surfing

Learning to Surf

Beginner surf fans around the world know Cornwall is the best place to learn to surf, and what's better than a professional surf school in Cornwall? We love the idea of Newquay surf schools teaching us how to ride the crest of a wave!
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Using Ready Made Fitness Plans to Reach Your Goals

Robbie Garratt

There are a whole range of ready made fitness plans available, especially online these days.  It is possible to find a fitness plan to suit most ages, lifestyles and genders.  Some of the more popular and trendy plans these days include the Body Boss Method and the Bikini Body Guide by Kayla Itsines.  There are huge online followings of these plans, and they claim to offer quick workouts which will really change your shape.

These plans work by getting the user to exercise 5-7 days per week, using a range of methods such as HIIT workouts, plyomettic exercises, resistance training and cardio.  A blend of different exercses are done in a short circuit which is often repeated at least twice, making a challenging workout which only takes around 30 minutes to complete.  There are large social media groups which show the progress made on these plans, which is highly inspiring for a lot of people.

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The various benefit of maintaining good fitness levels

Fitness

Managing blood pressure:

Health and fitness has demonstrated to lead to results about the blood pressure of the body since remaining productive and training frequently accumulates a stronger center. One’s heart may be the primary wood responsible for blood pressure and blood pressure. When the exercise is ceased, nevertheless, participating in a physical exercise will generate an increase in blood pressure, the individual’s blood pressure may go back to regular. The exercise this one engages in, the simpler this method becomes, producing a person that is more ‘fit’. Through normal health and fitness, one’s heart doesn’t need to are difficult to produce an increase in blood pressure, which reduces the total blood pressure, and reduces the drive about the veins.

Cancer prevention:

Facilities for avoidance and disease control supply lifestyle recommendations of participating in physical exercise to lessen the chance of illness and sustaining a healthy diet. The WCRF/ American Company for Cancer Research (AICR) posted a summary of tips that replicate evidence they’ve discovered through persistence in exercise and nutritional elements that immediately relate solely to cancer-prevention.

Guidlines:

Be not as rich as you can without getting underweight
Every week, people must participate in 75 moments of energetic intensity physical exercise or atleast 150 units of moderate-intensity activity
Kids must participate in a minumum of one time of energetic or reasonable physical exercise every week
Be not physically inactive for atleast 30 mins every single day
Prevent sugar, restrict power packed foods’ intake
Balance your diet plan having a number of greens, grains, fruits, beans, etc.
Control salt consumption, the use of prepared foods and also the use of meats
Limit alcoholic beverages for males plus one for ladies each day to 2

The American Cancer Society also broadly supports these tips. The rules have now been examined and folks which have greater principle adherence ratings considerably decrease aid in addition to cancer threat having a large number of serious health issues towards handle. Normal physical exercise is just Diabetes, two crucial elements that link with cardiovascular disease and an element that helps decrease an blood pressure and enhances cholesterol levels. The American Cancer Society promotes the general public to “follow a physically active lifestyle” by achieving the requirements in a number of activities for example walking, swimming, interval training, opposition pouring, raising, etc. It’s recognized that cancer isn’t a disease that may be healed by health and fitness alone, nevertheless since it is just a multifactorial illness, health and fitness is just a manageable avoidance. The big organizations with being toned linked and decreased cancer risk are enough to supply a method to lessen cancer risk. The American Cancer Society assorts various degrees of activity which range from reasonable to energetic to explain the proposed period allocated to a physical exercise. These categories of physical exercise provide the general public a larger comprehension by what exercise levels suffice as potential illness prevention and think about the deliberate exercise and fundamental actions completed on the daily schedule.

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Using Cardio and Weight Training to Lose Weight

Fitness

By creating a well put together fitness schedule involving regular cardio and weight training exercises, you can maximise your chances of losing weight, burning fat and feeling great.

Cardio

Cardio stands for cardiovascular exercise.  It is any form of exercise which gets your heart rate pumping faster, your breathing faster and you getting a sweat on!  Examples of cardio include running, cycling, HIIT, and even walking.  We are advised to get at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise per day for good health.  When looking to lose weight or burn fat, it can be beneficial to do more than 30 minutes, but not more than 1 hour – you do not want to over work yourself!

Weight Training

Weight training/resistance exercise is used to build muscle, burn extra fat and raise your metabolism.  You can use body weight exercises such as squats, press ups and sit ups, or you can add extra weight through using dumbbells or resistance bands for example.

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What Can I Eat? The Paleo Diet

Robbie Garratt

When you follow a new diet plan, it is important that you understand the nutritional needs of the diet.  Here is a guide as to what you can expect to eat on the Paleo diet…

Meat, Fish and Eggs

These are a great source of protein which is needed for healthy muscles, immune function and bone health.  Grass fed meat is better, however if you can only find grain fed, this is also acceptable!

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

The bulk of your meals will be filled out with vegetables and fruit.  These provide a high level of vitamins, minerals and essential fibre which helps the digestive system.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are a good source of healthy fats which can be good for the skin, hair and nails!

Healthy Fats and Oils

Olive oil, nut oils, avocado oils and coconut oil are all great sources of healthy fat, which provide omega-3 fatty acids which are good for the heart and brain.

 

On the Paleo plan, you should avoid eating:

  1. Cereal grains
  2. Legumes
  3. Dairy
  4. Sugar
  5. Potatoes
  6. Processed junk food
  7. Refined vegetable oils
  8. Salt
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Spinning as a Great Fat Burner

Robbie Garratt

You’ve probably heard of spinning.  It is an exciting and high energy indoor cycling class, featuring loud booming music and often flashing lights (a bit like a sweaty disco!).  Spin classes usually last between 45 minutes and 1 hour, although some gyms offer shorter 30 minute classes for when people are in a hurry.

You begin by setting up the bike to fit your body.  It is important that the bike seat is at the right height, and the handlebars are the right distance away, as if you have these incorrectly set up, you can easily injure yourself.

The first part of the workout class is often a warm up, where you get to know the controls of the bike.  There is often a handle which adjusts the resistance.  You normally start on a low resistance, and build up the resistance as you work through the class.

There is often a section for squats where you work your legs hard, and sometimes an upper body section.  Spinning is a whole body workout which burns a huge number of calories!

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Fitness Classes as a Motivating Factor

Robbie Garratt

Once we get past the New year, where we all have that immediate rush of motivation to get fit, lose weight and eat healthier, we often get into February and March and see our resolve dwindle out.  The way we have found to get around this is to book into a number of exercise classes at our local gym.

The great thing about attending classes is that you cannot really slacken off – the trainer is there, other people are there and they can all see you!  No way are you going to quit with them watching you!  The classes are often a great chance for you to push yourself, with the safety of having a trainer right there to help you if you get into problems.

We love spin classes as a great way to increase our cardio fitness as well as powering up those legs.  For those who prefer a slightly less intense class, why not try some light aerobics, aqua fit or yoga classes?

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Is It Possible to Overdo New Year’s Resolutions for Health?

Robbie Garratt

As we welcome a new year, we often make resolutions to be in better health, to lose weight or to exercise more.  Is it possible for us to overdo these resolutions?  The answer is actually quite scary!

A popular activity during January is to detox our bodies, especially if we feel we overdid the goodies at Christmas!  A detox can be anything from eating more fruit and veg, to drinking more water, or even abstaining from solid foods!  There are several forms of detox which are perfectly safe, but did you know it is possible to put your life at risk when you think you are doing it good?

One popular trend for detoxing is to flush out toxins by drinking lots of water.  We all know that we should aim to consume around 1.5-2 litres per day, and slightly more if we are exercising hard.  Some detox diets however, aim to get you to drink as much as 4 litres of water in any given day.  This can be disastrous for your health, and can even end with a spell in hospital!  If we increase the amount we are drinking by that much in a short time, our bodies will soon end up running low on salts and other minerals which are essential to our health.  If you are planning to drink more water as a new year’s health kick, please remember to do so gradually and build up the amount you drink, especially if you do not currently drink as much as 2 litres per day.  Suddenly taking on much more water will put your body into a shock and it won’t be able to manage the new volume without causing some harm.

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How to Build the Best Smoothies

Robbie Garratt

Smoothies are a great way of increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, with very little fuss or difficulty.  In fact, they are a fab option for people who struggle to eat the recommended 5 portions of vegetables a day, as each smoothie can easily include 2-3 servings in one go!

Here’s my foolproof way to build the best, and most health boosting smoothies possible, using ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.  Let’s begin!

VEGETABLES

always begin a smoothie with a dose of green veg.  Spinach or kale a good options, as they are fantastic for fighting illnesses and are known to have high levels of vitamin C and iron.  You’ll be suprised that you can’t really taste them at the end.

FRUIT

try to include 2-3 different colours of other fruits and vegetables.  I like berries like blueberries and strawberries, and I try to add the occasional carrot or half cucumber for a change.  A great way to up your vitamins and minerals, by using different colours, you’ll get lots of different nutrients.

PROTEIN

adding some protein like nuts into your smoothie is a good way to make your drink fill you up for longer.  If you like, you can use natural greek yoghurt.

FATS

another way to up the satiety value, healthy fats from avocado, coconut oil or seeds can be a nice boost to your smoothie

LIQUID

choose any liquid you like such as filtered water, coconut water, nut milk or whole cows milk to give your smoothie a nice texture

Enjoy your smoothie for breakfast or as a nice post-workout snack.  You can even add a scoop of protein powder if you want to really boost your post workout!

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How to get thinner thighs

Robbie Garratt

There is unfortunately no way to spot reduce body parts! the best way to go about reducing the size of your thighs is to clean up your diet and do some sensible exercise.  Here are my tips for getting the legs you have always wanted!

As a lot of your body size relates heavily to genetics, take a look at your family members, such as your Mum and Dad’s legs and your grandparents.  If they all have chunky legs, it is likely that your legs will also be on the larger size.  Start by drinking more water to flush out toxins and help speed up the fat burning process.  Pear shaped ladies will often store extra fat on their hips and thighs, so dry body brusing daily can help combat this.

Eating a cleaner diet will help with overall fat loss, so reduce the amount of sugar, alcohol and crappy carbs you are eating and replace with wholesome veg, fruit, good fats and complex carbs.

Exercise wisely.  Squats and lunges work the legs hard and can often cause your legs to look bulkier.  You might want to take up running or jogging, as this way you are exercising the muscles of the legs without adding bulk.  You’ll also be burning lots of calories which can go a long way towards burning fat off your legs too.

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Healthier Living Regime Reduces Annual Holiday Weigh-In Shock

Robbie Garratt

One of the ways we know our waistline might have increased a tad more than expected, and the figure registered on the bathroom scales is higher than we ever expected and certainly a lot more than last  year, is when we come to weigh our holiday suitcase.  Last year, having hopped on the scales and then again but with the suitcase in hand, that figure tends to imprint itselft in our brains and stays there when the same process takes place the following year.   That cry of  “wait a minute, I’ve packed the same stuff as last year but the case is heavier . . . .”  as it takes a few seconds to register that the  cause of this imbalance is the case holder has gained the weight more than the case.

Now is the time to browse fitness and wellbeing consulants for a kick start to a healthier and happier lead up to the next suitcase weigh-in session!