Tree strike illustrates just why we don’t train in lightning

We’ve trained in the rain, stretched out in the sun and high-kneed in the hail – but there’s one element that we just don’t mess with.
Yes when there’s lightning, we sensibly stay well clear of the park. Most people know that when the skies are thundery the first thing to avoid is open spaces and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the second thing to avoid is standing under a tree.
Nowton Park in Bury St Edmunds is full of open spaces and trees and on Monday night, our regular session was cancelled due to a shocking lightning storm over the town. It came just hours after a lightning strike in the park split this tree in two in a spectacular electrical explosion that had more power than one of GT’s burpees.
Papillon Luck, Liberte’s founder, surveyed the sight this morning and was pleased that lead personal trainer Gareth Thomas had rightly made the call.
She said: “I was astounded at the damage to the tree in our lovely park – it looked incredibly dramatic. This only reinforces our health and safety policy to keep our members safe and we just don’t train in lightning.
“Even if lightning starts during a session we would act sensibly and protect our members by evacuating the park. Your instructor knows what to do at the first sign of thunder and would ensure you were safe at all times.”
Here’s hoping that we all pile up in the back of the Liberte Landrover and cuddle up together!

Ten tell tale signs that you know you’re becoming addicted to Liberte Fitness

10: Every time the phone rings you secretively hope it’s Adidas on the other end saying their talent scouts have spotted you working out in the park and they want you to trial their new range of outdoor fitness gear.

9: When out shopping you spend more time in the bubble bath and shower gel section than you do in the sweets and biscuits aisles.

8: When you’re in JJB you walk around all the departments looking for their range of hoodies, long-sleeved t-shirts and short-sleeve t-shirts just in case they’ve started stocking the Liberte range.

7: You’ve developed a really snobby attitude to other people’s shopping when you spy their trolley in the supermarket. You’re positively disgusted when you see the amount of dead calories and brightly-coloured food packets in their trolleys and you also realise that all the special offers on the end of each aisle are actually just full of junk.

6: You need to rinse the bath/shower out at least twice after you’ve used it to get rid of all the mud.

5: You used to get through sessions longing for a big glass of wine or a beer as a reward. Now you go home and contemplate eating lean turkey steaks or an egg-white omelette.

4: You’ve started buying foods from parts of the world you’ve never been to and you’re not quite sure how to pronounce them

3: The 2012 Olympics are coming up just a bit too soon, but, hey if you train hard enough, you could scrape in to the 2016 GB team.

2: You care more about your exercise kit than you do about your work clothes – and you’ve probably already got a bag/box/draw dedicated to what you wear to Liberte sessions anyway.

1: Walking past McDonalds and smelling their food makes you want to nothing other than sink to your knees and wretch.

Three months in and Jez has shed almost 20lbs

Liberte Fitness members in Norwich have just celebrated their three-month anniversary and for Jez Heaven, the weight has literally fallen off.
Jez, 42, was at the first session on April 3, and has been a regular attendee of the thrice-weekly Earlham Park sessions and credits his near 20lb weight loss down to Liberte, as well as eating better and regular workouts on a rowing machine.
“So far I've lost 18lbs in 13 weeks due to regular exercise and sensible eating and I’ve dropped two trouser sizes and feel massively fitter! It’s a hue contrast to day one when I very nearly died and had to drop out halfway through after suddenly going very pale and ashen grey! to my recent Liberte sessions when I am able to work flat out and yet still have a very fast recovery.
“I’m still officially 'overweight' but my BMI has dropped from 27.6 to 25.3. Liberte has been a huge part of that change and more importantly is now a firmly embedded part of the lifestyle changes I promised myself I would make.”
As well as going it for it at Liberte sessions, Jez has topped up his fitness regime with regular rowing workouts on his Concept 2 Rower. Together they have seen him get in great shape.
He said: “I am in awe of its fat stripping and cardio properties. Their website is incredible and I am following a structured weight loss programme from them. In six weeks I have gone from a 500m split time of 2:30 to 2:03 and each session I am doing now is burning 500+ calories. Overall I would say that the regular rowing (I do 3-4 sessions a week) is stripping the fat but it is Liberte that is making me fitter and keeping it fun.”

My six month Liberte Fitness anniversary

Six months ago today I took part in my first Liberte session and half a year on I’ve never felt fitter or more in shape.
When I turned up in a dark and muddy Nowton Park on January 10, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Neither was my body. Within five minutes of warming up I was bent over with my hands on my knees wondering quite what I’d actually signed up for.
I reached for the ventolin inhaler in my pocket and took a couple of puffs in the vain hope that it would give me some kind of performance-enhancing boost. It didn’t. The inhaler was about as much use as shoe full of water and if I thought my asthma was hindering me from enjoying Liberte, I was wrong, I was simply quickly realising that I was woefully unfit.
Sure I’d played football for years and always been active, but a combination of a dire work schedule meant I hadn’t really done any exercise for a year or so, apart from regular walking and cycling.
Jogging was never my strong point, so ten minutes in when I was told to start jogging, my body reacted like a stroppy teenager. It slammed the door and went upstairs and sulked.
I stayed with that first session in the Nowton mud and remember coming home and thinking what a bizarre way to spend an hour. I was caked in dirt and looked shattered.
I decided to sign up for a block of 20 sessions and thought it was something I would do a couple of times a month. For the record, between January 10 and April 3 I went nine times. Nine times in 90-odd days.
Every time I went I found it got harder and harder, mainly in terms of the warm up and then the recovery after each session. On a typical Monday I would feel OK, but by Wednesday morning I was still feeling the effects.
After an Easter break of a week in which I started jogging and working out with some friends who I was on holiday with, I vowed to make Liberte a more regular part of my week. I stepped up the session in early April and in the last three months I’ve been at least three times a week every week.
The difference has been immense – from now to January it’s like a new me, but even between April and now I feel my fitness has come on another level.
When I think back to January when I used to stumble around for an hour with one hand on my inhaler to now when I can handle Liberte almost daily (I did five sessions this week, more than I did in February and March combined) inhaler free, it’s such a vast difference.
Sure it still aches and sometimes during a session I have to stop if it doesn’t feel right, but overall I’ve never been faster or fitter.
And in the course of getting fitter the best thing is that I’ve done it with friends, who have also got fitter with me. I’ve worked out in Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Norwich and across all three parks I’ve met some lovely people who really have had a big influence on my life.
The Liberte sessions are great, but it’s also the whole Liberte ethos that I’ve been most impressed with. The people who come to the sessions have such a great attitude, I’ve started to eat healthier, I give alcohol and sugar mean stares whenever I’m confronted with them and I’ve introduced wholemeal foods and things I’m not sure how to pronounce to my diet which must be good!
The biggest thanks overall must go to Gareth for his constant support, good humour and superbly devised sessions and to the awesome Papillon. If she hadn’t had the vision of Liberte in the first place then where would we all be now?
Paps, you’re a legend, there’s always a cup of green tea on offer at my place for you – just not sure I have any biscuits any more...

Liberte kit week – you can buy hoodies and t-shirts from Papillon this week!

Entrepreneur, fitness freak and East Anglian eye candy Papillon Luck is many things, but from tomorrow she’ll be donning her flat cap and sheepskin coat as a market trader!
The new range of Liberte kit arrived at Liberte HQ on Friday and from Monday night you’ll be able to pick up your choice of hoodies and t-shirts from the back of the Land Rover before and after each Liberte session.
Yes, kit cat Paps has a wide range of the new Kukri hoodies, unisex t-shirts and ladies’ tees up for grabs, but be warned – stock is limited so it’s first come, first served for this first batch of clothing.
Bring cash to Liberte sessions if you want to make sure you get what you want – the Land Rover will be in Norwich on Monday, Newmarket on Tuesday, Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday, Norwich on Thursday, Bury St Edmunds on Saturday and back in Norwich on Sunday.
The initial batch is expected to sell out this week, but Papillon is taking orders for the second batch of Kukri sportswear will be available in autumn.

Luxurious treatment at Sk Spa in Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds' SK Spa has been winning all kinds of awards over the last three years and rightly so – I thought it was high time I checked it out and was certainly not disappointed.
I'm sure most Liberte members are starting to ache a little and I thought a massage would be the best way to ease the pain of all those burpess and deltoid press ups!
From the minute you step into the former chapel it’s all about relaxation. The inside of the spa is all dark lights, moody music and the staff tread on the plump carpet in bare feet. After filling out a health questionnaire and waiting with a glass of iced lemon water and I was lead into a dimly lit room by young Tiffany.
The light in the room was taken down a notch or two and some kind of Gregorian music started pumping out as I stripped down to my pants and lay on the massage table somewhere among a load of soft towels.
I had a tension relief massage, mainly around my back and shoulders, which lasted for 30 minutes. You get to decide how much pressure you want to be applied, I opted for medium and even that involved Tiffany digging her thumbs and elbows into my back and applying plenty of lotion. Towards the end a boiling hot towel was placed on my back and man it felt good. Like the hot towels on an aeroplane, though, the heat soon went, but it didn’t half feel great.
I ended the massage half asleep and was told to get up in my own time. I could have drifted off for hours after that and walking out into the bright reception is a huge shock to the eyes, a bit like coming out of the cinema on a sunny day.
In both cases the escapism and indulgence was over and it was back to reality.

* SK Spa celebrates its third anniversary this month with a week of special offers and promotions. The spa, on Northgate Street is offering discounts for one week, from Tuesday, July 19 to Sunday, July 24.
During that week any standard treatment is 20 per cent cheaper, any homecare product gets an additional 15 per cent off and there’ll be anniversary cupcakes and a free glass of bubbly on offer too.
There are stacks of other offers including a goody bag for everyone who makes any kind of purchase, for more information call 01284 748470.

Short of Luck

It’s the hottest thing down under since Kylie’s hot pants and it’s already caused a stir in Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds. Tonight, Norwich, you’ll get to check out Papillon Luck and her foxy little red shorts.
They’re fresh from Oz and like all things Australian; they’re cheeky, bold and, as Gareth found out last night, in your face!
The Liberte founder has got her tanned pins out this week by sporting the shorts together with her new fawn ladies t-shirt and has wasted no time flashing her guns.
Our Paps fancies herself as a bit of a Bondi lifesaver, though she’s not had much call to spring into action of late, although the Liberte first aid kit has been out in recent weeks to tend to a scratched arm and a sprained ankle.
But with those shorts on, Paps certainly seems to have something of a posher Pamela Anderson, albeit minus a couple of assets. And if Paps is Pam, I wonder which self-styled ladies man will have to step in and play Liberte’s Hoff?

Can Liberte Fitness scoop Velvet Magazine's award for Diet and Fitness?

Velvet Magazine, the ace publication that covers Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Cambridge are looking for nominations for their annual awards, which will be revealed in the September issues of the popular magazine.
Your favourite outdoor fitness group are nominated in two awards, the Diet and Fitness category and the Customer Service category and wouldn't be it amazing to see Paps and Gareth in a black tie and a dress (yet to be decided who wears what) picking up a Velvet gong for all their hard work?
You can vote for Liberte, or one of the others, by going to http://www.velvetmag.co.uk/ or by using the form in the current issue of the mag which you can pick up all over Bury, Newmarket and Cambridge.
The closing date is August 17 so get your entries in soon. As well as hopefully nominating Liberte, you could win yourself £2000 worth of prizes, so get voting!

Cooking with quinoa – from Holkham Beach to my kitchen

One of the highlights of the first Liberte Fitness Beach Day up at Holkham in June was the tasty lunch and my first taste of quinoa.
Anyone who regularly scoffs the fluffy grain, pronounced ‘keenwah’, will testify to its benefits – it’s extremely high in protein and unlike wheat and rice it is full of essential amino acids. So it’s a complete protein source on a similar level to oats. It’s easy to digest and, believe it or not is thought to be one of the best and most durable foods for NASA astronauts to eat on manned spaceflights.
About as spacey as Liberte gets is during the Zen breathing that traditionally ends most sessions, but the benefits of quinoa are such that it could be a vital part of your pre and post Liberte sessions.
Liberte trainer Gareth Thomas is a huge fan of the food and that was good enough to want me to find out more about the stuff after first tasting it on Holkham Beach.
That day it was prepared by chef Chris Coubrough and served with chicken, almonds and a garlic dressing and was really good. My first thoughts were that it looked like frogspawn and tasted like glue, but mixed in with other flavours it’s good - honestly!
It’s available in most supermarkets, indeed I picked some up at Asda last week and cooked with it tonight after my Liberte session, although I deter anyone old enough to remember 80s pop group Hue and Cry not to sing the words ‘Cooking with quinoa’ to the tune of their hit ‘Looking for Linda’ while preparing it!
I flavoured my quinoa with garlic and chilli and served it with grilled chicken and rocket leaves. It takes some getting used to but I’m a convert and I think it’s actually more filling than cous cous, and probably a bit nicer to eat.
So, my message is to give it a try if you’re looking for something healthy to get stuck into after a session. Although by the time you’ve got around to getting hold of some it may already be out of fashion. Apparently, well according to the Independent this weekend, quinoa is a bit last year and the new alternative is freekeh, a roasted green wheat grain from the Middle East.