LAST-MINUTE FITNESS ITEMS YOU CAN GET A FITNESS LOVER FOR THE HOLIDAYS
As the holiday season whirls in with its flurry of festivities, finding the perfect gift for the fitness enthusiast in your life can be a daunting task. But fear not, because we've teamed up with the expert trainers at our gym to curate a list of last-minute gifts that will not only add a dash of joy to the season but also contribute to the health and wellness journey of your loved ones. From cutting-edge fitness tech to thoughtful gestures that promote an active lifestyle, our trainers have shared their top picks to make this holiday season one to remember.
MEET LEAH WELLS: PFP’S Newest Trainer
I’m Leah - NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Group Personal Training Specialist. I’ve been a one-on-one and small group coach for two years, working with a wide range of clients at different ability levels. I have coached over 1,500 hours in those few years and learned and improved with each hour.
MEET BLAKE BERNSTEIN: PFP’S Newest Trainer & Massage Therapist
Meet Blake! Blake is our newest trainer and licensed massage therapist. Working in both fields, he understands the importance of balance. Being your healthiest means working out hard and making the time to recover properly!
MEET THE TRAINER: KENDRA MCBROOM
Kendra McBroom graduated from Salisbury University with a degree in exercise science and is a certified personal trainer through ACSM. Her personal and professional interests often intersect and have allowed her to be introduced to a broad set of experiences. She played lacrosse in college, which introduced her to a weight room where she immediately fell in love. Her degree allows her to enjoy studying what she was doing in the weight room and, in turn, seeing and feeling the impacts and benefits it had on her performance on the field.
MEET THE TRAINER: NIKHOLAS PARKER
Nikholas received his BS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). He found his way into personal training through his lifelong passion for athletics. After growing up in southern Connecticut, Nikholas had multiple athletic offers across collegiate divisions for basketball but ultimately accepted UW-Madison’s track and field program offer.
MEET THE TRAINER: AMANDA HOFFMAN
Amanda Hoffman is a certified personal trainer who recently relocated from Cleveland, Ohio to Pittsburgh. She is super excited to join the PFP team and community. Amanda has specialty certifications in Russian Kettlebell training, Yoga, TRX, and small group training.
MAXIMAL ATTEMPTS: MENTAL & PHYSICAL APPROACH
You have finally reached the point in your program where you’ll be taking maximal attempts. Whether these are snatches and clean and jerks or bench presses, squats, and deadlifts, they will no doubt challenge what you have worked for up until this point. Maximal attempts are just that, they call for us to exert both our reserve of strength as well as require the highest level of technique and precision that we can muster at that moment. Not only are our physical capabilities challenged but our mental capacity to focus and overcome what is in front of us. It is, without a doubt, extremely difficult but you are more than capable of doing so.
TEEN WEIGHTLIFTING AT PFP BARBELL
The Teen Weightlifting Program at PFP Barbell is designed to introduce teens to barbell exercises and movement in a safe, positive, and supportive environment.
VARIATION IN TRAINING: WHY DO IT?
One of the main reasons people start training/exercising is because it can be fun and challenging. There comes a certain point when you do the same things over and over they can become boring and unfulfilling. This usually leads to people dropping exercise altogether or resorting to making changes with no real plan for why. Another phenomenon that occurs is called the law of accommodation. This basically states that our bodies will eventually adjust to the stimulus we enact on them and that in order to see results, we must keep challenging it. Although, how much change is enough?
PROGRESS TRACKING: WHERE TO NEXT?
We’re moving into spring, and the first portion of your new training plan is done. You’re about to start the next part, but you are unsure how to quantify what you’ve done and how to progress to the next portion of it. There are a number of ways to determine the quantity and magnitude of your training over time. Setting yourself up properly for the future can be difficult without tracking because how can you discern what is too much or too little?
GET TO KNOW OUR TRAINERS: ANDREW DUFF
In my personal training career, I have experienced a wide variety of people. I have seen old and young athletes and non-athletes. I have worked with people that had very serious and particular goals, as well as people with very general goals. In any case, what I have learned is that it’s not a person's goals, background, or even personality that influences how I view working with them. Rather it is the quality of our communication and the relationship we build.
GET TO KNOW OUR TRAINERS: AMANDA SERAPIGLIA
Hi, my name is Amanda, and I am one of the newest personal trainers here at PFP! My passion for athletics began at the age of 4 when I started my gymnastics career. Throughout my career, I advanced to compete at the Junior Olympic level 9 Eastern Nationals in 2018. After retiring from gymnastics, I kept engaged in the sport by coaching competitive gymnastics and becoming a mentor to girls competing in the sport.
GET TO KNOW OUR TRAINERS: DEVIN CLOUD
Hello everyone! My name is Devin, and I’m a weightlifting coach/personal trainer here at Pittsburgh Fitness Project. I look forward to helping you attain whatever it is you desire when it comes to your training. Making a plan and setting up goals can be daunting and uncertain, but with a good coach, this becomes a much better process and journey for us to embark on together.