Out & About Autumn 2021

You’ve returned to exercise Why isn’t it working like it used to?

encouragement. Some exercises seem more open to “buddy” support, but in truth you can achieve this with everything you do at a gym; in fact it is well documented that people who exercise with a friend derive more exercise benefit than doing it alone, and you have someone to discuss your progress with, and motivating them can make you feel better too. One way to keep things fresh is to alternate your buddy; bad habits can appear if you get into a “comfort zone” with one other person. Our clients work with whoever the trainer is on that day, and they benefit from that variety of personalities. We also get the trainer to set up all the equipment and document the exercise; there is no reason you couldn’t do that yourselves if working with buddy, and it would also “mix it up” for you both. And one added side benefit - with someone watching you’ll probably do the exercises better, and the watcher will also learn things about improving their exercise form! Track yourself and your buddy You’ll amaze yourself once you start measuring your workouts, and you’ll be pleased to actually see the progress you are making. Nothing motivates like success, so seeing your number of repetitions go up, the weights improve, the duration into the spin class before your legs feel like lead - there is little that can’t be measured and everything will benefit from the endeavour. But will all these workouts and measurements lead to that holy grail of weight loss? well not necessarily, and actually we don’t believe that is a goal you should have. “Why not?” I hear you ask, and I’m afraid the answer is a little complicated but it is worth the read. Bodies comprise lots of different stuff - organs, skin, blood, muscle, fat, … - and they all take energy to keep alive. In fact one of the most energy consuming things that people do is … EAT! Digestion Thermogenesis (as it is called) is the energy expended by the body digesting food, and it is quite a large amount. Using energy merely to digest your lunch is one of the reasons people often feel lethargic after a (big) meal - there just simply isn’t enough energy available to stay alert and digest! The second big consumer of energy in our bodies is … our bodies. Estimates are that over 70% of the energy we need every day is merely to stay See adv rtis m nt opposite for details of how to book two free personal training sessions. Quote O&AQ42021

alive - not even get out of bed! - just laying still, keeping the organs, muscles and fat from dying. That number is referred to as the Basal Metabolic Rate. So if turn the equation on it’s head, only about 30% of what we should eat every day is used for DOING anything! Adding exercise won’t, by itself, increase that energy consumption very much, and so the fat won’t “melt away”. But proper exercise, that challenges the body and is difficult to do, will do one crucial thing - it will increase our MUSCLE MASS, often at the expense of FAT mass, which results (confusingly) in WEIGHT staying the same but BODY COMPOSITION (percentages of muscle & fat) changing so that more of you is muscle. And a pound (kilo, whatever) of MUSCLE consumes 10 times as much energy being kept alive than a pound of FAT - which means at the same weight but with more muscle you might need hundreds more calories to stay alive! Which is why challenging yourself at every workout to do a little more is the key to successful exercise, and measuring your progress with a buddy is one thing you can easily do, and enjoy your workouts more. Our Recommendations Our guidance for you is simple; on your return to formal exercise (running, swimming, the gym, classes, …) be kind to yourself - hurting yourself at the outset will only delay your path to fitness. Give yourself time to regain the form and the stamina, and then push yourself onwards - you will do much better that way; and get a buddy! Whatever position you are in, returning, starting, delaying, or considering, you have our sympathy. It has been a difficult year for all of us, even if nothing bad happened to yourselves or your families, so treat yourself well, look after yourself and your friends and your neighbours, and be positive about what your future holds.

The Thrill of Exercise! Gyms in the UK were allowed to reopen in mid - April and for those of us who had missed going to them during the lockdowns it was a time of great anticipation and excitement. We could at last get out of the house and return to gym classes, go to the pool, or get on the treadmill, after months of isolation and inactivity. But as we head towards autumn and the first few months after return are behind us, has the excitement begun to fade into staleness or, even worse, injury for you? In this piece we want to share some of the methods we use at Abstract Bodyworks, with our clients and for ourselves, to keep that motivation and interest in our exercise regimes fresh and alive. The Thrill is GONE! After the initial happiness that you could start exercising again, and work on the goals you set for yourself, it is not unlikely that these feelings of enthusiasm could have abated, and now going for a workout feels more like a chore than something you want to do. Part of that change of feeling is all the other activities we took on during the lockdowns — we filled our days well enough then and now those activities are pressing in on us and fighting for our precious time. So how can we all keep our motivation up in these new circumstances? One of the easiest ways to do this is constantly to challenge ourselves when we workout, but that can carry pitfalls as well. The foundation of good exercise is simple - know how we are currently doing so that we can compare our performance. Whatever form of exercise you prefer - classes, cardio, personal training, team sports, etc. - you have to “measure” where you are today, to see if you make any improvements tomorrow. That might seem easier with some exercises than others, but it is true for all. The measuring needs to be married to documenting (i.e. 40kg overhead press, 15 reps, 1 minute) but that doesn’t need to be onerous; if we don’t have smartphones to take our notes on, scraps of paper (which you KEEP!) do nicely. I was told a long time ago “you can only improve what you measure” - so start measuring today, and use that as part of your goal setting and (more importantly) PROGRESS! A great way to achieve measuring is through “buddy” training, working with someone who monitors your performance and provides

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