Blog Tag menu
Life Fitness equipment
What started as one man’s pursuit to improve his own physical condition, eventually turned into a global fitness revolution. That man was Keene P. Dimick, the mastermind behind the legendary Lifecycle exercise bike. Little did he know in 1968 that his modest invention would go on to fuel the hopes...
The Father of aerobics
DR KENNETH COOPER The Father of Aerobics It’s hard to believe but until the early 1960’s, few doctors and fewer non-professionals knew just how much exercise was good or necessary. In the 1950’s it was actually discouraged by some doctors. Dr P Steincrohn in his book How to Keep Fit Without...
Stretching to Improve Flexibility.
Flexibility is when a joint can move through its full range of motion without discomfort or pain. Some people are naturally more flexible than others as genetics can play a large part. It can come down to many things including elasticity in muscles and tendons, joint structure, age, previous injuries,...
Strange and Funny Things That Have Happened In Our Business Over The Past 21Years
As a retailer we deal with thousands of members of the public, and as the saying goes, "there's nothing funnier than folk". Here are a few anecdotes that will hopefully make you wonder, and even raise a smile, and no doubt more will be added. Tales from Fitness Options 1)...
Spot reducing weight loss – can you do it?
Everyone has ‘trouble spots’, extra fat under the arms, belly fat, a double chin. But can you lose it just in those areas? The simple answer is no. When you lose weight you lose it all over. So you have to treat your body as a whole. In most cases...
Sports Supplements, is it money well spent?
The sports supplement market is one of the fastest growing markets in the sports and fitness world. Millions of pounds are spent on them every year but is it money well spent? If this question were asked 15 years ago most sports scientist and experts in nutrition would have probably...
Smoking or obesity is one worse than the other?
Is a country full of smokers putting a greater strain on its health service than one full of expanding waistlines? This is a question that researches have been studying recently. They took 1100 women aged between 18-76 and studied the length of their telomeres. A telomere is found at the...
Smith machines
If you enjoy using free weights and want to continue to experience the feel of free weights but you want the safety of a multi gym then the Smith Machine is one of the safest self-spotting machines on the market. Spotting is the term used for your training partner who...
Six Medical Myths
If someone tells you something enough times you begin to believe that it’s true. This can be the case with many so-called medical factoids, which according to the British Medical Journal turn out to be false. The British Medical Journal has pointed out that if you repeat something often enough...
Should you stop working out when sick?
Here are a few guidelines to determine whether you should continue to train when feeling a little under the weather. These guidelines are for common illnesses such as a cold virus or a mild tummy bug and should not be used if you are suffering from a more serious condition....
Setting up a Home Gym
Setting up a Home Gym - Download our Free Guide - How to Plan the Perfect Gym or call the Fitness Options team for advice.
Understanding Sciatica
Anyone who has suffered from sciatica knows just how painful and debilitating it can be. Mild sciatica can have a major impact on your fitness regime, serious sciatica will stop you in your tracks. Sciatica is caused when the sciatic nerve, which is made up of five branches of nerves...
UK Gyms Urged To Change Their Business Model
American fitness guru Thomas Plummer gave his first ever UK presentation to a packed audience of independent gym owners at the Independent Operators Unite event held in conjunction with the LIW trade show. Thomas has over 30 years of experience in the fitness industry and he is using this know...
Turning Procrastination into Motivation
It’s not easy to fit an exercise programme into you daily schedule. Its particularly difficult if you are working out a health club, as you have to fit your schedule into the health clubs schedule. The smallest amount of conflict between you and them and the excuses for skipping a...
The UK Map To Good Health
Here are the results of a recent PruHealth survey which uncovered surprising regional variations in exercise patterns and awareness of health issues. London London is Britain’s most unfit city, a place of high consumption of alcohol and low levels of exercise. Fitness facilities are low in number so its not...
The minds role in reaching goals
Even the best training and nutrition programme is not much help if you struggle to change your behaviour or bad habits. The great thing about the human mind is that if you set your end goal, in other words only programme your mind to concentrate on the final outcome, your...
The mind's role in reaching goals
Even the best training and nutrition programme is not much help if you struggle to change your behaviour or bad habits. The great thing about the human mind is that if you set your end goal, in other words only programme your mind to concentrate on the final outcome, your...
The Importance of Muscle Recovery.
Allowing your muscles to recover after a workout is as important as the workout itself. Put very simply, the workout is the phase where your muscles are actually injured. The recovery phase is the phase where the muscles are allowed to heal and as they heal they grow, preparing themselves...
What makes a weight loss winner
It’s really tough to lose weight-and keep it off. Statistics suggest that 9 out of 10 people who go on a diet put the weight back on again, but that means 10% are successful. How do they do it? Research suggests that there are nine key habits that successful weight...
What Does An Elliptical Crosstrainer Trainer Really Achieve.
One of the most popular exercise machines today is the elliptical trainer or crosstrainer. Originally the elliptical trainer was just a lower body trainer developed by Precor and then Pro Form bought out their elliptical with an upper body motion and the elliptical crosstrainer was born. They work by trying...