Big respect to Liberte girls Emma and Martina for completing the Race For Life

Two of Bury's most dedicated Liberte Fitness members Emma Vosper and Martina Collingwood-Hall did us all proud today when they completed the Race For Life in Nowton Park.
The regular Liberte exercise spot was taken over by around 2,000 pink-clad women of all ages and sizes who were raising money for Cancer Research by completing the 5k course.
On a sweltering hot day, both Emma and Martina finished the run in around half an hour which is a great achievement given the mini heatwave that is sweeping East Anglia today and tomorrow.
Well done to both girls and let's hope you raise lots of money - they were met by a familiar face after the race in Liberte trainer Gareth Thomas who was on hand to warm down runners after their exploits.

Here's a first look at the all new Liberte Fitness long-sleeved white T-shirts

Here's an exclusive look at the brand new white long-sleeved Liberte Fitness T-shirts that have just been received at Liberte HQ.
Manufactured by sportswear company Kukri, they're a brilliant bright white with the distinctive Liberte logo and phrase 'Ever Done It Outside' printed in charcoal grey.
They're available in a variety of sizes and retail at £25. Have a word with Papillon when you next see her and she'll give you an order form.

Life’s a beach for Liberte up at Incredible Holkham

Liberte Fitness’ first beach session was a resounding success on Saturday as Paps and Gareth took the training show on the road to Incredible Holkham.
Half a dozen fitness fans joined Liberte’s king and queen for a thrilling, fun, exhausting and Vitamin-D boosting day of beach antics.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect before the day – sure I knew that some of the exercises we use in the park would make an appearance – but could Gareth and Paps really stretch out the Liberte ethos over a whole day?
The good news is for those who weren’t there is that they did – with bells on.
Anyone who was there will testify that Liberte Beach Days are nothing like working out in the lush green parks of Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Norwich.
For a start, the change in terrain is instantly apparent – working out on sand is so different to working out on grass – of course, it’s all soft and makes for a soft landing, but there are hazards such as razor shells that you just don’t get in the park.
OK so the molehills and rabbit burrows weren’t a problem, but you really notice the wind on the beach which you don’t always get in the park. This is good, though, as sweat dries almost straight away and it really is embracing.
The other big difference is the colour – this may sound a bit strange, but replacing the greenery that provides a constant background to the Liberte workouts with miles of golden sand does take a little while to get used to.
So what of the day? Is it really just five or six Liberte sessions just tacked together? Well, no.
The day really did seem to evolve in segments, from an initial session focusing on abdominal work, to nutritional information, to the most gruelling sprinting sessions, to a taste of beach tabata, to Swedish handball. And that was all before lunch!
Gareth admitted that the sessions were devised to start tough and they certainly were. After a health breakfast of yoghurts, bananas and protein bars, we started with a range of exercises that made for a prolonged warm up.
It was really hard work in the sun, but it wasn’t just perspiration, we had education too, with dietary advice and information on what food we should be eating throughout the day and the reasons why we should be eating it.
I found this really interesting – and it does occur to you that the Liberte revolution is not simply confined to an hour of burpees and sit ups in the park. It really can be the start of an all round healthy lifestyle and, to be honest, after giving so much effort into doing the Liberte exercises, you feel you’re kind of cheating your body if you then start to pump it full of crap.
The initial session ended with Swedish handball which was great fun and extremely competitive (Martina never fails to amaze me with her determination!) and after a short break we went on a long jog down the sea. I’d never jogged for so long in my life without stopping, it was probably only six or seven minutes but it was tough running against the wind. I made sure I took time out to take in the beauty of Holkham, just as female horse rider rode through the shallow surf just metres away.
From then we started some sprints mixed with jogging. The key here was the recovery time. The sprint distances stayed roughly the same, but we had less time to recover – from around 90 seconds to start with, down to 60 and then down to 30.
The lesson here was to illustrate how different the body reacts to exercise – and it really did work. To start with it wasn’t too hard to sprint 30 metres every 90 seconds, but towards the end, we could do little more than break into a moderate jog!
Lunch was provided by celebrity chef Chris Coubrough and consisted of chicken, almonds, quinoa with a garlic dressing which gave us a perfect blast of protein.
After lunch was a yoga session which was new to me and I must admit I wasn’t that keen on, but the others seemed to love it. It was great seeing us all work out on the beach though and must have looked amazing to the bird watchers, walkers and dogs who gave us plenty of curious glances throughout the session!
Following a sports drink to boost protein, the day climaxed with some pairs boxing which was really tough, some team games, which included tug-of-war, something I haven’t done in 25 years, but which is fantastic (until you slip on the sand!) and some hilarious fire and manoeuvre drills - I'm just glad we ended up carrying little Bryony rather than King's Lynn beefcake Rory!
Big respect to Martina, Bryony, Janine, Rory and Georgie – you all helped to make the day and were all brilliant fun. Well done too to Gareth and Paps - I know that the Beach Days are the flagship of the Liberte brand and if the rest of them are only half as good as this, you’ll be on to a real winner.

You could soon be kitted out like Gareth and Paps

Here's a sneak preview of the new Liberte Fitness hoodies that were unveiled yesterday on Holkham Beach by Gareth and Papillon.
Sportswear firm Kukri have produced the gear which will be on sale soon from all good Liberte Land Rovers!
Gareth and Papillon wore the hoodies yesterday and took part in a fashion shoot, with the results appearing in EDP Norfolk Magazine later this summer.
The hoodies are available to buy from Papillon, just let her know.

Miss out on a weekend Liberte Fitness session? Nor way!

You can take the boy out of Liberte but you can’t take Liberte out of the boy! Despite missing Saturday’s Bury St Edmunds session, my first in about five weeks, I was out and about in Norway over the weekend and Liberte wasn’t far from my mind.
Norwegians embrace the outdoor lifestyle just like Australians, who were the original influence on Paps to create Liberte Fitness and the average Norwegian weekend in the summer usually includes swimming, cycling and lapping up the sun.
I spent the weekend with my uncle in Oslo and we spent plenty of time sweating off the calories in the Liberte spirit. After climbing the 1,000 feet summit of Mount Kolsas, we swam in the nearby fjords, fished and then best of all I found some outdoor exercise equipment in the Sandvika area of Oslo.
I’d seen outdoor exercise apparatus such as this all over Australia but have never come across it on previous trips to Norway so after a few punishing chin ups I did some bench presses of my own bodyweight which was good fun and then a couple of reps on a step apparatus.
Doing this sort of thing a year ago would have left me out of breath, but now it’s a doddle, and there’s something about doing Liberte three times a week that makes you just want to exercise whenever you see the chance in whatever country you’re in.