Griffen Fitness - Newsletter

August newsletter

Greetings healthy people,

Now the premises is up and running (pun intended), I’m keen to find out your opinion on where Griffen Fitness should go from here. It would be very useful if you’d spare a minute to complete this quick one page survey.

Want to do something useful with your weekends? Try Pilates! From Saturday 25th September Ina Schöttling will be running Realistic Pilates classes for small groups (max 4 people per class) at Griffen Fitness. Realistic Pilates is a deconstructed method of Pilates, where good postural alignment and a flat tummy are encouraged through specific deep abdominal stabilising exercises. It’s suitable for everyone.

The Lowdown
Realistic Pilates classes with Ina Schöttling
Saturdays 10am and 12pm, starting 25th September
Introductory offer: £60 for 6 week term, maximum of 4 people per class
The result? Stand taller and leaner.
Email us for a booking form: only 8 places!

What’s in Season:
organic tomatoes It’s a bountiful time to eat locally, so here’s what’s in season:

Artichoke, aubergine, beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, cucumber, fennel, french beans, garlic, kohlrabi, mangetout, marrows, new potatoes, onions, peas, potatoes (maincrop), radishes, rocket, runner beans, sorrel, spring onions, turnips, watercress, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, gooseberries, kiwi fruit, loganberries, melons, radishes, raspberries, redcurrants, rocket, strawberries, tomatoes.

Easy Recipe: Open Sandwiches
Most shop bought sandwiches around are rubbish – high in fat and made with cheap bread. There is a healthy alternative, make your own, choosing a favourite flavour as a theme.

I like to make open sandwiches, that is, one slice of good quality bread (pumpernickel or rye) topped with a seasonal salad and wee bit of protein (boiled egg, smoked salmon, herb cheese spread) to top the salad. So the topping is the real feature of the dish. It’s easy enough to take to work in a lunchbox, so get creative…

An easy method to creating a delicious lunch is:

1. Pick the base: Rye / pumpernickel bread, pita, oatcakes
2. A bit of healthy spread for flavouring: low fat dip / home made herb cheese topping, tapenade etc.
3. Some fresh veg: Fresh green salad with sliced tomatoes, olives, lots of fresh herbs
4. And some protein: Cubes of feta, some smoked salmon, bean salad, nuts or seeds

If you use good quality ingredients the flavours alone should be enough, or drizzle a touch of home made vinaigrette on top.

I use the base / flavouring / vegetables / protein combination whenever I’m lacking culinary inspiration, resulting in variations such as:

Cous cous, steamed veg with herbs, chickpeas
Noodles, chilli sauce, stir fry veg and cashew nuts
Pasta , tapenade, roast veg and melted cheese or pine nuts
Wholemeal pita with hommous, tabbouleh and felafel
… and the list goes on

Fad or Fab: Simple is Best
The newest gadget is simple – it’s a digital egg timer from Lakeland. “How does this get you fit?” you may well ask. Just ask anyone who’s recently done the egg timer circuit fitness session. Normally I set out strength homework in sets and reps, however after developing strength and doing weights regularly, this can get a little monotonous. To mix things up, try some working out with strength exercises by the minute. A minute of press-ups may not sound much, but it’s amazing how many reps you can fit in whilst exercising against the clock. It’s als delicious strawberries o amazing how many exercises you can fit into a timed ten minutes – surely you have ten minutes in your day to do some exercises?

Resisting Temptation: Sweet Treats
Many folk tell me that they enjoy having a sweet treat each day. Unfortunately most of the sweet treating that goes on is in the evening, just as they are about to go to bed. If you’d like to have a wee morsel of naughtiness, try eating it earlier in the day, for morning tea. You’ll actually have a chance of burning off the calories then, rather than last thing at night. In the evening, try having a piece of seasonal fruit instead of aforementioned calorific treat.

Offer of the Month: Beginner's Meditation Course
Have you ever felt the need to relax, have some time out, ‘you’ time, or even to sleep better? Meditation may be able to help you… Feel Good Therapies six-week Beginners Meditation course usually costs £55, but as a special offer to newsletter subscribers you can learn to meditate for £50.

It starts Wednesday 25th August (6.45pm to 7.45pm) at the Gilles Centre in Marchmont, and you can book online at http://www.ilovefgt.com/courses/meditation/beginners/ using the code MED2010 in your shopping basket to receive your discount.

Article: Functional Fitness, Everyday Fitness
Historically the role of a Personal Trainer has focussed on sports specific training, that is, training athletes and sports people to be fitter and stronger specifically for their sport. Footballers may have had a Coach to motivate them and teach them tactics and a PT to take them to the gym to ensure they’re fit for the game. Over the last 20 or so years there has been a huge shift in a PT’s every day role. You find Personal Trainers in public gyms, training outdoors, working from private studios and even going to clients’ houses. Now, not all these clients are athletes, and not all these people are already fit.

The majority of my clients are ‘everyday’ folk who would simply like to be a bit fitter, trimmer and have more energy in their day to day life. Functional fitness encompasses exercises to help you function better in life. I first started focussing on this idea when I used to train at Holmes Place gym in the Omni Centre. The doors to the centre were quite heavy and difficult to open, especially on a gusty evening. Over a number of weeks, I started concentrating on my rowing form and so the previously difficult door became easier and lighter to fling open. It got me thinking about how to make weight training relevant to everyday life. Doing a squat is like sitting down in a chair, a dumbbell row is like sawing a piece of wood, lunges work your hill walking muscles at the front of your thigh (quads), an upright row like lifting up a heavy back pack to put on your back.

Many traditional gym programmes focus on the muscles that you can see in the mirror (chest, abs and the front of the body). This is all very well if you want to pose in your underwear, but if you’re interested in remaining injury free in everyday life, you need to remember to work the muscles that you can’t see equally to keep your back safe when you’re lifting and carrying. Rather than using machine weights that tend to isolate muscle groups, try body weight and dumbbell exercises that encourage muscle groups to work together. Your ‘form’ (posture) when you practise pulling and heaving movements needs to be precise, so it is often helpful to have someone else training with you (fitness trainer or a ‘spotter’). Also remember that there are loads of exercises you can do from home that will help your functional fitness, so there are no excuses…

And Finally… Are you High Pressured? Subscriber only offer
Do you know your blood pressure? It’s an important component in how fit and healthy you are, as high blood pressure can lead to all sorts of complications. Regular exercise and a healthy diet can combat this. To check if your BP is healthy, have a look at this chart at http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/blood-pressure.htm. You will need to scroll down the page to find the diagram.
If you don’t know your Blood Pressure, email me and I will arrange a time for you to pop by Griffen Fitness and have your BP checked… for FREE!

Have a happy and healthy Festival month,

:)
Tracy

Do you tweet? Follow tracygriffen on Twitter for daily fitness updates and healthy food ideas

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August newsletter