As a mum of two pre-schoolers I don’t get to go to many events that don’t include at least a face-painting session, a bouncy castle or some other sort of kids entertainment so when I was invited to go to a to a FitnessFirst event with Team GB coaches workshops I jumped on the opportunity!
Not just to get out the house without my kids of course but to see what it’s all about and get some nutrition, health & fitness tips from the people that train with the top athletes in this country!
FitnessFirst are the official partner of Team GB for the Olympic games in Rio 2016 and as the countdown to the event has started they are organising a number of workshops and events for members and non-members which include training sessions and talks about some of the training methods that professional athletes use.
The event was held at FitnessFirst Bishopsgate so right at the heart of the City of London! As I said I’m not a gym member (or fan) so I don’t get excited about amazing equipment (even though I’m sure it is amazing) but what I was really impressed about was their exercise studio where they offer body balance, body pump, yoga etc.
I had the chance to try out a class and the one I did was a virtual body balance class so there wasn’t actually a teacher there but a big screen and a lady talking us through the exercise. Not sure if it was pre-recorded or if it was a live session that is broad-casted out to all the FitnessFirsts in the UK but it was fun! And there was mood lighting too which really helped to relax and enjoy the class.
So here are some things I learned in the workshops:
Strength & Conditioning Coach Duncan French:
Break it down! We did a series of weightlifting exercises which is requires much more than just strength but most importantly coordination! He broke down a relatively complicated move into smaller pieces of exercise which we had to repeat several times before putting it all together.
I got some help from Team GB star Jason Kenny (three times Olympic gold track cyclist) so that was quite exiting 🙂
Sports Nutritionist James Collins
James explained how he works with athletes and said there is a big difference between nutrition before they compete or not which makes absolute sense. Nutrition can really influence an athletes performance so that was interesting to hear.
The other point I got from his workshop was don’t take random supplements! You should always find out first which supplement your body needs exactly and only take it for a certain period of time and not permanently.
Sport Physiologist Sarah Cecil
I really loved Sarah’s talk. She tried to explain to us in a very simplified way how the brain works and how it works in stressful situations like for example the ones that athletes experience just before entering a competition where they are being watched and judged by millions of people!
Maybe our stressful situations are not quite the same as the ones that top athletes experience but the same principles apply and the same stuff goes on in our brains! Sarah is there to provide support to the athletes during the lead up to important events like the Olympic games and she basically makes sure they can handle the pressure.
A lot of the techniques she uses have to do with mindfulness and detaching your self from the conflict that goes on in your mind during a stressful situation. It’s important to try not to judge thoughts, feelings and emotions that arise no matter what they are.
The advice that I loved as well was to think about the opportunities when something goes wrong or not according to plan rather than focusing on what didn’t happen. And to remember that we always have more than one choice!
What kind of Olympian are you?
Fitness First also have this really cool little sports profiler tool where you can find out what kind of Olympian you are. I tried it and apparently I should be a handball player! I’m not taking it too seriously to be honest but it’s a little bit of fun and maybe it gets you to think about starting some different kind of exercise rather than just running, cycling, swimming or football which is apparently what the majority of the exercising UK population does!
Have you tried the profiler tool? Are you going to watch the Olympic games and what sports interest you most?
looks really interesting