Swimming at Breadsall Priory

Come along to Breadsall Priory and make the most out of all our facilities including our swimming pool. Swimming is a brilliant way to exercise and because water is about 800 times denser than air you can work hard and burn more calories than out of water. Because swimming uses so many different muscles your heart and lungs must work hard to supply them with oxygen. Swimming can support up to 90% of the body’s weight in water meaning those of you that might have any disabilities or illness such as arthritis can take part in a comfortable environment.

Swimming is a brilliant all round body workout and particularly good for your core strength, the constant kicking in the water will give your legs a brilliant workout and will vastly improve your cardiovascular fitness.  It is a fantastic way to get that toned beach body that many people desire, it will improve your strength and it is statistically proven that people experience less tension, anger and depression after a good swim. I have personally used the pool for the last year at Breadsall Priory and the results I have seen from it have been very encouraging.

Corey Hodgkinson

Method, Load and Intensity

Two of the most common things we hear on the gym floor are ‘I want to lose weight and tone up’ and ‘I want to build muscle and tone up’ first of all toning is a myth, the principle is incorrect, the toning of muscle is an illusion, we can increase and decrease muscle mass and we can increase and decrease body fat percentage, toning is what we see when we increase muscle mass and decrease body fat percentage.
So how do we hit these goals, I use the same method, compound moves, also known as multi joint movements, such as squats, dead lifts, bench press and rows. The reason these exercises are so great is because they use large muscles we require a huge calorie burn to fuel the movements which means great for fat loss. Also sticking with compound moves from a muscle building point is good because lifting heavy through compound moves increases testosterone and HGH (Human Growth Hormone) release, which results in increased gains in muscle mass.
So if you’re looking to slim down or bulk up its time to focus on those compound moves, for either gain the method is the same (compound lifts) what we change is load and intensity, if you’re looking to get ‘toned’ and drop body fat perform your compounds moves in a circuit, focus on challenging but achievable weights, with a high intensity and little rest. If the building of muscle is your goal then stick to a move hypotrophy based training using a heavy weight with between 12-15 reps, lifting heavy, increasing load and strength, taking adequate rest to ensure maximum lifting capability and remembering never to sacrifice technique for weight.

For the first week or two practice compound moves focusing on technique and range of movement then start to use appropriate weights. Happy lifting!

a few compound moves are: squats, dead lift, pull up, press up, bench press, bent over row, squat snatch.

Golf Fitness

As the winter months draw closer and closer now is the time for you golfers to hit the gym. Whether it’s to improve your flexibility, increase your core stability or simply maintain your fitness over winter, why not let one of our trainers devise a Golf Specific Fitness Program designed to you.

Good flexibility will improve your stroke play maximizing the efficiency of your swing, Strong core stability will enable proper position and control in your swing meaning you hit the ball further and straighter than before. All top professional golfers now participate in a fitness/conditioning regime to keep them competing at the top.

Our personal trainer Simon also offers 1:1 Golf Personal Training and Group Golf Personal Training to get you fitter, stronger and more importantly get your handicap down

http://www.ptonthenet.com/articles/Performance-Training-for-Golf---Part-2-3240

To find out more read the article above all book in today to see the great benefits training will have on your game.

Why Don't More Guys Take Fitness Classes?

Why is it that every time you look into a class studio you see mostly or only women? Why are guys so afraid of doing a fitness class? In my experience of teaching a range of fitness classes at Breadsall Priory, from circuits to pump fx, kettlercise and even postural and stretch classes I have noticed that if you were to take the top ten percent of the fittest members we having training the majority are women. Their fitness, strength, skill and adaptability is far greater and that’s not just in regards to aerobic fitness and flexibility, I’m also talking about strength and technique, the best lifters at dead lifts, squats and lunges are all women, the guys are getting left behind, which is odd because most guys entering the gym have similar goals, ‘I want to lose my gut and build some muscle’ and most men have only ever dabbled with resistance work usually with a friend, they lift a few dumb bells, swing a few curls and force out a few dozen old school sit ups.
Now let’s look at the class formats, most classes on our timetable are all centred on fitness, weight loss and muscle building (or toning) which is what most people are always after, men quite often think that they need to do very heavy weights and have long rest periods to build muscle, which is simply not the case. In circuit classes, pumpfx and blastfx classes the start is always focused on technique, you can’t lift heavy until you can lift correctly. After the proper form has been developed we can start increasing load and intensity which will see that reduction in body fat and the building of some very functional muscle. Another great thing about classes is you have a trainer there with you, checking your form, showing you correct technique and coaching you through a whole variety of different movements and exercises, remember you don’t need to train longer you need top train smarter!
The fitness industry is changing and fast, the old school of pumping iron and three sets of ten is becoming less and less of a focal point, now it’s about looking the part and being able to walk the walk, you have to put that muscle to the test, I bulging pair of biceps is good for filling out a t shirt, but when your little sister starts beating you silly on the pull up bar maybe it’s time to drop into a few classes and learn some real gym skills.
So don’t be shy gentlemen book onto some classes and try something new, in one week you could sample a dozen different classes with more and half a dozen different instructors, that’s a lot of skill and knowledge just ready for the taking, so get involved before the women of Breadsall Priory show us up even more!

Written by Karl O'Sullivan Group Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer