Barre really does work!!

Winter Guilty Pleasure – Well, I don’t know about you, but just the thought of going outside and doing exercise when its freezing can make you feel Zzzzzzzzz… As a personal trainer working in London, I guarantee the weather during the winter months is wet, windy and damn right freezing cold. So what is the solution? Well, the good news is, there are lots of things you can do to help beat the winter blues and get yourself back into shape and feeling amazing!

Get Inspired – Look up to see what fitness events or classes are happening in your area and see if anything appeals to you – My amazing ‘winter blues’ find was Barreworks studio in Richmond. This is a unique women’s only class that replicates ballet training, and even if you have 2 left feet like me, these classes are so cool, and will leave you feeling like you could audition for swan lake (OK, well maybe not swan lake), but it really is something different to your usual fitness class!
To find out more about Barreworks visit the website www.barreworks.co.uk

Eat – Sleep – Hate Work – Box – Repeat…

Having a bad day at the office, then book a session with me for some down right, and get dirty sparing action!! It will be the most fun you have had in a long time! You may even break a sweat too!

Stress relief when you simply HAVE to take a pop at something!

“Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club! Third rule of Fight Club: if someone yells “stop!”, goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule: one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule: the fights are bare knuckle. No shirt, no shoes, no weapons. Seventh rule: fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight.”

September 21st brings the Richmond Fitness Expo to Old Deer Park!

For one day only the Richmond Running Festival will feature the Richmond Fitness Expo to bring you all the latest in fitness technologies from sports wear and accessories to health products and nutrition.

Don’t miss out on the best sporting discounts and advice from your local sports shops, clubs and health experts. Local running clubs will join us at the Fitness Expo on the day giving information to unaffiliated runners and providing the oportunity to sign up and be a club member. Our Physios at St Mary’s Clinic will be on hand to give free massages and health advice.

If that isn’t enough, local Olympians will be there soaking up the festivals atmosphere and announcing the King and Queen, Prince and Princesses of Richmond.

More details from Fitness Expo Website

Autumn re-jig!

As the summer nights draw in and the Autumn chill is in the air, there is never a better time to re-think your training strategies!

Here are some great tips to help you on your way….

Grubby! Used and abused, training diaries contain the keys to success.

First things first, get yourself a training diary, and I don’t mean of the electrical kind either! Having a good old fashioned hardback training diary means, it will probably stay with you longer than your current iphone (fact). Not only is it a great bench mark tool to look back on, it also holds invaluable training notes which will stay with you for ever.

One thing with the fitness industry, no matter what new fads come it, the old principals will always remain the same. I still hold my old rowing training diaries from 15 years ago and it is facinating to see what core and strenghth work I was doing back then, what my max weights were at the start season, and what mileage I was clocking up during the week. The most valuable point of all though, was what useful training tips my coach had said to me and to which, I still refer back to even today.

Ok, so now that you have your hard copy training diary sorted, now lets look to see what’s out there on line….

Strava (www.strava.com)
Strava is a great website where you can be competitive against yourself, your mates or anyone around the world for that matter! Whether you run or cycle, athletes from all over the world can connect, and share their experiences of training. Strava tracks your training though your GPS device, iPhone or Android, and then it compares your data to other training althetes training segments all over the world. Strava have also recently linked up with Sufferfest (which in turn, is another very highly addictive website) – www.sufferfest.com