How does your garden grow?
Over the past 8 months or so, Alive has begun to cultivate a small garden in the patio behind the creche and studio. It began with a few waif and stray plants that had been dotted around the gym and therapy rooms. These were joined by a chilli plant and some patio roses that looked half dead covered in whitefly! These were lovingly washed, pruned and tended back to health by Jenny, one of our trainers.
We have accumulated a garden full of plants now! Some have been rescued from roadsides and by bins, some have been donated by Toby, some cuttings and young plants from our members and others bought in by Jenny.
Our aim is to create a small oasis in the middle of our city which provides habitat and food for pollinating insects such a butterflies and bees. We are also hoping to have some feathered visitors once the climbing Honeysuckle, Cobia, Kiwi and Ivy has established up the walls. There is a “green roof” of Sedum planned on the top of the air con unit which we will have a birdbath on too. Hopefully the sales team will be able to watch birds drinking and bathing as they work!
We have Tomatoes, French beans, Cucumber and Strawberries that we hope to be able to harvest later in the Summer. The barren, unused space has been transformed into one that the children in the crèche can use and staff can sit out and enjoy on their break. It also provides interest when a much needed breather is required from those working hard in our studio classes!
Please feel free to come and take a look next time you are in the studio or look out of the windows in the gym stretching area. Give it a couple of months and you may be able to come down and pinch a Tomato or two!
Help raise money for Rocking Horse Appeal
On Thursday 7th June starting from 7pm, MRL( Recruitment firm) are attempting to cycle 1415 miles in 24 hours on bikes loaned from Alive. They are hoping to raise a HUGE amount of money for the Rocking Horse Appeal. Our very own Joseph Tanner from the Alive sales team will be jumping on a bike on Thursday 7th at 21.00 till 22.00 and then again 23.00 till midnight. He will then jump on again on the final leg on Friday 8th June from 15.00-16.00 and then 17.00-18.00pm. They will be attempting this feat above Hove Train station, so go along and show them your support and give a big cheer for Joseph!
You can sponsor the team by Text ROCK18 (Donation amount) to 70070 or visit
their fundrasing website http://www.justgiving.com/MRL
Rockinghorse Charity is a Brighton based charity, the charity aim is to
improve the lives of sick children throughout Sussex. It is a charity that
Alive team is passionate about, for more information on the charity please
visit www.rockinghorse.org.uk
Recovery
Recovery after exercise is essential to muscle and tissue repair and strength building. This is even more critical after a heavy weight training session. A muscle needs anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to repair and rebuild depending on the intensity of your exercise
session, your adaptation to training, level of fitness, and past exercise
nutrition and working it again too soon simply leads to tissue breakdown instead of building. For weight training routines, never work the same muscles groups two days in a row.
No matter how hard you train you will not gain optimal benefit from your training without
adequate recovery.
That first hour following intensive exercise can be said to be the most important in
ensuring quick full recovery. So………
- Warm down properly on a bike or rowing machine
- Ensure adequate nutrition
- Ensure adequate rest, making sure you gain enough rest between exercise bouts
- Plan your workouts, try to include lighter workouts to enable your body time to recover from more intensive sessions
- Stretch – it will aid in the flexibility of muscles and reduce the likelihood of injury
The most important thing you can do to recovery quickly is to listen to your body. If you are feeling tired, sore or notice decreased performance you may need more recovery time or a break from training altogether. If you are feeling strong the day after a hard workout, you don’t have to force yourself to go slow. If you pay attention, in most cases, your body will let you know what it needs, when it needs it. The problem for many of us is that we don’t listen to those warnings or we dismiss them with our own self talk (“I can’t be tired, I didn’t run my best yesterday” or “No one else needs two rest days after that workout; they’ll think I’m a wimp if I go slow today.”).
Listen to your body to get the most from it!
A warm asparagus salad suitable for a simple, lunch using fresh British asparagus when in season between May and June or whenever fresh asparagus is available. This asparagus salad recipe is filled with the best of summer vegetables, peas, beans and rocket. If you can’t find any of these just use any that take your fancy.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb/ 450g asparagus
- 6 oz/175g shelled young peas
- 6 oz/175g shelled young broad beans
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- ½ tsp runny honey
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 oz/110g rocket
Preparation:
- Clean the asparagus and trim any white ends; peel with a vegetable peeler if necessary.
- Blanch the asparagus, peas and beans in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes or until just tender.
- Place olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey and seasoning in a screw top jar and shake well until combined.
- Drain the vegetables and toss in the dressing while they are still warm.
- Serve on a bed of rocket leaves
Recipe courtesy of British Asparagus
Garden | Alive | 
May 25, 2012 5:01 pm | 
Comments (0) 
