Woodlands Fitness Centre

The Woodlands newsletter: Sunday 2nd January 2022

Sunday 2nd January 2022

Hi,

I'd like to start this newsletter by wishing all of our members - past, present and future - a very happy, fulfilling and successful new year.

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Monday 3rd January) is a Bank Holiday, so we'll be open 8am to 2pm. There will be a group session at 9.30am.

Right, now let's get back to talking about fitness, fat loss and nutrition. Because losing fat is 70% nutrition.

Why?

Because you can't easily out train a bad diet!

Believe me, I've tried. Tried hard. Those Mars Bars catch up with you eventually.

This means you have to establish a calorie target and stick to it.

Every.

Single.

Week.

Using The Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, let's do the sums for a 44 year old female who is 167 cm tall and weighs 74kg. Her BMR is 1,403 calories per day.

This person - let's call her Barbara - is moderately active so we multiply Barbara's BMR by 1.55. So...

1,404 x 1.55 = 2,174.

A deficit of 20% of this maintenance level will usually mean everything is happening in a way that's best for you and your exact situation.

Dieting with a high calorie deficit puts a lot of stress on the body. And the longer you diet, the more this stress increases. When stress is elevated for a long period of time, the stress hormone cortisol increases and as a result, people start retaining water.

So...

2,174 x 20% = 435 calories
Daily calorie target: 1,739

There are 3,500 calories in a Ib of fat. You should solely focus on losing fat. Barbara will need 113 days to lose a stone (49,000 calories) at an average calorie deficit of 435 calories per day.

Simple?

On paper, of course it is.

But this 435 calorie deficit can easily be used up. For example, one unit of alcohol contains eight grams or 10ml of alcohol, which provides 56 calories.

A 250ml glass of white wine is the same as one doughnut: 180 calories.

One glass of wine a night would reduce Barbara's deficit to 255 calories and would take her 192 days (over 6 months!) to lose 14 Ibs of fat.

There's much more to losing fat than just eating less or exercising more.

There are 3 goals that need to be kept in mind when planning how big or small a caloric deficit should be to optimally lose weight:

1). Maximising fat loss (not weight loss!).

2). Minimising muscle loss.

3). Doing it all in a way that is as doable and sustainable for you as possible.

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: £22
3 months: £24
1 month: £26

Single (per month):

For single prices, please check our special offers:
www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/special-offers

Student prices are only for students in full time education.


Unlimited Personal Training:

How would you like to have personal training every single time you attend Woodlands?

Well now you can!

Our Unlimited PT membership offers an appointment controlled personal training system where a personal trainer will train up to 6 members at any one time.

We offer a variety of group exercise sessions throughout the day to help you achieve you build fitness, strength, co-ordination and flexibility whilst burning fat.

Group sessions are strictly limited to 6 people:

* There are 36 group training sessions per week, including: Condition, Total, Upper, Lower, Core, Circuit and HIIT.

* We also offer '30m' groups: these 30 minute Classes Group training sessions are condensed versions of our normal 45 minute groups, designed to pack in high intensity exercise to push you to the next level and really make the most of your time here!

We have a 5.15pm Group on Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

We have added a second Group class to Sunday morning to accommodate the increasing demand

These shared personal training sessions are strictly limited to 6 people! This is to ensure you get a higher quality of coaching and support.

We always prefer an informal approach - so we will be maintaining the booking forms in the gym.

All bookings can be made in the gym, by phone, e-mail or via social media.

How you book in isn't important; we just care that you attend regularly.

Here is a list of our group training sessions:
www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/group-exercise


Unlimited PT membership prices:

Joint/Student:

12 months: £32pm
3 months: £34pm
1 month: £36pm

Single:

For single prices, please check our special offers:
www.woodlandsfitnessrowsley.co.uk/special-offers


2 x 45membership:

This membership includes:

✔2 x 45 minute PT sessions per month (worth £23 each)
✔Unlimited SHARED PT sessions
✔Unlimited gym use
✔Calorie target setting advice
✔Nutritional support
✔Discounted additional personal training sessions

12 month: £43pm
3 month: £46
1 month: £49

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.


Personal Training Packages:

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 mins:

3 weeks x 2 per week
6 x 30 mins: £72 (£89)

5 weeks x 2 per week
10 x 30 mins: £116 (£144)

45 mins:

3 weeks x 2 per week
6 x 45 mins: £95 (£120)

4 weeks x 2 per week
8 x 45 mins: £127 (£160)

60 mins:

4 weeks x 2 per week
8 x 60 mins: £156 (£178)

The price in brackets is for non-members.

All of our PT packages include:

Group PT membership.
Gym membership.
Calorie target setting advice.
Nutritional support.

All PT sessions must be used within time periods listed above.

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 - 8.45pm
Tuesday: 9.00am - 8.45pm
Wednesday: 7.30am - 8.45pm
Thursday: 9.00am - 8.45pm
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


Maybe you shouldn't work out alone?

Working out alone can be great.

It gives you time to clear your mind.

Listen to your own music.

And feel the burn.

However, sometimes it takes a workout buddy to hold you accountable.

Working out with a partner or in a group personal training session not only makes it more likely that you'll work out; it makes most people try harder than they would on their own.

Your partner can cheer you on to finish that last half mile or to finish those last four deadlifts.

And let's not forget the power of good old-fashioned competition.

If your friend is doing 50 squats, don't you suddenly feel inspired to do 51?

So these are 7 workout habits you should drop now. Right now! Drop em like they're hot.

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


Fuelling Your Body

Another reason that people fail is they don't know how to eat properly. If you are going to go to the gym to work out, you've got to fuel your body.

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

The majority of people are impatient and want to lose weight fast. Since they have little or no knowledge of diet, nutrition and how metabolism works, they think that by starving themselves, or eating as little as possible will make them lose fat quickly and give them the body they desire.

This will result in a quick weight drop - but most of the weight lost will 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.

The next point to consider is the breakdown of muscle tissue. There are 9 essential amino acids which our body can't synthesize so they must be sourced through diet.

In order for muscle maintenance and tissue turnover to take place, amino acids must be present otherwise muscle breakdown will occur.

Since carbohydrate stores are low the body converts amino acids into glucose via gluconeogenesis which takes place in the liver. This will also result in loss of lean body mass.

Here is where the vicious cycle begins. Since muscle burns more calories and to some extent controls the speed of your metabolism, as your muscle mass decreases, your calorie needs also decrease and your metabolism slows down.

After just a few days of heavily restricted calorie intake, your body will go into starvation mode in order to survive, which means it will hold on to its fuel supplies (fat) for dear life.

Diet is the most important factor in losing excess unwanted fat. In order for our body to let go of stubborn fat stores it must be given the right nutrients at the right time.

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


Another split request...

A member has tasked me with a training split that enables him to train his chest & back twice per week.

Ordinarily I would recommend a simple (but effective) upper / lower split:

Day 1: Upper body (chest, back, front delts, middle delts, rear delts, traps, triceps & biceps)
Day 2: Lower body (quads, hams, calves & abs):
Day 3: Rest
Repeat...

However, this particular member wants to train Monday to Friday, wants to train his chest and back together and only wants to train his legs, shoulders and arms once per week.

Very specific.

But here goes....

Like most of my splits, this split is configured as follows:

Day 1: Upper 1 (chest & back):
Day 2: Lower 1 (quads, hams, calves & abs):
Day 3: Upper 2 (front delts, middle delts, rear delts, traps, triceps & biceps):
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Upper 3 (chest & back):
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

The first chest & back workout is heavier, with the first exercise being 5 sets of 5 reps, whilst the second chest & back workout is lighter, with the first exercise being 3 sets of 8-10 reps.

Performing fewer than 6 reps builds mostly strength, and performing more than 12 prevents you from using heavier weights. So the safe range is 8 to 10.

For the first exercise of each workout, do 2 additional warm-up sets of 12 to 15 reps using a lighter weight. This will help to get the body ready to work out while helping to prevent injuries.

So a fleshed out routine would look something like this....

Day 1: Upper 1 (chest & back):

Chest:
Barbell Bench Press 5 x 5
Incline Barbell Bench Press 3 x 8-10
Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes 3 x 8-10

Back:
Barbell Rows 5 x 5
Wide-Grip Pulldowns 3 x 8-10
Low Cable Rows 3 x 8-10


Day 2: Lower 1 (quads, hams, calves & abs):

Quads:
Barbell Squats 4 x 8-10
Leg Extensions 3 x 8-10

Hams:
Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts 3 x 8-10
Lying leg curl 3 x 8-10

Calves:
Seated Calf Raises 3 x 8-12
Standing Calf Raises 3 x 8-12

Abs:
Ab crunches on a bench 3 x 12-15
Hanging Leg Raises (knees bent) 3 x 12-15

Day 3: Upper 2 (front delts, middle delts, rear delts, traps, triceps & biceps):

Anterior deltoids:
Standing Barbell Military Presses 3 x 8-10

Medial deltoids:
Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 x 8-10

Posterior deltoids:
Bent-Over Rear Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 x 10-12

Traps:
Barbell Shrugs 3 x 8-10

Biceps:
Standing Barbell Curls 3 x 8-10
Alternating Dumbbell Curls 3 x 8-10

Triceps:
Close-Grip Bench Presses 3 x 8-10
Straight Bar Cable Pushdowns 3 x 8-10

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Repeat Day 1.

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


Recipe of the week: Bacon Stew

Ingredients:

3 or 4 slices bacon
450g potatoes
3 carrots
1 large onion
600ml (1 pint) chicken stock

Method:

Slice bacon into strips or chunks, fry off, drain and leave to cool.

Peel potatoes, cut into medium size chunks and put in large pot or saucepan.

Cut carrots into chunks and add to pot. Cut onions and add to pot.

Pour stock over.

Add the bacon.

Bring to the boil, then turn to medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Enjoy!


Exercise of the week: BARBELL STEP-UP

This exercises works the gluteus
Maximus / medius, quadriceps. Hamstrings gastrocnemius, and the tibialis anterior. So, pretty much most of the muscles in the leg.

Stand in front of a box (6 to 24 inches high) with feet shoulder-width apart & pointed straight ahead.

Draw abs in & activate glutes.

Step onto a box with one leg keeping foot pointed.

straight ahead & knee lined up over mid foot.

Push through heel & stand up straight.

Step off the box maintaining optimal alignment.

Repeat on other leg

Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per leg.

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




Things to consider

Train consistency:

Don't miss too many workouts. Muscle building takes years. Are you willing to pay this price?

Are wraps better for you?

A paper-thin wrap may seem like a healthier, lower carb alternative to a sandwich - but don't be fooled by appearances. Wraps are almost always loaded with calories, thanks to the fat that's needed to make them pliable—and a large wrap can be the carb and calorie equivalent of four or five slices of bread. In other words, forget the wrap and go for a cold, open-faced sandwich instead. Your waistline will thank you.

Choose the right tempo:

Working at the right tempo helps you stay in control rather than compromise strength gains through momentum. For example, count to three while lowering a weight, hold, then count to three while raising it to the starting position.

Colour Code Your Snacks:

You can avoid a mindless binge by adding visual traffic lights to your snack. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University gave one set of students a bowl of uniform yellow chips, while another group had their regular snack layered with differently coloured chips. Students who had their snack segmented ate 50 percent less than those with a uniform bowl.


Useless Facts

The name of all continents in the world end with the same letter that they start with.

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

The longest word comprised of one row on the keyboard is: TYPEWRITER

You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

The average person spends 12 weeks a year 'looking for things'.







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