Did you read the headlines last month that women get greater benefit from exercise than men do? It’s scientifically proven, women can reduce their risk of dying prematurely by 24% with only 2 ½ hours of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. In men, this effect is only 15% reduction in mortality. The Cedar’s-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute of Los Angeles who conducted the study found not only that, but they also found that women could reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, etc) by a whopping 36% with regular exercise. A longer life and reduced ..read more

The age old saying goes, you are what you eat. And this rings true to this very day. It puzzles me how we today, in Ireland in 2024, have more access to healthy, nourishing food than we had at any time before, yet sadly our popular food culture leaves us feeling bloated, heavy and undernourished. Overfed and undernourished, is the phrase often used. We have all sorts of excuses for not paying more attention to how we feed ourselves, busy lives, demanding jobs, a family and aging parents to take care of. You name it. The truth is that we can feed ourselves well while living our busy lives. The ..read more

What are Ultra Processed Foods? Ultra Ultra-processed foods are those foods that contain large amounts of ingredients, contain unnatural or altered ingredients, and require a factory setting to produce. The main take-home point here is that these foods are highly or ultra-processed simply because they cannot be easily reproduced in the kitchen and require complicated-sounding synthetic, unnatural ingredients to make them work. Are Ultra ultra-processed foods Common? You may think that requiring a factory setting to produce food sounds like designer foods, eaten by a few and reserved for speci ..read more

Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t out-train a bad diet.”? While this rings true, the good news here is that you are in control of your destiny when it comes to eating well for health. To get the most from your time in the gym and to really make a positive impact on your health, you have to eat three healthy meals per day, plus a couple of healthy snacks if you like. Snacks should always be low in sugar, even natural sugars such as fruit (2 pieces of fruit per day is plenty). Snacks should also ideally contain a mix of complex carbs and protein to make them count. Importantly, snacks ..read more

As the calendar turns another page, the New Year offers a compelling opportunity to embark on a journey of self-improvement and well-being. While resolutions often accompany the start of a new year, the key to lasting change lies in cultivating healthy habits. In this guide, we will explore some tips to help you build a foundation of positive routines that contribute to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Make a plan. Make it clear. Write it down. Take notes of the three main actions you need to take to achieve your goals. Be specific with the actions. You won’t achieve your goals by taking on ..read more

Whether you are hosting the family Christmas dinner or a Christmas party, you need to read this guide on negotiating the pitfalls of the complex and varied dietary requirements of your guests. Simply cooking up a meal or traditional Christmas dinner is a thing of the past. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian … the sky is the limit with all the new diets people follow. What is … ? Coeliac – People who have a medically diagnosed condition which requires them to eat a completely gluten-free diet. What they cannot eat: wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, incl durum, couscous, se ..read more

Here are my Top Hacks for a Healthy Christmas. Let’s be honest, while we may all enjoy Christmas and the silly season it is, we have been through it many, many times before. There’s nothing new in sitting down for Christmas dinner. It’s lovely and super important to get together with your family and friends to celebrate. That part about Christmas is just so lovely and new again every year. The excess foods being put in front of us every Christmas, however, are nothing new to us, for the most part. I say, get stuck into seeing your family and friends, celebrate being together and catching up ..read more

Our bodies are made up to withstand different kinds of demands put on them, which requires different energy systems working together at different times. When we train our body, we always train different energy systems at different times as they necessarily work together to be available to you at different times. The three different energy systems in the body Anaerobic a-lactic system – high intensity, short bursts. This system kicks in immediately and works for up to 10 seconds. It burns lots of stored Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and Phosphate Creatine (CP) stored in your muscles and runs out ..read more

The good news is that we hold the power to our overall physical and mental health late into life. By doing the right thing, each of us can improve our health every day. The Rise of Chronic Disease. Although diseases are not a new thing to humankind, the rise in chronic diseases has risen significantly in the past couple of decades. While we have made huge strides in reducing death from infections, our rate of death from noncommunicable diseases is rising steadily and stood at a whopping 72% in 2016 worldwide. This means that for every person dying of infection or accident or old age, 3 people ..read more

Gym Plus Ballsbridge are delighted to announce a gym open day! Join us on Thursday, the 23rd of November, and see how our Ballsbridge club can help you reach your fitness goals. Gym Plus Ballsbridge offers flexible opening hours, unlimited fitness classes included in your membership and dedicated trainer support, which makes us one of the leading gyms in Ireland. Our open day starts at 6 am and ends at 10 pm to suit everyone’s needs. Find out more about our open day below! Free Gym Use We know deciding on a gym comes down to how it best suits you, which is why we offer a day of free use of ou ..read more