Club Vitae, Ireland’s leading health and fitness community, have certainly begun to announce themselves into the Health & Fitness Arena in Ireland.

The 2019 NUTRAMINO® Health & Fitness Awards took place in the Round Room at the Mansion House, on Friday 8th March 2019, where Club Vitae took home four awards; ‘Best Use of Retail Space in a Gym’ for Club Vitae Clayton Hotel Cork City, ‘The People’s Choice Award’ in Dublin for Club Vitae Liffey Valley, ‘The People’s Choice Award’ in Leinster for Club Vitae Portlaoise, whilst our manager Tony McGrath came runner up for ‘Manager of the Year’.

The NUTRAMINO® Health & Fitness Awards recognize outstanding contributions and innovation from Ireland’s top health & fitness professionals, facilities and community engagement initiatives.

Club Vitae was also delighted to sponsor the ‘Active Workplace of The Year (Over 50 Employee’s) award, and would like to congratulate the winners, ‘EA Ireland’ and the runner up, ‘Sodexo (Healthworks Division)’.

These Awards represent the hard work of all the Club Vitae employees, from the bottom right the way to the top. We are extremely proud and honored to have received these awards.

The Do’s and Don’ts of exercising with or just after an injury

Whether you are a competitive athlete, someone who exercises regularly to stay in shape or a couch potato, you will most likely have to deal with an injury that interrupts your routine at some point in your life.

Injury refers to the loss of function of a body part, such as a muscle strain, ligament sprain, tendonitis, or more serious issues like a fracture or ligament tear.

A lack of muscle strength, inflexibility, or imbalance can predispose you to injury. Injuries also occur as a result of overuse. The best ways to reduce the likelihood of injury are to stay fit, choose your activities wisely, utilize proper form, and participate in adequate warm-up, stretching, and cool-down sessions.

When an injury occurs, take action early. Ignoring pain often leads to injuries that are even more severe. Once an injury has eased, what are the guidelines to return to training? Let our instructor explain Neil explain.

‘Should I exercise with/just after having an injury?’

“There is no right or wrong answer, but the following would be my top five Do’s and Don’ts approaches to dealing with an injury and the aftermath;

Do’s

• Asses your injury with care before exercising, this will help you make the decision whether this it is a good idea to continue to exercise
• Drop weight and resistance on the first week back, taking a lighter approach when you first start back to exercise will help your body build back up to the level it was performing at prior to injury
• Look for alternate exercise you can perform because having a plan B for any exercise that may aggravate injury will help with avoiding certain Muscle groups
• Consult with doctor/physio to find out if your fit and healthy to exercise, this will give you the best advice on continuing to exercise and best explains the reason to/not continue exercise
• Workout with a partner to assist you when you’re finding your feet.

Don’ts

• Create new injuries, when you resume exercising may result in leading to more injuries when resting for extra few days/weeks will help you come back stronger.
• Continue to exercise if it becomes uncomfortable and painful
• Punish your body due to missed exercising time, having a few active recovery session (meaning lighter, less strenuous and lighter resistance) can assist on assessing on what stage of recovery you are at
• Expect to perform to the same level immediately focus on recovery
• Become Physiological Dependant on Supports and muscle tape, focusing on quick fixes of an injury will take the focus of exercise away.”

If you are recovering from an injury or have sustained a muscle strain, speak to a member of our Club Vitae team who can advise you on the best form of recovery to help you get back to training as soon as possible.

Benefits of a Personal Trainer

Have you ever thought of signing up to a personal trainer and thought what benefit would it bring to my training?

We spoke to our personal trainer M.J. who gave us his top benefits of investing in a personal trainer.

“Using a personal trainer, whether it’s for one session, one month, or one year, is one of the best things that anyone can do for themselves. It allows the focus to be on you and learn about what your body needs and what exercises your body reacts to through someone who has immense knowledge of fitness, nutrition and health.

The following would be my top 7 tips that a personal trainer brings to their clients;

1. We help you set realistic goals
2. We give you a personalised training plan
3. We challenge you
4. We make your time in the gym efficient
5. We help perfect your form
6. It’s educational – for us and you
7. Most importantly – we help keep you motivated on course to succeed”

If personal training is something that you feel would help you achieve your goals, please feel free to enquire with a member of our team. We are located nationwide with more than 13 locations to choose from.

5 Reasons why you should take part in a Spin Class

With the evolution of gym classes, chances are you’ve probably heard of someone talking about that amazing spin class they go to. You probably also wondered how sitting on a stationary bike, whilst cycling to loud music within a group could be an amazing workout, right?

We asked a Club Vitae personal trainer, for their top five reasons on why you should try one of our ‘Spin Classes’.

“Spinning is a new trend that has taking off massively throughout Ireland over the last number of years. Our classes have a wide diversity of people from all backgrounds, and all ages. The following are my top 5 reasons on why you should attend our next spin class.

1. Anyone can do it – it does not matter what age you are or where you feel your fitness level might be, you can do it. Spinning is tailored to each person’s own ability and stamina levels.
2. It’s unique – as a workout, spinning is very unique. A team of individuals all working as hard as they can for a set period is something really special. It creates an unwritten bond between everyone and a great social outlet.
3. It’s a great, full body workout.
4. It’s convenient – Spinning usually does not last any longer than 45 minutes and classes tend to be daily.
5. Spinning also has a low impact of injury or damage. As the bike is stationary, it is nearly next to impossible to fall off, and injure yourself. It is a great workout for someone recovering from injury.

Spin Classes are available nationwide in our Club Vitae gyms below. Please visit our website www.clubvitae.com for the latest timetable information. We also recommend beginners to arrive early and let our instructors know it is your first time so they can help get you started.

Club Vitae Gym Dublin Docklands Spin Classes

Club Vitae Liffey Valley Gym Spin Classes

Club Vitae Wexford Gym Spin Classes

Club Vitae Galway Gym Spin Classes

Club Vitae Cork Gym Spin Classes

Club Vitae Portlaoise Gym Spin Classes

HIIT Workout Versus Steady Cardio?

First things first, what is HIIT cardio and regular cardio??

Steady-state cardio, simply known as regular cardio, is what many relate to when they think of exercise. It is where you perform an activity at a steady, challenging but manageable pace (55 to 70 percent of maximal capacity) for 15-20 minutes or more, aiming for a heart rate of 120 beats per minute.

HIIT workouts on the other hand, are slightly more complex. It is where you perform an activity for as hard as you can (90 to 100 percent of maximal capacity) for a brief, set time period (usually two minutes or less), then back off for a rest interval (usually three minutes or less), and repeat the cycle four times or more.

It seems like not that long ago when cardio was just cardio – there weren’t endless debates on what the best type was or when you should do it.

Over the last few years we’ve seen the rise in popularity of high intensity interval training or HIIT for short. This is what a lot of the pros are recommending, citing its increased effectiveness compared with traditional steady state cardio when it comes to losing fat.

But is one better for you versus another? Let our gym instructor discuss this and take you through both training methods, and see if one might suit your training rescheme better than the other.

“It depends on what your overall outcome/goal is. HIIT workouts are proven to help you lose fat in a shorter space of time than long-distance cardio. With that said, you have a higher probability for overreaching and overtraining with HIIT than you do with steady cardio.

The best possible answer I can give you is cross-training or a mixture of both. Throughout our 13 clubs spread across Ireland, we tailor our classes to feature both, in turn getting the most out of each session. Please visit your local Club Vitae gym or www.clubvitae.com for more details on our class timetables.