Three weeks in and the weight is dropping off for Jez

April has been a big month for Jez Heaven – the Norwich Liberte member says his regular sessions have helped him lose six pounds in just three weeks.
Jez, 42, was one of the trialists at Earlham Park on Sunday, April 3 when Liberte first came to Norwich. After his first seven sessions he says it’s been a crucial part in his attempt to increase his general fitnesss.
Jez, pictured, said: “I really enjoy it and it's exactly what I'm looking for – it combines very technically competent instructors with all the best bits of forces fitness training but without being beasted to death in a bootcamp!
“I'm combining Liberte circuits with power walks of at least three miles most days of the week and the weight is just dropping off. The Liberte training is making me much fitter, I can feel a big difference already and the power walking is burning the fat.”
Fat burning was one of the reasons Jez signed up to Liberte as part of a vow to combat possible health issues that become increasingly common for men as they reach their thirties, forties and fifties.
Jez said: “I’ve lost six pounds in three weeks by doing Liberte plus cutting out all the rubbish from my diet. I was concerned about the health risks such as diabetes, cholesterol and the heart so I wanted something that would allow me to make fitness an enjoyable part of everyday life.
“On current evidence I would say I’ve found exactly that – the atmosphere is great in Norwich and we have a good laugh at our sessions. Earlham Park is great and there are lots of other runners and dog walkers so we usually have plenty of people in the park with us when we do our workouts.”
Liberte Fitness sessions run in Norwich three days a week on Monday and Thursday at 6.45pm and on Sunday at 10.30am.

Forget Easter Sunday – this was Oestrogen Saturday!

Men in Bury St Edmunds – you don’t know what you’re missing out on!
Forget the Beer Festival and scoffing Easter Eggs – I spent my Easter Saturday morning getting hot and sweaty with ten gorgeous girls in beautiful Nowton Park.
Liberte have male members in Bury, but the girls are starting to seriously outnumber the boys – today I was the only male on a scorching Saturday session.
I must admit I felt a little like Billy Elliot to start with – you know the bit when he first ditches the boxing gloves and decides to hang out with the girls on a full time basis.
But the beauty of Liberte is that feeling goes in an instant and I honestly didn’t notice as we enjoyed a lovely 2.3 mile lap around the park, squeezing in burpees, half sit-ups, press ups and star jumps as we went around.
There was plenty of banter with the girls, a fun Easter egg hunt for protein bars and a great way to spend a Saturday morning.
But come on dudes, don’t let me have all the fun – get on down to www.libertefitness.com and register for a trial.

Let’s hear it for Bikram Liberte!

I’ve got to admit it’s hard to remember what if felt like to train in the dark and the cold. Especially tonight when it was 22C at 6.45pm and beautifully hot in Bury St Edmunds.
The heat was actually good and as anyone who does Bikram yoga will testify, you tend to sweat. Tonight the sweat was dripping off my face after ten minutes in what is certainly the hottest session so far and what a blast. Rui, Claire and Jude joined myself, Papillon, pictured and Gareth on an hour of Liberte fun around the park in a really demanding workout.
We mixed it up tonight with plenty of ab work and shuttle runs, but the highlight was a new one – the name game.We did star jumps in a circle while calling out the names of celebrities in turn – the next person had to think of a new celeb starting with the same letter as the previous suggestion’s surname.
Things got pretty crazy with Charlie Chaplin and Chelsea Clinton, I got stumped on a celebrity beginning with ‘S’. I was trying to think of Sienna Miller but it’s amazing how your mind goes blank when you realise your calves are about to explode!
Anyone who failed to think of a celeb in five seconds had to do three press ups. I think I’ll take more notice of my wife’s Heat magazine from now on!

Put in my place by pensioner Maureen

Lovely weather in Bury St Edmunds tonight and one of the funniest experiences at Liberte so far was caused by our newest trialist.
Over the last three months or so there have been plenty of new faces as our class has grown. Some turn up just the once, plenty more sign up for good.
Tonight we welcomed Maureen, who approached trainer Gareth, pictured, in the Nowton car park to reveal she would be joining us and was an amazing 72!
I must admit I was sceptical as to how she would get on, particularly as she said she didn’t really enjoy jogging. I don’t either, so I felt for her.
To her credit though, Maureen was a revelation. She did things at her own pace but when it came to the floor exercises she excelled. Sit ups? Kid’s stuff. Crunches? No problem. Burpees? Piece of cake.
Best of all Maureen had some trash talk of her own. I jogged with her towards the end as she was some way back from the main pack of Libertarians.
I told her she kept a good pace as she jogged, referring to the fact that, at the age of 36, I was out of breath and that a gentle job suited us both.
“I think you should just jog, rather than try and jog and talk,” she told me.
Brilliant! Put in my place by a woman twice my age – that kind of thing would only happen at Liberte!

Feeling the burn after five in a row

Liberte’s recent expansion in Bury means there’s now three sessions a week and after a week’s holiday, I found the going incredibly tough last Monday.
From the moment I started the warm up, which always seems to be the hardest bit, I started to struggle and was cursing every idle ice cream-licking moment of my holiday.
The one thing I’ve learnt about Liberte is how tough it is to get back in the swing of things after a short break and that was the case last Monday.
So I decided to make my Saturday debut last weekend and pushed on to attend sessions on Monday and tonight.
How does it feel after five straight sessions in nine days? Well my shins and calves ache more than anything, but nothing that a rest won’t fix.
I can’t make Saturday’s session so think a relaxing swim will be the order of the day.

How training with Liberte has helped my asthma

Three months after joining Liberte Fitness I’ve reached a personal milestone - for the first time I’ve completed an hour of intensive training without using my inhaler.
As an asthmatic the big thing I’ve always struggled with is stamina. Years of playing football wasn’t too tough for anyone who suffers with the condition as regular breaks mixed in with short sprints and casual jogs are part of the game.
But the one thing I’ve never been able to do was sustain an hour-long period of exercise without recourse to the little blue Ventolin inhaler that I keep with me when I train.
It was the summer of 1986 that I first discovered I had asthma. Aged 11 I was on a summer holiday in Denmark and after swimming in an outdoor pool, my brother and I went into the neighbouring sauna. I’d never been into one before and the heat inside took my breath away.
Quite literally.
I had my one and only asthma attack by the pool side and an ambulance was called.
Back in England the doctor told me I should always carry my inhaler and 25 years on it’s with me day in, day out.
It’s never stopped me exercising, but it would be foolish to do so without having it nearby. Every year over a thousand people die of asthma attacks in the UK.
I’m hardly living in fear of that happening but the contraction of the lungs through exercise is one of the most likely causes for someone of my age.
Since the sauna incident of ’86 I’ve had a real hatred of hot, indoor spaces. Claustrophobia and asthma go hand in hand – it’s a physcological fear of lack of air. Lifts, underground trains and of course saunas can sometimes be incredibly uncomfortable for me.
When I heard about Liberte Fitness last year I was intrigued. Here was a chance to exercise in the open air, to get fitter and improve my stamina without having to go to the gym.
I had my first session at the start of January and struggled straight away. The worst thing I could think of was to jog for a couple of minutes and then real off ten sit ups. Just when I needed to get air into my restricted lungs I needed to squeeze even more out.
I tried to keep up with the rest of the Liberte gang, but started sitting out some exercises. After a couple of minutes I was reaching for the inhaler and after half an hour I needed a couple of minutes on my own.
I stood bent over with my hands on my thighs looking at the muddy Nowton Park turf for inspiration.
Liberte instructor Gareth offered some consolation. “Just do what you can,” he told me. “It will get easier.”
And it did.
While the occasional break in the hour-long training still happened, I found myself using the inhaler less and less. As the evenings slowly got lighter, I was less tired.
Back in January I was taking an extra 30 seconds after each set of exercises to get my body ready for the next set, but all of a sudden that recovery time is no longer needed.
Sure it’s still challenging, and sure it’s still tough, but the fact I no longer need to rest or take the inhaler is a sign that I’m getting fitter. My body is getting used to the outdoor workouts and that’s down to the ingenuity of Liberte Fitness.
The mix of exercises are perfectly balanced to build in subtle rests. After five minutes of mainly jogging, we may spend five minutes arm wrestling or doing press ups – all the time focussing on working different body areas and resting others.
This week, after three months of training, I managed a workout on the hottest day of the year so far, and didn’t use my inhaler once. That’s me. A 36-year-old asthmatic who got out of breath running for the bus.
So if you’re asthmatic and have worries about doing something like this, then don’t. Unlike a gym where you feel intimidated from day one, Liberte is the exact opposite. Members get a buzz out of helping each other and while I was struggling to keep up back in January, I never doubted that I would be able to hold my own with the rest of the class.
And now I feel I can and it’s only April. I can’t wait to get fitter, faster and better this summer with my regular outdoor Liberte Fitness workouts.

The first three months of Liberte

It’s just about three months since I had my first session with Liberte and I’ve got to say it’s been a real pleasure.
From being slightly nervous ahead of the first session to learning to perfect my burpees technique the one thing I have to say is that it does get easier.
Three months ago I wrote on website Bury St Edmunds People about my first session, you can read about it by clicking here.