Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands Fitness Centre November 2016 Newsletter

Tuesday 1st November 2016

What's New?

Hi guys & girls,

So here we are in November. Halloween has been and gone.

It was just over 2 years ago that I decided to knock down the studio. Quite a few people thought I was crazy. I envisaged significant changes in the fitness industry. There would be a move away from standard studio / dance based classes. Having seen the astonishing growth of Crossfit, I predicted that there would be a fusion between classes and more mainstream resistance training. Deadlifting / Olympic lifts, functional training, interval training / Tabata, plyometrics etc would be become integral to gym classes.

The main reasons people don't make the most of their gym memberships include a lack of motivation, they are too embarrassed to work out in front of others or they receive little to no individual attention. To combat these barriers to getting the results you want, I created the Unlimited Shared Personal Training membership.

Between now and the end of 2016, I am offering the Unlimited Shared Personal Training membership FREE to all of our members.

For those of you already on the Unlimited Shared Personal Training membership, I am upgrading your membership to the 1 x 45 min PT session per week membership. This is normally £74 per month.

I like the PT studio business model, focusing on one-to-one PT, group PT and HIIT classes - but I don't like the idea of only being able to use the gym at specific times. At Woodlands, you can have both - all our PT packages include gym membership and the Unlimited Shared Personal Training membership.

The shared unlimited personal training scheme is an appointment controlled personal training system where a personal trainer will train up to 6 members at any one time. Sessions are 30 to 45 minutes and are designed for both males and females of mixed ability. The group Personal training workout sessions will include varied exercise methods i.e. HIIT, Tabata, AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible), EMOM (Every minute, on the minute), EDT (Escalated Density Training) and more.

Woodlands Rowsley now offer over 40 classes/group personal training sessions each week. Please see an updated class timetable for details.



New Personal Training options


60 minute PT sessions (price per week)

3 sessions per week: £63
2 sessions per week: £44
1 sessions per week: £23


45 minute PT sessions (price per week)

3 sessions per week: £48
2 sessions per week: £34
1 sessions per week: £18


30 minute PT sessions (price per week)

3 sessions per week: £33
2 sessions per week: £24
1 sessions per week: £13


ALL of our personal training memberships include our Unlimited Shared Personal Training and gym/classes membership.

High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT), functional fitness (including Crossfit type training) and Group Personal training will continue to be at the heart of what we offer.

As everyone who reads the monthly newsletter will know, we're not fans of "steady state" cardio training - as this will cause cortisol levels to increase. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone and has been linked to fatigue, hormonal imbalances, heart disease, excessive blood sugar levels and elevated cholesterol.

Cortisol will eat away at your muscle fibres and reverse the effects of your training. You must understand the different between losing weight and losing fat. The truth is you won't look much better unless it's fat you're burning. If cardio burns just fat, then you could just do cardio all day and get lean. But we all know it's not that easy. Cardio training can cause the body to use muscle for fuel and to try to hold on to body fat instead of burning it.

Cardio does nothing to slow the ageing process. In fact, it does the exact opposite. Long and frequent cardio sessions will break down your muscles and increase the production of free radicals. These free radicals damage the cells in your body and accelerate aging.

If you're concerned about your heart health (and we all should be), there is a much more effective way to improve your cardiovascular health - and it takes only 1/3 the time of a conventional cardio workout and it also triggers your youth enhancing hormones instead of those nasty free radicals that age you more quickly. It's called HIIT.

We use proven training methods that prepare the body for the activities performed in your day to day life. The functional training methods we provide will lead to better muscular balance and joint stability in three anatomical planes of motion.

We have a large range of fixed-resistance machines because they're generally easier and safer to use. However, they do restrict movements to a single plane of motion, which is an unnatural form of movement for the body and may lead to faulty movement patterns or injury.

Most machine exercises can easily be replaced by free weight equivalents. I think seated abdominal curl machines are fairly pointless. Ab crunches are one of the most popular ab exercises but they're not necessarily the best. The rectus abdominis - commonly known as your six-pack - does not function primarily to bend the torso, but rather to brace the spine and transfer power from the hips to the upper torso. Instead, do Swiss ball planks because they work the core the way nature intended - with little to no strain on your back. And they work it hard.

Abs are made in the kitchen - not in the gym. You can do thousands of ab crunches but if you're taking in too many calories you'll never see those abdominal muscles. Reduction of body fat is the only way to uncover that hidden six pack. Eat a well balanced diet that includes lean proteins, vegetables, fruit and healthy fats. Females will start to see abs at around 18% bodyfat and a six pack will show at around 12% bodyfat.

To develop a strong, balanced, lean and aesthetically pleasing physique freeweight exercises are the most effective option for most people.

Later on this newsletter there's a Simple fish stew recipe. It's a quick and healthy one-pot is packed with white fish fillets, king prawns, a rich tomato sauce and enough vegetables for 3 of your 5 a day.

Last month, the useless facts were all actual facts. There was none of the stuff I either make up or steal from a list of Chuck Norris facts. Apparently this was disappointing for some people.

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

Thanks,
Giles


Burn more fat with Tabata weight training.

Another way to take weight training outside the box and take the muscle burn to new levels is Tabata interval training. Tabata Interval Training is a method of interval training where you alternate 20 seconds of exercise with 10 seconds of rest for eight cycles. This style of training is predominantly for cardio - but it can be adapted to any exercise for any muscle group.

The extremely short rest periods and seemingly constant reps with Tabata protocol make it a perfect way to burn fat. Despite the lighter weight you'll use, Tabata can also create muscle growth. Doing very high reps with light weight for short periods can help you blow past plateaus and build lean muscle.

Tabata has multiple benefits for you too. It enhances endurance and boosts your body's ability to burn more fat. It enhances explosive energy—the kind you'd use in a typical set of bench presses—it can help you increase your rep range or max weight.

Tabata requires fairly high reps and very short rest periods between sets - so you will increase the amount of blood vessels you have feeding your muscle fibres. This helps to get more nutrients, oxygen, and anabolic hormones to your muscles. These added nutrients means your muscles will have more energy during workouts and better recovery and growth after the workout is over.

The best benefit of all may be the fact that because you're essentially training an-aerobically and aerobically with Tabata workouts - so you can miss out the cardio if you want to.

You should ideally perform 2 to 4 exercises per muscle group. Each exercise is done for 8 sets of 20 seconds. The goal is to get as many reps as possible in those 20 seconds. You rest only 10 seconds between the 20-second sets. Once you complete 8 sets, you rest for 1 minute. Then move on to the next exercise. In a 45 minute session, you could do 9 exercises, 72 sets and 24 minutes of solid fat melting exercise.

Start with a light weight and increase the weight each week. In a recent study, it was discovered that three sets to failure with 30% of your one rep max resulted in equal hypertrophy gains as three sets to failure with 80% of your one rep max.

If you find a weight which allows you to complete 20 seconds of reps for the first five or six sets, but leaves you at failure for the last two to three sets, stick with it. This way, you can set a goal to complete the 20 seconds of reps for all eight sets before moving on to a heavier weight.


Simple fish stew

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 20 mins to 25 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 leeks, thinly sliced
400g can chopped tomatoes
500ml hot fish stock
2 skinless pollock fillets (about 200g), thawed if frozen, and cut into chunks
85g raw shelled king prawns

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the fennel seeds, carrots, celery and garlic, and cook for 5 mins until starting to soften. Tip in the leeks, tomatoes and stock, season and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened and reduced slightly.

Add the fish, scatter over the prawns and cook for 2 mins more until lightly cooked. Ladle into bowls and serve with a spoon.


Member Achievement 'Shout Out'

The member of the month is Katayune "Kat" Jacquin.

Kat uses our Unlimited shared PT package. Kat said:

"I wanted to say that I know my workouts are not very frequent for one reason and another but I am genuinely seeing the benefits:

1) increased tone, especially to arms (this is very important to me) back and stomach, slimmer thighs (didn't think this was possible...)
2) increased energy generally (at a time when I really need it looking after my mum and busy work /family schedule)
3) massively increased strength - I've noticed this with various yard duties. Yesterday I had to push a 2 tonne trailer into a barn - ok I know its on wheels but we were going up hill and I was surprised I could do it. My pushing partner was a slip of a thing so I really had to pick up the slack!"

Well done Kat!

Our Unlimited Shared Personal Training membership is now FREE to ALL our members for the remainder of 2016.


Raspberry-Pomegranate Smoothie

This exotic fruit smoothie is heart-smart and packed with antioxidants.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups (375 ml) pomegranate juice
2 cups (500 ml) frozen unsweetened raspberries
2 cups (500 ml) low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt

Directions:

Blend the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Or use a hand blender until smooth. But if you need instructions on how to make a smoothie, maybe you shouldn't be using electrical appliances.


Useless Facts

On the cartoon show 'The Jetsons', Jane is 33 years old and her daughter Judy is 15.

Ghosts sit around the campfire and tell Dave Harper stories.

Only humans and horses have hymens. Jack Critchlow has 7.

If, by some paradox in the space/time continuum, Dooie Shaw were to ever fight himself, he would win.

The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

Yvonne Bennett runs until the Treadmill gets tired.

The state with the longest coastline in the US is Michigan.

Leading hand sanitizers claim they can kill 99.99% of germs. Jack Pickford can kill 100% of whatever he wants.

There were four consecutive full moons making two blue moons in 1999 (January 2 and 31, March 2 and 31) The only other time it happened last century was in 1915 (January 1 and 31, March 1 and 31)

Sam Earnshaw sweats justice.



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