The Den

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Far away from fitness and health!

AT LAST - my return to Narrow Boating life Writer

Tara is there on Saturday with some lovely goodies (as well as my own!)
11-4 see you there?

I’m opening up The Den to 2 people an hour but please note …

Exciting news on the den front

first of all in view of the fact I’m so busy nowadays with the café I cannot offer the personal training service that I offered before so I have dropped the price down! I will still do a gym induction and you will still get an amazing consultation but I can’t do food diaries and that kind of thing so it’s £47 per month

Also - this really will work well - we have a guest pop up shop opening on Saturdays - more to be revealed soon, but expect some absolutely amazing goodies!! And you’ll be meeting Tara — a tour de force herself and seriously lovely person!

News:

In view of the fact the café is still taking up so much of my time, I’ve decided to reduce the amount I am asking for monthly payments - because I cannot give the personal training type service that I intended to give before!
To this end I will do gym inductions (just as I always have done), and the full consultation that I’ve always offered but I’ve brought the price down to £47 per month - more in line with gym membership then a personal training service

for this you get four sessions a week with the whole place to yourself (unless you want to share with a friend who’s also a member) and full use of all equipment with online booking using digital entry system!

All the equipment is top-notch
you have a ski erg, spinning type bike, weights kettle bells and amazing elliptical trainer, barbell and Olympic discs, bench and lots more! 

In addition you also have four classes a week in the parish hall and online access to same, as well as freestyle fitness yoga on a Monday
Let me know if you’re interested! 

Swimsanity was a riot!
So good to be back in the water
Thanks to all who made it
Next one nov 3rd 🙂

For tonight you need £7 in exact change please if you haven’t paid by bacs already, some water shoes, swimming costume (preferably already on ready to go), and simple clothes to wear afterwards or mindful of Covid! 

SWIMSANITY:
WHO’S THERE TOMORROW?!!

SWIMSANITY

Can you PLEASE let me know who’s got kits?
Or I won’t know how many kits I need

Lou suggests a max of 15
And that we arrive with swim gear on underneath ready to go

And simple stuff to throw on afterwards

So

Next Wednesday 630!

Then first weds of every month!

SWIMSANITY!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve freed up some time and been in touch with the pool

I need your votes for a once a month MASTERCLASS (dates tbc but soon)

Wednesday from 6.30

Or Sunday from 5 pm

Let me know!

I’ve often implored clients as we all get older to keep mobile. So far as ageing goes it’s the one thing we need to maintain. Keeping our muscles moving stimulates and hydrates the bones so helping to prevent osteoporosis(and there are optimal methods to do this too).

As we age we are prone to shortening of the spine (which is, with the bones stacked vertically, prone to compression and dehydration anyway). We can shrink by as much as ½” every decade from as early as 30! (and women are particularly vulnerable.
Global movements will encourage our discs to absorb water. Yoga, and particularly Pilates will encourage movement and proper alignment of the spine, and keep this hydration going as well as working areas of the body which get lazy and lengthened. I’m also a massive fan of using weights and again this stimulates bone density and movement (as well as making LIFE easier because you are stronger!).

In working with clients I’ve noticed the thoracic (mid back) doesn’t move as it should and can start curving to form a stoop (and from an increasingly young age), so we get it moving again. I also do much work with FEET – dropped arches can also lose us height. So many of the problems I’ve mentioned above can be addressed and even reversed. Eating for bone health (google) will protect you but some simple postural measures can too. Get thee to a Pilates class to learn about working the deep abdominal muscles, stabilising the lower back, but also giving you a longer spine for an instantly taller effect (and often slimmer too!). Try standing with your back against a wall so that the back of your head, your shoulder blades and your buttocks touch the wall, and your heels are 2 to 4 inches away. How does this feel? It may feel really uncomfortable and this may give you the impetus to seek some professional advise. While you’re there go up on to your tip toes. Keeping the chin tucked in and slightly down, slowly lower your heels but keep that sense of your head remaining high. This simple movement will encourage the vertebrae to ease apart. When working at a desk get the screen up and straighten spine. Most of all remain mindful of your posture all day long

I'll soon be more available to do 1-2-1 again and posture is my FAVOURITE thing. I can't wait to start working with you all again from September!

The Den will thrive again!
If you think about the Den has been running just over a year and most of that has been destroyed by lockdowns and of course now I’ve had to dedicate myself to the café which is going from strength to strength but I know that come mid September that will start to die down
In the meantime, as long as I’m making enough to keep the den going (which we are), we are fine for now

In the meantime if anybody needs a refresher please reach out - I have a few of you going in regularly but you know that I’m free in the afternoons just say and we will refresh your program! 

I am personally desperate to start doing some weights I’m burning so many calories at the moment I’m wasting away and definitely need some more muscle tone!! if anybody wants to join me for a simple RBT do say! 

Guys don’t forget I may be quiet on the fitness front at the moment because it’s the summer holidays (and very busy cafe to run).. but there are still metabolic classes every Thursday at the parish hall (6 o’clock)… and just a whisper but Swimsanity will start again - let me know if you’re interested!

PS

I’m so busy with the café I won’t be able to commit to anything more than masterclasses - I can’t do anything weekly (I’m still teaching online plus running cafe)

Thank you for your interest 🙂

What training type are YOU?!

In your training do you go with how you FEEL or do you love stats?

There’s no right and wrong here – IF it keeps you on board and interested. I’ve noticed there are clients types - but it's VERY hard to ascertain from the off, where any given individual may lie!

Some clients that come in all guns blazing – doing so many sessions a week, focused and keen ….. until they aren’t! They miss one session and they’ve 'blown it' (in their minds). Then, despondent and feeling like they’ll never get back on the horse, the next thing you know they’re crossing the street to avoid me (ha)! (this has happened - yet I'd never nag!)

You’ll also get the clients who want to monitor stats; maybe by weighing themselves (sometimes a few times a day).. and again there’s nothing wrong with this (although a little excessive) - UNLESS the stats haven’t moved or gone in the direction they want to. Demotivation follows, and again - often meaning they revert to previous regime feeling nothing is possible and its hurdles all the way! It also means the whole experience is being ‘externalised’ – kinda removed from the instincts or pure joy of getting fit and into whatever shape you want to be.

Some clients have real ambition and goals – which is fabulous BUT it can be short term and immediate – so they want to dead lift a certain weight soon, or run a certain distance (in a certain time!).. which is often unrealistic - and of course IF they go too heavy, fast, or far will almost definitely lead to injuries! A big set back again from which they might never re-motivate.

Some clients come ready, loaded to the hilt with technology – on their wrists, around their chests and linked to their phones and suchlike and again there is NOTHING wrong with this but it can sometimes lead to obsession - with how many calories burnt, steps taken or how they compare to someone across the other side of the world! This can all suck the fun out of simply walking mindfully, noticing nature or eating for pleasure too, but with a simple overview to keep your aspirations intact?!

And take sleep apps – in some instances people are getting insomnia from the worry of what the readings will yield the next morning!
Health anxiety is at epidemic levels ANYWAY with all we've been through recently and the constant bombardment from the media (remember they like ANYTHING new - doesn't mean its accurate or here to stay!) and some of these gadgets make it worse!

Lastly - the client who wants to tackle so many things at the same time it is an impossible dream! So they want to get fit - across the board, eat well, lose two dress sizes, sleep better and re-hydrate. So: monitor but space it out. Baby steps – go for less goals until you’ve nailed the current ones. Create an overview and hold back from going too far too soon! And if you want to sort out froom the top of the pyramid - get your sleep patterns sorted (focus on anything that will achieve a good nights sleep - from that everything else will fall more easily into place. Perfect!

From 29th of May you’ll be able to work out at the Den from 9-10 am too as I’m moving classes to later in the day! Get booking!

The Den is open!
Clients are booking in.
One per hour is what I’m designating for now! Refreshers NOW if you need them!

It’s been a GREAT week!
Totally reworking the space, selling quite a lot of clothes (so I’m really low on stock but more coming in very soon!).... Loads of new bath bombs and soap to sell by the slice and new teas coming in too .... 2 PT enquiries, and Wyld Walking starting soon, with Wyld Swimming too (I need to get over a rib / thoracic injury completely for the breathing element).... and online classes going from strength to strength with our fabulous Fascia Stretches coming in thick and fast ...... it’s all good!

WG have announced that gyms can reopen earlier - from 3rd May. And outdoor activities from 26th April!!

Freestyle fitness yoga restarts on the 17th of May at Cusop community hall
Monday’s 9.15

Yoga in community hall can restart May 17th

Coming soon!
needs some work then will press ahead!

MAY 10th we can open the studio for clients
And I’ll retail as soon as able

We’ve just done a beautiful fascia flow workshop this morning in The Wilderness Workouts.

Stretching this way involves the area not just the muscle

Fascia is a relatively recent science - certainly when I did my Personal Training in 2000, nobody was talking about it then!

So what is it?

Before when a cadaver was taken apart for science they normally cut away/through the fascia to reach what they thought was important (muscle and bone).. totally disregarding that it might have a role to play.

And it really does have a massive role to play - without it our bodies would literally crumble; it holds organs in place it goes through and around muscles, like a matrix - everywhere.

Think of it like a 3-D cobweb

It has 6 to 10 times more sensory nerves than muscle - so bear in mind if you have problems with your fascia - it’s going to give you 6 - 10 times more pain and because it runs through and around an area and can implicate an area in a completely seemingly unrelated part of the body - explains why some things just won’t go away - leaving people spending maybe years in pain because they’ve been working on the wrong area - If you think of a cobweb - if you pull it at one end it will impact the whole shape of that cobweb so you may have a problem in your right big toe which manifests in your left side back!

So my workshop can have profound effects and leave you feeling totally awesome with longer term results than normal muscle stretching alone

What I will do is film this for you and pop it up here - so you have a free session to do and follow then if you want to join the wilderness workouts you get that and so much more for £25 per month

Freestyle Fitness Yoga
Athletic Pilates
Barre Conditioning
Metabolic Mastery
Restorative Pilates and
Stretching class (which is generally now fascia based - why go to the other methods when this is the best! 

Everything you ever wanted …..

Is just beyond your comfort zone!

I love that quote!

Don’t know about you but over all our lock downs I’ve got so used to SITTING! At one point it got easier to sit than stand and was becoming my default! Thank goodness I’m still doing my online classes every day and walking my mutts – this just about held me together. Like I always said – if you’ve got no real motivation (‘driver’), or end point (goal) … you can just let it drift…

Luckily a few things happened. First we got the whiff of the end of this pandemic in sight (vaccinations and the lock down paying off), meaning I could see my clients live again - there is nothing more motivating!) .. I found love (a very strong incentive to look and feel your best), and a friend lent me a book on Wim Hof, (The ‘Ice man’) - I then kept seeing his name all over the place so I bought his latest book as well).

Now you know how I love our landscape and getting into it. I teach Nordic Walking and go to some fabulous, wild and inspiring places. I also intend to start taking groups out to do Forest Bathing (nothing to do with water - it is simply a method of immersing yourself into the Forest and experiencing it’s ‘invitations’. (So in essence; mindfulness/walking meditation outdoors).

This was the direction I was heading well before the Pandemic. But this is all well within my comfort zone! I have a few friends who do wild swimming and have always called them bonkers. I’m a heat seeking Leo and the thought of getting cold under any circumstances does not appeal.

HOWEVER anything with huge health benefits I WILL investigate and try it. I’m now committed to doing the following: Deep, expansive breathing for around 20 mins at the very start of the day – all following Hof’s method - followed by my usual shower but turning it to cold for 30 seconds to start with, gradually getting this to 2 mins by the end of the 10 days. The day after the first time, I got up as normal, fed the dogs/let them out, then felt ridiculously shattered went back to bed and slept til 11.30! A GOOD SIGN! Imagine combining Wyld Walking, Forest Bathing and Wyld Water bathing! It's ALL Coming soon!

😞

Mark Drakeford confirms gyms in Wales to stay shut after new advice from scientists
The First Minister said the so-called 'Kent variant' meant they could not open gyms

The Welsh Government has said gyms and leisure centres will not open any time soon - despite previously saying they hoped to open them in the early part of lockdown easing.
First Minister Mark Drakeford has said that the so-called Kent variant of the virus, which accounts for much of the transmission in North Wales, meant gyms and leisure centres could not reopen.

So here’s hoping on Friday we get the go-ahead to open! Just for fun I was on the radio yesterday discussing this very topic (they ‘asked me in’) who’d have thunk it -me and politics!
Here is a link if you would like to listen and in the meantime cross our fingers that we can get moving again because I do feel we can open safely! 

When you get to the link aim for 27 minutes in and you get just three minutes of my opinions!

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000s97p

Radio Wales Breakfast with Claire Summers - 17/02/2021 - BBC Sounds Claire and the team bring you everything you need to know as you wake up.

Gut Feeling

I'd love to highlight the importance of gut health,for depression - (as well as my well documented effects of exercise for well-being).
I know what we eat can have a massive impact on how our bodies function but what is less understood - is how the brain can be affected as well.

From a 'muzzy head' to ADHD, depression, and even dementia. The state of our brain is, to a big degree, dependant on our gut microbiome. If we allow this to become sick and out of whack, we can really suffer, yet with mindful eating we can boost our mental health and get far sharper, (as well as the usual: losing body fat, looking younger and adding potentially - years to our lives!).
In fact - if you research eating to sharpen up the mind and follow through - the rest will happen naturally!

If you've been on antibiotics, drink alcohol too much (or too often), use a lot of sugar in its various forms, or have a high carb diet, you may easily be biome-unbalanced with a disrupted gut community, and if your gut is in a bad mood, so your mind will be!

So - simply cutting down on sugar, and simple carbs (high blood sugar is one of the biggest risk factors for depression), and adding in good fats, lots of veggies, bio-yogurts and fermented foods will often help (always ask Dr first, but this is common sense). Anti depressant medication alters neurotransmitter activity yet these same chemicals are found in the gut. In fact - now many are calling the gut the second brain! 60 years ago the idea that the gut could affect mental health was discredited, replaced by the idea that depression and anxiety influenced the gut. Now we are coming full circle, and asking for the future - could we use the gut to prevent depression before it even occurs?

For us, for now, perhaps looking at what we put into our bodies, and how we move them - rather than only looking for external sources and cures to depression, can help.

As to moving our bodies and getting in the flow I'll leave this to a client of mine, ad her quote: "exercising really does make the difference between feeling sluggish and/or negative and feeling energised and positive for me. I can feel quite low and then it seems to 'fizzle' during a workout and I end up feeling so much better, even if it's a really tough session. The routine of knowing when the classes are is also crucial to my well-being. Yoga on a Monday morning starts the week off feeling connected and mindful".

No wonder the public get so confused
Reading an article this morning I ended up the same!

As some of you may know I have had a passion for eggy bread for my late breakfast, and recently I’ve been eating that with an amazing vegan bread which is practically seeds held together with a few oats - it is delicious and really makes your jaw work too!

So I stopped to read this sharp!

Here is essentially what it says

• Going to work on an egg may cut your life short unless you lose the yellow yolk and stick to the white

• Because for every half an egg with a yolk a person eats a day the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer increases by 7%

• However just eating the egg white was linked to an 8% lower risk of death from cancer and a 3% lower risk of fatal cardio vascular disease

• The egg whites still contains a high amount of protein but less cholesterol
So: Cardiovascular health and long-term survival might improve by limiting cholesterol and replacing whole eggs with egg whites or substitutes or other protein sources

• The equivalent amount of fish reduced the risk of death by 9% and Nuts cut the odds by 13% (I love seeds and nuts)

• Interestingly non-fried eggs were more strongly linked to death from cardiovascular disease because plant-based oils used to fry eggs are good for the heart (I use high grade organic coconut oil)

• But several experts have suggested the eggs in moderation are good for you because of the protein and vitamins they contain

• Despite many years of research over the last few decades we still have conflicting results some suggesting moderate and egg intake is good others suggesting it may be bad

• The general advice is that for most people eggs can be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet

• Reports suggesting that certain foods are bad for us can be worrying but when it comes to eating for cardio and circulatory health, it’s our overall diet that is most important!

Full circle anyone?!! 



Take a look at this entry from Bridget Jones’s diary Tuesday 7th of March this is so funny!
I’ve had these kind of conversations with so many women over the last 20 years, and had one client who weighed herself six times every day - freely admitting she was obsessed about it!

actually the best thing to do is to come right away from the scales (well at least the ones that only tell you what you weigh)!

however if you come to me when this whole Covid mare is over I will do you a free body composition analysis that will really let you know what is happening!!

You get what you weigh sure but you also get what your muscles weigh, what your bones weigh, what your hydration levels are like, your physique rating, your basal metabolic requirement and your basal age plus your BMI

Best of all I’ve prepared all the literature so you can truly make sense of it all!