WEIGHTLIFTING AS AN ADULT: SKILL & STRENGTH
Learning new physical skills at any point can be beneficial to us in so many ways. What if learning that new skill also made us stronger and healthier? I am going to tell you about why learning a new skill like Olympic Weightlifting can be both a new route to your fitness goals and a fun and engaging physical skill.
SUMMER IS COMING: TRADE THE "STRESS" FOR THE "SHIFT"
The arrival of summer often brings a wave of "seasonal pressure." We see the ads telling us to "get ready" or "transform" before the first beach trip. But in the world of sports psychology, we know that stress is the enemy of performance—and health. If you are feeling anxious about the warmer months, it’s time to change your mental game. Here is how to use sports psychology to enjoy your summer, stay moving, and keep your mental health a priority.
READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO COME TO PFP, BUT YOUR ANXIETY IS STOPPING YOU
Gym anxiety (or "gymtimidation") is incredibly real, whether it stems from a fear of not knowing how to use a machine or a fear of being judged for who you are. But your health and your fitness goals belong to you. At Pittsburgh Fitness Project, we believe anxiety shouldn’t keep you from building a body that moves and feels great. Here is a quick shift in perspective and a practical survival guide to help you take that first brave step into our space.
SQUAT VARIATIONS FOR OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING
In the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, squatting is king. It is the movement we as lifters use to drive most of the leg strength and overall adaptations for our performance. It allows us to increase our ability to apply force into the ground, which then translates force and power into the barbell when we lift. Let's discuss some of the best squat variations, why we use them, and how they’re programmed.
SIMPLE GPP WORKOUTS FOR SPRING
General Physical Preparedness is a phase of training that emphasizes foundational strength and work capacity. Everyone benefits from GPP training, whether you’re an athlete, have a specific fitness goal, or simply want to exercise to stay healthy. GPP focuses on building a well-rounded base of strength, endurance, mobility, and coordination so your body can handle more challenging workouts and activities of everyday life with ease. This week, I’m sharing an example week of what GPP training could look like and how to apply it to your current goals.
WHY EVERYONE NEEDS GPP TRAINING
When it comes to getting stronger, leaner, and moving better, most people start too hard and too soon, and end up overwhelmed or injured. The real secret to long-term progress and resilience? General Physical Preparedness (GPP), or establishing a solid foundation of movement. GPP focuses on building a well-rounded base of strength, endurance, mobility, and coordination so your body can handle more challenging workouts and activities of everyday life with ease.
ONE MORE ON MOBILITY
Independence as you age is about both freedom and capability. It’s the confidence you can have to move freely, carry your groceries, get up off the floor, play with your kids or grandkids, and live your life without limitations. Mobility and strength are the foundations for that independence.
GETTING STRONGER FOR REAL LIFE
What does getting stronger actually mean for us as people? Many view strength or getting physically stronger as only something that avid gym-goers do to increase the number on a barbell or dumbbell. They may see it as unnecessary or a waste of time in their daily life. It is quite the contrary. A strong and healthy body can extend to help with so many things in our daily life. Whether it is making tasks easier, improving our self-efficacy and autonomy, or even just making it easier to enjoy ourselves. Getting stronger for real-life looks like a lot of things for different people, but let’s discuss some approachable methods you can use to get stronger for real-life things and situations.
CLEAN TECHNIQUE ESSENTIALS
The clean, much like snatching in weightlifting, requires not only power and strength, but good rhythm and timing. In order to execute it properly, we are going to go over some key technical aspects as well as some ways to internalize those cues and output them in your training sessions. We will highlight the overall goals first and then break down how we can ensure they're occurring in the lift properly.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW: BARBELL
One of the unique things we have here at PFP is our Olympic Weightlifting Team. Weightlifting is a sport known throughout the world and in the last 10 to 15 years has gained a lot of momentum and attraction in the United States. With over 1 million members in the US, it has truly built itself into something special. Here at PFP, we love to foster weightlifters, new and old. The first step is our barbell assessment, where we meet a new prospective lifter for our team and either view their current technique or teach them for the very first time. Once that process is complete, we enroll them in our Intro Program. Now that may sound like it’s only for beginners, but I assure you it's not. We label it the Intro because it contains all of the essential pieces to help and solidify the core principles of weightlifting: strength, speed, movement consistency, patience, and fun. So let's talk about how it does that.
STRENGTH TRAINING: ESSENTIAL FOR WOMEN AT EVERY STAGE OF LIFE
For years, women stuck to cardio, light weights, and "toning” workouts. Women were afraid of getting “bulky” or bigger, and “gym-timidation” is a real thing for many women when they enter a space full of males. Now, more and more women are shifting away from working out to look a certain way, and instead working out to feel a certain way. Women understand that strength training isn’t just about building muscle or changing how your body looks, but it’s one of the greatest tools women have to support long-term health, confidence, and quality of life.
RETURNING TO SPORT AFTER A BREAK
It's not uncommon that athletes - whether recreational or competitive - take a break from training. In fact, it's quite healthy and is often built in after the end of a sport season, often called an active rest period, which allows the body to recover from the damage incurred during the competitive season, or for sports without a clear “in-season”, after a prolonged intense training phase and competition.
INSIDE GOLDEN GIRLS: OUR 60+ WOMEN’S STRENGTH CLASS
Our 60+ women’s class is designed to help you move better, feel stronger, and stay confident moving through your daily life and activities. This class isn’t about extreme workouts or aesthetics, but about building the qualities that support you now and for years to come: muscle mass, strength, bone density, and more.
UNDERSTANDING BAR PATH IN THE CLEAN & SNATCH
The path of the bar in weightlifting is all about moving yourself in accordance with the weight as smoothly and efficiently as possible. When you’re first learning weightlifting, the movements can feel unstable and clunky. The way it is usually taught is in segments to make it easier to understand and process. This process is known to some as the “ top-down” method. Essentially, we are starting from our hip position, where the bar would be just before we extend and move the bar to our overhead position. Every subsequent position down towards the ground, our “start” position for a full lift, adds more complexity and requires us to be more aware of where we and the bar are moving simultaneously. In order to make it easier to understand, we will talk about the path from the floor to overhead to make the sequence one seamless progression to picture the overall lift.
SNATCH FOUNDATIONS: BEGINNER MISTAKES & FIXES
Weightlifting is a sport of grace and explosiveness. While those two descriptions may seem odd to master together, they are essential for the two main lifts in weightlifting. The snatch and clean and jerk are the epitome of those two terms, although we are just going to focus on the snatch for today. Let's discuss some common issues and how to fix them.
STRENGTH FOR LONGEVITY
As we age, everyone loses muscle mass at about 5% per decade, starting at age 30. That rate of loss accelerates after age 60. With that loss of muscle mass comes a decrease in strength and function. For older people, this can lead to disability and inactivity. So, how do you promote strength for longevity? Let’s look at how you can maintain muscle mass and functioning as you age.
GPP FOUNDATION: PART TWO
The start of a new year is a great time to focus on GPP, or general physical preparedness. Before chasing max lifts, aesthetic goals, or a packed training schedule, it’s worth reevaluating whether you have the foundation to support the training you want to do this year, or if there is any exercise or skill you can revisit to improve. Let’s dive a bit more into why this functional foundation is crucial to your long-term fitness success!
WHAT THE HECK IS A GPP FOUNDATION?
If you’ve ever set a fitness goal and immediately jumped to “I want abs / a marathon / a 500-lb deadlift,” let me introduce you to the unsung hero of long-term progress: the GPP foundation. GPP stands for General Physical Preparedness, which is a fancy way of saying: “Can your body actually handle training… or is it barely holding together?”
MY FAVORITE FALL BIKING SPOT THIS 2025
There’s something fundamentally refreshing to me about autumn, and it’s never rooted in a singular reason. But one of them for me is the seasonal weather that I love for hopping on my bike and filling my lungs with the still slightly cool air, feeling my body warm from both the sun’s hello and my legs settling into a comfortable rhythm. Let's talk about my new favorite riding spot this fall!
ARTHRITIS & AGING
Recently, I experienced knee swelling while training for a half-marathon. A later trip to an orthopedist and some X-rays confirmed what I probably already knew: I had osteoarthritis. After over 40 years of competitive running, it wasn’t a huge surprise.
But how could I deal with arthritis and aging? Let’s look at how the millions of people worldwide who experience this condition can make life better.