Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands Fitness Centre July 2016 Newsletter

Friday 1st July 2016

What's New?

Hi guys & girls,

So here we are in July.

I sit in my office, the nerve centre of the Woodlands operation, at my bureau, quill in hand, and I write the newsletter each month to broadcast what our fitness, diet and health related beliefs are. As the old adage says, there's more than one way to skin a cat - and there's more than one way to get in shape.

At Woodlands, we prefer the steady and consistent approach, which include Paleo/Low glycaemic diet, resistance training, high intensity interval training (HIIT), functional training, foam rolling, flexibility and core training. Each month we try to elaborate on each point.

The above reminds me of the lyrics to Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann, which is one of my fiancée's favourite songs. If you haven't heard it I suggest you look for it on Youtube.

According to this song, advice is a form of nostalgia. My advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

If you can't be bothered to look up the song on Youtube, iTunes or similar, the lyrics are as follows:

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97.

Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...
You're not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.
The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy;
Sometimes you're ahead,
Sometimes You're behind.
The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults;
If you Succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your
Life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body, Use it every way you can... Don't be afraid of it, or what other people Think of it,
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own...

Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings;
They are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will Philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen..."

So there we are: Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann.

When it says "do one thing everyday that scares you", I suggest you apply some caution: don't drive home blindfolded. For example.

So anyway, what is actually new? Well we're working on a few ideas. We'll update you on those when they're crystallised.

I've bought a couple of new gym machines: a lying hamstring curl machine and a Technogym hi/low cable machine. These will be delivered on Tuesday 19th July.

Beki will be ordering some more equipment for the studio / functional area. Things like oversized medicine balls.

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 either of us at the gym, email any feedback and suggestions to the email address at the end of this newsletter.

Thanks,
Giles & the Woodlands team



You are a herbivore.

Yes you! You there! Reading this newsletter? I'm speaking directly to you!

Humans are herbivores! We are not well suited to eating meat. Ok, these might seem like quite bizarre claims given my eager and ongoing endorsement of the Paleo diet - but these claims are not without evidence. We lack the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses.

We choose to eat a wide variety of plant and animal foods, which could categorise us as "omnivores," but we're anatomically herbivorous.

Humans have short, soft fingernails. We have really small "canine" teeth. Have a look at your dog: you'll see sharp claws and large canine teeth that are capable of tearing flesh.

A carnivores' jaw will only move up and down so they have to tear chunks of flesh from their prey - and swallow them whole. Humans and other herbivores can move their jaws up and down and from side to side - this is to grind up fruit and vegetables with their back teeth. Like other herbivores' teeth, humans' back molars are flat for grinding fibrous plant foods. Carnivores lack these flat molars.

Carnivores swallow their food whole and they rely on their extremely acidic stomach juices to break down flesh. This kills the dangerous bacteria in meat that would otherwise sicken or kill them. Our stomach acids are much weaker in comparison because strong acids aren't needed to digest pre-chewed fruits and vegetables.

Carnivores have short intestinal tracts and colons that allow meat to pass through the animal relatively quickly, before it can rot and cause illness. Humans' intestinal tracts are much longer than those of carnivores of comparable size. Longer intestines allow the body more time to break down fibre and absorb the nutrients from plant-based foods. However, this makes it dangerous for humans to eat meat - the bacteria in meat have extra time to multiply during the long trip through the digestive system, which increases the risk of food poisoning. Meat actually begins to rot while it makes its way through human intestines, which increases the risk of colon cancer.

Humans also lack the instinct that drives carnivores to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses.

Carnivores take pleasure in killing animals and eating their raw flesh. But, any human who killed an animal with his or her bare hands and ate the raw corpse would be considered a bit odd. Well, there was that one time that Jack Critchlow kicked off in Pets at Home and a few guinea pigs got nibbled.

Carnivorous animals are excited by the scent of blood and the thrill of the chase. Most humans are revolted by the sight of blood, intestines and raw flesh. Humans generally can't tolerate hearing the screams of animals being ripped apart and killed. The bloody reality of eating animals is innately repulsive to us.

Meat is quite literally killing us. Carnivorous animals in the wild virtually never suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, strokes or obesity. These are ailments that are caused in humans - predominantly - by the consumption of the saturated fat and cholesterol found in meat.

Carnivores do not develop the hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes in humans. Human bodies, on the other hand, weren't designed to process animal flesh - so all the excess fat and cholesterol from a meat-based diet makes us sick. Meat-eaters have a 32 percent higher risk of developing heart disease than vegetarians do!

Humans consume twice as much protein as we need when we eat a meat-based diet, and this contributes to osteoporosis and kidney stones. Animal protein raises the acid level in our blood, which causes calcium to be excreted from the bones in order to restore the blood's natural pH balance. This calcium depletion leads to osteoporosis, and the excreted calcium ends up in the kidneys, where it can form kidney stones or even trigger kidney disease. Consuming animal protein has also been linked to cancer of the colon, breast, prostate, and pancreas.

Human meat consumption coincided with the discovery of fire, which allowed us to kill the parasites in meat. This practice didn't turn our ancestors into carnivores - it just allowed early humans to survive during periods in which plant foods were unavailable.

Thanks to the cruel, cost-cutting practices of factory farming (which is indicative of what a horrendous World we've created and/or allowed to be sustained) meat is relatively cheap and is easily available. As such, deadly ailments such as heart disease, strokes, cancer, and obesity have spread to people across the socio-economic spectrum.

In Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen track, he doesn't comment on meat consumption, possibly because he didn't consider the subject, but if he did it's possible that he would suggest that you eat less meat. But neither I nor Baz would suggest that we all become vegetarians.

For example, a chilli con carne main ingredients includes 500g mince, a 400g can of kidney beans and a 400g can of chopped tomatoes. Next time you make it, half the meat and double the vegetables. You can do the same with spaghetti bolognaise amongst other popular household recipes.


Spicy Chipotle Salmon Recipe

This is also one summer meal that really pulls its own weight from a nutritional perspective. Salmon is most famous for its Omega-3 fats, but it's also full of important micronutrients like iron, B vitamins, and the antioxidant mineral selenium.

A great side dish for this would be cauliflower "rice" mixed with some roasted red peppers for flavour and colour.

Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 min.
Cook time: 18 min.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. salmon fillet, skin on;
2 tbsp. olive oil;
Juice and zest of 1 lime;
1 chipotle chili;
2 tsp. adobo sauce;
1/2 tsp. ground cumin;
1 clove garlic, minced;
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;
1 cedar plank, soaked in water for 2 hours; (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat.
Combine the olive oil, lime juice and zest, chipotle chili, adobo sauce, cumin and garlic in a blender and puree until smooth.
Spread the chipotle mixture all over the salmon, making sure it's well covered.
Place the salmon on the plank or directly on the grill and cook, covered, for 18 to 20 minutes.
Serve with fresh guacamole.


Banana Smoothie with Nuts and Seeds

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana, peeled
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
8 almonds
1 cup almond milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons almond butter
3 ice cubes
Freshly grated nutmeg, to garnish

Instructions:

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour smoothie in a large glass and finish with a dusting of grated nutmeg.


SPECIAL OFFERS

12 x 60 minute PT sessions
Only £235
Normal price £336
SAVE £101

All sessions must be used within 4 weeks

8 x 45 minute PT sessions
Only £135
Normal price £192
SAVE £57

All sessions must be used within 4 weeks

8 x 30 minute PT sessions
Only £101
Normal price £152
SAVE £51

All sessions must be used within 4 weeks

For more special offers, please go to the Woodlands website special offers page:

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

Useless Facts

Renee Descartes, the 17th century philosopher and mathematician, is the person responsible for "x" being the universal variable in algebra.

Jack Gratton once played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.

If you counted at the rate of 100 numbers a minute and kept counting for eight hours a day, five days a week, it would take a little over 4 weeks to count to one million and just over 80 years to reach one billion.

Some kids pee their name in snow. Dan Kaufman Taylor pees his name in concrete.

Every day, more than 1,000 gallons of water are lost into space from the top of Earth's atmosphere. Yet there is about as much water on Earth as there was 3 billion years ago.

Jean Wright won the 2011 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoloy card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game UNO.

Les Miserables has a 3-page, 823-word sentence which is divided by 93 commas, 51 semicolons, and 4 dashes. Rumour has it that someone suffocated from lack of oxygen in the 1940's just short of the 73rd comma while giving a dramatic reading from the work.

My fiancée made me watch some of Les Miserables. Ann Hathaway was singing a bit. I did not like it.

Sam Earnshaw runs until the Treadmill gets tired.




Woodlands - Your Health, Our Passion



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