Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands newsletter: Monday 28th January 2019

Monday 28th January 2019

Hi,

Right then! In my newsletter last week I asked everyone to book into the group personal training sessions as the 9:30am group should have been limited to 8 people but 10 people showed up. Well, yesterday we had 11 people in (it would have 12 had it not been for 1 person cancelling due to illness).

Of course I'm flattered so many choose to drag your carcass out of bed to spend some quality time with me - but I can't go charging you a premium for small group PT limited to 8 people and then run classes with 10+.....!

So, I've amended the group PT timetable to have 2 groups back to back: 9:00am and 9:45am. Due to limited numbers, you can't do back to back groups. Just work hard in 1 session and enjoy the rest of your day.

There will be an additional group at 12:15. Revised timetable below....

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

Also, please note the new Group Training membership prices, which now apply:

Joint/Student:
£30pm for 12 months, £35pm for 3 months and £40pm for 1 month.

Single:
£35pm for 12 months, £40pm for 3 months and £45pm for 1 month.

Any exercise is better than no exercise. However, like diet plans, not all exercise is created equal. I've talked / ranted about this extensively over the years. However, many people often choose the wrong form of exercise to maximise their efforts to lose weight. For example, too many people will do cardio exclusively and ignore resistance 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. Think about it; if you do any form of exercise whilst watching the latest episode of Stranger Things then are you really doing much? NO!

When I talk about weight loss, I actually mean fat loss. They are not the same thing. A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories whereas a pound of muscle equals only 600 calories - so a large calorie deficit and rapid weight loss will result in more muscle loss. Not an ideal outcome. So if I use the term 'weight loss', I do so only because it is a familiar term most people understand.

The true focus and goal of a properly set up nutrition and exercise plan should be on fat loss, not weight loss. Focusing on losing weight means you'll lose essential muscle, water, and even bone - as well as some fat. This is the wrong approach. Obvs.

Losing the fat and keeping the all important lean body mass should be the goal. The type of exercise, intensity of that exercise, length of time doing that exercise, etc., are essential variables here when attempting to lose FAT while retaining lean body mass.

What do athletes, elite military forces, and football teams and fitness models all have in common? Read on to find out....

This subject is explored later in our article: Stop using cardio machines now!

Are you seeing results? Everybody needs a little bit of help with exercise sometimes - even if you're just starting out or have been at it for a long time. Still, there are people who shy away from personal training, unsure of what they'll get out of the experience or whether it's worth the money. There are a number of reasons people work with personal trainers.

Some want a tailor made program so they can lose weight or get in shape. Some need to be held accountable for their workouts. Regardless of how long you've been training for, what your goals are or what level you're at, a personal trainer may be just what you need to take it to the next level.

Woodlands offer a range of small group personal training sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening. These small group personal training sessions are a great way to get fitter with friends and family.

With only having a small number of clients in each session, each individual can be monitored and set goals in each session and still have the same results as they would from one-to-one personal training.

These small group personal training sessions will help you to feel fitter, leaner, stronger, more agile, more flexible and more confident. What we offer is everything you would expect from one-to-one personal training: motivation, technical guidance, nutritional support and progression, blended with the flexibility and regularity that comes with being a member of a conventional gym. Simply said, you can have personal training as many times a week as you like at an affordable price.

Ok, so you've been exercising consistently for several weeks or months and you are not losing weight or anywhere near to reaching your goals? Hiring a trainer may be a great choice for you. A trainer can look at your current program and eating habits and help you see where you could make changes to create more effective workouts.

A personal trainer can also help you determine if the goals you've set are realistic for you, hold you accountable for your workouts and help you stay motivated to exercise. You may even find that you are getting results, just not in the way you expected, something a trainer may see more clearly from the outside.

The Woodlands Fitness Centre Group Personal Training membership is simple:

✔ 32 x PT sessions available every week.
✔Sessions can be used to burn fat, get fit and build lean muscle.
✔ Groups include HIIT, kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells and bodyweight exercises
✔ Max 6-8 people per session
✔ Come to as many sessions as you like
✔ Prices from £6.92 per week (paid monthly)
✔ No contract options available

Each session will be a proper personal training session. These sessions will push you far harder than training on your own. So you'll get much better results.

Gym Only Membership:

Single: £23pm for 12 months, £25pm for 3 months and £27pm for 1 month.
Joint/Student: £22pm for 12 months, £24pm for 3 months and £26pm for 1 month.

PT prices:

Here are a few examples of our most popular PT packages:

8 x 30 minute PT sessions
£112

4 x 45 minute PT sessions
£80

4 x 60 minute PT sessions
£107

All sessions must be used within 4 weeks. We use time limits with our personal training packages to encourage frequent and consistent training. Packages can be designed to your individual needs. We can adjust the time limits in advance to take into account holidays, business trips, etc.

All of our PT packages include full gym & 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


Stop using cardio machines now

The hardest part of working in the fitness industry is fighting people's misconceptions. The biggest is the importance and/value of cardio equipment. Cardio is important. But is cardio on a cross trainer, treadmill or stationery bike necessary?

Cardio exercise is any exercise that raises your heart rate. This encompasses a lot of things. Including resistance training.

Our bodies were made to move. And we all know that to keep our muscles in shape we need move them. This movement makes them stronger and stronger muscles make for a more efficient and healthy body. Your heart is a muscle. Therefore working it makes it stronger. A stronger cardio-vascular system means more capillaries delivering more oxygen to cells in your muscles. This enables your cells to burn more fat during both exercise and inactivity.

When choosing exercise methods, this is what really matters:

1). total Number of Calories burnt per workout;
2). Afterburn Effect of Exercise (known in the Sports Science world as EPOC)

The most effective form of cardiovascular training is High Intensity Interval Training. This involves Short intervals at maximum intensity followed by short periods of rest. Best all around workout that burns fat and calories.

On paper, losing weight is simple; we need to create a calorific deficit which means burn off more calories than we take in (this is called the law of thermodynamic). However, losing weight and losing fat are two very different things - and can easily get mixed up.

Please don't think of it as losing weight. Rather, think of it as "getting in shape". The majority of people are impatient and want to lose weight fast.

Rapid weight loss will normally be water, muscle and a very small portion of fat. For every 1g of glycogen burned off, 3g of water is lost. This can result in a steep drop in weight rather quickly.

To get in shape, you need to do the right kind of exercise. The fat burn zone is a joke. And not even a funny joke. We all derive a proportion of our energy from carbohydrate and a proportion from our fat. Very rarely will we ever derive all our energy exclusively from one source. Energy is normally always 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. Burning fat requires the presence of oxygen. When you work at high intensity's 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.

Skipping Ropes are fun, easy and burns loads of calories. If you remember doing this for hours as a kid you will be surprised at how exhausted you will get now. Look at how great a boxers physique is. They do lots of skipping. You didn't see Mike Tyson messing about on a crosstrainer whilst mindlessly scrolling through Instagram.

Rowing is great. It works both the upper and lower body and is low stress on joints and ligaments. Just be sure to wear arm bands in case you fall out.

Circuit Training is fantastic for combining cardiovascular fitness with calorie burning. Similar concept to HIIT training. When you work out at a high intensity the blood starts to pump a lot harder and that challenges the elasticity of the arterial wall.

I can help you to work your heart whilst building and "toning" muscle. Toning isn't really a thing - but people know what it means and sometimes it's just easier to go with the flow.

So if you really want to improve your physique and your fitness, do Burpees. Lots of Burpees. Burpees aren't just beneficial for hardcore athletes. They're for everyone. Burpees.

Just follow these simple steps:

First, stand up straight, then get into a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you.

Kick your feet back into a push up position and immediately drop your chest to the ground.

Bow your chest up, then return your feet back to the squat position as fast as possible.

Immediately jump up into the air as high as you can.

Burpees are all about speed - but don't go too fast. You'll burn yourself out after doing just a few. Trust me.

Here are some reasons why Burpees are awesome - and why they should replace the cross trainer, treadmill or stationery bike:

1). Burpees burn lots of calories

Burpees are an intense fully body exercise - so they burn a ton of calories. Plus, research shows that high intensity exercises like Burpees burn up to 50% more fat than moderate exercising. Better yet, Burpees will speed up your metabolism throughout the day—meaning you'll burn more calories all day long, even after your burpee hell is over.

So if you want to lose weight, ditch the recumbent bike and elliptical machine—and do some Burpees instead.

2). Burpees make you stronger

The burpee is a full body strength training exercise and the ultimate example of functional fitness. With every rep, you'll work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. After a few sets of Burpees, your legs should feel a little bit like lead.

3). Burpees are great for conditioning

Why do you think Burpees are embraced in the hardest of workouts? Because they're great for developing conditioning and endurance! And they get your heart rate up. Fast.

Burpees are a great way to get in shape quickly - whether your goal is to learn a new sport, train for a triathlon, hike a big mountain, or, just to look good.

4). Burpees can be added to almost any workout.

Unlike using a cardio machine like a cross trainer, which is a slow, monotonous form of exercising (unless you're watching the exploits of Luther on your iPad), Burpees are fast paced and dynamic. And they are never boring.

Burpees will help whip you into shape quicker than you ever thought possible. However, if you're at the gym, there are plenty of burpee variations you can do to mix things up. Here are a few:

Burpee pull ups. Do a burpee in front of a pull up bar. Then do a (jumping) pull up.

Burpee knee ups. Do a burpee in front of your dip station. Then do a knee up.

Burpee box jumps. Do a burpee in front of a box or a high surface you can jump on. Then do a box jump.

Be creative and come up with your own!

For a really awesome (and challenging) burpee workout, try doing 100 Burpees in a row as fast as you can. Alternatively, do 5 Burpees every minute, on the minute for 20 minutes.

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


Simple slow cooker beef and tomato stew

Ingredients: 8

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1 kg beef stewing steak, cubed
1 large onion, diced
2 (400g) tins chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and fry the beef in batches (just to brown it). Spoon each batch into the slow cooker pot.

Fry the onion for a minute or two to brown. Add to beef in slow cooker and pour over tinned tomatoes.

Mix well, set the slow cooker to high for 6 hours. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with baked potatoes or mash.

If it's too much for one dinner, you can make a pie using any leftovers: Place in a casserole dish, cover with mashed potatoes and some grated cheese and reheat in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.


Enjoy!


Useless Facts

A full-loaded supertanker travelling at normal speed takes at least 20 minutes to stop.

Fire escapes were invented to protect fire from Lynne Carson.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

James "Chiz" Chisnall has been the leader of a comedy improv troupe for the past twenty years.

Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.




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