TRAINING FOR HEALTH VS PERFORMANCE
Most people pursue fitness for a multitude of reasons. Whether they are looking to improve their strength, range of motion, make tasks in their life easier, or just to feel better, they can better themselves with the pursuit of improving their health. This becomes crucial even as we age. Maintaining some level of fitness as we age is one of the best ways we can keep harmful age outcomes from occurring. However, that form of exercise is different from training for athletic performance. “Training” and “exercise” are words that are often used interchangeably, but they mean very different things. While exercise is a more encompassing term, it refers to a more general pool of movements and modalities. Whereas “training” refers to more specific planning, purposes, and movements to reach a desired goal. Let’s discuss how and what each one is and how they fit your goals.
THE PFP CLIENT JOURNEY
At PFP, we believe fitness is not a one-time event—it is a journey. Real results come from having a clear plan, consistent coaching, and regular opportunities to evaluate progress and make adjustments. That is why we are introducing an enhanced client journey designed to provide support, accountability, and guidance every step of the way. Beginning this September, PFP members will experience a more structured coaching process that includes: Initial Fitness Assessment, Monthly Coaching Check-Ins with InBody Scans, Quarterly Progress Assessments, and Yearly Reassessments. This approach allows us to move beyond simply completing workouts and focus on creating a complete, personalized fitness experience.
MORE VALUE, MORE FLEXIBILITY: COMING THIS SEPTEMBER
Unlimited Classes Are Coming to PFP Training Memberships! At PFP, we believe your membership should give you the tools, support, and flexibility you need to reach your goals. Starting this September, we are making an exciting update to our Personal Training and Semi-Private Training memberships that gives members more opportunities to train, build consistency, and get even more value from their PFP experience.
INTRODUCING SEMI-PRIVATE TRAINING AT PFP
At PFP, we are always looking for ways to provide better coaching, more personalized experiences, and more options for our members to achieve their goals. This fall, we are excited to introduce one of the biggest additions to our training model yet: Semi-Private Training. Before we officially launch this program, we will be inviting a select group of current and former PFP members to participate in our Semi-Private Training Beta Test Group. This pilot phase will allow us to gather feedback, refine the experience, and make sure we are delivering the highest-quality coaching possible.
INTRODUCING THE INBODY 270
For years, fitness progress has often been measured by one simple number: the scale. While body weight can be useful information, it does not tell the complete story. At Pittsburgh Fitness Project, we believe members deserve better information. Beginning this September, we are integrating the InBody 270 body composition scanner into our coaching process to provide a clearer picture of your progress.
A BETTER STARTING POINT: PFP'S NEW FITNESS ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Starting September. Every successful fitness journey starts with understanding where you are today. At Pittsburgh Fitness Project, we believe the best coaching begins with a complete picture of who you are, what your goals are, and what steps will help you get there. Beginning in September, we are launching an updated Fitness Assessment process designed to provide a more personalized and effective experience for every member.
BIG CHANGES COMING TO PFP THIS SEPTEMBER
At Pittsburgh Fitness Project, our mission has always been simple: help people become stronger, healthier, and more confident through expert coaching and a supportive community. As we continue to grow, we are always looking for ways to improve the experience we provide our members. Beginning in September, we are introducing several exciting changes designed to make your training more personalized, your progress easier to track, and your membership more valuable than ever. These updates are the next step in our commitment to moving beyond simply providing workouts. We want to provide a complete coaching experience that helps every member understand where they are, where they want to go, and exactly how to get there.
WHY INBODY 270 SCANS MATTER IF YOU’RE TAKING GLP-1 MEDICATIONS
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Mounjaro®, and Zepbound® have changed the conversation around weight loss. Many people are seeing significant reductions in body weight, improved blood sugar control, and better overall health. But while the number on the scale may be moving in the right direction, the scale doesn't tell the whole story. At Pittsburgh Fitness Project, we're focused on helping you improve your health—not just lose weight. That's why we use the InBody 270 body composition scanner to track what's really happening inside your body throughout your fitness journey.
WEIGHT LOSS, GLP-1S, & MUSCLE MASS
There is a lot of talk recently about GLP-1s, and lots of people use them to try and lose weight. While they are effective at decreasing appetite and leading to weight loss there are some things to consider first. An article from the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Personal Trainer Quarterly titled “Preserving muscle in the era of GLP-1RA therapy – Practical strategies for exercise professionals” by Dalan Zydel discusses this topic in detail.
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.
THE ACSM’S REVISED STAND ON RESISTANCE TRAINING
It has been announced by The American College of Sports Medicine that they had recently revised their position statement on strength and resistance training since their last update in 2009. Research on the topic of resistance training has greatly expanded, and with these findings over the past sixteen years of clinical studies, there were several things that should be considered for discussion.
OZEMPIC & STRENGTH TRAINING
GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 medications, have revolutionized weight loss and treatment for various conditions like type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney and liver conditions, sleep apnea, and the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Many people who use these medications lose up to 15-20% of their body weight. But with that weight loss, people lose lean muscle mass. Research shows that with any calorie deficit, your body will shed weight from both fat and muscle.
So, how can GLP-1 users prevent that? Let’s look at the steps you can take to prevent loss of muscle mass with Ozempic.
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.
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.