fitness
FITNESS FANATICS
Maria-Luisa Meredith picks one of the hottest days of the year to take on a rigorous test of strength and fitness with Outdoor Fitness, just one of a number of companies now taking advantage of a growing interest in outdoor fitness training away from the monotony of the traditional gym.
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f you’ re not familiar with the concept of fitness training outside you probably have a few questions: what about equipment? How will I exercise properly? And no TVs, what will I look at? Read on … Having done something similar a few years ago I was going to need a fresh perspective too, so I took along a friend who’ s fairly fit but new to training outside in all weathers. Four years in Wales( he’ s Italian) and still struggling to love the climate, he was going to take convincing. One of our instructors was Outdoor Fitness’ Managing Director Jeff Webb. An ex-soldier with 24 years service he holds just about every qualification there is when it comes to health and fitness. Back in 2008, seeing how much people wanted to get away from the physical( and contractual) confines of the gym, he decided to start Outdoor Fitness. Since then they’ ve grown and grown with regular classes now in Cardiff, Pontypridd and Caerphilly. They also provide Kettle Bell training and tailored sessions for triathletes and marathon runners too. As Jeff told me, a big part of their success is that they’ re always happy to evolve to suit their members. And so to a sunny Saturday morning in Cardiff, we arrive at the meeting point and after consulting with a couple of regulars opt for intermediate wristbands( Outdoor Fitness has four levels from beginners to‘ stupid’ fit). When the call of“ come on then, let’ s go!” rings out we’ re off. We start by running, but what exactly were we letting ourselves in for and was it really too late to go back and grab a beginner’ s wristband? The classes use a basic circuit training structure, but take it outside and use nature as a gym. Jeff explained how the sessions are specifically designed to ensure everyone has a safe and effective workout whatever their level. Jogging between marked points across the park, we stop to do the required repetitions of each exercise; for example 10 for beginners, 15 for intermediate and so on. We do sprints, star jumps and the infamous burpees. It felt like being part of a fitness flash mob. A quarter into session and I was having to avoid eye contact with my buddy as the tortured look in his eyes told me he probably didn’ t want to chat right now. We ran into the woods, nipping through trees, ducking branches and hopping logs like a gang of unarmed happy mercenaries. We were also burning fat, toning muscle, and building strength not to mention testing our reflexes to the limits.“ Branch!” With plenty of banter between members and
encouragement from the instructors, the atmosphere was really upbeat. There were endorphins oozing all over the place. Making sure everyone gets a great workout while having fun is tricky, but our instructors made it look easy. I’ ve always found that, despite it seeming like madness, doing press ups in puddles and jogging through snowdrifts feels great. Well, it turns out there’ s a medically proven reason why. Jeff explained that the“ body produces serotonin when exercising outdoors, especially after bad weather, due to negative ions in the air. It literally makes you euphoric, it’ s nature’ s drug.” What’ s more, training outside gives you the freedom to keep moving; from shady glade to riverbank, it’ s the ultimate gym with a view. During the session my friend pushed himself hard, probably too hard. He couldn’ t speak but he was definitely smiling. Later he said it had challenged“ every single muscle” in his body and now they all hurt. He can’ t wait to go back though( serotonin!) The session was coming to an end so our instructors led us into the river to cool off where we splashed about like a band of renegade toddlers. Once the class was really over there seemed to be a collective and silent sigh. Everyone just wanted to stay out playing.
Info: www. outdoorfitnessltd. com
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