Category Archives: Fitness

Winning the Battle of the Bulge

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The daunting prospect of joining a gym is something many people struggle with, and many of us will make endless excuses not too. But Club CHF Member Claire Richardson tells us how gaining the courage to join the gym has helped turned her life around…

For many years I have been your typical yo-yo dieter who has occasionally “attempted” exercise.  One of the scariest words in the world to me was ‘gym’. Why? Well to me gyms were full of Lycra clad, matching outfit wearing, skinny people who were super fit and therefore definitely not a place for me at all. So you imagine my surprise when I actually found myself joining Club CHF back in March 2011. Talk about new and scary territory!

It was during a very low point in my life. I had been signed off work due to illness, I was at my heaviest tipping the scale at just over 20 Stone, my blood pressure was through the roof and my self-esteem nowhere to be seen. So why on earth was I going to put myself through such a thing? I still don’t know the answer even to this day but am extremely glad I did. You should have seen me on my first day. There I was, a bag of nerves, trying to hide underneath the biggest/baggiest t-shirt, black of course, I could find in the hope that no one would notice. But from the moment I walked through the doors I was made to feel part of the Club CHF family and like I had the same right to be there as everyone else. The Staff were more than welcoming and friendly and people actually smiled at me and said hello rather than sniggered at me.

I started off in the gym, doing my own thing and because I was off work I was able to come during the day when it was quiet. This was a great help as my confidence started to, slowly, build. After a while I got speaking to Caroline who was one of the trainers. She took the time to talk to me about what I wanted to achieve, why was I there, what were my goals etc. She helped me work out a gym routine to focus on the areas I wanted to work on (which was everywhere!). I would visit the gym a couple of times a week, collect my workout sheet from the drawer and do my thing and it was great to see a familiar and encouraging face. The biggest surprise, apart from the fact that no one was laughing at me, was the fact that I was actually enjoying it. Who knew exercise could be fun!

Having gotten to grips with the exercise it was time to overcome my biggest hurdle. Food. As I said, I was your typical yo-yo dieter and have pretty much tried every diet going. From slimming clubs to meal replacements, from starving myself to limiting myself to just one type of food diets. I enjoyed success when it came but fell hard every time the scales told me something I didn’t want to hear. Talk about getting upset when they said I had put 1lb in a week, devastating to a yo-yo dieter. So it was more than time to break the cycle and realise that food was not my enemy, it was not the be all and end all to life and I was in control of it, not the other way round. I worked with Caroline on my diet and we talked about foods to avoid, new foods to try, portion size and, most importantly for me, not denying myself something or beating myself up should I eat it. Everything in moderation.

After a couple of months things were falling into place and I started to add on the odd class. Starting with Salsa Aerobics, I then tried Yoga, followed by LBT which helps me focus on those three troublesome areas, and Zumba with Agnes which fast became my favourite class because I love to dance. As well as Caroline and the gym team, Agnes’s motivating and uplifting style showed me that exercise didn’t have to be torture. My weight started to drop, 1 Stone, 2 Stone and my body shape was changing as I started to find my size 22, 20 then 18 clothes becoming baggier.

I have now started an 8 week Personal Training programme with Caroline. It will certainly be a challenge, but it’s one I’m looking forward to and I know she’ll be right there motivating me and offering encouragement every step of the way. I’m going on holiday in April and my hope is to be able to fit into a size 14. I’m currently at a weight loss of over 3.5 Stone, I am almost off the blood pressure tablets and am beginning to, albeit with a bit of squeezing, get into a size 16 so I’ve still got a way to go but I know with Caroline’s help and the support from Club CHF I’ll get there!

Claire Richardson, Club CHF Member

Ask a member of the CHF Fitness Team about our Personal Training packages.

Exercise of the Month – The Plank

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‘One of the best, safest and most underestimated core exercises.’

One of the biggest advantages of the Plank is that it works the whole core in one hit. Unlike sit ups that target solely the abs, which can lead to instability in the core which also consists of lower back and pelvic floor muscles.

See the core as a corset of muscles that all need to be worked evenly to get best results in posture and strength.

To do the plank

  • set yourself in a press up position with your elbows and forearms in contact with the ground
  • posture up on the balls of your feet and level out your hips
  • make sure your back stays straight and in line with the rest of your body
  • you may need to keep lifting your hips to readjust as you fatigue

There are also advancements of the plank like doing it on the TRX, putting your elbows on a bosu or stability ball to take away balance and in turn create more muscle contractions to help correct your posture.

If you have any questions or need a demo don’t hesitate to ask the Club CHF fitness team.
Good luck and happy training!

Ben Wilson, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

Anytime membership only £21 per month*
Commit to get fit in 2012! Sign up for an ‘Anytime’ gym membership at Caversham Health & Fitness and your first 3 months are half price.

Call us on 0118 948 4849 to get started.

Exercise of the Month – The Sit Up

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Doing sit-ups is a quick way to get stronger abdominal muscles. However, they must be done properly to avoid any injury to your spine and the neck and head muscles. In addition, sit-ups are about using the abdominal region, therefore, you need to really make sure that you are not compensating by using other parts of your body to perform sit-ups as this decreases the effectiveness of the exercise and may cause injury to your body.

It’s not as harsh as it sounds – always focus on the abs and you are most of the way there!!

Sit upSit up

How to do sit-ups correctly!

Step 1: have your knees bent and the balls of your feet and heels placed flat on the ground.

Step 2: Place your hands on opposing shoulders, so that your arms are crossed over your chest, alternatively place your fingers on your temples with elbows out. This allows you a central rising point.

Step 3: Tighten your abdominal muscles by gently drawing in your belly button to your spine.

Step 4: Keeping your heels on the ground and your toes flat to the ground, slowly and gently lift your head first, chin off your chest, followed by your shoulder blades. Focus your eyes on your bent knees, all the while gently contracting the abdominal muscles. Pull up from the floor until you are at a 90 degree angle, or when the elbows are on, or past, the knees.

Step 5: Hold the position for a second. Slowly bring the torso back to the floor but try to keep it slightly elevated off the ground. This means not to place your back flat to the ground but to keep a slight, yet relaxed, arch.

Sit up

Tips:
If you’re having a hard time keeping the balls of your feet or heels on the ground, try asking a friend to hold them down.

You can also find a heavy object (such as a sofa or chair) and tucking your feet under it. This will give you support when attempting to bring yourself up.

If you’d like any advice on how to include the ‘exercise of the month’ into your workout routine just ask a member of the Club CHF fitness team.

Caroline Riddall, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

Anytime membership only £21 per month*
Commit to get fit in 2012! Sign up for an ‘Anytime’ gym membership at Caversham Health & Fitness and your first 3 months are half price.

Call us on 0118 948 4849 to get started.

Exercise of the Month – The Pull Up

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So you think you’re strong?
As well as a clear test of relative upper body strength, the Pull Up is the undisputed heavyweight champion of upper back builders! Every armed forces test and training facility uses the pull up as a staple indicator to the recruits’ and prospects’ strength levels for a good reason.

Gymnasts use pull ups to help maintain and build the strength in their upper body to aid them in performing spectacular bar manoeuvres and fighters use them to help control their opponent and prevent injury while they’re being push and pulled about at different angles.

So how many should I do?
Whether you’re looking to build muscle, strength or endurance, the load can be manipulated by adding weight or assisting yourself with a band or partner to decrease the load. Treat them as any other exercise, with reps ranging 3-5 for strength, 6-12 for strength/hypertrophy and 12+ for endurance.

To put things into perspective, the Royal Marine PRMC Test requires candidates to do 1 full pull up and the Navy SEALS require potential recruits to do a minimum of 8 full pull ups.

So how do I do them?

  • Grasp a pull up bar with an overhand grip, hands shoulder width apart.
  • Allow your body to ‘dead-hang’ from the bar, then shrug downwards with your shoulders to engage the scapular stabilizers and pull your upper back muscles into a downwards V.
  • Pulling your elbows down in towards your body, pull your bodyweight upwards, ensuring that the chin is higher than the bar.
  • Slowly lower the body and repeat.

If you’d like any advice on how to include the ‘exercise of the month’ into your workout routine just ask a member of the Club CHF fitness team.

Andy Knight, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

Join Caversham Health & Fitness today and enjoy FREE membership until 2012!
For more information call us on 0118 948 4849

Nordic Walking

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Nordic WalkingWhether your goal is to become more active, improve your fitness levels, lose weight, overcome a medical condition, train for a specific sport or challenge or you simply enjoy the great outdoors, Nordic Walking can provide it all!

Nordic walking is a great way to gently encourage full body movement whilst the poles help to reduce pressure on the knees and joints and help propel the walker along. It can also help to significantly improve the condition of your muscles, heart and lungs. It will boost your energy levels and help you to ward off medical conditions such as; Heart Disease and Strokes, High blood pressure, Stress and Anxiety to name a few.

By using the poles you use more muscles which significantly increases the amount of calories burned without making you feel you are pushing yourself too hard.

Nordic Walking uses most of the major muscles in the body and therefore helps to keep them in good condition. This gives you the added benefit of improved posture and a more toned physique too, it is particularly good for the upper body; especially the upper arms and the core.

You can not beat the feeling of being outside in the fresh air; it clears away the cobwebs and leaves you feeling refreshed and invigorated. So long as it is not pouring with rain or heavy snow we will be heading out every Tuesday at 9:30am.

I love Nordic Walking and so do my regular ‘Nordic Walkers’ so put on your jumper and come and join us.

Caroline Riddall, Fitness Manager, Caversham Health & Fitness

Nordic Walking Testimonial
“Having done a small amount of walking with poles in the past I was intrigued to find out how Nordic Walking would differ. Firstly Caroline introduced me to poles, teaching me how to hold them correctly, and how to swing my arms to build momentum when walking. After a short practice I quickly picked up the technique. Initially I was apprehensive about joining the class as I worried I might not be able to keep up with the pace, but I needn’t have been concerned as the pace was comfortable for everyone in the class. Half way through the walk we stopped to do some resistance exercises with the poles and by the end of the walk I could really feel the benefits to my upper arms. Nordic Walking really boosted my spirits and put me in a great frame of mind for the day!”
- Catherine

Motivation

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Personal Trainer Andy KnightSeveral times throughout my training career I’ve had to look back to why I started this game as a scrawny teen. Whether I was struggling with an injury, illness, busy lifestyle, family issues, basically anything that life throws at me, I’ve always scratched around the psychological basement that inspired and motivated me to keep moving forwards when I was on the borderline of making a commitment to change my lifestyle for the better.

What actually motivated me to train in the beginning is actually quite grey and fuzzy now; there is no pinpointed, specific area that I can call upon, rather it was more of a series of life events that made me stand up one day and get on with it. I can’t recall whether it was being fed up of being useless at sports in school, living through my dad’s struggle with heart disease, having an older brother that would pick on me for anything and everything, or just the fact that growing up in the 80’s meant that the fitness boom was just taking off and the likes of Sly and Arnie were getting a lot of publicity for their image.

I remember going for that first, breathless jog down to the detail of what I was wearing that day and even breaking through the front door in a heap, running up stairs to my bedroom and feebly attempting to do as many push ups and sit ups as I could. After a while, this all became too easy and I needed to take things to the next level so I saved up my pocket money so that I had enough to buy a 50kg weights set from Argos. I remember nagging my dad to help me carry them back with me on the bus and the nerves that I faced when walking up to the counter to ask for the weights set.

After fumbling my way through the little bit of paper that came with the set, again I found that I needed the next step. I needed to join a gym or eventually crash through my bedroom ceiling! By now I was hooked. I was starting to get positive comments, my body was changing, I was no longer the weakling during PE and I started to get known for being the one that kept in shape. I’d been bitten by the bug and I was constantly looking for new methods to keep improving in one way or another. I’d find motivation by gym based goals, intrinsic motives and living up to the pressure that I’d given myself of being the young lad that was in shape and started getting respect from peers that he’d never have thought he’d ever talk to. My social circle started changing and I felt better for recreating myself and started piling pressure on myself to keep moving forwards. I changed my eating habits, training schedule and turned down the temptations that a lot of modern day teenagers faced.

From what was a gentle jog to fill up time one evening had spiraled into a lifestyle and I wholeheartedly believe that I’ll be exercising until the day I no longer can. There have been days when injuries have made me think about throwing in the towel, but even at my lowest I’ve managed to dig a little bit deeper and find things that I can do, rather than what I can’t do. Before I knew it, all of the determination and disciplined that I’ve learned from making sure that I stay on top of my lifestyle had carried over into my work and personal life, giving me the drive to keep moving forwards rather than settling for what’s comfortable.

To summarise:

  • Find what made you want to train in the first place and relive the feelings that made you exercise in the first place. Do you want to run away, or move towards something?
  • What are you trying to achieve? Have you achieved it already? Are you ever going to reach your goals? An acronym that is often used when setting goals is one called SMART.
    • Specific: What do I want to achieve? (E.g. lift more weight.)
    • Measurable: How do I know when I’ve got there? How much weight do I want to lift?
    • Achievable: Am I ever going to be able to lift 300kg, or is 160kg more realistic?
    • Relevant: Do I really need to focus your time and energy into this pursuit?
    • Time Bound: Can I reach this goal in 3 months, or will 6 months be more realistic?
  • What do you want to achieve in the short, middle and long term? What short term goals will help you achieve your middle and long term goals?
  • Find out what your limitations to exercise are and what you can do to overcome them. For example, if you’re too busy with work to find time to exercise, then perhaps you could arrange your travel or home schedule to bring your training to you, etc.
  • Who do you look up to? Do they have what you want? How did they get to where they are today?
  • Do you feel bogged down with details because of the thousands of articles that you’ve read? Take a step back, go back to basics and find what works for YOU.
  • Are you prepared to look beyond the initial burst in progress and dig deep to find that bit of grit that will eventually lead you to your goals? If not, then read the article and the summary again and ask yourself why!

If you’d like any advice setting and achieving your fitness goals just ask a member of the Club CHF fitness team.

Don’t forget to check out our fantastic offers on personal training with our in-house personal trainers. ‘Fast Track Your Fitness’  – 1 hour sessions from as little as £20!

Andy Knight, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

Exercise of the Month – The Squat

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One of the most effective all round exercises- whether your goal is weight loss/ toning up Squator weight gain- the squat does it all!

The Technique:

  • Neutral spine (straight back) – holding an object to the front with straight arms is a way to encourage good technique.
  • Knees and ankles should stay in line
  • Your heels should remain in contact with the floor throughout the WHOLE exercise
  • Squat low enough to create a 90 degree angle. Perhaps use a bench to assist the technique at first and progress to harder variations, such as the back squat.
  • If your knees pass the line of your toes you are not doing the exercise correctly.
  • Push back up through your heels; this activates the glute muscles, aka your bum!

Squat

If you’d like any advice on how to include the ‘exercise of the month’ into your workout routine just ask a member of the Club CHF fitness team.

Don’t forget to check out our fantastic offers on personal training with our in-house personal trainers. ‘Fast Track Your Fitness’  – 1 hour sessions from as little as £20!

Good luck and happy training!

Ben Wilson, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

Rome to Reading 2012

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Members at Caversham Health & Fitness constantly  inspire us with their success and achievements  whether it is weight loss, fitness or accomplishing a challenge which they have set themselves and trained hard for.

One such member is Barabara Frost, 61, who is planning a solo cycle ride from Rome to Reading next year to raise money for Buscot Babies, special care baby unit, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. In 2010 Barbara cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats and raised £6772 for Homestart Reading but this time her target is £10,000.

Barbara works with personal trainer Steve Whiteside at Caversham Health & Fitness.  At the moment they are working on Barbara’s strength and endurance but after Christmas they’ll be gearing up to what Barbara describes as ‘boot camp’ to get her to peak fitness for the gruelling 1500 mile cycle.  For building core strength to help with all the hours leaning over the bike Barabara does a weekly ‘Pilates’ class and for flexibility ‘ Stretch and Tone’.

Barbara is holding a fundraising Quiz Night on Thursday 10th November 2011. The entry fee of £10 includes a Bar Copa curry.  All funds raised go to the Buscot babies (www.justgiving.com/barbara-frost).  Please do get a team together and support this event.

Rome to Reading 2012 Fundraising Quiz Night
Bar Copa, 76 Kings Road, Reading (next to Zizzi’s)
Tickets £10 including a curry
Food from 6.30pm, Quiz 8.00pm

Contact Antony Frost to reserve your tickets:  0118 926 2858 or 07977 415201 or email a_j_frost@yahoo.com.

To find out more about the Buscot Babies Fund please download Barbara’s fundraising leaflet Barbara Frost – Buscot Babies Fund

Have you set yourself a challenge or achieved a personal goal?  We would love to hear from you if you have.

Sally Albin, Marketing

Early Bird Classes

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Do you lack energy and motivation during your working day? CHF fitness instructor Caroline has just the answer for you…

Exercise at 6:15 in the morning…..really????

If like me you are not a morning person and the thought of getting out of bed at silly o’clock to exercise fills you with dread, read on to uncover why I am now actually an advocate of early morning activity!

For most people the idea of exercising first thing in the morning is not something you would happily chose, however studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity! This is  a benefit that lasts four to ten hours after your workout ends; therefore exercising in the a.m. means you get to harness that brainpower, instead of wasting it while you’re snoozing.

We all know that after a workout you feel energised and full of oomph so why not make the most of that feeling first thing in the morning?! Leave that sluggish start to the day behind you and reap the benefits of increased energy levels during the day.

Invariably people work harder when in a class; you get caught up in the atmosphere and feed off other people’s energy, so effectively you are getting more from your workout.

Exercising first thing in the morning is the most foolproof way to ensure that other things don’t overtake your fitness commitment, particularly if you have a hectic work or family life. It’s so easy to get home at the end of a long day and wimp out of getting yourself down to the gym, especially if you’re tired or faced with the tasks of making dinner, helping with homework etc.

Make the decision to join in one of our ‘Early Bird’ classes and end your working day knowing that you can get home and stay there and not face that internal battle of ‘shall I go to the gym or shall I stay right here and relax?’

Early Bird Classes at CHF
Monday – 06.30 to 07.15 – Early Bird Spin
Tuesday – 06.15 to 07.00 – Early Bird Spin
Wednesday – 06.15 to 07.00 – Early Bird Killer Circuits
Thursday – 06.15 to 07.15 – Early Bird Pump
Friday – 06.15 to 07.00 – Early Bird Box Fit

Exercise of the Month – Press Up

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Why do press ups?
The press up isn’t just a chest, shoulders and triceps exercise, it’s a whole lot more. It’s quite possibly one of the most undervalued exercises that you’re ever likely to come across. Literally every muscle in your body, from your toes to your upper back is activated to stabilise your whole body. In principle, the press up is a simple movement; lie on the floor and push yourself up off it! In practise, there are so many variations that make it the most diverse upper body exercise that you’re ever likely to encounter. Whether you’re looking to build muscle mass, increase posture, improve endurance, core strength or just looking for a party trick (Nothing impresses a crowd more than doing press ups with a friend on your back!), there’s a press up variation for you.


So how do you do them?
As above, there are hundreds of press up variations (Ask a member of the gym team for information), but I’ll start with explaining how to do basic, bread and butter press ups:

  • Start the movement by getting into a prone position with your hands underneath your shoulders, legs straight, bracing the abs and squeezing the glutes as if you’re trying to crush an apple between your buttocks.
  • Under control, breathe in, lower your chest to the floor and squeeze the upper back muscles as you go down.
  • Pause briefly and push the floor away from you, breathing out as you push.
  • Reset back to the first step and repeat.

If you’d like any advice on how to include the ‘exercise of the month’ into your workout routine just ask a member of the Club CHF fitness team.

Don’t forget to check out our fantastic offers on personal training with our in-house personal trainers. ‘Fast Track Your Fitness’  – 1 hour sessions from as little as £20!