4th January 2018 | Nottingham

Manager’s Message

Welcome to 2018!

It’s time for a clean slate and new starts all round. A lot of people tend to worry about how much they are eating and drinking over Christmas and New Year. We’re socialising more, making meals up out of left overs and the cherry on top is the three boxes of chocolates you were given. But, if you can’t indulge at Christmas when can you? Our fitness article focusses on getting you right back on track with most people’s biggest goal…fat loss. Is cardio really the best thing to do?  

There really is no better time to refocus on those health and fitness goals and we’ve got your back to help you achieve this year (and every year for that matter!). Book in with a member of the fitness team and have a chat about what you want to achieve; they are here to help.

We’d like to thank you for your patience while the men's changing areas were undergoing their refurbishment. An undertaking such as that is never without its disruptions and we hope you are pleased with the result. Keep your eyes peeled in club for details of phase two when the ladies' changing area and the family changing rooms will receive their upgrade.

Wishing you health and prosperity for 2018. See you in the club soon.

Your Roko Nottingham Team

Member Referral Offer

Did you know that you are more likely to achieve your fitness goals with a workout buddy?

So introduce a friend to Roko and you'll both benefit from the additional motivation that you will provide to each other. PLUS, when you refer a friend right now and they decide to join, then we'll give you both a limited edition Roko workout top.

Simply click here to refer your friends on-line and we'll contact them to arrange their personalised tour.

Win 3 Months Free Via Facebook

Tell us your 2018 fitness goals to win 3 months FREE membership at Roko.

What are your fitness goals? Are you hoping to get in shape/ lose weight/ run a marathon? List your goals on the Facebook competition post and you will be in with a chance to win a full 3 months of FREE membership at Roko.

*Terms & Conditions apply. A winner will be drawn on 15th Jan, and the winner will be notified through Facebook. The 3 month membership will start from 1st February 2018 and end 30th April 2018. Entries are only possible by posting a comment in the competition Facebook post. Entries are open to both Roko members and non-members.

Fitness News

We’ve reached that time again when New Year’s resolutions are in full swing, motivation is at an all-time high and the majority of goals are centred around fat loss and therefore, cardio because that’s the way to lose fat, right? Let’s take a look…

When More Cardio Is Not always The Answer FOR FAT LOSS
NB: The information in this article is intended for individuals seeking body composition change, and is not applicable if your primary focus is to improve your athletic performance, particularly if you’re an endurance athlete.

Should I do more cardio?
Many people are hasty in their decision to do more cardio when they stop seeing progress, hoping that another session or two per week on the cross trainer or treadmill is all that’s standing between them and their goal body.

The bad news is that adding more cardio is rarely the best solution in this situation. More often than not, there are bigger, more important issues that need to be addressed before tacking on more cardio. The good news, however, is that once you can make progress on those more important things, you will very likely see better results than an additional session of cardio alone could have provided.

Cardio: What for, Which Kind, and How Much?
The kind of cardio we’re on about is moderate-intensity, steady-state cardio, in which your heart rate is between 120 and 140 beats per minute throughout the duration of the activity.

Moderate-intensity cardio plays a key role in a well-rounded exercise program, offering a number of benefits. For starters, it helps develop your aerobic base, which is important for exercise performance. For example: if you have lifted weights in a fairly basic manner and become easily winded, it was probably because due to a poorly-developed aerobic base. Moderate intensity cardio can help with that. In addition, moderate-intensity cardio can improve your recovery, improve your sleep quality, and increase your body’s capacity to deal with stress. Lastly, cardio contributes to your overall energy expenditure, which can certainly be helpful if your goal is fat loss.

However, like many other things in life, more isn’t always better when it comes to cardio and fat loss. When you are using cardio as a tool for fat loss, there comes a point of diminishing returns when you do more than what is necessary to simply elicit the desired result.

For example, more exercise can increase your appetite and make you feel massively hungry. Additionally, the body perceives exercise as a form of stress and reacts to it the same way that it reacts to anything else that’s stressful. So while doing more exercise can feel good emotionally and make you feel like you’re taking action to address your stalled progress, stress is stress is stress—and cortisol will always respond accordingly.

Moderate intensity cardio is often misused when striving for body composition change…

All too often, people turn to cardio in an attempt to cover up the effects of other lifestyle factors that they are not yet willing to address for improved health and fat loss. After all, it’s often much easier to do more cardio than to put in the time and consistency required to improve poor eating habits, get better sleep, and manage stress, for example.

In these situations, more cardio often seems like a good choice because it may very well get your measurements moving in the desired direction again. However, that is usually temporary. Throwing additional cardio at the problem will only work for a little while before you find yourself stuck again.

Think of it like adding layer after layer of paint to camouflage the cracks in your driveway. Eventually, those cracks will re-appear time after time until you actually get to the root of the problem and properly repair the cracks.

Food and Drink Penance
The next issue is guilt training…eat something “bad” and then attempt to burn it off with cardio. Exercise should not be done as a form of punishment.

To be able to move is a luxury and a privilege, and not something to be taken for granted; movement is a form of self-care, and it’s important to treat it as such. We exercise because we love our bodies; not because we ate a pizza last night and need to punish ourselves for that choice. Labelling exercise as “punishment” for our “bad” behaviour with food or drink can take all the fun and enjoyment away from training (and from food and drink!).

Fat-Loss Fundamentals
When it comes to fat loss, there are a several things that will impact your results far more than adding more cardio will and it’s all about prioritising.

How’s Your Eating?
People are often quick to claim that their eating is fine, but there is a big difference between eating fine and eating for fat loss. When you are eating for fat loss, you are generally doing the following things at almost every meal:
* Eating until you are satisfied and nourished, and still feel comfortable; not until you are over-fed, or feeling “stuffed.”
* Prioritise the inclusion of a full serving of protein for satiety, muscle growth, and recovery.
* Incorporating a full serving of vegetables for nutrients and volume.
* Keep complex, starchy carbohydrates such as pasta and potatoes for after a gym session.
* Choosing minimally processed foods to help control your appetite and cravings.
* Consuming things like fried foods, desserts, and other calorically dense, less nutritious foods in moderation.

Above all, you are eating for a caloric deficit. Take a look at the habits listed above, and see where you may need to make changes to your nutrition. It’s safe to say that most people have some room for improvement.

Booze and Body Fat
One of the key factors to losing body fat beyond a certain level is choosing to drink alcohol in moderation. There is no way around this, but fat loss beyond a certain extent is simply not possible when a person is frequently having cocktails. Typically, anything more than a drink or two per week is maintenance behaviour, and is not conducive to fat loss.

How Sleep Affects Progress
Getting plenty of sleep is imperative for fat loss. How much and how well you sleep greatly affects your hormones, and getting your sleep helps regulate your appetite. It’s no secret that carbs and other snack foods are extra tempting when you are under-slept! An adequate amount of high-quality sleep helps you with willpower (which you call upon all day long) and your decision-making skills, such as opting for foods that are conducive to your goals.

Additionally, sleep is crucial for recovering from your challenging training sessions. A well-rested body is able to train hard again, and being able to really push yourself in your training sessions leads to better results.

Move Outside of the Gym
You’ve probably heard a lot of talk about how “sitting is the new smoking.” This is a bold claim and while it may not be strictly true, society has never been more sedentary than it currently is. With the automation of more and more everyday tasks, and the prevalence of laptops and handheld electronics keeping us transfixed by screens for longer periods of time, we spend more time sitting than ever before.

Most people who participate in an exercise session four to five days per week for 45 to 60 minutes are still very likely to be considered sedentary if they work a desk job or are a student. This means that we need to incorporate as much non-exercise movement into our lives as possible.

Take the stairs, park farther from your destination, and schedule movement breaks into your busy workday by taking a few extra walks to the water fountain (drinking more water can also contribute to your fat loss goals!), or going for a walk on your lunch break. All of these little things add up, and contribute to your daily overall energy expenditure—and the best part is that none of this is stressful on your body.

Address and fine-tune all of the above factors before throwing more cardio into the mix. Remember, moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise for fat loss has a point of diminishing returns, so use cardio as a tool wisely, and only when you have your nutrition and sleep in place and on point.

Yes, it may seem easier to just add another cardio session to your routine than to address your eating and alcohol habits, improve your sleep, and increase your non-exercise movement, but, in the long run, tackling these is what will allow your cardio (and strength workouts), to bring you the biggest fat-loss payoff.

Premier Partners

Just a reminder from our friends at Ego at the Dorset Arms and their exclusive – and really very good! – offer available to Roko members 

Party At Roko

Children’s Birthday Parties Are Back
If you’re looking for a birthday party venue, look no further!  Here at Roko we have 2 large studios and a splash pool to host your little ones parties.
Dance, football and pool activities along with set party menus are available.
For further details please contact hcooke@nottingham.roko.co.uk

The Joshua Tree

Happy New Year to all our guests.
2018 brings excitement at the Joshua Tree with new Aveda treatments and product launches. Pop in and see what we’re offering.
Tune into our face book page for regular updates or click on to our web page www.joshuatree-salon.com

Hotpod Yoga

A hot and happy new year from the pod!
…We are ready for you, with 28 classes a week from January, there really is something to suit every schedule and budget. 
If you haven’t checked us out yet, you can create an account on our app  or online https://hotpodyoga.com/uk/yoga-classes/west-bridgford and book away

Any why not take advantage of our Intro offer for newcomers at £15 (£13.50 with your Roko discount) for 3 classes over 14 days, it’s a bit of a steal.

Still not got your personal 10% Roko discount code? Just email notts@hotpodyoga.com with your name and we will send you your own code, just pop it in the voucher box at checkout.

The podperks card launched in December, working with local partners to bring you offers and deals on everything from organic skincare to eating out, just ask your teacher for your card at your next class and an updated list of perk partners will be displayed in the studio each month.

INTRO TO HOTPOD WORKSHOP
Have you been wanting to try Hotpod Yoga but not been sure what to expect? This 90 minute workshop gives you a breakdown and step by step guide to our classic Hotpod Flow.  Whatever level you feel you are at you will leave the workshop confident to join our open schedule.  
You will be guided through simple modifications and adaptations to suit your level, giving you the know-how to enjoy your classes at your own pace and with confidence.
Our Intro to Hotpod workshop is on Saturday 27th January from 12.30-2pm and you can register here: https://goteamup.com/p/180744-hotpod-yoga-nottinghamshi/e/11714736-intro-to-hotpod-yoga-workshop/
The cost is for Roko members is £10.80 with your personal discount code