Woodlands Fitness Centre

Hi, Easter! You know, that one with the eggs. Well here are our Easter opening times: Good Friday (30th March): 9am – 2pm HIIT / Giles / 9.30am Saturday (31st March): As normal.... Easter Sunday (1st April): 9am – 12noon Easter Monday (2nd April): 9am – 2pm Circuit Training / Big Jack / 9.30am Bank Holiday Monday…

view more »

Hi, The biology of muscle isn't, in fact, rocket science. At its most basic level is the SAID principle, an acronym for “specific adaptation to imposed demand”. When a muscle contracts against a large amount of resistance, it adapts by getting bigger and stronger. Likewise, if a muscle is regularly forced to contract for long periods of time, it becomes more resistant to fatigue. When you lift weights, you cause tiny tears in your muscle fibres. This accelerates a process called muscle-protein synthesis, which uses amino acids to repair and reinforce the fibres, making them resistant to future damage. And although this happens at a microscopic level, the effect becomes visible over time in the form of bigger arms, broader shoulders,…

view more »

Hi, This is not great advice for Ali Gregory or James Turner, who have both been physically destroyed by rugby, or Lauren Coupland, who has been mildly inconvenienced by netball, but for the rest of you sport is a great way to burn extra calories, trim away the fat, and still have a hell of a lot of fun doing it. Playing a sport involves cardio and lots of non-linear movement (jumping, back pedalling, side stepping), making it healthier than straight jogging. There are loads of ways to burn hundreds of calories without even realizing it. Just for clarity, I’m not advising that any of you consider sports instead of a gym membership. Playing sports can work alongside using a gym.…

view more »

Hi, If you’re not already hitting the gym and racking up the weights, now’s the time if fat loss is your goal. Even if you start small and work your way up to heavier weights, gaining muscle is going to put you on the fast-track to hitting that goal. When it comes to exercise, you have to train with weights to increase lean mass. Fat is burned inside of your muscle cells. The bigger and more plentiful your muscle cells, the bigger your fat-burning furnace. Think about how much more fuel a Range Rover will use than a Mini. In short, adding muscle increases the size of your fat-burning furnace. Dieting or exercising incorrectly decreases it. We now offer Unlimited…

view more »

Hi, If you think hitting the weights is the only thing you have to do to lose fat faster, you’re wrong. You need a solid balance of weight training, cardio, and nutrition. You need some form of cardiovascular work to burn excess body fat. The body will burn primarily carbs during the first twenty minutes of cardiovascular exercise. After 20 minutes the body shifts over and starts to burn stored body fat as the primary source of energy. You need a combination of both weight training and cardio to get fat off your body. Okay, so what kind of cardio is best, I hear you ask. A steady 30 minutes on a cross trainer, perhaps? NO! There are a number of viable…

view more »

Hi, Over the last 2 newsletters I’ve included 2 instalments of an article about how to get bigger buttocks. This newsletter contains the final thrilling instalment of this article. The fundamentals of growing any muscle (aside from that one, get your head out of the gutter!) are pretty much the same so aspects of the article could be applied to other muscle groups. Thanks to many of the Instafamous gym users on Instagram who post seemingly never ending pics of their glute workouts or the product of their glute workouts (over the shoulder selfies of their posterior region!), I’ve been asked a lot of questions about the posterior region, namely the buttocks. Not everyone wants to change the appearance of their…

view more »

These newsletters are typically around 1,800 words (this one is 1,718 words), so it’s hard to cover a broad range of subjects or cater to all members each week. Generally I use these newsletters to answer some of the questions I get asked each week, as I assume that if one person asks that question then maybe there are others with similar queries. A few clients / members have asked me about how to develop their buttocks. Not everyone wants to change the appearance of their buttocks. And that's absolutely fine! But for those who do it can be tough to know exactly how to go about it and how your diet, training, and lifestyle can support or inhibit your…

view more »

Well let’s start by saying that I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and wishing you all a very Happy New Year. Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about something vaguely fitness related. I always try to write these newsletters to be gender neutral. As many of you will know, gender neutrality was widely discussed in 2017. For those of you who don't know, gender neutrality is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions should avoid distinguishing roles according to people's sex or gender, in order to avoid discrimination arising from the impression that there are social roles for which one gender is more suited than another. Other than the shower rooms, the weight…

view more »

What’s New? A lot of members are asking us about our Christmas Opening Times so here they are: Christmas Eve (Sunday): 8am–2pm Xmas Day (Monday): Closed Boxing Day (Tuesday): Closed 27th (Wednesday): 9am-2pm 28th (Thursday) : 9am–2pm 29th (Friday): 9am–2pm 30th (Saturday): 9am–2pm New Years Eve (Sunday): 9am–2pm New Years Day (Monday): Closed 2nd (Tuesday): Back to normal. We have 2 main membership options: Gym Only: Single: £25pm for 12 months, £27pm for 3 months and £29pm for 1 month. Joint/Student: £22pm for 12 months, £24pm for 3 months and £26pm for 1 month. Unlimited Personal Training membership : This membership includes: ✔ 48 sessions available every week. ✔ Share the sessions with up to 5 other people. ✔ Come to as many sessions as you like. ✔ Each session will be structured as an actual personal training session. ✔…

view more »