SPORTS AND FITNESS SHOW 2013

First of all, I would like to apologise for not writing in this blog for so long. Busy work (which is not a complaint at all!) mixed with family health problems have been keeping me away from writing.

            Changing the subject… This last weekend has been all about Fitness. The second ever Sports and Fitness Show in Ireland was held on the 2^nd and 3^rd of February 2013 in the RDS in Dublin. On both days, right at the entrance, you got a bag with the Irish Mail with lucozade sport, kellogg’s Nutri-Grain (Crunchy Oat Granola Choc Chip) and McVitie’s Breakfast (porridge oats biscuits with red berries).

            There were a lot of stands that were sports, fitness, nutrition and personal wellbeing related. Some giving free samples like the Vita Coco natural coconut water drink (traditional in Brazil and among world famous celebrities like Madonna. It is highly hydrating and energetic with vitamins and minerals and they showed three different flavours: original, pineapple and orange); Sumo giving samples of their calorie burning refreshments with 2 different flavours (Tropical and Summer fruits) and also The Foods of Athenry had many samples of their gluten free range.

There were many more stands such as the Nutriband (their products are supposed to make performance boosting nutrients be absorbed through the skin by wearing their patches), KT Ireland (treating and preventing sports injuries), Alkaline Healing Water (ionised water company that also had a stand in the previous edition of the Sport and Fitness Show), Aloe Vera Gel, Softball Leinster (promoting sports), International Paintball Group (promoting their various paintball centres in 6 countries), Clare Burren Marathon, White Collar Boxing (with a Boxing ring in the event showing boxing demos) and many more. Chuan Chom Thai Spa and Art of Therapeutic Thai massage giving free massage. Worth mentioning the Adventure West stand, besides their people being really nice and enthusiastic about their services, they had a zorbing ball/OGO right there at the event. There were charity stands for the Irish Paraolympic Athletes and for Autism.

            There were different classes/workshops scheduled and divided throughout the two days of the event. Some of them were:

• Capoeira - Master Mamaozinho was there giving demonstrations of Capoeira (Brazilian Martial Arts that works the whole body) and Frevo (One of many Brazilian type of dance);

• Zumba and Rip 60 (Great and fun popular classes delivered by the profifitness school that is always coming up with great Fitness Conferences with classes and workshops that count with many great Instructors from all over the world) Those two classes were also present in the first Sports and Fitness Show that happened in Dublin in 2011.

• Toe-ga (Great presentation and exercises demonstrations done with your toes to re-educate our feet to perform in a more natural way and shape that improves your technique for running, for instance).

Chi Balls

• Chi Ball class (Instructor Eddie showed us a great relaxing and different class using a Chi Ball created in Australia with Tai Chi, pilates, yoga and traditional Chinese medicine as some of its influences. There are many different Chi Balls each with a different colour and different scent and each one of them is supposed to help you to work a different physical/mind health issue. 

• Kettelbell class (a complete whole body exercise class also delivered by Eddie that showed us not only how to use kettlebells in a fitness class but also how to take it to a different level and make it a really advanced exercise performing 80 repetitions in less than 4 minutes (Eddie did it in 2 minutes and a half).

           

            Overall I would say the classes were very good but I felt there was less of a variety of classes being offered comparing to the other Sports and Fitness Show in 2011. A very positive side was that the classes didn’t run simultaneously like the 2011 event so you could do them all if you wanted. It makes me wonder when the next Sports and Fitness Show in Ireland will be and what other new trends will be shown. I can’t wait!

Some tips on hydration when exercising

If you fail in keeping yourself hydrated you can suffer from fatigue, lower your performance, lessen your endurance, etc. We all have heard that we should drink at least 8 glasses of water every day but when we exercise or practice sports we should drink water even more not to get dehydration, to help our body to function properly and to compensate the water we lost through sweating.

To know how much extra water you should drink, you should weight yourself before and after your workout. For every pound lost during exercising you should drink 500 ml of fluid. You should also drink water before (250 to 500ml 1 hour before exercise), during and after working out.

You can also have sports drinks but you will only really benefit from those if you do intense workouts for longer hours such as running for more than 1 hour. Sports drinks can help in that case cause they also have carbohydrates that will give you energy and also sodium which will help to absorb fluids. For the regular people on a light to moderate exercise routine water is better cause it is quickly absorbed by the body and has zero calories.

Remember to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day. In case you have any alcohol or drinks with caffeine (hopefully you will avoid them), try to drink at least one glass of water for every drink you have. 

Lifting Weights v Cardio while bulking up

In the gym, one of the questions that I get most from guys that are trying to bulk up is if doing cardio will ruin their attempt to build up muscles. If bulking up is your goal, you can still do cardio but it is important that your cardio comes after your resistance training because you need to have as much energy as possible for lifting weights since building muscles is your priority. You can also alternate between one day of resistance training and one day of cardio. Cardio exercises are still important to keep or improve your cardio fitness levels. 

Don’t forget, doing cardio for 5 minutes as a warm up is essential to prepare your body for the workout, raise the body temperature, prevent injuries and it will not compromise your resistance training at all. 

Don’t be ashamed of being a beginner!

It is important to tell your Fitness Instructor, that you are a beginner when you go to a class for the first time. No-one should be ashamed of being a beginner and before you know it you will be surprised on how much you have progressed and how much easier it is to follow the classes, if you do them regularly. Rememeber, everybody was a beginner once… even the fitness instructors. I would like to add that it is also important that Fitness instructors ask, before class, if there are any beginners, or people with injuries, pregnancies, diabetis, asthma, etc because those people require special cues and instructions to follow during the class.

Next time you go to a fitness class, don’t be shy! Tell the fitness instructor everything he or she needs to know so you can benefit from the classes with adequate instructions, avoiding injuries or making a medical condition worse. Just be proud of being there trying to get fit and healthier. Just enjoy and have fun!

Aerobic Classes

Date: Tuesdays


Time:  7pm


Location: Rush Fitness Health Club (in the St. Maurs GAA Complex)


Price: €5 for members or €8 for non-members

Call (01)8071359 to book a class

Aerobic moves, combined in fun choreographies, exercised to music for 45 minutes. No need to know how to dance.

 The classes suit all fitness levels. Some benefits of an aerobic session:

·        Improves well-being and fitness levels

·        Burns fat

·        Improves efficiency of heart and lungs

·        Helps to reduce blood pressure & cholesterol levels

·        Great fun while working out.

The importance of sleep to your healthy routine

Regular exercise and nutrition are crucial but a good nights sleep is very important too. If you are constantly sleep-deprived you can be sabotaging your healthy routine. Many hormones are produced and your organism as a whole rests and recovers while you sleep. It is also during that time that your muscles repair and grow, which is essential to get results from your workout.

Insomnia can happen due to medical causes (pain, respiratory problems, hyperthyroidism, etc) or the intake of certain substances (such as caffeine, alcohol, psycho-stimulants, anti-depressives) or due to psychiatric disorders (such as anxiety, mania, depression) or because of specific sleep disorders (sleep apnea, nocturnal myoclonus). Insomnia can be Initial (when the person finds it difficult to get to sleep) or terminal (when the person wakes up precociously early and cannot go back to sleep).

Lack of sleep can make you feel grumpy, easily irritated, tired, stressed, your energy levels get low, makes it difficult to concentrate, lowers your immune system, makes you prone to health problems such as high blood pressure and weight gain (hormones that control your appetite get altered when you don’t get enough sleep).

Some tips for a better sleep:
· Make sure your room is cosy, comfortable and as dark as possible.
· You should have a routine around the time you go to sleep.
· Always go to sleep at the same time.
· Use your bed to sleep (don’t watch TV, read or study on your bed).
· Write down all your commitments for the following day to avoid getting worried about them.
· Wake up always at the same time every day.
· Exercise regularly.
· Be more active during the day and leave the evenings for more relaxing activities.
· Avoid alcohol.
· Avoid coffee and other psycho-stimulators mainly in the afternoon and evenings.

You should try to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Consult your doctor to check if your lack of sleep has any specific cause and if so treat it. Exercise regularly to improve your sleep. Have a good sleep routine so you can see the results of your workout.

Expression & Movement Fitness Convention 3

The third edition of the Expression and Movement Fitness Convention was held at the Swan Leisure Centre in Dublin for three days (November 18th, 19th and 20th) and brought some international Instructors to Dublin, such as Luciano Mottola, Cesar Millan, Troy Dureh, Luis Barbudo, Karolina Libelt, to name a few.

Each day had a different purpose. The first day you could choose between two different workshops or two zumba classes. I chose to attend the two workshops because they were new to me. The first workshop was Power Stretch with Karolina Libelt. She explained different kinds of stretches, why you should do them and how to do them. She was astonished by the fact that stretching classes are not common to find in gyms here in Ireland. That always amazed me as well, because stretching is so important (see my previous blog entry). The second workshop was Assymetric step with Luciano Mottola teaching how to prepare an advanced step class with Assymetric moves that also has muscle balance in mind.

The second day was the aerobics day, with advanced step classes by Luciano Mottola and Cesar Millan. It appeared like they were dancing and the step was a mere accessory to complement the dance. Troy Dureh did an exciting Khai-Bo Freestyle Combat and a great hip-hop jam class, teaching us Michael Jackson’s choreographies such as Thriller.

The final day was designed as a body and mind day. It was more focused on different classes of pilates and an original Luis Barbudo’s body flow class (combining breathing exercises, pilates and yoga). There was also Cesar Millan’s Toning class where you worked with a variety of toning exercises, using weights and/or your own body weight. It was choreographed in such a way that you ended up doing many sets of different exercises, all disguised as a dance. Karolina Libelt’s Functional training focused mainly on lower body exercises with many varieties of squats, lunges and squat jumps. There was also a 120 minute Circuit Training Challenge (yes, you read right…120 minutes of circuit!) by the Profi Fitness School Team, with different stations such as abs exercises, arms (tubing), step, squats and lunges, suspension TRX, spinning, etc.

The weekend consisted of almost 20 hours of Fitness Classes and workshops distributed in those three days. It was a pity that the two Zumba classes happened at the same time as the workshops on Friday, but overall the Convention was very exciting and gave me plenty of new moves that could be incorporated into my Fitness Classes.

It is always important for Fitness Instructors to go to these Conventions so that we can update our knowledge, learn about new Fitness trends and improve our skills. I hope there will be many more Fitness Conventions here in Dublin in 2012.