Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest – Nottingham 2012

On Saturday the 13^th of October 2012 I took part in Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest in Nottingham. Almost 4000 people took part. This blog entry will look into this amazing event.

 

What is Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest?

Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest is a series of adventure runs that currently takes place in 5 cities across the United Kingdom; Nottingham, London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. Each city hosts a 10km (haha, more like 12km) run with a wide range of obstacles placed along the way.

My Preperation for Men's Health Survival of the Fittest

As I exercise regularly, I did not change too much up. I continued with my pull ups, press ups and planks. I added walking lunges to my routine and also made sure I got out there running more.

I ate my normal balanced diet in preparation and on the morning of the run I ate bacon, eggs and toast with a coffee. I also ate a banana about an hour before.

My Run

I ran the event with my friend. We took part in the Nottingham event and we were in wave 5, which started at 11am. It was a chilly morning but this was soon forgotten as the race commenced. The course began and the first obstacle to stand in our way was the hay bales!

 We then ran alongside the river trent completing a variety of obstacles along the way, including an army assault course, a swim across a freezing cold river, cargo nets and a run up and down the stairs in Nottingham Forest's City Ground! 

But the worse was to come. The final challenge, known as the Wall of Fame, is where dreams are made or ended! Teamwork was required for me and my buddy to get over, but we managed it and claimed our medals! 

The results 

For the Nottingham event, 3,769 people finished the race with an average finishing time of 1 hour 36 minutes and 53 seconds. The fastest time completed was 52 minutes and 2 seconds, with the slowest time being 2 hours 47 minutes and 31 seconds. I completed the race in 1 hour 25 minutes and 48 seconds. I finished in the top 30% of finishers – not bad for a first try.

Baobab

Baobab – Superfruit

This blog entry will look into the superfruit – baobab (pronounced bay-oh-bab). It will discuss what baobab fruit is, where it comes from and the health benefits to consumption!

What is baobab?

The baobab fruit is a natural food source, and is naturally found in Africa and Australia. The baobab fruit looks a bit like a coconut and grows on baobab trees. Local people have used many parts of the baobab for centuries.

What are the health benefits of baobab fruit?

This is where the baobab earns a reputation and name as a super fruit. The health benefits of the baobab fruit are fantastic and appear to outweigh many other super fruits (such as the acai berry, for example).

Baobab is very high in vitamin C. It is said that it contains six times the amount of vitamin C than oranges!

It is high in antioxidants (something discussed here) and it is claimed that the baobab contains six times the amount of antioxidants as blueberries, and twice as many as gojiberries.

Although bananas are one of our favourite foods for getting potassium, baobab contains around six times the amount!

Baobab also contains a high level of calcium, around twice as much as milk.

Finally, baobab contains more iron than red meat.

Overall

Overall, the baobab fruit has many things going for it, and it does appear to be a genuine super fruit. It is important that, in our western society, we get this into our diet in the right way. It is vital that we get natural baobab, and reap the benefits!

Swimming for Health

Swimming

This blog entry is going to look into swimming for fitness, exercise and weight loss. Swimming is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing forms of exercise there is. There are a number of benefits associated with swimming, so let’s take a look.

Benefits of Swimming

As mentioned before, there are numerous benefits to swimming as a form of exercise.

1)      It is a low impact form of exercise. This is probably my favourite thing about swimming. This means that swimming puts very little strain on our body. This means that our knees and hips, for example, do not get the same stress as with other exercises such as running. This also means that swimming is a great exercise for fitness when recovering from an injury.

2)      Swimming is an excellent cardio-vascular exercise. This basically means that we work our hearts and lungs while exercising (as well as our body), and is as good as any exercise for that.

3)      Swimming can work most muscles in the body. This relies on doing a variety of different strokes, however, but any exercise where we are working more than one muscle is great. Swimming works the upper and lower body, and gives a great workout to each part of us.

4)      Swimming can be used for weight loss as well as fitness. Whilst swimming is a great exercise for developing our fitness levels, it is also a fantastic calorie burner, meaning it can be used, alongside a healthy diet, to promote healthy weight loss.

5)      Finally, swimming can be considered an excellent exercise for developing strength as well as flexibility. Alongside endurance and cardio-vascular benefits, swimming can help with our strength in our upper and lower body and contributes towards flexibility in these areas too.