This post is a copy of our email newsletter sent out on December 6th, not all newsletters make it to the blog! To stay up to date with all the latest news, sign up to our newsletter:
- Winter closure dates
- End-of-year social this Saturday
- 0-5 km Running for Beginners starts again
- Running Club
- Free weightlifting classes for NEET young people
- Short course: How to Lift Weights with Great Technique
- Workshop: What to do at the Gym
Winter closure dates
This year we will be closed for just one week, from 24th December to 3rd January.
Guy and Charlie are on holiday the previous week too so their classes on Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd December won’t be happening.
We hope you have a restful and enjoyable break!
End-of-year social
This Saturday we will be going for a wintry walk through the woods just behind St. Anne’s House and down into Nightingale Valley, then back to the gym for mulled apple juice (bring your own mug!).
Meet at 10:00 on Saturday outside St. Anne’s House.
You can leave bags at the gym if you’d like.
0-5 km Running for Beginners
We are delighted to announce a second 0-5 km running course with Zoe!
The feedback from the first cohort has been mainly feelings of disbelief that they can now run for so long, and appreciation for such an encouraging group of people to run with.
This 0-5 km running course will help those who have never run, or who have got out of the habit for whatever reason. Instead of just following an app by yourself, this will be in a group with a supportive atmosphere. We will have fun! After the last session we will celebrate by doing the Eastville Parkrun together. 08:00-09:00 on Fridays in Eastville Park, starting on 14th January.
Running Club
The 0-5 km group are keen to keep running together, so we’ve decided to open the sessions up and form a running group.
Start your Friday with an invigorating, social run at your own pace through Eastville Park with our friendly crew of runners of mixed abilities.
It can be pretty hard to get up for a run on your own before work, especially in the winter, so come and run with us instead.
Sessions are led by Zoe Banks Gross, who will introduce a bit of bodyweight strength training and occasional speed work too.
There is a prerequisite of being able to run continuously for 20 minutes. If you’d like to build towards that, try one of Zoe’s 0-5k courses before joining!
07:00-08:00 on Fridays in Eastville Park, starting on 14th January
Free Weightlifting Classes for NEET Young People
We have teamed up with Off the Record to offer a series of free weightlifting classes aimed at young people aged 16-25 who are not currently in education, employment or training.
Sessions start on Wednesday 19th January, 14:30-15:30, and run for eight weeks.
If you know anybody who might be interested, please share the details! They can book on through our page on OTR’s website.
(We hope to offer lots more of these subsidised classes now that we have our own space – do get in touch if you’d like to partner with us!)
Short course: How to Lift Weights with Great Technique
This three-part workshop will cover everything you need to know in order to lift weights safely and effectively.
Many of you will already have experienced what a knowledgeable and attentive coach Isidora is, and this is a great chance to really go into detail with all the fundamentals of good lifting:
- Mechanics of lifting and the perfect set-up from feet to head
- Spine alignment and core stability – how to minimise risk of injury
- Breathing patterns and intra-abdominal pressure
- Mobility drills to improve the range of motion in the ankle, hip and thoracic spine
Sessions begin on Friday 28th January, 18:00-19:00, and repeat every other week from then.
We will cover a different movement pattern each week:
- Week 1 – 28th January – Squats – goblet squat, front and back squats, sumo and narrow-stance, split squats
- Week 2 – 11th February – Deadlifts – kettlebell deadlift, barbell deadlift, sumo deadlift, single-leg deadlift
- Week 3 – 25th February – Row – bent over barbell row, wide barbell row, single-arm row
Book the complete course for £35 or an individual session for £15. As always, co-op members get 10% off.
If the course proves popular, we will make this a regular thing!
To book a single session, just find it in the calendar
Workshop: What to do at the Gym
On Sunday 23rd January from 10:00-12:00 Guy will be leading a workshop about how to get the most from any gym membership.
The purpose is to give you the information and experience needed to get what you want from a gym while hopefully avoiding the fitness culture rubbish.
It will be a sort of extended induction for all gyms rather than any one in particular.
It will cover:
- The different kinds of gyms there are and how they came to be
- What to bring to a gym and what to expect when you arrive
- What different pieces of equipment are called and how and when to use them
- Broad categories of exercises and how to get a well-rounded workout
- Where to find decent ready-made workout plans
- How to alter the structure of a workout to achieve different results
- How to choose the intensity to work at in order to safely progress, and how to measure that progression
- How often to train and how to recover between sessions
- How to establish a context that means you’re more likely to stick with your plan
- Where to look for further information
Tickets cost £20 or £18 if you are a co-op member.