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May 2010 Newsletter

Welcome to the May 2010 Newsletter, straight to your inbox from Heather and the team at Fitbiz Training!

This month's edition is our biggest yet! We've introduced a new feature and also included the first of a number of special offers we hope to share with our 500+ subscribers over the coming year. Along with all the usual features, here's a summary of what's inside:

• News from Fitbiz Training
• Lifestyle Tip: A Workout At Your Desk
• Dubious Advert of the Month: Reebok Easytone Trainers
• Seasonal Food Reminder
• Recipe: Salmon with Asparagus
• Special Offer: Fancy A Massage?

We always love hearing your news and views, so please send us a message if you have any feedback, ideas or offers of your own to include. And don't forget, we want to share the Fitbiz newsletter with as wide an audience as possible, so feel free to forward it to family or friends, or better yet, show them how to subscribe to it themselves!

News from Fitbiz Training

• Heather is featured in Round & About Magazine this month, with what has proved to be an incredibly popular article on how to banish stomach fat. It's now available to download free from the website - so if you're struggling with ditching that stomach fat, go and download it now!

• We've introduced a new feature this month called "Dubious Advert of the Month". I've become tired of corporations and the media misleading the public with elaborate claims and falsified statistics - so now we're fighting back and dedicating a portion of each monthly newsletter to sharing with the truth - so you don't get sucked into any more of these works of fiction!

• Are you in need of a good massage? I recently had the most amazing session with local massage therapist, Deborah Knight. Now, she's very kindly agreed to offer a special discount to all my newsletter subscribers - read on for more information.

Lifestyle Tip: A Workout At Your Desk

We all spend too much time sitting down, and this can lead, amongst other things, to poor posture and lower back pain. Here are some ideas for things you can do at your desk to try and minimise the effects, and burn some fat at the same time:

1. Tummy: Make sure you're sitting on your seatbones at your desk - not behind or in front of them. This will make you sit up quite tall. Brace your stomach asif you were expecting an impact to it. Try to hold this for as long as you can! It wouldn't do you any harm to make this your normal seated posture.

2. Calf stretches: In the above position, put both feet flat on the floor and just raise your toes up. You should feel a little stretch in your calf. Hold for a couple of seconds, lower down, then repeat about 5 times

3. Leg stretches: From the above position with your feet flat on the floor, lift up one leg. Hold it for a couple of seconds, then straighten your leg out in front of you without leaning back in your chair. Repeat 5 / 6 times.

4. Shoulders: Make a concious effort to get your shoulder blades flat against the back of your ribcage to counteract the forward-rounded shoulders effect of sitting at your desk. You might need to move your keyboard closer to achieve this. While you're on the phone, repeatedly squeeze your shoulder blades together to further help your shoulders.

5. Get up! As often as you can - go for a wander and practice good posture all the time - tuck your tailbone under you by bracing your tummy, and grow tall through your upper body. Try not to lock your knees back. This will feel really un-natural to start with!

How many of those did you try whilst reading this?! Keep it up!

Dubious Advert of the Month: Reebok Easytone Trainers

The Claim:

Below is an advert by Reebok, promoting their EasyTone trainers which claim to "create natural instability" which in turn "forces your muscles adapt and encourage toning".

The Reality:

In theory, creating an unstable surface for your feet will mean your legs need to work harder to compensate. Muscles that work harder, will grow bigger.

The problem is, that to actually gain visible muscle definition, what you really need to do is burn the fat that the muscle is hidden beneath - you cannot simply "grow" the muscle so that it "pops" through the fat! And although walking itself will burn a small amount of fat, a pair of shoes will not!

Another issue is - as I've already mentioned this month - that many people nowadays have developed bad posture through hours sat at a desk or on a sofa. These shoes will do nothing to aid this - in fact, they are more likely to cause further knee and back pain. The only solution is to exercise and stretch, to remobilise the muscles that have stopped working, thus redressing the body balance.

My honest advice is to save a few quid and give these shoes a miss. They are a gimmick, with questionable supporting research and very little proven benefit; a Google search and a scan of various online review sites will back me up on that. Instead, why not spend your money on some better food and spend your time doing an effective training session - an average of half an hour a day is all you need!

Seasonal Food Reminder

The seasonal vegetables for May:

asparagus, broad beans, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, salad leaves, new potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, rocket, spinach, spring onions, watercress and wild nettles*

And the fruits of the month include:

apricots, bananas, kiwi fruit and passion fruit

^{* Wild nettle soup comes highly recommended for a delicious and nutritious meal!}

Recipe: Salmon with Asparagus

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 15-20 minutes

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 tablespoon chopped drained capers
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 4 skinless salmon fillets
• 450g asparagus, trimmed
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Mix the lemon juice, onion, olive oil and capers together to make the sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper

2. Preheat your oven to 230 °C, and arrange the asparagus in an even layer on a rimmed baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and roll them around to ensure they're all coated

3. Place the salmon fillets on top of the asparagus, and sprinkle with salt and pepper

4. Roast for 10-15 minutes until the salmon is cooked

5. Put onto plates, drizzle with the sauce, and serve

Special Offer: Fancy A Massage?

Deborah Thomas Knight trained as a massage therapist in the States in 1996 and has recently moved to England. Deborah is trained in deep tissue muscle release, shiatsu, reiki and trigger point therapy. Her massages are customised for each client's individual needs. She uses hot stones, aromatherapy and reflexology during all sessions and has developed a unique style which makes for arguably the best massage you'll ever have - and you have my personal recommendation!

Deborah would like to offer all readers of this newsletter a special price for a massage, with a choice between 90 or 60 minutes:

• 90 minute massage: £40
• 60 minute massage: £25

For more information, contact Deborah directly on 01428 717611 - don't forget to mention Fitbiz!

Until next time, enjoy staying healthy!

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