NEW! Fit To Tackle Blog – Week One
FIT TO TACKLE BLOG – WEEK ONE!
Monday evening saw around 50 slightly nervous-looking people arrive at Halliwell Jones Stadium, home of the Warrington Wolves, for their induction into LiveWire’s hugely popular 12-week weightloss programme Fit To Tackle.
And to coincide with the new cohort, we’re launching the first ever FTT blog that will hopefully give some insight into how the programme works – and some behind the scenes info and tips you could try at home to improve your health and wellbeing.
Around 300 people applied for the programme, that sees LiveWire’s coaches and volunteer mentors guide a group of people wanting to lose weight and get fitter via 3 exercise sessions a week and nutritional guidance.
The first session is all about introducing the group to the staff that run the programme…and each other! Although everyone is set individual targets there’s a big emphasis on teamwork on FTT – either from team exercises to simply cheering on your fellow group members – to give everyone a sense of collective responsibility and achievement.
First up on Monday for the newbies was getting weighed and having their waist measurements taken – the target is a 5% loss of body weight over the three months. While measurements won’t be taken again until the final session, everyone will get weighed weekly, so their progress can be tracked.
Then it was out to the stands to listen to a welcome talk from LiveWire’s FTT coach Tom Kearney, plus some words of wisdom from some of the mentors – all of whom have completed the programme themselves, so are perfectly placed to offer support and guidance when things get tough (and they will!)
Tom says: “Monday’s introduction session was really encouraging as everyone seemed really enthusiastic about being there and engaged with the whole FTT ethos. We understand some people might be a bit apprehensive about being weighed, but this gives us a clear starting point for people and they have to remember that it’s about where they are at the end of the 12 weeks – not now.”
Wednesday night saw everyone return in their gym gear for the first bootcamp session – even more nervous looks but at least people spotted familiar faces from Monday night.
The second session is aimed at easing the group into exercise and teaching them the key exercises that will be used throughout the programme – like squats, burpees, lunges and planking.
The session ended with a motivational ‘10 things you can do to get the most out of FTT’ talk from mentor Ade, before participants headed home – tired but hopefully satisfied they’d given it their all, and looking forward to the next 11 weeks 🙂
Tom said: “Everyone worked really hard on Wednesday learning the ins and outs of the most frequently used exercises. There were some tired bodies leaving the stadium but everyone stuck at it until the end and even had enough energy to have a laugh at the same time.”
Saturday will see a HIIT session at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hood…..before on to Week 2, where the hard work – and results! – really begins!
