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If you take a stroll through a local park, you’ll often see groups of people doing things like squats, sprints and press-ups in an outdoor bootcamp class. So what’s the benefit of joining in. First off is the feelgood factor. The oxygen boost you get from the fresh air gets the serotine flowing plus the natural environment puts extra demands on the body which means you work harder doing each exercise. Exercise is thought to really help with mental health, helping to treat mild to moderate depression as effectively as antidepressants. It can help relieve anxiety, tension and stress and boost physical and mental energy. It can also help you sleep and boost your confidence. You also challenge yourself. The body quickly recognises and adapts to any exercise you complete, so you must continually make it guess and challenge the body in different ways. Each session is different. You’ll get a total workout. You’ll be able to master exercises such as squats and lunges whilst using the correct form under guidance from the instructor. You’ll do sprints, high intensity interval training, resistance training and stretching. You can train outdoors all year round. Just make sure you dress for the weather! Bootcamps cater for all different levels of fitness, so don’t think you need to be superfit to join in. If you keep going, you’ll soon notice the difference in your fitness level. All in all, bootcamps are social, you’ll make new friends for sure, fun and hardwork. So why not put on your training gear, grab some water and head over to either Raphael Park, Romford on a Sunday at 9.00am or Lawns Park, Collier Row on a Tuesday at 6.30pm and join in the fun! We also offer kid’s bootcamps which are an ideal way to get the kids moving. These sessions are 30 minutes of fun, running, jumping and circuits and you’ll child will be exhausted by the end of it! Get in touch to find out more.

We all know that exercise is good for your body but it is one of the most effective ways to improve your mental health. Regular exercise can have a massive impact on depression and anxiety as well as helping to relieve stress, improving your memory, helping you sleep better and improving your overall mood. Physical exercise can help treat mild to moderate depressions as effectively as antidepressant medication studies have shown. Exercise helps for several reasons. It promotes all kinds of changes in the brain, including reduced inflammation and neural growth. It also provides new brain activity which in turn can lead to feelings of calm and well-being. It also releases endorphins which is a chemical in your brain that energises your spirits and make you feel good. If you exercise, it can also serve as a distraction, taking you away from any negative thoughts. Exercise can also relieve anxiety. It relieves tension and stress and boosts physical and mental energy. If you focus on your body and how it feels when you exercise you will be able to stop the flow of worries going through your head. When you are stressed you might feel tense, have headaches, and feel tight across the chest. You may also suffer from insomnia, stomach ache or even an upset stomach. Worrying and the feeling of discomfort may well make you feel even more stressed and this will make a vicious cycle between mind and body. Exercise is a great and effective way to break this cycle. Physical activity helps to relieve the tension and relax the muscles in the body as well as releasing the endorphins in your brain. The mind and body are linked, so if you feel better in your body, then your mind will feel better too. Even short bursts of exercise can help regulate your sleeping pattern. Increasing your heart several times a week will also give you more energy. Start off slowly and gradually increase the length of your exercise pattern as you feel more energised each day. Those endorphins that make you feel better also help you concentrate and feel mentally sharp. Exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells and helps prevent age-related decline. Finally exercise can help improve your self-esteem. Regular activity should be seen as an investment in your mind, body and soul. When it becomes a habit, it can boost your self-worth and help make you feel strong. You will also feel better in your appearance and make you have a sense of achievement. So pull on your exercise gear, grab your trainers and start your health and fitness journey now. Not only will help your body but also your mind.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training – a workout that does what it says on the tin!! HIIT boosts your metabolism whilst burning tons of calories in a short period of time. HIIT is great if you are short of time. Studies how shown that just 15 minutes of high intensity interval training burns more calories than jogging on a treadmill for an hour. It also helps build your endurance. This will help when doing any kind of exercise. As HIIT uses a system of work hard then recover intervals, this teaches your body to efficiently use energy that comes from your body’s energy system. It also helps eliminate toxic waste from your muscles during the rest periods and helps you breathe effectively. The American College of Sports and Medicine have said that HIIT helps you consume more oxygen than when doing a non-interval workout. This is turn means the excess amount of oxygen consumed helps increase your rate of metabolism from about 90 minutes to 144 minutes after a HIIT session. Thus the increased metabolism helps burn more calories at a faster rate. You continue to burn calories and fat up to 24 hours after the HIIT workout, whereas with a steady pace workout you may not. This is due to the body’s repair cycle going into hyper drive. With HIIT you lose fat and not muscle. HIIT workouts combine weight training (your body weight) which allows those looking to lose weight to preserve their muscle gain while shedding weight. You can do HIIT training anywhere as no equipment is needed. All you need is a bit of space and the will to do it! Use exercises such as high knees, jumping jacks or burpees to get your heart racing. Although a good piece of equipment which doesn’t cost a lot or take up any room is a skipping rope. With interval training it’s easier to push yourself to the limit because of the rest interval that comes right after the hardwork. This in turn keeps the heart healthy and helps the blood flow around the body. You can change your HIIT workout each time, thus eliminating boredom and constantly challenging your body. So grab some water, clear some space and have a go at the following HIIT workout. 30 seconds work 10 seconds rest repeat 3 times High knees Burpees Skipping Mountain climbers Squat jumps Jumping jacks Lunges – each leg Russian twists

Exercise can improve your mood and also decrease feelings of depression, anxiety and stress. It releases happy chemicals into your brain. Dopamine is a chemical that plays a role in your happiness. If your exercise the brain produces more dopamine. Exercise also helps if you suffer from anxiety. The immediate mood boost from the production of dopamine is then followed by longer-term relief, similar to that offered by meditation. Feeling stressed will also be helped by exercise. In the short term sweating out the day’s worries will help but regular exercise will help you become less stressed out in the long term as well. When you exercise you raise your heart rate and trigger a burst of hormonal changes which subject your body to a low level form of stress. So subjecting yourself to the stress of exercise continuously eventually makes your body better at handling the rest of life’s stressors. So get exercising and have a happier, healthier life. Contact Mandy on 07775 745908 or mandy@mandyedwards.com to find out more about how personal training can help you reach your goals.