Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands Fitness Centre newsletter: Monday 22nd January 2018

Monday 22nd January 2018

Over the next 25 newsletters, I will be dispensing 1 primary piece of advice each week. Week 1, hardly a surprise, but...

Do intervals and high-intensity training (HIIT)

You've heard about their benefits -and for a good reason. If you're looking for an effective way to burn fat faster and lose pounds in the process, HIIT is a solid go-to.

High-intensity interval training is more time efficient in caloric expenditure than a traditional cardio workout. Not only will your body burn more calories during HIIT workouts but you'll also continue to burn more calories and fat in the 24 hours after a HIIT workout. That doesn't mean you need to limit yourself to only sprint interval workouts on a treadmill, though. Go out and sprint hills, drag tires, and push or pull sleds.

Introducing the Unlimited Personal Training membership.

The premise is simple: 48 sessions every week. Share the sessions with up to 5 other people. Come to as many sessions as you like. Each session will be a proper personal training session.

Our Unlimited Personal Training membership offers professional coaching, support, motivation, accountability and results at a fraction of the cost of 1-to-1 Personal Training. The 45 minute sessions are designed for people of mixed ability.

Sharing the workout enhances the experience for participants. Having someone exercising with you can push you a little harder than you might do on your own. Both the trainer and participants are there to help you get through the workout. Exercising with friends can definitely be fun. When you stick to a training routine, you will get the results. Research shows that members that are involved in programs are more likely stick with it.

We have 2 main membership options:

Gym Only:

Single: £25pm for 12 months, £27pm for 3 months and £29pm for 1 month.
Joint/Student: £22pm for 12 months, £24pm for 3 months and £26pm for 1 month.

Unlimited Personal Training membership :

This membership includes:

✔ 48 sessions available every week.
✔ Share the sessions with up to 5 other people.
✔ Come to as many sessions as you like.
✔ Each session will be identical to a 1-to-1 personal training session.
✔ No contract

Unlimited Personal Training prices (paid monthly):

Single: £10.99 a week
Joint: £6.99 a week

http://www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/blog?aid=12525

Here is a list of our classes / group training sessions:

http://www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/group-exercise

PT prices:

Here are a few examples of our most popular PT packages:

8 x 30 minute PT sessions
£112

4 x 45 minute PT sessions
£80

4 x 60 minute PT sessions
£107

All sessions must be used within 4 weeks. We use time limits with our personal training packages to encourage frequent and consistent training. Packages can be designed to your individual needs. We can adjust the time limits in advance to take into account holidays, business trips, etc.

All of our PT packages include full gym & group sessions membership.

Opening Hours:

Monday: 7.30am - 9.00pm
Tuesday: 8.30am - 9.00pm
Wednesday: 7.30am - 9.00pm
Thursday: 8.30am - 9.00pm
Friday: 7.30am - 8.00pm
Saturday: 8.00am - 2.00pm
Sunday 8.00am - 2.00pm


We always want to know what you think of the Woodlands Fitness Centre - the gym, classes, prices, personal training, group personal training, and anything else. Please speak to us at the gym, email any feedback and suggestions to the email address at the end of this newsletter.

Thanks,
GW


Do intervals and high-intensity training (HIIT)

A friend messaged me earlier and asked this question:

"Do I need to do cardio? Thought you had to do cardio to lose weight?"

This is the primary reason I started writing these newsletters.

On paper, losing weight is simple; we need to create a calorific deficit which means burn off more calories than we take in (this is called the "law of thermodynamics"). However, losing weight and losing fat are two very different things and can easily get mixed up.

Please don't think of it as losing weight. Rather, think of it as "getting in shape". The majority of people are impatient and want to lose weight fast. Since they have little or no knowledge of diet, nutrition and how metabolism works, they think that by starving themselves, or eating as little as possible will make them lose fat quickly and give them the body they desire.

This will result in a quick weight drop - but most of the weight lost will be water, muscle and a very small portion of fat. For every 1g of glycogen burned off, 3g of water is lost. This can result in a steep drop in weight rather quickly.

To get in shape, you need to do the right kind of exercise. Technically, cardiovascular training, or aerobic training, is a type of exercise designed to increase muscular endurance by improving the performance of the heart and lungs to distribute oxygen to the muscles. And a lot of different training methods can fall under this category.

When it comes to cardio, a lot of members have asked me about the fat burn zone. This is the misguided perception that to effectively burn fat you should be working out at a spectacularly low intensity which keeps your heart rate rooted to a zone between 30-40% above resting levels.

The fat burn zone is a joke. And not even a funny joke. More of a bad joke. For example:

"My dog used to chase people on a bike a lot. It got so bad that finally I had to take his bike away."

Well, I did warn you it was bad. So anyway, we all derive a proportion of our energy from carbohydrate and a proportion from our fat. Very rarely will we ever derive all our energy exclusively from one source. Energy is normally always derived from a combination of the two.

As a general rule the lower the intensity of your exercise you will burn a greater % of fat and the higher intensity you will burn a greater % of carbohydrates. The reason for this is burning fat requires the presence of oxygen. When you work at high intensity's the cardio-vascular system is unable to provide sufficient oxygen to the working muscles to burn a high % of fat. Instead other energy stores that don't require the presence of oxygen to be converted into energy are utilised. Enter carbohydrates.

Ok so should you be exercising at a lower intensity to burn more fat right? Actually no it doesn't. What really matters is;

1). total Number of Calories burnt per workout;
2). Afterburn Effect of Exercise (known in the Sports Science world as EPOC)

Let me expand on the total Number of Calories burnt per workout. Here are two examples to try and make this clearer. Let's use two subjects, names chosen completely at random: Julie and John. John goes for a 30 minute run keeping his heart rate in the fat burning zone.

Because John worked at such a low intensity he only burnt 400 calories at a ratio of 70:30 (fats : carbs) This means that of his 400 calories, 280 were derived from fat stores.

Julie on the other hand goes for a 30 minute run but she does not pay any attention to her heart rate. Instead she performs high intensity intervals where she is going flat out for, say, 30 seconds with 30 seconds active recovery between.

Because Julie worked at such high intensity's during her workout, really pushing herself she burnt a whopping 1,000 calories BUT at a 30:70 ratio (fats: carbs). This means that of her 1,000 calories, 300 were derived from fat stores.

So even though Julie was burning calories using fuel comprised primarily of carbohydrates she still burnt more calories using fat than John (300 vs. 280) This is because the high intensity of her workout meant that Julie burnt 600 calories more than John during her training session. So even though he burnt fat at a lower ratio than John, her total fat burnt was greater.

Let me expand on the Afterburn Effect of High Intensity Exercise. Within an hour or two of working out John's body and metabolism has returned to normal resting levels (homeostasis). Julie's body (and metabolism) on the other hand may not return to normal resting levels for up to 48 hours because of the high intensity of her workout.

The effect of this is to keep his metabolism artificially high for an extended period of time after working out as the body tries to reset everything to normal.

48 hours of an increase metabolism is going to have a massive effect on the amount of calories Julie is burning, particularly from her fat stores. The net result is Julie is infinitely more successful in her fat burning efforts than John, who works hard but gets nowhere. Poor John. Don't let this be you. Always train with INTENSITY.

Please note that the story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. Although clearly I'm referencing Julie and John Stone.


Spaghetti bean bolognaise

For a hearty protein-filled vegetarian pasta dish, look no further than this bean bolognaise.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup (250ml) red wine
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1 bay leaf
700ml tomato passata
1 cup (250ml) vegetable stock
2 x 400g cans 4-bean mix, drained, rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
500g spaghetti
Shaved parmesan, to serve

Method:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over low heat, add onion, carrot and celery and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Add garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then increase heat to medium, add wine and allow to bubble for 2-3 minutes.

Add rosemary, bay leaf, passata and stock, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add beans and cook for a further 5 minutes, adding more stock or water if the sauce is too thick. Stir through parsley and season.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain, toss through sauce and serve with parmesan. Enjoy.


Useless Facts

The word "samba" means "to rub navels together."

In eating contests, Sam Earnshaw calmly waits for everyone else to become fully stuffed. Then he eats the person who ate the most.

Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.

Phil Coyne wouldn't be afraid to show his feminine side. If he had one.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.




The Woodlands Fitness Centre Ltd
A: Unit 27, Molyneux Business Park, Darley Dale, Derbyshire, DE4 2HJ
T: (01629) 733 123
E: woodlandsfitness@yahoo.co.uk
W: www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk