Volition Fitness

Meet our coach April!

Our Coaches - April Smith, NSCA-CPT Find out more about how April helps her clients achieve life-long, sustainable habits for fitness success.

Find out more about how Chandra got strong over 50 while training with Brianne at Volition Fitness.

Want to find out more about Volition Fitness? Find us at volitionfit.com

Of Their Own Volition: Chandra S. Find out more about how Chandra got strong over 50 while training with Brianne at Volition Fitness.Want to find out more about Volition Fitness? Find us at ...

We help tired, achy, and frustrated people achieve physical freedom through compassionate fitness coaching.

See how we helped Brooklin gain strength and confidence through resistance training and improve his daily life and all the sports he loves!

Want to learn more? Visit https://volitionfit.com/new-client-intake to learn how to get started.

Of Their Own Volition: Brooklin G. Find out more about Brooklin's experience at Volition Fitness.Want to find out more about Volition Fitness? Find us at volitionfit.com

How do you increase your water intake if it is low? Here are some practical tips.

Figure out what temperature water you like. This sounds ridiculous, but any temperature water will hydrate you, but that doesn’t mean that you will drink the amount of water you need if you are trying to choke down room temp water, or if cold water hurts your stomach.

Second, get a water bottle that you love that supports your temperature preference! Room temperature water can use any vessel. For very cold water you may be better off choosing a metal, double walled tumbler. But do not discount the importance of using a cup you actually like. There are so many to choose from, whether it is a twist top, flip top, has a straw, leak proof, handle or no…figure out what you love, and use that.

Ideally you’ll drink at least some water for your fluids each day (for health, sometimes we do have to do things that we don’t love). But any fluids are better than no fluids. Here are a few other options for how to get your fluids without drinking *just* water.

*Infused water. Adding some fruit (citrus, berries, etc.), herbs (like mint) or veggies (such as cucumber) can add some flavor.
*Flavor additives. Things like crystal light, or an electrolyte mix (if needed) adds more flavor than infusions.
*Fruit juice. Consume this in moderation (sugar and acid can cause tooth issues, and added calories), but it still counts as fluids!
*Coffee, tea, and soda. Consume in moderation (we do not want caffeinated beverages to be our primary fluid source, both for caffeine regulation and tooth health; diet soda has been shown to have less negative impact on tooth enamel than regular soda, but the color and carbonation does still have some negative impacts).

Final thought, if you get busy and forget, set some sort of timer to remind you to drink! This can be on your phone, another alarm, or purchase an alarm that you can attach directly to your water bottle as a reminder. If we are trying to consume 80-100 oz. of fluids per day, think about drinking 8-10 oz of fluids every hour for 8-10 hours and we are there!

Was this helpful? How do you get all of your water every day?

The 2024 WRPF Idaho State Championships, Drug Tested (Session A) and Untested (Session B). Registration now open:
https://volitionfit.com/wrpf-idaho-state-championships-2024

Directed by Christopher Huffman and the Volition Fitness team, co-hosted with Iron Legacy Barbell , and sponsored by Until Death Barbell Co

A new standard has been set, and the Idaho Powerlifting Championships will be under the same roof as the Idaho State Strongman Championships at Expo Idaho! Huge cash prizes for best lifters, vendors, live DJ, and more surprises in store. Idaho's biggest strength sports event of 2024, featuring the best emcee in the game, .training

Registration is capped at 30 (DT) and 20 (untested), so get your entries in fast!

Part 1

We get a lot of questions about hydration, and how much water we should be drinking each day. Questions like: How much water should I be drinking a day? What counts towards hydration,
and what doesn’t? Does caffeine dehydrate you? How can I increase my fluid intake (without
feeling like I’m under water)?

These are all common and valid questions about hydration. So let’s start with how much you
should be getting. The current recommendations from the US National Academies of Science,
Engineering, and Medicine recommend that men consume about 15.5 cups of water per day,
and women consume about 11.5 cups per day. It is estimated that we get about 20% of our
water needs from food, so that means that men should be DRINKING about 12.5 cups a day,
and women should be DRINKING about 9.5 cups a day. That may seem like a lot to some of
you. If you are not currently getting that much, that’s ok! Our next post will talk about what
counts towards water intake, the truth about caffeine and hydration, and how you can increase
your water intake in a way that seems manageable.

(These are general guidelines, and each individual person has different needs. Things like
environment, activity level, body size, health factors such as kidney function, and more can
impact how much water each person needs. Please see your doctor or RD for personal
recommendations.)

How much water do you get a day? Do you struggle to get your water in?

The holidays can be stressful, and for people with any sort of dietary restrictions (either body composition goals or food allergies/intolerances), the holidays are even more stressful.

Here’s what to do.

If you are staying in a hotel and need to bring prepared foods, figure out how many days x meals/day x macros/meal if applicable); shop, prep and package for transport. Consider microwavable rice packets and frozen veggies, canned tuna or chicken, rotisserie chicken, and bagged salads for convenience sake if that works for you and your goals. (If you are staying in a hotel I strongly recommend using disposable containers, plates and flatware for ease of use.)

If you are staying with friends or family, consider if the kitchen will be in use most of your stay (i.e., if it’s Thanksgiving and the stove and oven will be in use around the clock, it may be best to choose convenient foods that don’t need to be use the stove or oven). Make your shopping list before you go keeping this in mind, and stop at the store on your way there.

If you are flying, be sure to look at FAA regulations for what can be brought on a plane, and if it needs to be checked or if you can carry it on. Pack your cooked food in a cooler (if you have any perishables).

If driving, pack your food in a cooler with enough ice to hold through at least your drive, if not through your stay if in a hotel (a lot of hotel refrigerators are on the small side, so it may be easier to keep your food in a cooler during your stay). If you are bringing reusable utensils, you may want to bring dish soap and a sponge to wash your dishes in the bathroom sink.

Finally, some loved ones may be understanding of your goals or dietary needs, while others may not. Have conversations with them ahead of time about your needs to gauge their level of support and knowledge of your needs. Set your boundaries in regards to your needs before you go, and stick with them. Ultimately your needs are your responsibility; you need to be sure that you have access to what you need, no matter your goals. Set yourself up for success by ensuring that you have what you need.

Questions? Comment below!

The 2023 WRPF Drug Tested Idaho State Championships registration is now open! Full power only, Raw/Raw+Wraps/Single Ply. See registration forms for further details. Cash prizes, best lifter banners, and other cool surprises coming soon...

Meet director: Christopher Huffman & the Volition Fitness team

Hosted by:
Sponsors:

Details and registration link available at https://volitionfit.com/wrpf-idaho-state-championships-2023

Meet our newest coach, Roman Reyes Jr.:

"Born and raised on an small Island in the Pacific, it was not rare to start playing sports at a young age. Growing up I played Baseball, Softball, & Football. In high school, I went through an extreme weight loss journey and that is where my passion for health and fitness started. At a young age, I learned the value of being healthy and it was life changing.

I specialize in powerlifting and strength training for clients of all ages and fitness backgrounds. My training philosophy is setting the bar high and achieving those goals through delayed gratification. Building up small habits toward your goal and turning them into a responsibility is probably the most underrated skill anyone can have. The commitment goes both ways, coaching is a responsibility that I cherish and success is something I want everyone to accomplish."

Meet our coach Rachel Heath, ACSM-CPT, PN-1:

"I have always enjoyed strength training, but didn’t get into it seriously until after having children. I realized I had to take care of my body not just for myself, but to enjoy life with my family. Getting stronger helped me do what I love and liberated me from body image issues. I’m excited to be approaching my 40s healthier than I was in my 20s.

My hope is to help each person I work with get healthier for the things that matter to them. I get to walk with people along their own journeys toward wellness, in whatever form that takes for each individual. What a privilege!"

Meet our coach Grady Davies, BS, CPT, USAW-1:

"I have been involved in fitness and have grown up playing sports my entire life. In high school I found my true love in sport, pole vaulting. Pole vaulting gave me the drive to become stronger and faster, which led me to enroll in 3 years of sports medicine and start my weightlifting journey. Weightlifting and sports medicine led me to a passion for fitness coaching. During college I got my personal training certification and proceeded to follow my passion and get my degree in health sciences. While working and training in gyms for the last 6 years I have seen a real transformation in my training philosophy and personal fitness journey.

My training philosophy is that we always have fun with what we are doing. I want to help you find a training style that you like and will help you reach your goals. Whether your goals are fixing an injury, athletic performance, fat loss, strength and muscle building, or just feeling good in your own body I am here to help you. Let’s start this journey together."

Meet owner and coach Brianne Huffman:

"I have been involved in strength training since high school when my best friend and I would go before school and train with the football team. I have been involved in strength training ever since. While I enjoy most other physical activities as well, and I love being outside, strength training means so much more. To be able to do something that you did not believe yourself capable of is a very empowering thing. I started powerlifting this year and found something more in myself because of it. It builds not only physical strength, but mental and emotional strength as well. I believe that no matter what one's goal is, building strength will always help.

I enjoy working with clients with varying goals. I am a certified nutrition coach and I specialize in strength training, youth and older adult fitness. I particularly enjoy training women and showing them that they are capable of so much more than they believe they are. I want to empower my clients to do more than they thought possible, whether it be through becoming stronger, building up weak points or diminishing pain. I know how overwhelming any fitness goal can be, so my goal is to break it down to manageable steps to get you there. I believe that you can do more than you think you can. I will show you just what you can achieve."

Meet our coach April Smith, NSCA-CPT, PN-1:

"I was first introduced to strength training when I took a women’s weightlifting course in high school. Getting that exposure at a young age instilled the importance of strength training for any lifestyle. At various points in my 20’s, I was invested in bodybuilding style training but struggled with consistency. The competitive aspect of bodybuilding captivated me, but the demand of the competitive lifestyle was more than I preferred to juggle. I felt so disconnected from the community that I so badly wanted to be a part of. As I continued to seek out more sustainable options, I stumbled upon powerlifting. The connection I was looking for all along was a performance-based strength sport that allowed me to balance life demands while actively competing. Moving my focus from aesthetics to strength was the best move I have made, not only for my physical health but also for my mental health. Learning that my fitness goals didn’t have to focus on how my body looked opened up a whole new experience for me. Fitness became fun again and continues to be that way for me today.

I feel that living a balanced lifestyle isn’t normalized enough in the general fitness community. As a coach, I strive to help my clients achieve balance while still reaching their goals. I consider a strength-focused approach to be the most optimal way to achieve balance and reach any fitness-related goal. I believe in focusing on what can be done well consistently and establishing the fundamentals of training and nutrition before increasing the intensity or difficulty of a program. Honing in the already established habits will create a better foundation of consistency that will allow for better long-term success."

Meet our founder and head strength coach Christopher Huffman, CSCS, *D:

As a coach, I believe my greatest asset is experience. Not only in the field of exercise science and physiology, but in the arena of life and all of its battles. I began pursing fitness as a passion when I suffered a traumatic back injury in my early teenage years. With nearly a full year of rehabilitation, I learned the value of physical therapy, strength coaching, and resistance training as not only a restorative method, but an empowering one as well. I have continued to train through all of my adult life, and have an enormous respect for the power of resistance training, both on physical and mental well-being.

I specialize in coaching and training powerlifting, strength athletes, and those in need of "return to sport" (beyond rehabilitation) training. For all coaching, I believe in working on our weakest points to help them become our best assets. I see training as a system of breaking down flaws, embracing their existence, finding a correct training pattern and response, and empowering an athlete by making those weak points stronger. I believe in fitness as a lifestyle, a culture, and most importantly, a tool for a long and healthy life.

Making Progress with a Labor-Intensive Job.

Part One: Training Tolerance

Just as RPE can be used to autoregulate training loads, assessing the amount of accumulated physical exposures at work can provide some direction in autoregulating volume. The general body of research points to total training volume being the largest factor in
training-induced fatigue accumulation, not intensity. By utilizing the preceding training tolerance recommendations, the interaction between work-related fatigue and training fatigue can be modified to provide better recovery and adaptation from training.

Those of you that know me know that I am not a cheerleader. I don't believe in anything unless it is practical, proven, and truthful. Training will be hard, it will test you in ways you may never have thought of or may not even be able to weather. My job is to keep you in this fight and provide tools to hopefully make what you want most a reality. I will never tell you it's easy, but I will tell you with all my heart that it's worth it.

When we set out to build Volition over a decade ago, the goal was to be the "anti-gym" coaching solution. Everything that we got told was wrong with walking into a gym, we did the exact opposite. Instead of big crowds, a smaller scale facility focused on providing a safe, inviting atmosphere focused on just a few clients at a time. Instead of independent or contract coaches, employees that desire to be part of change in our industry. Coaches focused on providing quality service while receiving fair wages, allowing them to coach how they best see fit for their clientele. Instead of wondering if you can squat today because the racks are full, an abundance of professional grade equipment ready for use. Instead of long, complicated contracts, just per-session investments with programming and a private membership INCLUDED.

What's the difference? We don't do fitness challenges, we aren't a clothing or supplement company disguised as a gym, we don't upsell and underdeliver, and we aren't doing it for Instagram.

Whatever the goal: with us, you will.

Last chance to RSVP to our charity low back pain seminar! Get in touch today to reserve your spot! You can dm us, or text or email Brianne at 208-608-6596 or [email protected].

It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.

An "example" is subjective. What you find as exemplary, motivational, and praiseworthy, another may find detestable. In the realm of fitness inspiration, we tend to find that these exalted examples of health and wellness are purely superficial; they are hyper-stylized highlight reels of glistening brows, enhanced bodies, and minimal substance. The "example" is something to be sold.

However, anecdotes are objective. It's the thing that happened that people can say "don't do this bu****it". It's the mileage.

I liken myself to the "Toyota of coaches". That fu***ng truck has a rusted hood, none of the electronics work anymore, and it makes a whole lot of noise - but the fu**er has 500k on it an still somehow runs.

With those miles comes a lot of stories. Most of them are cautionary tales, times where I broke s**t, ate s**t, or was broke as s**t. But it's the actual true-blue superpower in the coaching world - fallibility: the tendency to make mistakes or be wrong.

There's a lot of elitism today in fitness. You aren't good enough unless you track every macro, have sub 15% bodyfat, can wake up at 0400 and not eat until 1200, and other nonsense that 99% don't do on a daily basis.

I don't want to be an example. I want to be on equal ground with everyone I meet and be able to share all the bu****it I've gone through that got me to this point. Because somehow, I survived.

While all the other coaches solely strive to say "I am", my sole purpose is to tell you "I will".

I will be there to tell you I understand, I will be there to help you through, and most important I will never tell you your story isn't worth my time because you aren't chasing elite levels of fitness.

If you ask me to hear your story:

I will.

That's coaching.

We are proud to be partnering with Wright Physical Therapy and Dr. Mike Colby to bring you:

Low Back Pain Seminar
When: Saturday, February 25 from 12:00-1:00
Where: Volition Fitness
Registration Fee: $20.00 minimum donation
*100% of registration fees will be donated to Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition

Space is limited, so please register with Brianne at [email protected], or call or text at 208-608-6596

This seminar is open to all, so please help spread the word! We are so excited for this opportunity, and we hope to see you there.

2022 USPA Border Wars. Our largest team event yet, with tons of wins and state records.

2022 USPA Nationals squadddd

An exciting announcement:

We are proud to be nominated for the annual Best of Boise awards in the best gym category.

For over 10 years, Volition Fitness has grown because of all of you, and we are grateful for all of your support over the years. This is a small family business, not a giant corporate chain, and to finally get nominated is an awesome feat for us. The six of us have worked very hard to continuously provide the highest level of service in the Treasure Valley, and hope we have earned your vote for the Best of Boise!

To vote, visit the link, under Sports and Recreation, select Fitness Centers/Gyms, then Volition Fitness!

Thanks!

2022 Best of Boise

Last Saturday with the help of Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Boise we held a charity women's self defense seminar supporting Faces of Hope . This was such a fun, supportive and empowering event! All the women who attended did such a great job, and it was amazing seeing so many people get out of their comfort zone.

First off, tha k you to Gracie Barra Boise for allowing us to use your facility and hooking us up with our amazing coaches. Also a huge thank you to Jet, Patty, Courtney and Sophia for your support, guidance and expertise in leading us.

Finally, thank you to all who came to and supported this event. With our generous clients and community, we were able to donate $1115.00, over $200.00 in gift cards to clothing retailers, a box of toiletries and 3 bags of clothing to Faces of Hope in support to victims of interpersonal violence. We could not have done this without you!

This is the first event I have ever planned from conception to ex*****on and beyond, and it was so rewarding. I am excited to continue doing what we can to support our community.

Is anyone out there interested in doing an event like this again?

We're excited to welcome Zach as a coach at Volition Fitness! Zach is an NASM certified trainer, and has been a part of the Volition Fitness team for over 3 years, winning several bodybuilding shows (and his natural bodybuilding pro card in the NGA) and powerlifting meets (with USPA state records).

https://volitionfit.com/trainers-zach-lowen

We are still accepting any toy donations until Tuesday at noon, so if you would like to bring anything in for any age children, please bring brand new toys in anytime on Monday or Tuesday before noon. Thank you!

Volition Fitness will be having a toy drive + this holiday season.

We will be accepting donations for organizations in the Treasure Valley. We are looking for:

*toys for all ages and genders.
*gift cards for older children and teens.
*non-perishable food items for the Idaho Food Bank.
*Warm clothing in all sizes, such as socks, jackets, hats, gloves and blankets.

If you prefer not to shop for any reason but would still like to donate, you can donate cash or gift cards and Brianne will get whatever items are still needed or whatever you request.

Most store do allow you to purchase gift cards online and email it to the recipient. You can email these to [email protected]. I can either use it to purchase gifts, clothing or food, or print and donate the gift card itself.

Please get in donations by Saturday, December 19. Anyone can donate, even if you aren't a client. Please let any of us know if you have any questions!

Brianne recently completed her CPPC Certification for Pre- and Postnatal Coaching:

Research is greatly underperformed for women in fitness. Considering the fact that about half the population is women, approximately 70% of personal training clients are women, and roughly 85% of women will have a baby in their lifetime, is this acceptable? I am so happy that there are organizations like who see this deficit, and then do something about it. The information that they put out as both certifications and a LOT of superior free content can help us as trainers to better serve a population that deserves everything we can give them.

Thank you and the wonderful team who put together this amazing certification.
Anyone who has any questions about pre- & post-natal fitness and/or nutrition, please feel free to reach out and I will do everything I can to help!