Bedford Network

Bedford is fit – we all know that!  Rachel Benton Associates is inspiring many of you to get fit and others will have heard the buzz around town from group classes and personal training to pilates and bootcamp.

We talked to Rachel Benton about her fitness company, the benefits of fitness and those who have inspired her along the way.

Read on and you may be inspired to join a fitness class or experience the adrenalin rush of bootcamp!

Fitness has a part in everyone’s lives

Fitness means something different to everyone and so the one size fits all of joining a gym and hoping for the best doesn’t always work. Finding something you enjoy and want to go back to again and again is the key to exercising consistently and for good.  It could be exercise classes, running club, a sporting club, dance class, rock climbing – the list goes on, be open minded!

Benefits of fitness

In every client consultation the client and trainer set out and agree goals and timeframes to achieve them in. We can measure goals and progress with scales, tape measures, Body Fat calipers and fitness tests but eventually a client will start saying things like “I feel so much better”, “I am looking good” or “ I have so much more energy and I feel alive again”!  So apart from the obvious health benefits of regular exercise and fitness…looking good and feeling great has got to be a good way to live your life.

Bootcamp lowdown

If you are not a morning person forget it!  A 6am start and outdoors with the great British weather  and Embankment geese could be a bit too much for you!  If on the other hand you love the great outdoors, hate being in a sweaty gym, love working your body in a varied, clever fatburning way (which is sometimes hard but mostly fun) then you`ll love Bootcamp.  The content constantly changes but always focuses on training drills that work the whole body. You`ll find plenty of ever popular HIIT drills (High Intensity Interval Training) that help deliver the golden increase in metabolic rate after your work out, a truly great crowd of friendly and supportive people and nothing to be afraid of.

Inspiration along the way

The original and best London based celebrity Personal Trainer Mat Roberts, cool and professional, progressive in approach, not sold on fad or hype, knows his and a lot of other onions, interested in the individual and a nice guy.  More locally I am ever inspired by Bedford Harrier Iva Barr, Olympic torch bearer, marathon runner, triathlete and still going strong in her eighties – no excuses!

Bedford is buzzing

I didn’t specifically choose to come to Bedford to build my fitness business but it has turned out to be a great place to do so. Compared to many towns Bedford has so much to offer in the way of sports, health and fitness for adults and children and if you dig around it is amazing how much variety there is. I’m not from Bedford but it is clear local folk are proud of their town and are keen to push forward with great initiatives that benefit and build a community, it is great to be a part of that and offer something unique to a buzzing town.

East Wing Fitness Studio

Our Fitness Studio is in the basement of a historic building so it has the special feel that historic places have and it is difficult to ignore the remainders of the basements original use, the original forge, rifle racks, and blacksmiths nails still in the shelves all make the space pretty different and proudly not much like a gym. I deliberately white washed the brick walls to create a blank canvas for Rock City Art of Castle Lane to hang some of their work, also add in some forward thinking training equipment specific to training the body functionally and effectively and you have a cool space to think and get fit in.

Taking the first step to get fit

Most people are afraid to start something new no matter what it is. Understandable really and especially so when you are asking someone to potentially use some coordination, and perform a series of bizarre looking moves that apparently will tone your backside etc. All of that before the question of what do I wear? And once in the chosen workout attire probably then thinking “I look ridiculous, I can’t stand in a room full of lycra lovelies looking like this!”.

No matter what I or any instructor says you could well go through all that, so be brave take the first step and pick up the phone and your instructor should put you at ease straight away. You might just enjoy your exercise class with us.

To find out more see…

www.rachelbenton.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelBentonandAssociatesPersonalTraining
Twitter: @RachelBentonUK