Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands newsletter: Monday 9th May 2022

Monday 9th May 2022

Hi,

Do you have a lack of discipline?

I know, maybe a bit of a personal question.

However, pursuing a goal necessitates commitment and a lot of discipline. Discipline and the willingness to work hard are often missing. Most people want to reach an end goal without having to sweat for it.

This is probably the number one reason why so many people generate one idea after another but they never move on to the execution stage.

Lacking discipline to put in the effort day after day and without anticipating immediate results is probably the number one reason why people give up.

Even if the task is small, there will still be some level of commitment required. A fickle nature and a bit of laziness make it impossible to continue working and pushing.

Growing one's willpower is not easy but it's vital to see goals through to the end. The process starts with a good understanding of one's strengths and weaknesses.

Based on these strengths, an individual can come up with an idea realisation strategy that is detailed, focused and manageable.

For more guidance, tips and information, please read the rest of our newsletter.

But first, here are our opening times, links to our website, some prices and more...


Gym Only memberships:

Joint/Student (per month):

12 months: £20
3 months: £23
1 month: £27

Single (per month):

For single prices, please check our special offers:
www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/special-offers

Student prices are only for students in full time education.


Unlimited Personal Training:

How would you like to have personal training every single time you attend Woodlands?

Well now you can!

Our Unlimited PT membership offers an appointment controlled personal training system where a personal trainer will train up to 6 members at any one time.

We offer a variety of group exercise sessions throughout the day to help you achieve you build fitness, strength, co-ordination and flexibility whilst burning fat.

Group sessions are strictly limited to 6 people:

* There are 36 group training sessions per week, including: Condition, Total, Upper, Lower, Core, Circuit and HIIT.

* We also offer '30m' groups: these 30 minute Classes Group training sessions are condensed versions of our normal 45 minute 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 have a 5.15pm Group on Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

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

These shared personal training sessions are strictly limited to 6 people! This is to ensure you get a higher quality of coaching and support.

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


Unlimited PT membership prices:

Joint/Student:

12 months: £30pm
3 months: £33pm
1 month: £37pm

Single:

For single prices, please check our special offers:
www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/special-offers


2 x 45membership:

This membership includes:

✔2 x 45 minute PT sessions per month (worth £23 each)
✔Unlimited SHARED PT sessions
✔Unlimited gym use
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

12 month: £43pm
3 month: £46
1 month: £49

The benefits of personal training outweigh your fears by a long shot and we can really help you achieve your goals. At Woodlands, we want to maximise your fitness experience.


Personal Training Packages:

The benefits of personal training outweigh your fears by a long shot and we can really help you achieve your goals. At Woodlands, we want to maximise your fitness experience.

30 mins:

3 weeks x 2 per week
6 x 30 mins: £72 (£89)

5 weeks x 2 per week
10 x 30 mins: £116 (£144)

45 mins:

3 weeks x 2 per week
6 x 45 mins: £95 (£120)

4 weeks x 2 per week
8 x 45 mins: £125 (£160)

60 mins:

4 weeks x 2 per week
8 x 60 mins: £156 (£178)

The price in brackets is for non-members.

All of our PT packages include:

Group PT membership.
Gym membership.
Calorie target setting advice.
Nutritional support.

All PT sessions must be used within time periods listed above.

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 - 8.45pm
Tuesday: 8.30am - 8.45pm
Wednesday: 7.30am - 8.45pm
Thursday: 8.30am - 8.45pm
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


Accessory Movements

These exercises (especially the first 6) are considered the major movement patterns and the ones that should get the most attention:

Horizontal Push
Horizontal Pull
Vertical Push
Vertical Pull
Quad Dominant
Hip/Hamstring Dominant
Elbow Flexion
Elbow Extension

However, there are other minor movement patterns that I like to lump into "accessory" type categories, divided into push and pull. These mostly include the leftover isolation exercises that don't fit into any of the other categories:

Push accessory:

Lateral Raises (dumbbell or cable, seated or standing, Poliquin, single arm, alternating)
Front Raises (dumbbell, barbell or cable, single arm, alternating)

Pull accessory:

Shrugs (barbell, dumbbell, cable, single arm)
Reverse flyes (dumbbell, cable)

Your overall weight training program should be comprised of exercises from EVERY movement pattern. If it isn't, it means you're missing something and failing to properly train your entire body.

Certain workout schedules and programs are designed in a way where the movement patterns play the largest role in how you select exercises for each workout.

For example, the most generic way of setting up an upper body workout (as part of an upper/lower split) is by combining 1 horizontal push, 1 horizontal pull, 1 vertical push, 1 vertical pull, 1 elbow flexion and 1 elbow extension exercise. And just like that, your upper body workout is good to go.

In the case of a full body split, you might take 1 exercise from every movement pattern category for each workout.

Depending on the exact routine you use, movement patterns could be a key part of the exercise selection process.

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

Next week I'll talk Balancing Opposing Movement Patterns to Prevent Injuries.


Do Diets Work? (part 1)

Diets are designed to fail and to make you feel like the failure when you catastrophically fall off the restrictive wagon. This is somewhere around 2-3 weeks after starting.

First of all let's address the word 'diet'. Being on a diet or having a diet are two very different things.
The word 'diet' is confusing. It can mean "the customary food and drink of a culture, a person or an animal".

And there are also diets prescribed for medical reasons. These are necessary and support a healthy motivation.

But most of us know 'diet' to be a highly restrictive program of eating in order to lose weight. These diets can become psychologically damaging triggering a cycle of shame and self-loathing. Diet culture promotes a relationship with food that can become emotionally triggering and abusive, and let's face it - if it were a relationship with a spouse, you would be advised to leave for good!

Here are our reasons why we are against this kind of diet:

1). Faddy Diets can be harmful and may lack essential nutrients.

As I've said countless times before, fad diets do not teach you anything about healthy eating, and when you have 'completed' your fad diet, you will simply rebound back to the unhealthy eating patterns that caused your weight gain in the first place!

This triggers the pattern of yo-yo dieting which can bring its own problems in terms of long term health.

2). Restrictive diets take away the pleasure out of eating.

Why would you want to sacrifice 'living', social events, and balanced health all for a number on the scales that does not in any way define your health status.

Remember the number on the scales is representative of your relationship between gravity and the ground. It is one of many tools to help measure your health, but it does not confirm if you are 'healthy'. Our advice is to stay away from the sad step and focus on your quality of sleep, energy levels, skin, hair, how your clothes feel, and what emotional triggers need to be addressed to curb your eating habits.

3). Dieting, alongside the frequent and compulsive sad step visits that accompany it, can lead to eating disorders and anxiety.

According to one study, people who diet are 8 times more likely to develop an eating disorder than people who don't.

4). There are 'businesses' out there unscrupulously peddling 'magic weight-loss potions' such as powders, bars, pills to desperate people.

Costing them their money and time and sometimes accompanied with fatal health consequences.

If you have some time to kill, Google 'fen-phen' the diet drug that caused fatal heart valve problems if you need further info.

These products are often endorsed by 'celebrities', but as we now know these are often fake endorsements and these celebrities are only in it for the money. The reality is they have a team of stylists, nutritionists, personal trainers and clever apps on their phone to mislead you.

5). Being overweight is often caused by early life trauma. Identifying the feelings and situations behind emotional over-eating and replacing it with healthier self-care patterns can help overcome unhealthy relationships with food.

5). Do weight loss programmes and slimming clubs work long term?

Before I start this segment, just let me clarify that I'm not ragging on all slimming clubs. Some are better than others. Some have genuinely helped people. Others do not. Do your research.

Are they a waste of money and emotional energy?

You might lose weight (initially) but studies show that 95% of people who lose weight in a slimming club or programme will regain it in 1 to 5 years.

There are slimming club members continue to join, leave and rejoin over a period of time. The deprivation of restrictive diets may lead to an over eating and binge cycle.

And since your body doesn't want you to starve, it responds to overly restrictive diets by slowing your metabolism, which of course makes it harder to lose weight.


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

More next week....


Exercise of the week: Romanian (Stiff-Leg) Deadlift

Before getting fancy, master a basic deadlift like this one. Proper form here will make the other versions easier to nail and let you reap the muscle-building benefits without accidentally injuring yourself.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your thighs.

Hinge at your hips, bending slightly at your knees. Push your butt way back and keep your back flat. Your torso should be almost parallel to the floor, and the weights should reach your shins.

Keeping your core tight, push through your heels to stand up straight. Keep the weights close to your shins as you pull.

Pause at the top and squeeze your butt. This is 1 rep.

Reset your position before beginning the next repetition.

Choose a weight that allows you to maintain good technique throughout all sets and repetitions.

Do 3-4 sets of 5-10 repetitions.

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



Recipe of the week: Boston baked beans with bacon

Ingredients:

500g/1lb 2oz dried haricot beans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
300g/10½oz piece pork belly, cut into thick chunks
100g/3½oz smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into thick slices
1 large onion, finely chopped
100ml/3½fl oz red wine, sherry or bourbon (optional)
4 cloves
1 blade mace
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp black treacle or molasses
1 tbsp English mustard
A dash of Tabasco (optional)
A dash Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Put the beans in a large ovenproof pan or casserole and add enough cold water to just cover them. Bring to the boil and skim off any foam that appears on the top, then boil fiercely for 20 minutes.

Turn down the heat and simmer for a further 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2.

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add the pork and bacon and dry fry until the fat starts to render and the meat has browned.

Add this to the casserole with the beans. Fry the onion in the same pan until softened and starting to caramelise, then add this too.

Deglaze the pan with the wine, sherry or bourbon, if using, or a little water, scraping up any brown bits. Pour this into the casserole.

Tie the cloves, mace, bay and thyme into a piece of muslin, and drop into the casserole. Stir in the tomatoes, black treacle and mustard.

Add the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce, if using, and season well with salt and pepper.

Cover the casserole and place in the oven for 3 hours, then remove the lid and cook for a further 1 hour.

The beans should be very tender and the sauce nicely thickened.

Remove the muslin bag before serving.

Enjoy!


Things to consider

Don't overwork the lower back:

Don't overwork the lower back with too much direct work. The lower back is taxed hard enough as it is.

A few additional sets for the lower back are good, but overworking your lower back can often result in muscle fatigue, and strains which can lead to further injuries.

Do enough lower back work to stay strong, but not so much that you aren't able to function for several days.

A medical condition could make it harder?

Any medical condition that affects your hormones (like hypothyroidism or polycystic ovary syndrome), your insulin levels (like diabetes), or your blood pressure (like heart disease) will make it more difficult to lose weight.

Any injury that results in limited mobility can also contribute to weight gain, partly because it can lead to muscle loss - and less muscle means you are burning less when your body is at rest - and partly because it will reduce your ability to exercise regularly.

Go Gardening:

Of all the activities you can do in an effort to shed a few pounds, gardening is one of the most beneficial and relaxing options. People who garden are about 11 to 16 pounds lighter than those who don't, so throw on some gardening gloves and get to planting. For added weight loss benefits, consider planting herbs such as cilantro and mint, which combat bloating and suppress your appetite, respectively.

Prep hard-boiled eggs

Make hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the week for a ready-to-grab protein-packed snack you can eat by itself, or add to other items like avocado toast.

Factor in rest days:

Give muscles time off. Strength training causes tiny tears in muscle tissue. These tears aren't harmful, but they are important: muscles grow stronger as the tears knit up. Always give your muscles at least 48 hours to recover before your next strength training session.

Go steady on the steady state cardio:

Too much steady state cardio can burn your muscles. This can impact your metabolism and shedding fat becomes more difficult. Weakened immune system: Excess cortisol release, which not only contributes to catabolism (catabolic state is the one in which your tissue breaks down) but also chronic disease.

Light weights: big muscles

More repetitions with lighter weights can build muscle as well as heavier weights -- assuming they are done to the point of exercise-induced fatigue. And fatigue is the important point. That means even with light weight, the last two to three reps should be hard.


Useless Facts

It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.

Ben Clarke can hear sign language.

Thirty-five percent of people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

The 3 most valuable brand names on earth are Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser (in that order).

Big Foot claims he once saw Tim Marsden.

Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands.








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