Good Gym

Do good, get fit. This is the mantra of GoodGym, an organisation with the goal of combining fitness and community activities, with encouraging runners to spend time helping others. As we sometimes struggle with the motivation to exercise at The Amazing Blog, we think this is an excellent solution.

In a nutshell, GoodGym’s concept is to make the most out of the time spent running. This is in the form of running to and from activities, whether that be to help an elderly person who need’s a lightbulb changing, or running to a group gardening activity at a community centre. The motto of Good Gym? Why waste your energy at the gym when you could use it to improve other people’s lives?

Winning first prize in 2008 at the Social Innovation Camp, GoodGym was formed as a non-profit organisation in 2009. The company itself is commissioned by local authorities and the NHS, testamant to the benefits of getting involved. Over 1 million people aged 65 and over admit to always, or often feeling lonely, and recruiting volunteers has become increasingly difficult as a result of busy work and private lives. This is where GoodGym noticed a niche, focusing on creating an easy method of committing to a long-term project.

GoodGym provides three different types of runs. On Mission Runs, you run to help older people with every-day tasks, such as gardening, or changing a lightbulb. It gives you the chance to run different routes each week, while having a significant effect on someone’s life. On Coach Runs, you see an isolated person on a regular basis. This only claims about 20 minutes of your week, and besides giving someone something to look forward to, having a commitment can also increase your likelihood of completing exercise. On Group Runs, you get the chance to run with other people from your community, completing tasks such as planting trees for your local park, running back together to stretch with a qualified trainer. All this is completed within 90 minutes, fitting easily into your daily routine.

In terms of commitment, there is no specific pressure, GoodGym aims to achieve your fitness goals, while helping the community. How often, and where you do this is, is up to you, but if you sign up to visit an older person, then it is understandable that this commits you to at least one run per week. Mission and group runs are more flexible, and can be attended whenever you like. There really is a solution for everyone here, with support available from qualified trainers at all times. Signing up is easily achieved online, and although membership is free, there is a voluntary donation of £9.95 per month if you so wish. Visit the GoodGym website for frequently asked questions, here.

Currently operating in 47 areas, with a futher 73 in proposal, you’ll be sure to find a local group (especially in London). Check out the availability in your area on the GoodGym website here.

Live Well London

February is here, and we are proud to say that we are keeping to our New Year’s Resolutions at The Amazing Blog (well, for the most part anyway). Many resolutions revolve around health and fitness, aiming to make 2019 our year of maintaining a healthy body and mind. We were therefore excited to discover the new event, Live Well London, taking place from the 1st-3rd March in Old Billingsgate.

This event will encompass a full line-up of classes, workshops, inspirational talks, live kitchen demos and much more. From fitness to nutrition, beauty and well-being, Live Well London offers a number of contributors and influencers who will be giving well-founded advice, from both personal and professional experiences. This ensures that you will leave having gained wisdom from a range of experienced professionals. Understanding the need for a varied range of advice, organisers have secured speakers from all walks of the fitness and health industries. Matt Roberts, one of the UK’s leading personal trainers, and best-selling fitness authors, will be on hand to provide science-based advice, to help you live a more energised life. The founder of Mind and Meditation, Niraj Shah will imparting her knowledge for those looking for well being and inspiration. If that’s not enough, then skincare expert Liz Earle will be offering advice on how to really take care of your skin. These names are just the tip of the iceberg, with a vast amount of other speakers with equal amounts of wisdom to share. Click here to see what's on over the course of the three days.

The event will also include sessions from More YOGA and Barre Studio, unique and popular classes that prove exercise isn’t limited to running on a treadmill (although this is of course allowed if it’s your thing). The event focuses on four key areas: Well Moved, Well Balanced, Well Nourished and Well Restored. Well Balanced will help you to find new ways of moving, from addressing fitness crazes, to explaining the benefits of HIIT or Pilates. Well Balanced is centred around mental health, an ever prevalent and important topic. You can expect advice on mindfulness and meditation, as well as life-coaching and therapy. Well Nourished will focus on getting the glow from within, with tips and tricks on upping your intake of vitamins, and nutritional food and drinks. Finally, Well Restored will allow you to discover retreats, spas, wellness holidays, courses and more - because we’re all in need of a little escape sometimes.

We predict tickets will sell fast for this event, and as they are limited, we urge you to order sooner, rather than later. If you’ve fallen off the New Year bandwagon, or are simply looking for ways to ramp up your healthy routines, then we’re sure there will be something for you. Click here to purchase a ticket from £35.

Fitty London's Paleo Box

Stereotypical it may be, but we're making a conscious health effort this January. After an extended period of overindulging at The Amazing Blog, we're actively trying to get ourselves back on track to a healthier lifestyle. Through these trepidations, we discovered Fitty London, a brand bringing performance-enhancing products to our doorsteps, with boxes full of nutritional and affordable goodies. This is something we can certainly get behind!

Fitty London's premise is simple, to bring proper nutrition, with specific foods, drinks and workout products. We're not always hot on this, and when we do endeavour to make a better effort, we admit that it is often difficult to find products that are truly good for us. So many promise the world, but instead do the opposite, with a variety of hidden sugars and ingredients that are best avoided. We were therefore pleased to discover that Fitty London's products are all sourced by specialised nutritionists, allowing us to be secure in the knowledge that we're not being sold another hyped and overpromised subscription box.

We tried the newly launched Paleo Box, as we were keen to learn more about the paleo diet and lifestyle. Despite being trusted by millions of people, we were admittedly unaware of the vast amount of health benefits this lifestyle can promote. Although we may not be full paleo converts, we were pleased to try Fitty London's selection of products, our first steps in a healthier direction. This box contains eight specially selected brands and is worth around £60, making it an economical way of trying a multitude of paleo products. We enjoyed the Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee as a morning pick me up, providing a fruity drink that packs a superfood punch! For a mid-morning snack, we have been reaching for the Blue Dinosaur Paleo Bar. The Banana Bread flavour has a cinnamon kick, reminiscent of the past festivities, without the calorific indulgences! For those with a more savoury tooth, the Raw World Company Biltong has proven to be popular. We were intrigued by the crackling black pepper flavour, adding a bit of kick to the 100% grass-fed and dried beef.

Aside from snacking, this Paleo Box also contains the Bare Biology Lionheart Omega 3s supplement and the Symprove probiotic. The Lionheart capsules have helped to boost the appearance of our congested complexions, and the Symprove probiotic has helped to up our gut health, after let's face it, a month of rich foods. Finally, the box also contains a few products to help with your day to day cooking, the Happy Butter Ghee has become a firm cooking oil favourite, and the Cocofina Coconut Aminos has replaced the usual salty soy sauce in our stir-frys. For our New Year salads, we've also been loving the Willy's Apple Cider Vinegar - it's great as a dressing.

So there you have it, we're feeling much healthier and happier, and although we can't completely put it down to Fitty London's Paleo Box, it certainly makes a change to swap our sweet snacks with nutritional ones! To purchase a Paleo Box for £32, visit the Fitty London website here.

Coco Hydro Sport - Coco Hydro

At The Amazing Blog, we believe it is important to live a healthy and well-balanced life. You can have and do anything you want as long as it is in moderation. So it can be a real disappointment after a long and arduous gym session to glance at the back of your sports drink and realise that what you’re putting into your body to help you, has just nullified most of what you’ve done! Luckily for us though one of our favourite brands Coco Hydro has released a new Sports version of their popular powders.

Available in three flavours, Original, Pineapple and Lemon and Lime, Coco Hydro Sport offers a fantastic alternative to other sports drinks currently available. Acting as a high-performance coconut water-based hydrator this superb product has a higher electrolyte content than regular Coco Hydro, as well as added mineralized sea salts to help support extreme workouts and sports. Equally, the natural chelated organic ionic trace minerals have a 98% faster absorption rate.

Containing only seven ingredients there is nothing to worry about when drinking this product. You no longer have to settle for  over-dyed, sugar filled and over packaged sports drinks. As Coco Hydro point out, by replacing just two bottled drinks with this, you will save on average 104 plastic bottles a year! So if you’re concerned with the waste that other sports drinks cause then, you can sleep a little easier knowing the Coco Hydro Sport helps you help the world. It couldn’t be simpler to use Coco Hydro Sport, simply blend in water to taste or mix it in with a recovery drink or smoothie for increased efficiency in helping to heal those hard working muscles.

You can purchase Coco Hydro Sport here from £18.30, or you can purchase the Original Coco Hydro Sachet's on Planet Organic's website, buy one get one free, for £1.59.

Friday Feature: London Marathon Inspired Fitness

If you are anything like us at The Amazing Blog, then the fact that the London Marathon is this Sunday has inspired you to up your fitness game! While it is too late to actually take part and run in this year’s marathon there are still tonnes of cool and exciting ways to get fit this April. We’ve put together a list of great classes that will have you beach body ready for those summer plans, or have you fulfilling any resolutions you made at the beginning of the year that may have slipped your mind! The key to fitness success is to enjoy what you’re doing and we are sure that one of the classes below will inspire you to get active, and more importantly, stay active.

First on our list is 1Rebel, which you may recognise from your favourite fitness social media accounts or shows such as Made in Chelsea.

We recommend their ‘reshape’ classes which are 45 minutes of mental and physical intensity. It is an intensive group experience that is designed to condition and re-sculpt selected muscle groups. Their website says that ‘their patented 1R workout platform will help mould your body and break your barriers.’ This is an understatement, within a few sessions those wobbly arms and jiggly thighs will be gone. You are given your own workstation with dumbbells, resistance bands and a treadmill. You spend four minutes doing squats, chest presses, frog jumps and more before jumping on the treadmill for another four minutes to do interval sprints. With each set, the intensity increases, and with each the session, the effects are more and more noticeable.

What we really love about these classes is that while you work harder than you ever have before they’ll make the experience as easy as possible. There is no contract to sign and you simply go online and pay as you go. 1Rebel will provide you with towels, water and even makeup remover meaning that all you need to bring is yourself and a change of clothes. With a beautiful décor, you’ll feel like a celeb going to this gym. The changing rooms are fitted with copper lockers that look like something out of a sci-fi film, the benches are heated, and the vanity area is a dream with hair dryers, GHD straighteners and endless beauty products. Once you’ve worked out and done yourself up again, you can head to their bar upstairs called Roots and Bulbs for a delicious and nutritious juice or smoothie, or a free glass of prosecco on Fridays. It’s wonderful to feel so pampered after you’ve worked so hard and is a real incentive to keep going back.

Book your first class here and thank us later!

If you are looking for something a little different and quirky then Flying Fantastic’s Hoop Class is the fitness session for you! Classes take place on the Aerial Hoop, which is a circular steel ring, providing the perfect structure for your acrobatic moves. Flying Fantastic believes in inclusivity so whatever your ability or experience – from novice to Olympic gymnast – they will be able to cater to you and help you get the best from your experience. Each class has a ratio of 2 people per hoop and there are only ever 7 people per instructor so you know you’ll be getting the best out of this class.

The classes will have you progressively working on your core muscles and balance by focusing on developing your strength, stamina and flexibility. Core muscles are essential for executing the moves with confidence, so it helps if you have good core stability beforehand, but if not don’t worry as these will develop! The Hoop classes are an amazing way to hone your upper body muscle groups, so as well as a better range of motion and flexibility, you’ll have Michelle Obama arms in no time.

This is a perfect class for those who don’t take exercise too seriously, or are looking for a way to jazz up their fitness routine, all the while still working hard to develop your bodies.  
You can get involved here with an introductory offer of 3 classes for just £45

For all the swim buffs reading then do we have the perfect class for you!! Virgin Active has created an amazingly intensive, hour-long, swim session called hydro. The fast moving class combines full body training with expert coaching. Due to the weightless nature of the pool based exercise, this a brilliant way to push your body without straining your joints making this ideal for those with either joint problems or recovering from an injury.

This class is not for the faint-hearted, though, burning 400-600 calories a session, you have to be able to swim a minimum of 100m to join in. The Hydro class will push you both physically and mentally! Whether you are looking to train for an event or just on the hunt for a great and challenging workout, you’ll tone up, build strength and endurance, and improve your technique. Coaches will help you tackle a variety of exciting speed and distance challenges while using a variety of different strokes. 53 Virgin Active clubs run Hydro - so no excuses! 

1Rebel Reshape class, Flying Fantastic Hoop Class or a Hydro swimming session - which one will you choose?