Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands Fitness Centre July 2010 Newsletter

Thursday 1st July 2010

What's New?

There will be quite a lot of change this month. As most of you will now be aware Sarah will be leaving at the end of the month to go and work with Matt & Claire at Dronfield. Not all of you will be aware that Donna will be joining our friends at the Chatsworth Gym and she too will be leaving at the end of the month. Donna will still be teaching her Thursday night class.

We will all be sad to see Sarah and Donna go but this is an opportunity to bring some new blood into the club.
Many will have met Marion Bishop, who has been a Woodlands member for many years. Marion will be coming onboard to teach some aerobics based classes and work as a fitness instructor. We will also be bringing on board a trainee classes & fitness instructor.

By now most of you will have met Josh Eaton. He has been doing his work experience with us for several weeks. When his work experience ends he will become a fully fledged member of the Woodlands team.

For some these changes won't be good news but I want to assure all of you that classes will go on with minimal disruption. We will be bringing out a slightly new timetable in the next couple of weeks. Please speak to any member of staff about any ideas or queries you might have.

Many of you will have noticed the new gym equipment in the gym. I have opted for plate loaded lever equipment for a number of reasons. Normal selectorised machines (those machines with a weight stack) offer resistance in multiples of 5kg.

For many, increments of 5kg are too much i.e. they might be ok doing a chest press with 10kg but would struggled with 15kg. The plate loaded lever equipment allows the user to increase resistance in multiples of just 1.25kg, which are more conducive to their strength levels.
I appreciate that some of the new equipment might look a bit scary to some of you but all you need to do is try them out for yourself.
If anybody would like guidance on how to use any of the new equipment please ask any member of staff. We will also be available to show you all how to use the new equipment when it arrives.

As many of the crèche users will already know, I have put the price up by 50p per session. Please let me explain the reasoning behind the price increase. The building in which the Woodlands Fitness Centre is based is sizeable and therefore very expensive to run in terms of rent, rates, utilities, insurance, etc.

Including the wages for Christine and Christine, the crèche costs £10,998 per annum. Based on average usage, the crèche will generate in the region of £2,786 revenue per annum, resulting in an £8,212 loss that the business, and subsequently ALL of the members, have to absorb.

If I were to pass on the actual cost of the crèche to the users, each session would cost £5.92 assuming the average usage volumes remained the same.

I have chosen to retain the crèche because I feel I am providing a valuable service to the members. Because of the losses the business has to absorb, I think that a £1.50 charge per session is not unreasonable.

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

Thanks,
Giles

Steer clear of the fat burning zone

When I talk about 'the magic fat burning zone' I am referring to 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.

In this article I want to try and explain why this magic fat burning zone is such a joke. We all derive a proportion of our energy from carbohydrate and a proportion from our fat. Very rarely will we ever derive all your energy exclusively from one source. Energy is normally 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 intensities 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 you are probably thinking that this means you should 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. Roger goes for a 30 minute run keeping his heart rate in the fat burning zone.
Because Roger 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.

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

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

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

Let me expand on the Afterburn Effect of High Intensity Exercise. Within an hour or two of working out Roger's body and metabolism has returned to normal resting levels (homeostasis). Scott'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 his 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 Scott is burning, particularly from his fat stores. The net result is Scott is infinitely more successful in his fat burning efforts than Roger, who works hard but gets nowhere. Poor Roger. Don't let this be you. Always train with INTENSITY.

If you have any question/comments regarding this post it would be great to hear from you.

Weight Training for women!

When it comes to weight loss, health and quality of life a little weight training can go a long way.

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. Working your muscles as well as your heart and lungs can improve your health and help you drop a clothes size faster.

While cardiovascular exercise is a great way of burning the fat, adding a little strength training to your workouts will earn you extra calories every day. You'll even be burning extra calories while you're sleeping or sitting on the couch watching Eastenders.

Aerobic exercise may burn a few hundred extra calories but for every additional pound of muscle you gain, your body burns around 50 extra calories every day of the week.

Research has shown that regular resistance training can increase your Basal Metabolic Rate by up to 15%. So for someone burning 2,000 calories per day, that's a potential 300 extra calories. That's more than a Mars bar burned every single day.

Do not be disheartened if initially you seem to be staying at the same weight or gaining slightly. Muscle weighs more per square inch than fat, so whilst your weight might not be dropping very quickly, your clothes will feel baggier and you will see a healthier, slimmer and better toned you in the mirror. That's far more important than anything the scales have to say!

Weight training is just as suitable for women as it is for men. Many women are wary of weight training for fear that increased muscle means increased masculinity. This is not the case.

Testosterone is a very important factor in the development of muscle shape. As women have very low levels of this hormone their muscles develop differently, meaning a little resistance training will not lead to a bulky, butch physique.

Developing a little extra muscle can actually reduce the risk of injury. Strong muscles, tendons and ligaments are much more capable of withstanding stress, and the improved flexibility gained by strength training also reduces the likelihood of pulled muscles and back pain.

Weight training is an excellent way of combating several symptoms we all face as we get a little older. Resistance exercise can reduce bone deterioration and build bone mass, preventing osteoporosis.

Working your muscles can also inhibit the affects of sarcopenia, the age related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. After the age of thirty there is a loss of 3-5% of muscle mass per decade, making day to day tasks gradually harder to perform and slowing down metabolism - increasing the risk of weight gain.

Recent research has shown that weight (or resistance) training can greatly reduce a number of health risks. It has been proven to have a positive affect on insulin resistance, resting metabolism, blood pressure, body fat and gastrointestinal transit time, factors that are linked to illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Research shows that just two 15 to 20 minute sessions a week is enough to gain all the potential health benefits of strength training. Start slowly and work your way up.

You can feel healthier and look better, which in turn will make you feel better about yourself and the benefits can last for the rest of your life.
For more information please come and speak to me.

You need a release

Have you tried foam rolling yet? No? Well it's time you started! Self-myofascial release is basically a form of massage.

The best way to perform self-myofascial release is with a foam roller, massage ball, medicine ball or even a baseball (which we have on reception).

Self-myofascial release (SMFR) sounds a lot more complicated than it is. Myo- is the prefix meaning muscle. Fascia is the tissue which surrounds your muscles.

Repeated muscular contraction can cause you to develop adhesions or spots of muscle tension. You will be releasing the tension of your muscles by your self.

Place the tight body part on the foam roller. The most important thing to remember is to always relax the muscle which you are applying pressure to. Apply pressure to the entire length of the muscle with the foam roller.

Even though it is just a piece of foam, as you move up and down the muscle you will notice some spots hurt very bad. The muscles have hypertonicity which you can think of as tension. Apply pressure to the tenderest spots for 20 to 30 seconds each.

Self-myofascial release is not for everyone. You may feel like it does nothing for you. If you feel this way, make sure you do it 100% correctly before you abandon it.

Each progressive time you SMFR a muscle, you will notice less tension and the tender spots will go away over time. It takes longer for some muscles than others.

You can perform SMFR before or after a workout. You should focus your SMFR on the muscles which are the root of your muscle imbalances and posture problems. Make sure you perform each session on the foam roll before your static stretching.

For more information please come and speak to me.

Woodlands - Your Health, Our Passion

The Woodlands Fitness Centre Ltd
A: Unit 29, Peak Village Estate, Chatsworth Road, Rowsley, Derbyshire, DE4 2JE
T: (01629) 733 123
E: woodlandsfitness@yahoo.co.uk
W: www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk