I was a very shy child (believe it or not) and when I was 13 they told me they could not take me any further and suggested I looked at a bigger gymnastics club that could progress me further. I did not want to go somewhere new so gave up training artistic gymnastics and started coaching there instead. I continued doing this with the recreational club and the squad groups and still do.

I thought I had now CALLED IT QUITS on training!

However, in 2005 when I was 17, our head coach decided (for a bit of fun and to try something a little different) we should enter the London Festival of Gymnastics (all gymnasts and coaches to perform). This is a weekend event where you perform a routine on the floor as a team. The routines are wide-ranging with a variety of teams, themes and abilities. So once again I had to put on a leotard and get back into the swing of some basic gymnastics (wasn’t so keen on the leotard part of it)!

We loved it! So we continued to enter the London Festival every year and were soon asked to perform on both the Saturday and Sunday and then be in the opening gala on the Friday nights.

In 2006, aged 18, I had ligament damage to my knee and was on crutches and out of training for a couple of months, but after some treatment, soon bounced back. Just before the festival in 2007 at 19 years old, I did some ligament damage to my elbow and was out of training again.

Was now the TIME TO CALL IT QUITS?

Apparently not! At the Festival in 2009, unbeknown to us, there was a scout there who was looking for teams to put forward for the British team to go to the Gymnaestrada in Switzerland 2011 (an international display of gymnastics 25,000 gymnasts worldwide). Eventually we were selected, we fundraised and were working hard on our routine. However at the ripe old age (or so it felt) of 22/23 you definitely hurt more and your joints take longer to feel mobile again after a training session. Also those stupid little niggling injuries you think you can ignore start to rear their ugly heads again. But never mind… what an opportunity for little old Epping SC Gymnastics Club!

Eventually we were there and having an amazing time until it came to our first performance on the Monday. I ended up in hospital with an injury to a vertebrae and told no more gymnastics for at least a month, if not more. All that hard work for nothing! Still, that night when I came out of hospital (drugged up to the eyeballs) we sat in a sports hall and re-edited the routine without me in it. The other girls (and our coach who replaced me where she could) did fantastic and pulled it together every day… I was a blubbering wreck at each one of their performances.

Was it now TIME TO CALL IT QUITS?!

After 2 months, I started training some strength and conditioning again (just too see how I felt) and apart from having lost a lot of strength, my back actually felt ok. So back in the swing of it and enjoying it (most of the time) I carried on with the team. It was now January 2012 and we had just started working on our next piece for the Scottish Gymfest 2012. We only had 6 months to get it all together (bearing in mind it took us 10 nearly 12 months for the Switzerland routine). The team did fantastic and really got it together however I personally struggled with the physical demands of this routine.

Scotland! After our fun filled 9.5 hour coach journey, 28 gymnasts, 3 coaches and a host of parents rolled off the coach and into our hotel. We were to perform Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. During hair and makeup on the Saturday morning, the nerves hit and, personally for me, didn’t leave. I made 3 mistakes through the routine and convinced myself after Sunday’s performance, NOW IT’S TIME TO CALL IT QUITS!

Sunday came and I thought if this is to be my last performance, just go and enjoy it… feeling slightly more relaxed as we walked onto the floor, it ended up being the best performance I have ever done and I had back that old buzz from it!

Now was NOT THE TIME TO QUIT!

Some of the team I have known for 17 years, some I have known since they started training at the age of 3 and everything else in between.  We have a few things in the pipe line and the team won’t let me quit just yet… we are like one big family… I would be lost without them all!

Our Michael Jackson themed routine from the Scottish Gymfest 2012:

Emma Rudelhoff, Schools Management & Head Gymnastics Coach

What a great idea - we get so used to the comfort of operating from an office day-to-day, that I think we can become blinkered to the benefits of actually getting out and about.

I know a company that take 2 days about twice a year to go to the mountains for strategical planning meetings. I love this concept. Get away from the phone ringing, emails flooding in, Skype popping up in your face, Facebook and Twitter notifications and the rest.

That was off the point slightly as that’s not the reason Nick is going on tour, the only link is that it’s for business development.

His tour is sectioned by region and, whilst in each area, he will visit new prospects that have been found via his wider research team back at motive HQ. There’s one thing for sure, you can’t beat a face-to-face introduction and are much more likely to keep a motive8 Gym Design brochure if you’re handed it in person.

Not only does this mean Nick will initiate many new personal relationships, but he’ll also build the database for future communications.

The tour kicked-off with Sheffield, Harrogate and York this week – watch this space and we’ll keep you updated with his progress.

Good luck Nick!

Layla Smith, motive8 Marketing

Last night M8FC embarked on their 1^st double header evening at Gillette Corner 5-a-side football League with two games - the first against a team called Chop Squad and the second game against Careline who we thought we played last week but didn’t – (the organisers made a mistake and the team we played were actually called Bean Flickers!)

So we got off to a good start against Chop Squad and took a good lead, but unfortunately ended up with a 6 a piece scoreline with M8FC goals from Shawn Mullix (2), Nick Champness (3) and Ashley Ironmonger (1). A slight lack of concentration and positional awareness gifted the opposition with a draw.

In the 2^nd game against Careline, our fitness levels were really tested. Having to progress from one game into another was a real test of character and what we were really made of and, after finding out that today Careline were the actual league leaders, we knew that we had a real challenge ahead of us.

The first half we ended 3-1 down and really did play very well considering it was only our 3rd game of the season, having never trained together. We had the league leaders rattled, they were having a go at one another and were really not happy with the way they were playing! However the 2^nd half they showed why they were league leaders and took the scoreline to an incredible 12-3.

Our heads did go down and our fitness levels did show to be the difference - 3 good goals from Stephen Cowley, Cale Edmunds and Shawn Mullix kept some pride amongst the team who, after the game, knew that we can match the competitors in the league we were placed. Considering we played a team who have played a lot more 5-a-side in comparison to us, had several semi pro players in the ranks and had a much larger squad than us, we did a great job and should look ahead to the next match.

Once again Kevin Cortes performed well in goal, with another penalty save and debutant Stephen Cowley notched his first goal of the campaign even though he picked up an unfortunate knee injury which saw him unable to play the majority of the 2^nd half of game 2.

Our next game is scheduled to be against Chop Squad on Wednesday 23^rd May 2012, where we will need to step up our game in order to take all 3 points and bag our 1^st victory as a squad.

Man of the Match Game 1: Nick Champness

Man of the Match Game 2: Stephen Cowley

Interestingly through sweating we can effectively detoxify the body. Research has shown that individuals who regularly perform intense exercise remove more heavy metal toxins from the body than the less active individual. This occurs through numerous mechanisms, not simply by removing the toxins through sweat.

I’m sure everyone is aware of Lucozade and similar brands, they’re always banging on about replacing electrolytes, sodium, potassium and magnesium which are essential to maintain performance. Simply when we sweat a lot we lose these minerals; what few people don’t know is that when we sweat we also lose several toxins including cadminium, lead, mercury and arsenic to name a few.

These toxins are all confirmed carcinogenics and significantly cause damage to the endocrine, cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Not very good if you want to live a long healthy life! Interestingly research is beginning to show that sweating these out is more effective than excreting them through urine, which for a long period of time people believed to be the main way.

So get some high intensity intervals done, and cleanse the body!

Chris Baird, Head Personal Trainer

So you might have heard the whisper on the wind, and that is of the Spartan challenge! Motive8 will be putting a team together to embrace this challenge. The event itself is a 5k obstacle course where time isn’t important just finishing earns you bragging rights!

I have already started volunteering people for the event itself, so you might as well jump on the bandwagon. Not only will this be a great fitness session, it will be amazing fun and will give you the chance to meet fellow Motive8 members and share your training stories.

Everyone is capable of completing this course, you are all at a great level of fitness. There is nothing too technical, all that is required is some grit and determination, I have a feeling it will be a walk in the park compared to a standard Motive8 personal training session.

After all its only 5k!

Following the race all finishers receive; 

1.       A completion medal

2.       Free Spartan Race T-shirt

3.       Scrapes and bruises

4.       Epic stories

5.       Bragging rights

6.       A pat on the back from Motive8 for been a legend

So have a look at the link and get emailing me…  http://www.spartanrace.com/yorkshire-obstacle-racing-spartan-sprint-2012.html  

The race takes part in 92 days from today so we have plenty of time to train and get in the best possible condition for it!

•  Date: 12/Aug/2012
•  Location: Ellington Banks, Kirby Road, Ripon, Yorkshire, HG4 2RB
• Time: 11.30am 

If however it looks too hard don’t worry I won’t judge you because you would rather stay at home and cuddle your bear than come and get muddy.

We need to know by next Friday the 18^th May, that’s NEXT FRIDAY, so speak soon and keep working hard. 

Chris Baird, Personal Trainer

Here we are again at the start of another amazing week at motive8, I must say I have been very impressed with everyone’s effort during their sessions last week.

We’ve been lifting heavier, lunging deeper and shredding calories better so well done guys!

I know I’ve been raving about soup for well over half a year now, but it’s a great way of packing lots of nutrients and minerals into a tasty easy meal.

This week without even realizing it I’ve gone a little spicy with most of the recipes, spice is another great little trick for increasing metabolism, so whether your on a weight loss adventure or are trying to build water cannons on your arms, these recipes have a place in your weekly meals.

Remember reaching your goals can be simple and quick if you follow the advice given to you, if you start changing the rules you start effecting the results. Keep on track and its just a matter of time until you hit those goals.

Keep working hard.

Chris Baird, Personal Trainer

Healthy, Light and warm soups ahhhh

She went on to explain that people leading healthy lifestyles, that eat little fatty red meat are often extremely depleted in Vitamin D and, throughout the winter when there’s less natural sunlight, it often leads to getting very run down. Once you catch that first cold, it’s often very hard to shake off and you can then keep picking up new bugs.

I never used to get many colds, but feel that the last year or so that I’ve been constantly ill. I hate the thought of being someone ‘that is always ill’!

The comment on Vitamin D stuck in my mind and, since that visit to the doctor, I keep hearing more evidence that it is a very important supplement to help fight a variety of conditions.

My Dad sent me a very interesting video from a professor in California recently, I thought I’d share it with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PYsXQ16Ztg

This has raised my interest even more, so now I’m trying to find out what the recommended daily dose is to actually reap these extraordinary benefits. I’ll let you know when I find out!

Layla Smith, motive8 Marketing

Within the first 4 minutes, the opposition were awarded a penalty; I think we all thought they were going to score, but Kevin made a premier league style save, diving to his right and blocking the thunder bolt of a shot. This was a very fast paced game, with hardly any time to think, the rules caught us out at times, with balls needing to stay below a metre high, but we managed to settle in, playing some outstanding football at times.

Goals from Shawn Mullix, Cale Edmunds and a last gasp equaliser from Nick Champness secured the point. Careline FC scored within about 2 minutes before the full time whistle making the score 4-3, but some slick play from the team, the ball parried to the feet of Nick who calmly slotted home to earn us a well deserved draw, well done lads !!!!

Moe Younes, Adam Field, Ashley Ironmonger played in defensive positions making some outstanding blocks and tackles throughout.

Man of the match- Kevin, superb performance between the sticks.

Team List

1. Ashley Ironmonger

2. Shawn Mullix

3. Kevin Cortes

4. Adam Field

5. Cale Edmunds

6. Moe Younes

7. Nick Champness

“Come on motive8 we’re proud to say that name, whilst we sing this song we’ll win the game !!!!!!!”

Here I am again, with some more tasty treats for you, and by that I mean healthy meals packed with great nutrients and vitamins not Haribo.

So everyone is still obsessed with take away food, the problem is most takeaways in a bid to increase profit margins compensate on quality for profit.

This means cheap oils, cheap grains, and poor cuts of meat or poultry. You wouldn’t put knock off petrol in your car if you knew down the line it was going to cause problem, so why put knock of rubbish in your body something that’s more important than a car.

This week I have compiled a series of healthy pizza recipes:

1.       During the first two pages there are recipes for a whole meal pizza base and three different tomato sauce recipes. You can now make your own and add your favorite toppings, things like lean bacon, mushrooms, onions, brocoli etc. Just keep it healthy

2.        Following the do it yourself pizza there are a series of standard pizza recipes, if like me you have zero flair in the kitchen

Pizzas are a great way of getting a good combination of complex carbs, essential proteins and a whole variety of nutrients.

Action packed food!

Keep it clean and healthy and you will reach your goals in no time. Every bad decision is just adding the amount of time its going to take.

Well done this week

Healthy Homemade Pizzas (Motive8 version of subway)

The sauces
Simply pick the sauce to preference, and mix the ingredients its that simple
Sauce	Ingredients
Sweet tomato	1 small (6oz) can tomato paste 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp ground pepper 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning 1/4 tsp dried oregano, or 1 TBS fresh basil, finely chopped. 1/8 tsp salt or salt substitute
Savoury tomato basil	1 small (8oz) can tomato sauce 1 small Roma tomato, diced (optional) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp ground pepper 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning 1 tsp dried basil or 1 TBS fresh basil, chopped 1/4 tsp salt or salt substitute
Sweet ‘n Savory Tomato	1 small (6oz) can tomato paste 1 small (8oz) can tomato sauce 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp ground pepper 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp oregano 1/4 tsp salt or salt substitute

Standard Pizza Recipes

Super healthy Pizza
Serves-2 479 kcalories, protein 19g, carbohydrate 78g, fat 13 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 10g, sugar 9g, salt 1.43 g
Ingredients	Preparation
100g each strong white and strong wholewheat flour 1 tsp or 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast 125ml warm water	Mix the flours and yeast with a pinch of salt in a food processor fitted with a dough blade. Pour in the water and mix to a soft dough, then work for 1 min. Remove the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a round about 30cm across. Lift onto an oiled baking sheet. Spread the canned tomatoes over the dough to within 2cm of the edges. Arrange the cherry tomatoes and courgettes over the top, then scatter with the mozzarella. Mix the capers, olives and garlic, then scatter over the top. Drizzle evenly with the oil. Leave to rise for 20 mins. Heat oven to 240C/ fan 220C/gas 9 or the highest setting. Bake the pizza for 10-12 mins until crisp and golden around the edges. Scatter with the parsley to serve.
200g can chopped tomatoes , juice drained handful cherry tomatoes , halved 1 large courgette , thinly sliced using a peeler 25g mozzarella , torn into pieces 1 tsp capers in brine, drained 8 green olives , roughly chopped 1 garlic clove , finely chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Frying pan pizza
Serves 4 331 kcalories, protein 10g, carbohydrate 49g, fat 12 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 3g, sugar 6g, salt 0.89 g
Ingredients	Preparation
1 yellow pepper , deseeded and cut into chunks 1 courgette , thickly sliced 1 red onion , cut into wedges 225g self-raising flour 2 tbsp olive oil , plus 1 tsp 5 tbsp fresh tomato pasta sauce 50g cheddar , grated	Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Place the pepper, courgette and red onion on a large non-stick baking tray and drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil. Season well and toss to combine. Roast in the oven for 20 mins until soft and beginning to brown. Set aside. Heat the grill to medium. Season the flour well and, in a large bowl, mix with the remaining oil and 4-5 tbsp water to form a soft dough. Knead briefly, then roll out on a floured surface to a rough 20cm circle. Transfer the dough to a large ovenproof, nonstick frying pan and fry over a medium heat for 5 mins, until the underside begins to brown. Turn over and cook for a further 5 mins. Spread the tomato sauce over the base, scatter with the roasted veg, then sprinkle with cheddar. Grill the pizza for 3-4 mins until cheese has melted. Serve immediately, sliced into wedges, with a large green salad.

Pizza omelette
Serves 4; 318 kcalories, protein 21g, carbohydrate 1g, fat 26 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 1g, sugar 1g, salt 0.97 g
Ingredients	Preparation
8 eggs , beaten 1 tsp oregano 1 tbsp olive oil 4 tbsp tomato passata sauce (from a jar) handful of stoned black olives 85g vegetarian cheddar , grated	Heat grill to high. Beat the eggs with the oregano and some salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan, then tip in the eggs. Cook over a low-ish heat for 4 mins, stirring occasionally until the eggs are practically set. Place under the grill until set and puffed up. Spread the sauce over, scatter with cheese and olives, then grill again until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges and serve with a green salad.

]]> http://www.m8group.co.uk/blog/2012/05/09/healthy-pizza-recipes/feed/ 0 http://www.m8group.co.uk/blog/2012/05/09/the-truth-about-static-stretching/ http://www.m8group.co.uk/blog/2012/05/09/the-truth-about-static-stretching/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 11:06:34 +0000 Kim Mead http://www.m8group.co.uk/blog/?p=1303 Continue reading →]]> Now a common sight in most gyms in good old Harry in the corner performing some extreme stretches before hitting the bench press. There is a wealth of research now showing how dangerous and useless static stretching before exercise actually is, yet most fitness professional are actually taught to stretch their client out before exercise.

Research is now showing that static stretching should actually be performed 4-6 hours following a workout since it involves the parasympathetic nervous system; unfortunately it is highly unlikely that the majority of the gym population could be convinced to adhere to this principal.

If you are ridiculously inflexible and it affects your lifts or training, the only stretching strategy that should be introduced is Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). There are several reasons for this;

• Does not decrease the blood supply to the muscle, static stretching is notorious for this. As we all know blood supply is kind of a key element to any form of exercise.
• PNF facilitates better flexibility gains as opposed to static stretching, 3 or 4 repetitions can easily increase range of motion by 4-6 inches.
• Stimulates the fight or flight response, crucial if you’re lifting some weight, opposed to the parasympathetic stretching (static stretching) which is great for relaxing, but I wouldn’t want to be relaxed under a 200lb Olympic bar!

Remember only stretch if you have terrible flexibility, most of the normal population, providing you don’t spend your life only doing bench presses, should be ok to just mobilize through a low weight lift.