Green and White Trainers

What are you looking for?

PERSONAL TRAINING
  - Aerobic/cardiovascular training
  - Boxercise
  - Core training
  - Flexibility training
  - Kettlebell training
  - Resistance training

SPORTS MASSAGE THERAPY AND REHABILITATION

PRE AND POST NATAL FITNESS

NUTRITIONAL ADVICE AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

PERSONAL TRAINING

Starting your own exercise programme, or joining a gym or health club is only the start of the journey to a fitter, healthier you. But like any journey, getting there can be far from a smooth ride. Whatever stage of fitness you are at – kick starting your first ever programme, getting faster improvements from your existing one, or simply a short programme in preparation for the beach, your wedding, a sponsored run/cycle/walk or other special event – Vital Fitness can help.

At Vital Fitness, we understand that work, family and social commitments can all play havoc with your best intentions. Which is why regular sessions with a personal trainer will keep your exercise and physical activity routines varied and fun, challenging and achievable. Some of the services that Liz provides are listed below - however, please note that not every session with Liz will incorporate all of these activities but each will involve some aerobic, core, flexibility and resistance training.

Aerobic/cardiovascular training:

The ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) and AHA (American Heart Association) recommend: “Healthy adults under the age of 65 should carry out moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week or vigorous intense cardio 20 minutes a day, three days a week and do 8 to 10 strength-training exercises twice a week. To lose weight or maintain weight loss, 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity may be necessary. The 30-minute recommendation is for the average healthy adult to maintain health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.”

This type of exercise raises the heart rate, conditions the heart and lungs and burns fat. It is a very important part of your health and fitness programme. The best aerobic exercise is the one that you enjoy most and will keep on doing, whether that is walking, running, cycling, rowing or swimming. Aerobic/cardio training helps to improve your physical fitness, boosts energy levels and reduces the risk of heart disease. Liz can help you kick-start an aerobic training programme or make some modifications to a current training programme to help you achieve your fitness goals quicker.

Boxercise:

As a qualified Boxercise Instructor, Liz can introduce you to the different punches and footwork associated with Boxercise and start working with you on focus pads. Boxercise is one of the best stress busters around and it is one of the most effective forms of cross-training available today. It combines use of both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems that not only ensures a diverse workout, but also enhances sports specific senses, including hand-eye co-ordination, balance and timing. Boxercise is fun, energetic and addictive!

Core training:

Core stability training is essential to everyone and should become routine within any exercise programme. Our increasing sedentary lifestyles are doing little to promote the optimal function of the core. The body’s core muscles are the foundation for all other movement and create a solid base of support stabilising the spine, pelvis and shoulders. They are essential to developing functional fitness for both daily living and regular activity. Liz uses a variety of exercises and equipment to help you develop 3D core strength with mat work, stability balls, medicine balls, resistance bands, wobble cushions and a Bosu ball.

Flexibility training:

Today's society is plagued by postural imbalances, primarily owing to sedentary lifestyles. More people are spending time in office related jobs, which require individuals to sit for long periods. Flexibility training (stretching) often gets overshadowed by cardiovascular and strength training, but it has become a more vital component than ever before in preventing muscular imbalances, joint dysfunctions and overuse injuries. Staying flexible will help you achieve a supple and healthier body and can offset age-related stiffness, improve athletic performance and optimise functional movement in daily life.

The ACSM has added flexibility training to its general exercise recommendations, advising that stretching exercises for the major muscle groups are performed 2 to 3 days per week. Liz can help design a functional flexibility programme specifically for you.

Kettlebell training:

If you are sick of the gym, or bored of the same old aerobics class or indeed looking for a challenge that's new, exciting and actually does what it says - then kettlebell training is for you! As a qualified Kettlebell Instructor with Optimal Life Fitness, Liz can introduce you to this unparalleled fitness training. So, if you are looking to burn fat, build up high levels of cardio fitness and phenomenal gains in strength and power then you need to start training with them now!

Resistance training:

Resistance training (also known as weight training or strength training) is for everyone. It is an important tool for achieving a complete healthy life. A well-planned and well-executed functional training programme can bring about numerous benefits, some of these are listed below. Resistance training is a type of exercise that challenges the muscles to move against an unaccustomed force. It is perhaps the most powerful exercise technique available when done correctly and can increase strength, tone, functionality, bone density and overall health. It is a must do technique for everyone!

Benefits include:

Resistance training is particularly important for women. With one in three women now at risk of osteoporosis, resistance training is a great way to reduce these risks and improves bone density, strengthen joints and ligaments, improves immune systems and enhances metabolism and changes body shapes.

Some women still believe that resistance training will make them too bulky. On the contrary, it improves muscle tone and definition and creates a better body shape. You will end up looking healthier, slimmer and beautifully toned as women’s muscles develop differently to men’s due to the low level of testosterone in the female body.

SPORTS MASSAGE THERAPY AND REHABILITATION

Sports massage has been scientifically proven to help speed up recovery from many acute and chronic conditions and is a method of reducing stresses and strains brought on by training, sport or just through everyday life. Sports massage is an effective therapy for releasing muscle tension and restoring balance to the musculo-skeletal system.

A constant build up of tension in the muscles from regular activity may lead to stresses on joints, ligaments, tendons as well as the muscles themselves. These muscular imbalances may develop and often go undiagnosed until they are serious. Liz will carry out a postural assessment and detect variations in the soft tissues and provide sports massage and corrective exercises to help you maintain a healthier physical state. Sports Massage realigns the body from stresses and strains we all endure in everyday life and through specific techniques, Liz will help to aid muscle recovery and get you back to full functionality!

Keen to expand her Sports Massage business, in February 2008 Liz began working alongside Sarah de Lacey Munday at The Mews Clinic in Bedford as their in-house Sports Massage Therapist.

PRE AND POST NATAL FITNESS

Liz is qualified to undertake "The Fit to Deliver" prenatal and postnatal exercise programme which has been designed by a team of Healthcare Professionals and can be given in group or one-to-one sessions. Many women worry about exercise during pregnancy but staying fit during this time can have enormous benefits to you and your baby. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists now highly recommends that pregnant women adopt the same exercise recommendations made for the non-pregnant population and carry out 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity on all or most days of the week. A prenatal fitness programme can mean a healthier, more comfortable pregnancy, an easier delivery and a healthier baby. Exercise during pregnancy has proven to help reduce your chances of developing diabetes and high blood pressure. Exercise also decreases the chance that you will require a c-section or forceps during delivery. And women who exercised during pregnancy have shorter labours and that will definitely be good news to all those mums-to-be out there!

Liz can help you maintain your fitness levels pre and post pregnancy working on core strength, posture awareness, strength training, cardiovascular exercise and flexibility training.

So if you are considering starting a family, or are within your First, Second or Third Trimester or indeed have had your baby and need some help getting back into shape, then contact Liz. Please note there are general Trimester guidelines as to what activity you can undertake during your pregnancy, so make sure you contact Liz or your midwife or doctor before commencing any activity.

NUTRITIONAL ADVICE AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Nutrition is equally important as the exercise, in fact probably more so. What you eat determines your energy levels, repairs the body, fuels the body and generally controls how you feel and look. Twenty-first century lifestyles tend to make us eat more calorie dense food than we should and to skip meals or eat on the go. It can be difficult to keep to routines when faced with increasing pressure from home or work and barely a week goes by without a new wonder diet being heralded by the media or celebrities.

The simple fact is that weight loss or weight control can be achieved by eating a nutritionally well balanced diet where carbohydrates and proteins provide most of the calories and a smaller amount comes from fats. We will educate you to choosing the right foods and develop a nutritional programme that gives you the best chance to start and maintain good habits, whilst avoiding the triggers that lead to bad ones.