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Thursday 30 March 2017

CrossFit Cirencester Celebrates Success after the CrossFit Open 2017


David's maximum lift was 135kg in a 'Clean Complex'
including a clean and hang clean.

A yearly 5 week event for CrossFit lovers came to an end on Monday 27th March. The weeks of gruelling workouts were designed to test the limits of all participants. 

Not only did the CrossFit box get some great results personally and nationally with its members, owner David Long came 2nd in the UK in his category. If you’re looking to get fit and learn from one of the fittest, CrossFit Cirencester is the place to start your journey.

Follow CrossFit Cirencester here! www.facebook.com/CrossFitCirencester

Wednesday 29 March 2017

10 Reasons Why Strength is Important in Your 50’s and Beyond



Mac from Elite highlights reasons why exercise is important for people who may have left it on the backburner!
 
Keeping your strength up is super important at any age, but it become especially important in your 50s and beyond. If you fail to build up your strength and get into a good exercise regimen, you can run into a number of common problems that elderly people experience. Here are 10 reasons why strength is important in your 50s!

1.       You Will Live Longer
Studies suggest that exercise will help you to live longer. Elderly people who exercised regularly were actually found to reduce their physical age by around 5 years!  

2.       You’ll Be Able To Maintain A Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for older people. It can become more difficult as the metabolism slows, and we actually need to eat less when we get older. If we pile on weight, it can cause all kinds of health problems and put pressure on our joints. Keeping up strength with exercise will maintain a healthier weight.

3.       You’ll Look Younger
Looking younger isn’t the be all and end all, but it can certainly improve your self-esteem and confidence. By strength training, you will keep body fat low, muscle tone high, and reduce the appearance of things like fine lines and wrinkles. As a result, you’ll likely look and feel much younger than your real age!

4.       You’ll Manage Pain Symptoms
If you have pain symptoms now, you can expect them to get worse as you age. That is, unless you begin strength training. Exercise has been proven to reduce the symptoms of chronic pain, although many people falsely believe that it makes it worse! Exercise can actually be more effective than medication for managing pain.

5.       You’ll Fight Off Illness And Disease
Not only does strength training fight off chronic pain, it can also fight off illness and disease in all forms. You will strengthen your immune system, and become less likely to even catch a cold. You’ll also lower your blood pressure in the process!

6.       You’ll Keep Joints And Bones Strong
Keeping up your strength by training properly will allow you to lubricate your joints and strengthen the muscles surrounding them. As a result, this will keep your joints healthy and strong. Not only that, you’ll strengthen your bones, which is crucial when you are getting older! Weak bones can result in easier breaks and difficulty getting around. Don’t let it happen to you.

7.       You’ll Feel Better
You’ll feel better when you decide to build up your strength with exercise. Not just because of all of the benefits here; you’ll increase the ‘feel good’ hormone serotonin, which automatically makes you happier. Plus, you’ll enjoy more endorphins after an exercise session. Exercise, combined with these hormones, helps to fight depression and other mental health problems. Many people find it difficult to talk about mental health, but it is becoming more common in older people due to things like loneliness and isolation. You don’t have to be lonely though; depression can happen to anybody.

8.       You Will Stay Mobile
How do you imagine your later years? Are you walking around just like you are now, using a walking stick, or perhaps in a wheelchair? By keeping your strength up, you’ll stay mobile for much longer! You won’t need to rely on a cane or anybody to push you around.

9.       You Will Be Physically Independent
Mac with a TRX, something
everyone could have in their homes!

Nobody wants to become somebody who is weak and unable to do things for themselves when they get older. Do you want to be able to wash yourself, or have a nurse you barely know do it for you? By keeping up your strength with regular exercise, you can remain physically independent, doing all of the things you do for yourself now.

10.    You Will Be Able To Function Better In Everyday Life
Strength will allow you to function better in everyday life. If you don’t stay strong, then things you take for granted now, may become impossible, as you get older. You will be able to continue carrying shopping, looking after grandchildren, and enjoying your life with ease.  


Who knows? You might just meet some like-minded people in your gym, or find a friend in your personal trainer. Socialising is important as you age, and exercise is a wonderful way to do that.

You no longer have to resign yourself to a life of becoming weak and unable to care for yourself. Inactivity is the reason elderly people often become weak and feeble - it isn’t down to ageing at all! You can age and still remain fit, trim, healthy, and strong. You’ll look and feel all the better for it, too!

Visit www.elitefit.co.uk for more info!

Thursday 9 March 2017

Active Krav Maga Nightclub Workshop at the 2Pigs Cheltenham


The game of trying to keep the extended knife hand
away from the free arm. Not so easy!
Photo A. Surowiec
Ciren Scene's Evan Burgess took part in this popular seminar...
AKM has been going strong for a long time now, but nothing brings this home more than the seminars it puts on, which are well attended with skilled practioners present. Krav Maga is an Israeli martial art that Anna Surowiec was keen to discover after she realised kick boxing alone was not enough against an armed opponent. Weapon disarms, spacial awareness and strategy are core elements. The least time spent engaged the better! This night brought home exactly why.


Gathered in a small space, complete with well cleaned (slippery) floor and a DJ Booth playing loud music, about 30 people waited for their Saturday night to begin. Dark and surrounded by booze, usually this would be a fun environment. Fond memories of being in a mosh pit might come to some people’s minds! But in a scene similar to the Kingsman where Colin Firth takes on a church, half the people pulled out knives and started slashing.
Another day in the office: striking.
Photo A. Surowiec

The fact I went to the toilet and had overheard what was about to happen didn’t really help me, I got ‘stabbed’ about three or four times and slashed even more. Rubber knives don’t leave wounds, but I was annoyed by the implication I was dead. It wasn’t the fact I couldn’t grab the knife arm, but the knife arm changed so quickly it didn’t matter. Discussing this later, Krav Maga trainer Alan Clark explained how a knife attack will have multiple fatal stabs. "If the attacker has a knife with intent on using it, whether its to gain something or inflict harm, when the time comes and the attacker reveals the knife you are now 4/5 steps behind of the situation. Not only that with everything else going on you more than likely won't see the knife. They say that on average once an attack has started the average amount of stabs in an incident is 14... but it only takes one to kill."


The techniques learned in this lesson show just how difficult it is to know what to do. With no room to kick someone, no idea if someone else is involved, Alan left another chilling demonstration “The first time I saw one of these I thought it must be illegal.” He started to adjust a credit card, “This is legal carry knife, doesn't mean you can walk to ASDA with it, but it is legal carry in the dark, a triangular matte black blade was visible in the lasers after a ten second assembly time.

Being prepared might not stop you getting cut with a magical force field, but it could save your life or keep you away from escalation in the first place. For more excellent seminars and weekly lessons, find out more about Krav Maga by contacting anna@activekravmaga.co.uk

Visit:
AKM Website

AKM Facebook Page

Wednesday 8 March 2017

Ginastica Natural in Full Swing at Gracie Barra Gloucester



Try at home: 1. From sitting on right hip

Ginastica Natural classes are in full swing at Gracie Barra Gloucester. At 13:00 on Tuesdays, this exciting class allows people of all ages to hone gymnastic ability like rolling, crawling and cart wheeling in a safe environment. With movements and breathing techniques found in Hatha yoga, Ginsastica Natural was developed to enhance the abilities of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu practitioners. But like Tai Chi can have a martial or meditational use, Ginastica natural can work towards whatever goal the practioner desires.
2. Slide onto both hips


The fierce martial art of BJJ relies on being able to turn on a penny in a split second using unusual points of contact like an elbow, shoulder or hip bone! This is all the while under duress from an opponent. Training too hard can lead to overuse or bad technique in certain muscles, where total body movement isn’t utilised. Being able to use the kinetic chain properly is the focus of Ginastica Natural, where the exercises are
3. On both hips move weight onto left hip
done with body weight and no equipment. This transfers very well to competitive fighting, where stabiliser muscles and tendons must move in all planes of motion.


Coach Gonçalo Gomes only uses body weight training due to this aspect. “If you look at a bench press, you go in one direction. You’re only strong in that direction!”


4. Slide through and end up as mirror image
Where in some techniques, a forward roll will take up a large amount of space, Ginastica Natural teaches ways to move where you can roll and return to your beginning position. Great for back flexibility and hip mobility, Ginastica Natural was even used to help Ronaldo get match fit for the 2002 World Cup.

 
Goncalo has a history of training Muay Thai, Eskrima Kali
and Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. With all these disciplines, Ginastica Natural was something that enhanced his endurance and ability. Find out more by contacting https://www.facebook.com/GracieBarraGloucester/ or call 07973 740295.