Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands newsletter: Monday 28th December 2020

Saturday 26th December 2020

Hi,

Okay, so this newsletter – the final newsletter of the year – is going to be a bit of a mixed bag.

Hopefully there’ll be something for everyone.

One of the articles will discuss what should you eat to lose fat and gain muscle.

Another article is about HIIT.

And I will also discuss how fat loss is not the only goal for the New Year.

Everybody who continued to pay their DD during the 4 week lockdown 5/11 to 2/12 is entitled to a free 1-2-1 personal training. Please contact us to arrange this.

Next week, there’s a winter bulking plan. So that’s something to look forward to.

First off, let’s smash out some special offers.

In the past, we’ve done a 2-4-1 membership. So let’s do one again.

Offer 1:

2-4-1 Gym Only Membership

Join or Renew your membership with a friend or family member and enjoy a joint membership for the price of a single membership.

This membership includes:

✔Unlimited gym use for 2 people
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

12 months: £25 per month.
3 months: £27 per month.
1 month: £29 per month.

Terms & Conditions:

Minimum term applies. The free member cannot have been a member of this gym for at least 3 months.

Offer 2:

2-4-1 Supervised Gym sessions Membership

Join or Renew your membership with a friend or family member and enjoy a joint membership for the price of a single membership.

✔Unlimited supervised gym sessions for 2 people
✔Unlimited gym use for 2 people
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

12 months: £40 per month.
3 months: £43 per month.
1 month: £46 per month.

Terms & Conditions:

Minimum term applies. The free member cannot have been a member of this gym for at least 3 months.

Offer 3:

10 x 45 minute PT sessions.

This package includes:

✔10 x 45 minute PT sessions (worth £21 each)
✔10 Weeks Unlimited Supervised Gym sessions
✔10 Weeks Unlimited gym use
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

ONLY £135 (£165 for non-members)

Only 10 available. All PT sessions must be used within 10 weeks.

Offer 4:

20 x 30 minute PT sessions (2x per week)

This package includes:

✔20 x 30 minute PT sessions (worth £16 each)
✔10 Weeks Unlimited supervised gym sessions
✔10 Weeks Unlimited gym use
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

ONLY £185 (£225 for non-members)

Only 5 available. All PT sessions must be used within 10 weeks.

Offer 5:

10 x 45 minute PT sessions worth £210 FREE when you join for 7 months.

This package includes:

✔10 x 45 minute PT sessions (worth £21 each)
✔Unlimited gym only membership
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

ONLY £25 per month.

Minimum term applies. All PT sessions must be used within 10 weeks.

Did you know it’s possible to have a New Year’s resolution that has absolutely positively nothing to do with fat loss or achieving a smaller number on the scale?

Shocking, I know.

Even if you want to lose weight to increase your confidence and improve your health, you don’t have to focus on fat loss. More on this below - but know you can have other goals instead.

Empowering goals, for example.

Goals that make you feel great about yourself rather than a goal that leaves you feeling not quite good enough or that your happiness is contingent on reaching a lower bodyweight.

Goals that get you excited to work out instead of workouts being a must-complete chore.

Want some ideas?

If you enjoy cardio-based activities, like rowing, the goal can be to improve your conditioning and performance. Set a goal, like rowing a certain distance in a set amount of time - for example - then follow a plan to make it happen.

Or simply strive to do a little better over time, rowing the same distance in less time or gradually increasing the distance.

Interested in learning how to strength train, or ready to get back to working out after a break?

Then why not focus on steadily improving your performance over time and get stronger? Set some goals that would be fun to achieve, like deadlift your bodyweight for several reps or progressing to pressing, pulling, and training with heavier dumbbells.

Take a break from obsessing over fat loss and altering how your body looks. Focus on empowering, measurable actions and goals that will improve your health, make you stronger and improve your conditioning.

There are loads of reasons, other than fat loss, to regularly move your body in ways you enjoy. Start discovering those reasons.

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

Gym Only memberships:

Joint/Student (per month):

12 months: £20
3 months: £23
1 month: £26

Single (per month):

For single prices, please check our special offers:

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

Student prices are only for students in full time education.

Supervised Gym Sessions

As conventional classes are temporarily on ice, we are offering supervised gym sessions instead. Turn up at the usual times, get a workout and one of us will be around to help you.

There are 43 supervised gym sessions each week. Let me know in advance if you want to train a specific body part.

We can offer 30m workouts: these are condensed versions of our normal sessions, designed to pack in high intensity exercise to push you to the next level and really make the most of your time here!

Here is a list of our supervised gym sessions:

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

Supervised Gym Sessions membership prices:

This membership includes unlimited gym use.

Joint/Student:
12 months: £30pm
3 months: £33pm
1 month: £36pm

Single:

For single prices, please check our special offers:

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

Personal Training:

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 minutes: £13 (£17)
45 minutes: £18 (£22)
60 minutes: £21 (£25)

The price in brackets is for non-members.

All of our PT packages include:

✔GROUP PT / supervised gym sessions membership.
✔Gym membership.
✔Calorie target setting advice.
✔Nutritional support.

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 – 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

What should you eat to lose fat and gain muscle?

Your eating strategy needs to include two points to lose fat while gaining muscle:

Sustain a caloric deficit.

Prioritise protein so you can build muscle even while in a deficit.

If your meal plate looks like this, you're doing great:

1-2 servings of protein (¼ of plate)

2 servings of vegetables (½ of plate)

1 serving potatoes, rice, or pasta. (1/4th of plate)

1 serving of fat (size of your thumb)

1 zero calorie or low calorie beverage (water, diet soda, tea)

Focus on “REAL food,” which will help you maintain a caloric deficit over time.

Let’s hone in on protein for a moment, because it’s the critical piece for “building muscle.”

Protein can come from any number of sources, including:

Meat (steak, lamb, pork).
Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck).
Eggs.

Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, shrimp).
Legumes (black beans, chickpeas).

Not a meat-eater? Ask me about plant-based protein sources.

A serving of protein is about the size and thickness of your palm.

A serving of protein should be about the size of your palm, like so.

*The 4 oz serving is for an uncooked piece of meat. Cooking reduces about 25% of the weight, bringing it down to about 3 oz.

If you’re curious, here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:

4 oz (113 g) serving of chicken has around 30 g of protein.

4 oz (113 g) serving of salmon has 23 g of protein

4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.

While all of the Healthy Plate above is important, I want you to pay extra attention to your protein intake since we are trying to build muscle.

If you’re having trouble making your protein intake goals, consider using a Protein Supplement.

This is the exact strategy you need to follow to get to single-digit bodyfat percentage WHILE building muscle:

Lift heavy weights (at least 50% of your 1RM).
Eat LOTS of protein.
Reduce carb and fat intake.

If you are NOT losing weight, it means you are still eating too many calories. Keep your protein intake high, and reduce your fat and carbohydrate intake.

Eventually, you’ll reach a status where there just isn’t enough fat on you to help with “Rebuild Muscle.” At this stage, you can no longer stay with a caloric deficit. You’ll need to flip to a slight “caloric surplus” to build more muscle.

Which means you may reach a point where you have to eat more to gain muscle. It’s debatable when this will actually occur, and we are all different. Reaching 8% body fat for men and 16% body fat for women is a good place to start.

I want to stress that if you are lifting heavy, and not gaining muscle, diet is likely the culprit.

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

High-intensity interval training (HIIT)

If you've ever wondered how to lose fat fast, we need to get one thing straight: there's no quick-fix, overnight answer to weight loss. No matter what diet pill, promotion, or fad is going around, weight loss doesn't occur in the blink of an eye.

In order to burn body fat, you need to both eat a clean diet where you consume fewer calories than you burn during the day, and you need to workout.

The problem is that some people believe all workouts are created equally - but they're not. Different workouts give you different results.

If your goal is to lose fat, you can't just jog at a steady pace every day and expect to see the pounds come off. You need to incorporate a different type of exercise: High Intensity Interval Training.

So what exactly is High Intensity Interval Training?

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an exercise strategy that is intended to improve performance with short training sessions. HIIT is a form of cardio which is beneficial to burning fat in a short and intense workout.

HIIT sessions typically vary from 4 to 20 minutes. The original protocol set a 2:1 ratio for work to recovery periods. For example, you could alternate 20 seconds of hard sprinting with 10 seconds of jogging or walking.

HIIT is considered to be an excellent way to maximize a workout that is limited on time. The reason that High Intensity Interval Training works better for fat loss is this: When you do a cardio session at the same pace the whole time, your body goes into what is called steady state.

This means that your body has adjusted itself to the speed you are going and tries hard to conserve energy (calories). You will be able to avoid this and burn more calories and FAT by doing the interval training.

If you need any further information or advice on how to implement these into your training, please come and talk to me.

Exercise of the week: How To Do The Rack Pull

Start by setting up the height of your rack. The three most common positions are just below the knee, just above the knee or halfway up your thigh.

If you are an experienced weightlifter you can pick the height in line with the part of the deadlift you think you can improve, or just work through a set of rack pulls at each height.

The lower the height, the more you’ll involve your glutes and hamstrings in the exercise, while a higher starting point places greater focus on your back.

When the bar is in your favoured position, grasp it with your palms facing towards you and your hands shoulder-width apart. Engage your hamstrings by pushing your hips back.

Keeping your back straight and looking forwards throughout the movement, lift the weight by driving your hips forwards and straightening your knees.

Pull your shoulders back at the top of the movement, then slowly reverse the movement and lower the bar back into the power rack.

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

Roast pork belly, fondant potatoes & pickled onions

Ingredients:

½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp mace
1 star anise, ground to a powder using a pestle and mortar
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
2 ½kg bone-in pork belly, skin scored
50g butter, softened, for the tin
12 medium Maris Piper potatoes
1 bunch of thyme
454g jar pickled onions, drained
125ml chicken stock

Method:

Mix the thyme, mace, star anise and sea salt flakes together in a small bowl. Rub all over the pork belly.

If you have time, transfer the pork to a tray and marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hrs, but this is not essential.

Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and butter a large roasting tin.

Cut a thin slice lengthways from both sides of each potato, then sit them flat in the prepared tin in one even layer. Scatter over the thyme and onions, then pour over the chicken stock.

Sit the pork on top of the potatoes, skin-side up and roast for 30 mins. Reduce the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 1 hr 30 mins, until the skin is crisp.

Transfer the pork to a board, then cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 20 mins.

Return the tin with the potatoes to the oven and increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 25-30 mins until crisp.

Carve the pork into generous squares (you can use a bread knife to do this more easily) and serve alongside the fondant potatoes and caramelised pickled onions.

Enjoy!

Useless Facts

There are 1 million ants for every human in the world.

Odds of being killed by lightening? 1 in 2million/killed in a car crash? 1 in 5,000/killed by falling out of bed? 1 in 2million/killed in a plane crash? 1 in 25 million.

Since 1978, 37 people have died by Vending Machine's falling on them. 13 people are killed annually. All this while trying to shake merchandise out of them. 113 people have been injured.

Half the foods eaten throughout the world today were developed by farmers in the Andes Mountains (including potatoes, maize, sweet potatoes, squash, all varieties of beans, peanuts, manioc, papayas, strawberries, mulberries and many others).

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