BAOKLIST

V BOXING TRAINING

If you want to get fit quick and give vent to your frustrations at the same time, boxing training could be for you. And these days you don't need to go to a ripe-smelling gym full of men with squashed noses. No. boxing training has gone respectable and it’s increasingly popular, particularly with women.

‘Give me your body for a month. twice a week and you won’t recognise it at the end.‘ promises Marco’s instructor Jackie Brown, the former flyweight champion. ‘Aggression is part of it and it gets rid of stress from the system.’

Brown says boxing training is a complete exercise programme done to music which works the whole body with skipping, shadow boxing (no punch bags unless you want to build up muscle) and various floor exercises. Brown's classes are for all levels of fitness and he recommends at least two sessions a week. '

V CROSS-TRAINING

Cross-training does not involve twirling huge wooden crucifixes about a gym.

In fact it‘s an activity that combines simplified aerobics exercises with a gym-machine workout in an attempt to lose the leotard and high kicks image of the former and the macho sweatfest

associations of the latter. . . ‘It‘s aerobics made easy and Circuit-

training made fun.’ is how Colin McGrory of Castlemilk Sports Centre describes it. Cross-training is tipped as the next big thing in fitness circles and McGrory is encouraging other managers to start sessions.

The class begins with a few warm-up exercises then moves round the various pieces of gym equipment, with a 30- second burst of aerobics between each changeover. Switching from floor to machine and back improves the co- ordination for those who might be embarrassed by the ‘dance’ element of aerobics, according to McGrory.

V CALLANETICS

Callanetics is a US import which received a boost when Fergie revealed she tried it as a method of post-natal weight-loss. It is promoted as a gentler alternative to the muscle-pumping style

FITNESS

of aerobics. involving a series of small

stretching movements. repeated hundreds of times. which lead to better body definition and an improved figure, according to Mary Adams. manager of Glasgow’s Callanetics Studio West. ‘lt‘s a form of exercise which doesn't

5 waste energy but works the muscles at

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the deepest level,‘ she explains. Apparently the benefits are noticeable after only a few sessions but because it doesn’t leave you out of breath. Callanetics is less effective than ‘aerobic' forms ofexercise at improving cardiovascular fitness.

The image of Callanetics, backed by a hugely successful video of the inventor Callan Pinckney. has mainly attracted women. but Adams says a number of men also visit her studio.

v SWIMMINGAIIUAFIT

When you‘re in the water your body is weightless which makes it ‘the best exercise in the world'. according to

Wally Lord. swimming development

officer at Edinburgh‘s Commonwealth pool.

Assuming you can swim, and Lord reckons it only takes a fortnight of

’daily sessions to become competent if

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you can’t. it’s very hard to injure yourself swimming because it is the ultimate ‘low impact’ exercise. ‘Swimming exercises the whole of the body and because the heart has to work harder. it builds up good cardiovascular fitness.‘ Lord explains.

lfploughing up and down the pool doesn't appeal. an alternative is aquafit

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1230 t M80S“)¢)I8l'd G ° . Cu to 4% t$$lide S 5. 6.30 tee 8 7.30 n lass ' 8.30 Step 8. Sculpt 8 WEDNESDAY ‘12.30 ep . 4.% tep/Slide 5. tep . 6.30 tep/Aerobics l 7.30 tep _ g 8.30 tep/Slide FRIDAY tep G 5330 9390mm (l; 6.30 Step 8 11 00 t SUNDAY 8 12:00 ieerpobics/NeWBOdy l 5'30 ISItep IT ' ISIid é 4.38 as; ubes 9

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which is basically aerobics in water. Though it is particularly recommended for older and overweight people. Lord says swimmers of all levels of fitness are taking part. An aquafit session involves a series ofexercises which use the resistance of the water to tone up muscles throughout the body.

FITNESS LISTINGS OVERLEAF \ I I TUESDAY I; ‘1230 tep/Aerobics B i ° 4.38 tep . o I? 5.3 erobics 6.30 tep _ . I 7.30 Interval Training ' 8.30 tep I I THUR DAY ' ‘12.3O Aerobics] hde __ . 4.30 Step/Body Condrtioning I 5.30 tep 6.30 Step. . _ I 7.30 CIICUII Training | I I SATURDAY 10.30 Ste B 12.00 CIfCUlI_ training . I 4.00 AerobICS/TubeyShde I ALSO AT METHODIST CHURCH. TOLLCROSS ‘Mon 6.00 Aerobics d 7'30 Aeegb'cs r l e tep B | B Beginners G General I Intermediate

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The List 14-27 January I994 77