Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands newsletter: Monday 13th January 2020

Monday 13th January 2020

Hi,

Looking over some of my old newsletters, which I've been writing, I see that beliefs about weight loss come and go each season.

But there are a few basic unavoidable truths that do not.

It's important to face the facts if we want results that last beyond the latest exercise and diet trends.

Advice should always be specific to the individual client - but to get in shape and look better, follow these basic rules:

70% nutrition:

A 20% calorie deficit will maximise fat loss, minimise muscle loss. If you're unsure how to calculate this, please just ask me.

You are what you eat - so it's important to eat good food in order to be healthy and fit. If you eat rubbish then you will look and feel like rubbish.

Food provides us with a range of nutrients: vitamins, minerals, water, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, and protein.

To get all your essential nutrients, eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, lean protein (fish, lean meat, beans or low-fat dairy foods), whole grains, and healthy fats, including nuts and olive oil.

Limit your intake of alcohol.

Go easy on the biscuits, cakes and sweets, etc. Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Does your diet rely on special bars, shakes, supplements, etc? If so, bin them, you absolute mug!


20% weight training:

Resistance training is an essential component of fat loss, as it builds muscle essential to your metabolism, increases 24 hour energy expenditure, and has health benefits beyond just doing cardio, swimming or lots of burpees.

Most people think that cardiovascular exercise on machines such as treadmills and exercise bikes burns more calories than lifting weights. But that isn't necessarily correct.

Resistance training works your muscles as well as your heart and lungs. This will improve your overall health and help you drop a clothes size faster.

Much faster.

Weight training is just as suitable for women as it is for men. From what I understand, a percentage of women fear that increased muscle results in increased masculinity. This is not the case.

Testosterone is a very important factor in the development of muscle shape. Women have much lower levels of testosterone - so their muscles develop differently. As such, resistance training will NOT lead to a bulky, butch physique. It's hard enough for guys to build lean muscle tissue.

7% HIIT

Burpees burn lots of calories. And it's all about the calories. If you have a finite amount of time, focus on what burns the most calories.

Cardio machines just don't cut it.

2 x HIIT workouts, 5 to 10 minutes each, should be enough.

3% cardio:

Do 10,000 steps a day. More and more doctors and fitness experts recommend walking 10,000 steps every day as a way to maintain a healthy weight and exercise your heart. Get a pedometer or download a smart phone app.

If you need any further information or advice on how to implement these into your training, please come and talk to me.


Unlimited personal training from just £40 per month...?

The Woodlands Fitness Centre offers Unlimited Classes / Group training sessions:

* There are 43 group training sessions per week, including: Condition, Total, Upper, Lower, Core, Circuit and HIIT.

* Introducing new '30m' groups: these 30 minute Classes / Group training sessions are condensed versions of our normal groups, designed to pack in high intensity exercise to push you to the next level and really make the most of your time here!

* We now have a 5pm Group on every weekday!

* The week day groups have been moved from 2pm to 2.45pm.

* We have added a second Group class to Sunday morning to accommodate the increasing demand

* Classes / Group training sessions are now strictly limited to 6 people! This is to ensure you get a higher quality of coaching and support.

* All of our classes are £7 to non-members.

* We always prefer an informal approach - so we will be maintaining the booking forms in the gym. All bookings can be made in the gym, by phone, e-mail or via social media. How you book in isn't important; we just care that you attend regularly.

Here is a list of our group training sessions:

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

Group Training membership:

Joint/Student:

12 months: £30pm
3 months: £35pm
1 month: £40pm

Single:

For single prices, please check our special offers page:

http://www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/special-offers

Gym Only membership:

Joint/Student (per month):

12 months: £20
3 months: £22
1 month: £24

Single (per month):

For single prices, please check our special offers page:

http://www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/special-offers

Student prices are only for students in full time education.

PT prices:

30 minutes: £11 (£15)
45 minutes: £16 (£20)
60 minutes: £22 (£26)

The price in brackets is for non-members.


SPECIAL OFFERS:

Offer 1:

2-FOR 1 GYM MEMBERSHIP*

Join with a friend or family member and enjoy a joint membership for the price of a single membership.

Gym Only:
3 month: £27 per month
12 month: £25 per month

Gym, Classes & Group PT:
3 month: £45 per month
12 month: £40 per month

Offer available to members and non-members.
The free member cannot have been a member of Woodlands Fitness Centre for at least 3 months.
Minimum term applies.


Offer 2:

4 x 45 minute PT sessions FREE when you take out a 4 month gym only membership

ONLY £25 per month

Including:
4 months gym only membership
Calorie target setting advice.
Nutritional support.

Minimum term applies.
All PT sessions must be used within 4 weeks.


Offer 3:

10 x 45 minute PT sessions FREE when you take out a 5 month GROUP PT & GYM membership

ONLY £45 per month

Including:
5 months GROUP PT membership
5 months GYM membership
Calorie target setting advice.
Nutritional support.

Minimum term applies.
All PT sessions must be used within 10 weeks.


Offer 4:

10 x 45 minute PT sessions only £160 (£120 for Woodlands members)

Normal price £200

SAVE £40

Including:
5 weeks gym membership.
Calorie target setting advice.
Nutritional support.
All PT sessions must be used within 5 weeks.


These offers end on the 28th January 2020

We use time limits with our personal training packages to encourage frequent and consistent training. Packages can be designed to your individual needs.

At least 24 hours notice of cancellation is required for all appointments - just so we have sufficient time to rebook the slot.

Notice of less than 24 hours will incur a full payment of the session fee. These are standard terms for all good PT's.

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 personal training & classes membership.

Opening Hours:

Monday: 7.30am - 9.00pm
Tuesday: 9.00am - 9.00pm
Wednesday: 7.30am - 9.00pm
Thursday: 9.00am - 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, 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


1,000 calories of processed food vs 1,000 calories of healthy food

Technically, 1,000 calories of processed food contains exactly the same amount of raw energy as 1,000 calories of healthy food - after all, a calorie is defined as being the amount of energy that's required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

So no matter whether you're eating Mars Bars or salads - provided they're both equivalent to 1,000 calories - you're still getting the same potential energy.

But if you choose to eat your total days' worth of energy in Mars Bars, you're essentially telling your body that you've decided to dump all of this energy at once, instead of slowly releasing it in timely bursts over the day.

If you were to eat 1000 calories totally from processed food, you're likely to go through peaks and troughs with your energy, and feel hungry for much of the day.

Highly processed foods are typically low in fibre which can lead to gut issues such as bloating and stomach pain. It's also likely that you'd feel fatigued as many of the essential nutrients needed for good health —such as iron and other vitamins and minerals — are often lacking in heavily processed foods.

The biggest difference between 1000 calories of junk food and 1000 calories of nutritious food isn't so much avoiding the inevitable sugar coma - it's in the sheer amount of food that you actually get to eat.

Foods like chips, sugary drinks and fast food are so calorie-dense, you simply don't get to eat as much for the same bodily "cost".

It's what we call food volume - 1000 calories of healthy food will fill up potentially a few plates, where 1000 calories of junk food would look tiny in comparison.

Healthy food is likely to contain wholegrains, healthy fats and protein, so you're much more likely to be satiated and you won't feel hungry again soon after eating.

If you're looking to lose sheer weight, then making sure you're eating less calories than you need is key. But if you simply want to look better - no matter what the number on the scale is - then you'll need to focus on building muscle mass and losing fat.

The best way to do that, unsurprisingly, is to improve the quality of your diet. Research has shown that a diet high in processed foods could actually cause your body to store more fat - particularly around your stomach.

Essentially, if you can sacrifice the instant gratification of processed foods you'll reap all the rewards of long-term health - like more muscle mass, improved mood and lower risk of chronic disease - from healthy foods.

I hope all of the above makes sense but if you have any questions please come and ask me.


Should you train to failure in a calorie deficit?

We've already talked about the role of protein synthesis and your body's reduced ability to repair itself when in a calorie deficit so the reasons should be obvious.

Training to failure not only drastically increases the work your body needs to do to repair itself but it's also not necessary for you to do this to maintain your strength. Always aim to leave a rep or 2 in the tank.

For muscular hypertrophy, 30-70 seconds per set is optimal. Studies suggest that a training program with 30 second rest periods will elevate growth hormone levels to produce significantly larger muscle size. Greater growth hormone levels triggered from shorter rest periods boost muscle size.

Work within the 3 - 9 rep range for compound movements for 2 - 3 sets

Work within the 8 - 15 rep range for isolation movements for 2 - 4 sets

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you NEED to do more to hold on to your muscle mass in a calorie deficit.

Remember your goal is to maintain your muscle mass and using a well-structured training plan with a focus on the big compound movements can do this in 3 training sessions a week.

Don't Use More Than a Moderate Calorie Deficit. The more severe your calorie deficit, the more weight you will lose.

It sounds great, doesn't it?

Why not just use a really big deficit and lose all the weight really fast?

Well, the faster you lose weight, the higher the chance your body will start using your muscle mass as energy.

This means you'll lose fat but you'll also lose muscle, which is the worst possible thing to happen if you want to retain any strength and look good.

Of course, you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight but it should be moderate (20 - 25% below maintenance calories) at the most and closely tracked to ensure you don't start losing weight fasting than the recommended rate of 1 - 2 lbs per week.

I hope all of the above makes sense but if you have any questions please come and ask me.


Don't Overdo Cardio

You can get lean without doing any cardio at all.

If we refer back to the rules of the energy balance equation, we can see that provide you're in a calorie deficit you will lose weight regardless of whether or not you're doing any cardio or not.

However, where cardio can be useful in 2 key ways:

1). Allowing you to eat more food when in a calorie deficit

2). Assisting with the loss of body fat

The question now becomes which type of cardio should you do to get these benefits?

The 2 contenders are:

Low-intensity steady state (LISS)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT).

LISS is characterised by long bouts of walking, jogging or cycling usually around an hour in length to burn calories without taxing the body.

HIIT is characterised by short bursts of sprinting or other anaerobic activity followed by a period of rest or recovery before being repeated, usually lasting 10 - 30 minutes in total.

What Does The Research Say?

One study comparing the 2 found that high-intensity exercise when compared to steady-state exercise provided significant reductions in total body fat, subcutaneous leg and trunk fat.

A review of available HIIT research studies conducted in 2011 found that Regular HIIE has been shown to significantly increase both aerobic and anaerobic fitness.

HIIE also significantly lowers insulin resistance and results in a number of skeletal muscle adaptations that result in enhanced skeletal muscle fat oxidation and improved glucose tolerance.

Ultimately, whilst HIIT wins out in the research I believe that whichever form of exercise works best for your lifestyle is the best. Maybe that's a mix of both.

If you can do some HIIT, that's great. If not then don't worry: you can get 'lean' without using cardio at all.

How much is too much?

Whatever you choose the key is still not to overdo it.

There is a common phenomenon where people who are trying to lose weight often increase their cardio output and decrease their calories when adaptive thermogenesis begins to kick in.

As we've already said you don't need to do any cardio to lose weight provided you're in a calorie deficit AND your body has a reduced ability to repair itself when in this state.

Considering both of these points it's advisable to keep the cardio on the lower side and to remember to account for any additional calories burnt when training.

Eat these calories.

This means 2 - 3 HIIT training sessions a week for 10 - 25 minutes each will be plenty, whilst giving you the benefit of an increased calorie intake for that day plus the fat loss benefits described in the research above.

Alternatively, you could take an hour walk 3 - 4 times a week if you want the extra calories but don't want to or cannot do the HIIT training.

Ultimately, don't do cardio for the sake of it. Do it because you enjoy it and want to get the benefits.

There's nothing worse than having to force yourself to go for a run because you think you need to, exercise shouldn't be associated with negative feelings. Sure, it will hurt sometimes and it should challenge you but it shouldn't be a chore.

You can always try learning a new sport, doing a team activity or something you find fun.

Additionally, if we put the fat loss to one side for a moment, some form of cardio a couple times a week even if it's just walking is recommended for general cardiovascular health.

I hope all of the above makes sense but if you have any questions please come and ask me.


Three-bean stir-fry

Ingredients:

150g rocket leaves, washer
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
2 cups chopped green beans
300g canned black beans, rinsed and drained
300g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup lemon juice
½ -1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

Arrange the rocket in a large serving bowl and set aside

Add the olive oil to a hot wok, swirling to coat the sides. Stir-fry the onions for 2 minutes.

Add the garlic and stir-fry until the onion is soft. Add the thyme and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Add the black beans and chickpeas and stir-fry until heated through.

Add the green beans a stir-fry for 3 minutes, or until tender.

Season with salt and pepper, lemon juice and zest, and spoon over rocket.

Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil.

Enjoy!


Useless Facts

The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.

Ingrown toenails are hereditary.

"Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und"

The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (this an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust - in case you were wondering).









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