment and everything I hope to achieve in the future will stem from this business and this community that we have. And I will be forever grateful to all of you for that.
Happy New Year! New Year, New Me! This term is used a lot and we really don’t like it, but it is an appropriate time to “Kick the New Year Off Right”. Whether you are trying to continue goals from the previous year, re-make goals into the new year or even start exercise related goals for the very first time, the start of the new year is a good time to talk about goals and to set them in place. Your coaches are here to help you figure out appropriate goals.
Oh what a year it has been! This year has had its ups and downs but because of you all we have made it such a great year. We wanted to take some time to reflect on all the great things that have taken place this year at Become Better.
One of the best things that we all did at the gym this year was the Become Better Olympics. We had clients hit personal records and clients who came in multiple times after being beaten to take down their competitor and many clients who tried beating the numbers even after the Olympics finished. Here’s a few of our favorite memories:
The Plank Event - Nicholas Usher kicked the longest time off with a 6 minute plank. Then he was beaten by Alisa G and Jenna Vogen. He came back after hearing about being beaten and beat their times with an 8 minute plank, to which he shouted “beat that!”. Kerry, Ryan and Connor did beat that with over 9 minutes. Then Nicholas came back with the determination of Goku and Vegeta (sorry, Dragon Ball Z reference) and blew away everyone's time with just over 12 minutes.
The Dead Hang Challenge - Ed had the best dead hang time with over 3 minutes. Then Matt Shenk came in and passed Ed with just under 4 minutes. Ed then came back in and said, “that twirp can’t beat me” so Ed took down Matt. Then Ryan Tierney wanted to get involved (who also ran a 00:05.09 mile!) and beat all their times and held the dead hang for 4:21.6. Ed came back in the final week and beat Ryan with a time of 4:22.. Just fractions of a second more.
The Bench Press - By far the event with the most PR’s. Claire had held first place with a 145lb bench for a while until Shay came in to beat that number. In the final week, Candice Chalus ate her wheaties and beat both with a 151lb bench press (this was also a PR for her). In the final day of the Olympics and second day in a row of bench pressing, Shay came in and grinded out a 151.5lb bench to take the event.
The Become Better Olympics provided some great fun and competition. Be on the lookout for them in the future! For a full recap of the Olympics visit this page
Become Better Powerlifting had another successful meet. Each powerlifter was able to hit personal records on each and every lift! The best Squat was Nicole Celender at 125k (275lbs). The best Bench Press was Coach Paige at 70k (154lbs). The best Deadlift was Shay at 140k (308lbs). Each Powerlifter had over a 20k PR for their total with Jen Smith taking the highest at 40k total more than her last competition. Jess Wooten participated in her first competition and had no misses. We look forward to where our Powerlifting team can go from here!
Lots of clients in general hit milestones and personal bests all year long while reaching their goals. It will be hard for us to name all of our clients here, but here are some of the goals that were accomplished over the last year (that haven’t been mentioned above already).
Stephanie Ertel lost over 100 pounds while getting stronger in the process.
TJ Taylor Picked up over 330 lbs as a Sophomore in High school.
TJ’s brother, Charlie gained over 10 lbs and can now pick up 1.5x his body weight.
Brandon Hanson also gained a bunch of weight and can now confidently say he weighs more than Coach Dan (he’s a foot taller)
Brandon’s sister, Jess rejoined the gym in Summer and is on her way to not having kid arms anymore.
Their mother Sandy Hanson also got into a fitness routine for the first time ever. She believes her mobility, balance and strength have all increased a lot. She can now hold a plank for over 2 minutes when 20 seconds was a struggle at first.
Werner squatted 180k and deadlifted 210k
Jenna Vogen did a chin-up
Joe Hanlon has started his fitness journey and can now almost hold a plank for 1 minute. This may not seem like much, but when he started it was under 8 seconds.
This is always a goal of mine (Coach Dan): We had many college kids leave the gym to go to school, but all of them followed workout plans while gone AND they all came back over break :). Despite many of them not playing sports in college they still have continued the healthy lifestyle of working out.
Kerry Hartman can now do multiple reps with 2 plates on the Bench Press, 3 plates on the squat, and very close to the 4 plate deadlift club.
His wife, Jen, who is mainly a runner, also learned how to execute all of these lifts.
Robbie and Caitie Williams (brother and sister) have found time to continue to make strength gains multiple times a week amidst high school, band practice, performing shows and their normal sports they play. Robbie has maxed his Bench Press out at 250lbs at 15 years old and Caitie completed a goal of being able to trap bar deadlift over her body weight (her next goal is to smash a watermelon using her legs)
Robbie’s friend Max also joined the gym and although still learning he has proved capable of comfortably lifting over 240 lbs
Ryan Tierney ran a 5:09 mile, held a plank for almost 10 minutes and has continued to get stronger for baseball and hockey
Connor can now squat over 150k and bench 245 and is very close to the 400 lb Deadlift club.
Aaron would have hit more goals, but due to inconsistency (something about his kids always having things going on) he has failed. Just kidding, he did just hit a new max bench of 170. Not bad for a runner.
Nicole Miller hit a PR Deadlift over her bodyweight
Gina Swanson won the weight loss competition over the summer and can now comfortably Bench over 100 lbs and Deadlifted over 200 lbs.
Nicholas Usher was able to complete a goal to increase his body weight from 165lbs to 185lbs and continue on that at just about 190lbs. He has also hit a PR with a 2 Plate back squat and the ability to deadlift over 340lbs
Liz Anderson hit a deadlift PR at 100k and hit a PR Bench Press during the olympics at 110lbs
Jean Criss doesn’t have any fancy records, but wants you all to know that she feels strong and healthy which is her goal.
Debra Rocca has just hit her weight loss goal from when she started and is set to make new goals into the new year
We know that we have missed some of our clients on this list and we apologize for that. Some of you don’t have specific goals outside of general fitness and weight loss for us to mention and that of course is completely fine. There are also many newer clients who are in the middle of reaching their first goals. We hope everyone who attends our gym has been able to realize the improvements they have made in their health and fitness over this year regardless if they are mentioned on this list.
Become Better has continued to see growth in the training world. This is in large part due to the many clients who have stuck with us through all the crazy in the last 2 years to keep a foundation that has allowed us to stay afloat and to grow our gym community. We now have over 100 clients not including the new partnership with Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Club. We have a lot of plans to continue this growth in the beginning of 2022 and beyond. We look forward to doing all of this with all of you
Thank you!
Your favorite coaches,
Dan & Joey
Generally speaking the term “Cardio Training” to most people just means anything we might do in the gym that isn’t the typical weight training. Although this is somewhat true it doesn’t really differentiate between the actual type of training going on. Long distance running is not the same as rowing intervals at 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off even though you can technically consider them both cardio. Normally I wouldn’t bother explaining the difference between them, but the topic actually came up twice this week so I thought I would explain a little more about them.
The actual definition of Cardio Training is any form of exercise that works the Cardiovascular system (i.e. The heart). This is actually accomplished with pretty much all exercise (although to varying degrees). Mostly, cardio is synonymous with Aerobic training which means exercise that requires the use of oxygen to create energy in the body. Examples would be long distance activity where your heart rate is elevated modestly for a prolonged period of time such as running, biking, or swimming. In the gym we normally stick to exercise that would be considered Anaerobic Training which just means exercise that does not require the use of oxygen. One form of Anaerobic Training is using the Phosphagen system (ATP-CP) which is mostly used within the first 10 seconds of an exercise. Examples would be typical weight training activities. Read my previous article on Creatine here which details this system more. The other Anaerobic system is the glycolytic system. This system uses glycolysis to break down Glucose and typically kicks in more after the first 10 seconds of exercise and continues for a couple minutes. Don’t worry, we’re not going to go into detail on how this works in your body. This system is largely what we train at the gym at the end of workouts.
The table above is a bit simplified because most activities use multiple energy systems. For example, when you’re rowing for 3 minutes you first tap into your Phosphagen system, then your glycolytic, and then your aerobic, but when you're above 2 minutes those other energy systems don’t just shut off. They are still being used, just to a lesser extent. Same goes for something like a 60 second bike sprint. Oxygen is still coming in and being used, but to a lesser extent than if it was a longer exercise.
Most of our “cardio” training at the gym would be considered largely anaerobic. The reason why we do anaerobic training opposed to aerobic is mainly time related. Quite frankly we don’t have time to watch you run on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Nor would that be a good use of your money to pay us for. The other reason we do more anaerobic training is because it still has a “cardiovascular” effect on your body in addition to being strength oriented. If you think about the conditioning we do you would probably agree that it takes a decent amount of strength and power to perform a lot of the activities while also getting your heart rate up. So you get a little bit of both worlds.
This is especially important for athletes because most sports require short bursts of activity followed by some rest and then repeated. Large amounts of aerobic exercise for many athletes isn’t beneficial if their sport doesn’t require them to run around constantly. For example, when you play volleyball a typical rally is only around 30 seconds and then you rest for about the same amount of time. So training similarly would be ideal. That’s not to say that some aerobic dominant training wouldn’t still be helpful, just that the emphasis shouldn’t be that. Basketball on the other hand takes more aerobic ability because there is a lot less rest throughout a game and between plays.
In conclusion, the term “cardio” training isn’t always the best way to describe what the exercise is. Just because you cycled for an hour yesterday doesn’t mean you should avoid doing intervals of pushing a heavy sled today because even though you could call them both “cardio” their purpose is different. Also, going for a hike/walk shouldn’t replace your weightlifting for the day. I am by no means trying to bash aerobic training. Aerobic training is definitely needed in everyone's program to get the most health benefits from exercise. In fact, just because you lifted weights today doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also find some time to go for a walk/run too. All forms of training have their benefits and purpose in a good exercise program. Just don’t confuse aerobic training you may do at home for a substitute for the anaerobic training we might do at the gym.
Getting back on track following a tough year can come with its fair share of challenges, but there is no doubt that you’re on the right road. It can feel a bit overwhelming when it comes to getting things back together and maintaining the balance you need to thrive. If you take it one step at a time and make a plan, though, things can be a little more manageable. Check out these tips, courtesy of Become Better Sport Performance & Personal Training.
Cope with Stress
Long-term stress takes a big toll on your physical and mental well-being. As Verywell Mind explains, it can lead to fatigue, anxiety, trouble sleeping, mood swings, and a host of other symptoms.
Managing stressful moments can include doing deep breathing exercises or a distracting activity like playing a game, reading a book or taking a walk. But the key to prolonged well-being is to make lifestyle changes that keep stress at bay. This is particularly crucial if you’re struggling with an addiction linked to your troubled times.
Develop a Wellness Plan
Recovering from tough times isn’t just about surviving, it’s about living a healthy life, so make sure you create a wellness plan that deals with the various areas of your life that you need to keep in check. Among other things, Strava notes this should include eating balanced meals and getting a fitness check to find out your health status.
It’s also helpful to develop mechanisms to handle the stressful situations that will come your way. Being physically active can help maintain positivity as well as keep you healthy. If you’re not sure what exercises will work for you, feel free to try options like walking, swimming or yoga.
Get Your Bills Paid
If you’re not sure about the status of your utilities, you need to contact the utility companies as soon as possible. While there might be certain state-specific laws that can delay disconnection during winter or under other special circumstances, you still need to make sure your bills get paid. In some cases, you can set up a payment plan with the companies or find out if you qualify for a loan to settle your debt.
If your driver’s license was suspended, Car and Driver suggests keeping your auto insurance policy up to date. You might need to get insurance through another party, or, depending on the length of your policy lapse, you could look into insurers who specialize in high-risk drivers as you might no longer be eligible for traditional auto insurance coverage. The premiums will be higher, but at least you’ll be covered.
Take Control of Your Finances
One of the difficult realities of the pandemic is job loss and in some cases, drained financial resources. Now that you’re in recovery mode, you’ll need to find employment that’s in line with what you’re trying to accomplish. Most importantly, be patient and don’t let the frustration from your job search affect your recovery. It might even be time to plug into the gig economy or get your own startup off the ground.
If you decide on beginning your own business, be sure to lay a proper foundation. This would include things like coming up with a unique business name and forming an LLC. An LLC — or limited liability company — helps protect your personal assets. It’s easy to establish if you use an online formation service, too.
Once you have money coming in, you’ll need to put steps in place to manage it. It’s best to set a budget and maintain a list of your necessities. You can automate savings and bill payments while getting rid of debit and credit cards.
Just getting on the road to a low-stress, balanced lifestyle is no easy feat. To make this happen, make sure you have a plan in place that you can follow. And remember to look to Become Better Sport Performance & Personal Training for information and fitness programs that will encourage you in your journey. Call 262-408-9750 to learn more about how we can help you live a happier and healthier life.
Guest Article by Lisa Walker from Neighborhood Sprout
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
Calories are good, not bad. You need them to have energy while you are playing.
It’s next to impossible to gain weight at a tournament.
Calories come from carbohydrates, proteins, and fat.
Your body uses carbohydrates in the form of blood glucose and muscle glycogen for the majority of its energy needs. Lack of carbohydrates/food will make it very hard to function optimally or have any energy at all.
You can start by making sure you have a good meal the night before playing.
The morning before playing you should also have a well balanced meal of about 300-400 calories with ~40-60g carbohydrates, ~20g protein, and ~5-10g of fat
During the tournament you should concentrate on consuming carbohydrates with some protein. The more time you have between a game the more you can consume
Gatorade is a good option while playing which helps hydration too.
Pretzels, granola/protein bars, sandwiches, and fruit are typically good options
Average 100 calories/hour if possible. Some can tolerate more and some might be better with less if they find it hard to play with food sitting in their stomach.
After playing you should try to replenish as much as possible with a larger meal since you likely were not able to consume enough during the day.
Coffee and caffeinated beverages are fine in moderation, but do not rely on these for energy. Coffee on its own doesn’t have any actual calories.
The new year is a great time to think about healthy habits to improve your life. Most of us have good intentions when it comes to resolutions, but they tend to fade away over the course of a few weeks. Healthy habits can be challenging to stick with, but with some strategies in place, they can become part of your daily routine for the long term.
Hello everyone!
I hope you are doing well as things are beginning to reopen and slowly return to normal. I have some news to share with you. Some of you already know this, but my girlfriend Brooke chose to attend pharmacy school at the University of New Mexico starting this August. This means I will be moving back to Albuquerque to be with her, so I will unfortunately no longer be training at Become Better SPPT… I was planning to move back in July, but due to the uncertainty of when Allegheny county will enter green phase, I have decided to move a bit sooner than originally planned so I can get a jump start on finding a job out there. I will be in Pittsburgh from today, May 28th through Wednesday, 3rd to say goodbye to everyone. I believe we will also be holding some sort of small going away get-together on Sunday, so stay tuned for more info on that.
I wanted to write this to let you all know that each and every one of you will be missed. I loved my job at Become Better and I loved getting to know all of you and help you towards your health & fitness goals. I couldn’t have asked for a better first job out of grad school. I hope to find a personal training job in Albuquerque, but the tight-knit community of Become Better will be hard to beat. I hope to have made a lasting impression on everyone at the gym, as you all have made one on me. While I won’t be able to watch you become better in person anymore, I will see you working towards your goals on the gym’s social media pages!
This is goodbye for now, but I will be visiting Pittsburgh every once in a while so our paths may cross again! Thank you all for being so good to me. I will miss all of you. If you don’t already have them, my phone number is 575-626-8901 and my email address is nik.aston85@gmail.com (nik.aston@becomebettersppt.com will be disabled at some point). Stay in touch!
Yours truly,
Coach Nik
