Stretch and Recover

If you suffer from chronic lower back pain it is proven that exercise can help. Training your core muscles will build up strength to help prevent lower back pain and support you in all movements. At Breadsall Priory Leisure club we offer many classes that can help you to improve your core stability such as: Yoga, Pilates, Body Sculpt and Yogalates. There's more to Pilates than developing "strong abs" or "core strength". Pilates is an exercise system that focuses on stretching and strengthening the whole body to improve balance, muscle-strength, flexibility and posture. It was created by German-born Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s and incorporates elements of yoga, martial arts and Western forms of exercise. Initially adopted by professional dancers in the US as an effective form of recovery after injury, Pilates has steadily grown in popularity around the world, and includes celebrity fans such as Madonna and Jennifer Aniston.

Gym Myths by Karl O'Sullivan

We’ve all heard gym myths, those little pearls of wisdom passed down from one big guy at the gym to another not so big guy, such as you have to separate muscle groups to get big, cardio is for losing weight lifting is for building, you need fat to turn into muscle and so on, gym myths can be hilarious, my current favourite is ‘as you get older your fitness drops and you gain weight’ this theory that as you get older you get fat and that’s just the way it is, is a complete myth and absurdity. Let’s look at it objectively, all people, that is humans are animals, we may have 3D televisions and cool phone apps but we are still animals and part of the animal kingdom, now keeping that in mind what other animal on the whole planet gets fatter as it gets older? What creature has the genetics which say as you get older you are going to be fat? …that’s right, not a one, there is no animal or any unavoidable reason that’s says you will get fat and overweight just because you get older. It is true as you get older your metabolic rate will drop and your level of cardiovascular fitness will see a decrease, but a few tweaks in life style and diet will tackle the metabolic rate issue and cardiovascular fitness peaks around your early forties and then doesn’t see a significant drop until you are well in your seventies! Now that is an amazing thing, the human body is meant to stay active and healthy as we get older and with modern science and health care we can all look forward to longer, healthier and more active lives. The few things to remember are as you get older and wiser you need to train smarter not necessarily harder, when you’re young you can lift big and push yourself to high intensities, put as you get older you need to allow more time for your active recovery and maintenance, being sure to take time to maintain flexibility, good posture and overall function. Also except that you can’t burn the candle at both ends and eat lots of junk food and stay slim, the metabolic rate as you get older can’t handle that kind of life style, so its making the smart choices, eating more natural and clean, cutting back on unnecessary indulgences, that’s not to say you can’t treat yourself to a glass of wine and a dessert, but maybe don’t get trapped in the student mind set of several bottles and then an all you can eat at the local take away. I truly believe the time invested in your health and fitness will ensure a much greater and longer lasting happiness.

Why join a leisure club in September?

It gets towards Christmas and many people stop thinking about them and start to pout their focus on Christmas, others and quite often partying.  Their thoughts about their health, losing weight, getting fit go out the window with a thought in the back of their heads that it will be OK because they "will give it ago in the New Year"

We suggest this is entirely the wrong approach for a number of key reasons:

1) It is common knowledge (as we have all tried it) New Year resolutions don't work!  The clock strikes 12 midnight, we all sing and dance and then make a pledge "I'm going to be healthy, eat well, train and get fit". Sometime you can add give up smoking & drink less alcohol but by mid January the large majority have given up on the quests and fallen back into their normal ways.
2) A lifestyle change is not a gimmick so don’t start a program with that mind-set.  A healthy lifestyle is not a fad diet!! If set out with the aim of making short term fixes you will end very short of your goal.  A healthier body has to be a fundamental lifestyle change in the way you think.  It may only involve small changes but you have to think big.
3) There is less pressure on you to achieve if you start now.  If everyone is doing it as with January there is more pressure on you to get results, you are pitting yourself against everyone else in the same boat as you.   

5) Everyone is in the gym in January, so if you are a bit nervous and unsure the gym is likely to be quite an intimidating place.  The fact that a large majority of those there with you are feeling the same won't register.  Join when its quieter and you will be a seasoned pro by January.
5) Imagine how good you will feel in your party dress or suit for those Christmas parties - EVERYONE would be commenting how good you look.  Just think, all those people you havn't see since last Christmas that you could show off your new found figure to!
6) Its a great way to counter all those additional calories you are about to consume over the next 2 months, better lose them straight away before they hit the hips?

FINALLY

You never know you might also enjoy it? Radical thought we know but some people actually do.