Everyone seems to be on the hunt for the next big thing when we are talking about wellness. You don’t need a personal chef or live in Guru to be healthy. At BodyWorksWest the answer can be found by applying basic, fundamental and a fad-free approach to lasting wellness.

From nutrition and fitness to spiritual and mental health, we have all the very best resources to help boost your well-being, right here at your club.

1. Cardio x Yoga

People often rest or stretch between cardio training. We say recover with Yoga poses, this will give you better results.

As we looked at the benefits of Yoga in part one of this blog, it is further a great tool to implement away from our classes, when you train on the gym floor.

Pairing your HITT and Yogi skills will allow your heart rate to go up and down and induce calorie burning and facilitate weight loss. The simple Yoga poses in between your sweat feast will have the same benefits a full-on Yoga class, building lean muscle and stamina while giving you mental benefits like anxiety relief and better sleep.

Try 1 minute of cardio exercise at an intensity that raises your heart rate to 80 % of your max limit. When the minute is up, hold the yoga pose for 60 seconds. Complete 4 sets and let us know how you feel.
Are you a downward Dog or a Warrior?

2. It is not too late to start exercising

Middle-aged couch potatoes, YOUR TIME IS UP. Exercise is good for the heart, even if you don’t get going until later in life.

Studies have found despite biological changes with age, the heart still seems -even at the age of 40 amendable to benefit from cardio exercise.

This does not give our younger members carte blanche to skip training till your 40th birthday!

It’s never too late to change your way of life and get more physically active. Exercise will always be beneficial for your heart and overall well-being.

Furthermore, there’s no need for a high level of training for many hours a week, if you are a novice and want to ease into things, we got you covered. Using the treadmill, bike or rowing machine on the gym floor will make sure you reap the benefits.

3. Treadmills are *cool* again

The biggest shift our fitness couches are seeing at the moment in the club, and mind you the whole industry, is a return to fuss-free fitness. The forgotten plain cousin, the treadmill is rapidly becoming the cool kid of the boutique workout scene.

When speaking to Alex Rivers, proprietor of BWW on the “treadmill phenomenon” he said: “The return of the treadmill’s popularity is part of a reaction to some of the fanciness and complexity of the fitness world. It’s making some people seek out simpler forms of exercise, whether it’s playing a game of tennis or just plain running on the treadmill.”

From unloved “lame” device to high-tech darling, “the skill runner” treadmill introduced at BodyWorksWest has upgraded the running experience. Ideal for those who get bored with traditional indoor runs. This fun and innovative alternative to the traditional treadmill is designed so that you can mimic pro-athlete exercises like sledge pushes and parachute runs with no additional equipment.

The most fundamental physical activity known to man is the act of running, and no equipment required—except for our snazzy state of the art treadmills, that is.

4. Why everyone should make time to swim

Lose weight, get fit and improve your mood, low impact, full-body workout that tones muscles and helps you relax. ERM, what’s not to love?

Swimming is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise, it uses almost every muscle in your body and raises your heart rate. Water is around 800 times denser than air, so it is a super way for toning up without putting stress on your joints.
Every swim session you do is like a mini-resistance workout. Each kick, pull and push work the muscles, especially your arms, shoulders and glutes – the muscles that lie dormant all day when you’re at your desk crunching numbers rather than your abs. Swimming also concentrates on your core and will reduce your waistline.

Any more excuses to not use our fabulous wet floor with 18.5 m pool, complete with nature projections? We thought not.

5. Sauna

Spending some time in the sauna makes us feel great, but the positive effects go much further and bring real health benefits.

Stress-relief is still one of the most associated reasons for using the sauna, never more needed than with strains of modern life.

The stress-relieving benefits of saunas go as far as to aid you in a deeper sleep. Everything about the sauna experience lends itself to a good night’s sleep. It is very difficult to do anything else other than sitting back and relax. Mobile phones (luckily) won’t withstand a sauna.

Sauna helps and accelerates removing toxins, dead skin and other products of everyday life that otherwise might not get expelled quickly from your system.
When your body sweats it removes these unwanted “nasties” from your system, allowing you to replenish them with fresh, water.

Pay attention now: Sweat from the sauna does more than just remove toxins from your body; the increased heart rate and production of the sweat burn more calories.
Taking a sauna after exercising will yield better results and serve as a nice, gradual way to let your body recover from physical exertion.

Another great reason to get into a sauna after a workout is to help your weary muscles relax. This way you’ll feel the burn for a shorter time while recovering from your killer workout.