Janelle Pica

The Pistol Squat: Mobility, Stability, and Strength- Part 2

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Welcome back to the second part of our three part series on the pistol squat. This post will be focused on practicing the body weight pistol progressively over time. Please refer to our previous post on working hip and ankle mobility before you begin to tackle body weight pistol programming. If you’re all stretched out […]

The Pistol Squat: Mobility, Stability, and Strength- Part 1

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Outside of the single arm military press, the pistol squat is arguably my favorite lift. In my opinion, there is no other lift that truly demands mastery of mobility, stability and strength other than the pistol. The amount of control and precision you need for the pistol is remarkable, but don’t let the one legged […]

Active Recovery and Why “Play Time” Is Important

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I referenced this article last week, but it’s worth referencing again. If you haven’t yet read “Why You Don’t Need to ‘Go Big or Go Home’ ” by Jen Sinkler, I suggest you give it a read right now. That article is going to serve as a segue into today’s post which is all about […]

Beast of the Month: Alexandra Barone!

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Happy Monday to yinz! 😉 Hey folks! I am super excited to announce our newest client of the month (or how we like to call it “beast of the month”) at the studio. During the month of February, our clients here at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh competed to get the most number of kettlebell snatches done […]

The Supplement Stack: Short-Cutting Your Goals Can Be Dangerous to Your Health

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In a recent conversation  I had with some lifters I knew,  I had mentioned that I don’t touch pre-workout supplements. My heaviest lifting days are normally Saturdays. By heavy day, we’re talking 32kg swings set up as intervals, lots. .. LOTS of deadlifting and my weighted pull up practice. I dig it, but never did […]

2015: The Year of the Strongs!

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Over the weekend I was challenged to do my Level II military press on camera with precision. In order to pass a level II kettlebell certification as a woman, you must execute a 1/3 body weight strict military press. My testing weight for my certification was a 20kg bell, which is 44 pounds (side note: […]

“EEP! MY LATS!” Stretching Your Lats for Epic Strength

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I’ve been receiving a ton of questions lately about the lats, these lovely lovely lat muscles that we all have and develop with kettlebell swings and pull-ups done right. If you’re a strength athlete who, like me, loves the pull up bar, the kettlebell swing, and the more advanced but ever-so-epic bent press, you’ll know […]

Climbing to the Summit: A Double Kettlebell Chain

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It’s New Year’s Eve, and with a brand new year upon us, I wanted to give you all a head start with a brand new kettlebell routine that will truly test you conditioning. This is a paralytically LONG ladder and you will be working your way the whole way up to 5 lifts per lift […]