Makes 200ml (7 fl oz)

Ingredients

100g (3.5 oz) Red Pepper

125g (4 oz) Strawberries

50g (2 oz) Tomato

125g [...]]]> Good for your Immune system: This is the body’s defence system and mostly carries on its work at an undetectable level, unless it is faced with a major challenge. Regular juicing is an ideal way to top up your energy levels.

Makes 200ml (7 fl oz)

Ingredients

100g (3.5 oz) Red Pepper

125g (4 oz) Strawberries

50g (2 oz) Tomato

125g (4 0z) Mango

125g (4 0z) Watermelon

Method:

Juice all the ingredients, whizz in a blender with 3 ice cubes and serve in a tall glass. Decorate with Mango slices if you like.

Nutritional Value:

Vitamin A 9,630 iu

Vitamin C 231 mg

Selenium 2.66mcg

Zinc 0.58 mg

200 Calories

Recipe taken from:

Miracle Juices – 60 juices for a healthy life by Charmaine Yabsley & Amanda Cross.

1. If you have a back injury they load the spine less (I know of someone with a herniated disk in the lower spine who cannot dream of loading anything on their shoulders, but can lumberjack squat with no problems).

2. Many practical everyday scenario lifts are front loading:

Fence posts

Carrying children

Bump [...]]]> Why Lumber Jack squats are good:

1. If you have a back injury they load the spine less (I know of someone with a herniated disk in the lower spine who cannot dream of loading anything on their shoulders, but can lumberjack squat with no problems).

2. Many practical everyday scenario lifts are front loading:

Fence posts

Carrying children

Bump starting a car

Tackling someone.

If you use your imagination I’m sure you can think of many more things that our hunter gatherer ancestors would have used similar movements like this for.

Wild-style:

Find a suitable log then repeat the following phases:

1. Stand in a strong lunge position heel straddling the log.

2. Taking a hand over hand grip (think holding an axe helve) lift, initiating from the lower limbs rotating the leg into the centre of your chest.

3. Maintaining a firm base adjust your heel to give space for your squat.

4. Keeping good posture squat deeply drifting your hips back, as you rise back up squeeze sharply on the glute (large muscles in the bottom) to snap the hips forward to assist with punching the arms out to full.

5. Repeat.

Click here for the Wild Lifting Demonstration

Z00-style:

If logs are not abundant, but gyms are, try this version:

1. Take a barbell (preferably Olympic spec).

2. Load one end and place the other in a corner.

Technique is the same as with the log.

Click here for the Zoo Lifting Demonstration

The volume and intensity of these squats depends on the weight of the object and your strength.

Protocols I like are:

Heavy – 5 x 5, 30 – 60 seconds rest.

Moderate – 4 x 8 or 3 x 10, 30 -60 seconds rest.

Makes 14 canapés

This is a nice little veggie canapé idea. In Spain there are so many artichokes around that I had to start experimenting and this is what I came up with. At first they take a bit of patience but once you have mastered the first three, you’ll [...]]]>

Makes 14 canapés

This is a nice little veggie canapé idea. In Spain there are so many artichokes around that I had to start experimenting and this is what I came up with. At first they take a bit of patience but once you have mastered the first three, you’ll be whizzing through them and trust me, the ooh’s and ah’s from your guests will make it worth all the while!

Ingredients:

1 large courgette

20g pine nuts

2 artichoke hearts (in brine) drained & chopped

2 sun dried tomatoes, drained of oil and chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp chives, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Peel 14 vertical strips of courgette using a potato peeler.

2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, blanch the courgette for 30 seconds and then refresh in a bowl of cold water.

3. Put the pine nuts, artichokes, tomatoes and lemon juice into a food processor and blend until smooth, then add the chives.

4. Lay the courgette strips flat and spread a tsp of the mixture on top. Then roll up gently and stand upright. Garnish with extra chives and thin strips of sun dried tomatoes.

Dating back, our ancestors were mostly prone to hunting early in the morning. [...]]]> Have you ever experienced the magic of exercising at sunrise? Waking up at the same time as mother earth is magical. The silence, tranquility, serenity and beauty of nature slowly waking up inspired me to share different types of outdoor exercises with you.

Dating back, our ancestors were mostly prone to hunting early in the morning. So by exercising at sunrise we’re getting back into our natural hunter-gatherer rhythm.

Sunrise is a special time where one can naturally re-energize and increase vitality within their body. Although exercising in the morning may mean waking up earlier than normal it does enable one to stick to an exercise routine more easily. Starting off your day early in the morning with the energy achieved through exercising will provide you with enough strength of mind and body to get through the rest of your day. The natural environment allows your senses to function at their purest form which awakens your body and facilitates it to physically relax.

Exercising early in the morning also raises the cortisol levels in your body which are responsible for keeping you alert throughout the day. Therefore early morning exercise will leave you feeling wide awake and ready to tackle the rest of your day. In addition the more exercise you do in the morning the better equipped your body will be to deal with physical stress and reduce its need to release cortisol.

There are a couple of outdoor exercises which are perfect no matter where you are. Be you on a beach, in a park, forest, or field…find your own natural environment and try out the following three routines which are short but intense. The intensity of each routine will produce a buildup of lactic acid in your body. Lactic acid is responsible for producing human growth hormones which will get you leaner, stronger, faster and leave you feeling amazing.

Here are the 3 different types of exercise routines:

Firstly – Lactic Liftoff:

Our ancestors often had to run or sprint in order to save their lives, especially if predators where in hot pursuit across the grasslands. This implied an intense period of exercise followed by a short period of recovery. Lactic Liftoff beautifully illustrates this situation. Find yourself a nice place to run where you can measure the distance. The first round is a fitness test, the aim is to run as fast as you possibly can for 2 minutes covering as much ground as possible (be sure to record your distance).

Round 1:

Modelling thanks to Jessie Campo, Wild coach in Kenya.  Photography thanks to Kimmy Darnborough.

Wake up and go for a run on the ULTIMATE TREADMILL.

Have a dip in our INFINITY POOL.

Use the ULTIMATE [...]]]> THE ULTIMATE WILD DAY

Modelling thanks to Jessie Campo, Wild coach in Kenya.  Photography thanks to Kimmy Darnborough.

Wake up and go for a run on the ULTIMATE TREADMILL.

Have a dip in our INFINITY POOL.

Use the ULTIMATE QUAD MACHINE.

Use the ULTIMATE PULL-UP MACHINE.

SOCIALIZE.

Undertake the ULTIMATE COMPLEX COMPUTING CHALLENGE.

Do the ULTIMATE COMMUTE and remember to pick up THE ULTIMATE SNACK on your way home.

Veg out in front of the ULTIMATE TV, Tree View.

And remember to always WATCH WHAT YOU EAT.

Watch our Structural Hygiene Video here

The seated posture; the root of poor structural hygiene. Our hunter gatherer forbearers were active individuals and rarely sat on their butts. Instead if they needed to rest or perform intricate tasks for any [...]]]> Structural Hygiene5 tips to keep up your ‘Structural Hygiene’ – By Jess Reinhold,  Senior Wildfitness coachStructural Hygiene

Watch our Structural Hygiene Video here

The seated posture; the root of poor structural hygiene. Our hunter gatherer forbearers were active individuals and rarely sat on their butts. Instead if they needed to rest or perform intricate tasks for any reason they would squat on their haunches which is something we still see in many un-westernized cultures such as in Asia and Africa. Conversely, in the modern world, a sedentary life means we spend about 80% of our day sitting down. This isn’t just sitting at a computer screen in the office, this is also the commute to work, eating meals, socializing in the pub, going to the loo, watching TV and even some of our workouts in the gym on the spinning bikes and weight machines. We sit on our butts……A LOT! Gravity is a powerful force that shapes us physically, so it’s not really any wonder that if we spend a large part of our day in the same position we might start to change our posture.

One of the key fundamentals here at Wildfitness is combating the seated posture and learning how to improve and maintain mobility and structural integrity. This is a daily process that we collectively call structural hygiene as it’s just like cleaning your teeth. Any form of hygiene should be done daily to prevent chronic problems later on and trips to the doctor, dentist or in this case the physio or chiropractor.

Here are 5 tips to maintain your structural hygiene based on the areas that cause 90% of the chronic problems. Of course every individual is different but a good rule of thumb is the more uncomfortable it is the more it needs to be done.

1. Start from the bottom and Golf Ball your Feet

Feet are amazing things! 70% of our environmental feedback comes from the receptors in our feet balancing our whole body on a relatively small surface area. Shoes, especially tight elegant high-healed ones restrict normal foot movement and the muscles in the feet atrophy and the ligaments shorten. The overall affect is a pair of weak, tight, amnesic feet that don’t work properly, negatively impacting the chain above. Rolling the soles of the feet with a golf ball reawakens the nerves in the feet, releasing the tight muscles and fascia. The knock on affect of this can be a release of the entire facial line through the calves the hips and even into the back.

1. Self Massage with a Foam Rolling

The body is connected by a series of fascial lines or connective tissue, which enclose the muscle system and connect muscles to bones. Just like muscles they can become tight and shorten if movement is reduced or compromised. Using a foam roller or even two tennis balls taped together and rolling through the legs, hips and back is a great way of releasing the fascia and improving all round mobility. It’s called self-myofascial release and is basically a self-administered deep tissue massage. Again the areas that are more tender, tend to need more focus.

1. Pole Work to Combat the Seated Posture

This is one of the most effective tools to improve segmental alignment and posture. The areas that suffer most due to the seated posture are the hips, thoracic spine (upper back), neck and shoulders. Using a pole or even a towel or skipping rope mobilizes the shoulders and thoracic spine and opens up the chest muscles lifting the sternum to align the spinal segments. This is important for movement and injury prevention, as posture is the basis of all movement. Poor posture leads to compromised movement and chronic injury.

1. Posture & Overhead Squats for Dynamic Mobility

This is one of my number one exercises for injury prevention. If you are able to perform a good quality overhead squat then it’s a good indication that flexibility, strength and postural alignment are all in good working order and chronic injury risk is much lower. Start with posture squat with a bar on the front of your shoulders and the arms out in front of you thumbs up. Drop down into a fullsquat on the balls of the feet, bounce twice at the bottom and come back up to standing. Repeating this in a rhythmical fashion. This can eventually be progressed to an overhead squat with the feet flat once the adequate flexibility is reached.

1. Prescribe your own Structural Hygiene and Make it a Daily Routine

As I mentioned earlier the areas that feel stiff or tender generally need the most attention. Use the structural hygiene as a diagnostic tool and then slip it into your daily hygiene routine like anything else to prevent long term chronic problems.

COLIN HOLDING

Favourite workout and why: Exploratory Run – [...]]]> As we approach the Andalucía season, our coaches are getting excited and twitchy.   Colin, Paul, Paulo and Anne-Laure look forward to welcoming you to Andalucía.

COLIN HOLDING

Favourite workout and why: Exploratory Run – just head off – no real route, searching for stuff to play on, balance, climb, jump is always fun and challenging. Also crazy play with a kid or an animal, find a dog in the park or on the beach play ball, chase, play and wrestle – ask the owner or parent first obviously – they have endless energy and imagination that is hard to keep up with.

The two most ‘important but not urgent’ things in life: Love & Courage – both can take time to acquire but once found provide balance and happiness – sometimes you need one to find the other.

What I can give: Jokes that are so average everybody else’s look good – hair to die for – empathy, knowledge, experience and passion, passion, passion.

PAUL RANSOM

Favourite workout and why: I would hate to have to choose because I love variation of movement and environment  when it comes to “working out”. The stand out choice for me would have to be having a kick about (football), as I have played all my life and still love it. During my travels I have played with tribes in the Amazon, fisherman in the Galapagos and in front of Ladyboys in Thailand, not many things in life bring people together like this!

The two most ‘important but not urgent’ things in life: Are variety and enjoyment. This includes movement, food, environment and social experience. Routine for most is necessary but we all need that brake from the norm for nourishment!

What I can give: I will bring a lifetime worth of experience in playful wild movement. Luckily when it comes to movement I have not matured, although I wish I could still do the splits!

PAULO TORRAO

Favourite workout and why: Outdoor, barefoot, minimal clothing, warm weather, beach preferably, body weight and/or clubbells, kettlebells, sandbags and alike.

The two most ‘important but not urgent’ things in life: Self-development at all levels (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) and healthy relationships of all kinds (Love, friendship,professional, etc.).

What I can give: I am a good listener and can motivate you into always being able to look at the positive, constructive side of anything that happens (happened).

ANNE-LAURE PELLETIER

Favourite workout and why: I love adventure/discovery runs. If I can’t go barefoot I love to grab my shoes and discover new paths. I love to try and run along the river back home or through the woods constantly discovering new routes. It’s challenging in many ways but I love the sense of freedom. You open up all your senses to your surroundings looking, listening, smelling touching… It’s very sensual.

The two most ‘important but not urgent’ things in life: I would like to discover new parts of the world and meeting new people.

What I can give: My French touch… ha ha.. I can offer my contagious every, my enthusiasm for life and my bubbly personality to name but a few.

Please NO NO NO  not another year gone by… well I’m afraid it has – but here’s a thought .. it is a new year, time for a resolution, a goal, something to make 2012 stand out against other years – so what’s it gonna be – [...]]]> Try a Wild New Year challenge

Please NO NO NO  not another year gone by… well I’m afraid it has – but here’s a thought .. it is a new year, time for a resolution, a goal, something to make 2012 stand out against other years – so what’s it gonna be – lose weight, get fit, stop drinking , stop smoking (again), save money or get the finances into order. Hmmm they sound very much like the resolutions on 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 …

I’m writing this on the 9^th January – research has shown that today is the day most people break – 9 days of jogging, 9 days of no alcohol, 9 days of diet – it’s enough, the human mind just hates doing the things it hates. One of the main reasons we end up at best indifferent or worst hating an activity, is boredom – we get bored. The gyms and conventional fitness industry loves this – it’s their bread and butter – everyone signing up to the gym on a year contract (3-6 month cancellation clause) and all they have to do is brace themselves for an oversubscribed 9 days… from then on the gym with it’s 3000 members, with a capacity for 300, breezes through the rest of the year without a worry and the direct debits keep rolling in.

So how do we get past today, the 9^th day… how do we continue our resolution into February, March, April into 2013, 2014. Well the first task is not to make our resolution a punishment – many resolutions are born out of guilt and there is no better time to feel guilty than after the festive season – ate excessively, drank excessively, spent way too much money and maybe even stepped over the line with a colleague at the office Xmas party.

We use punishment as a remedy for guilt and have done for centuries not only in legal but also religious and social systems and particularly in our personal lives.

The human mind and body are really not partial to punishment but respond well to the converse learning strategy of reward and reinforcement. So not surprisingly, day 9 into our punishment regime, we really have to dig deep to override our aversion to the tasks we have set ourselves.

One of the best antidotes for boredom is to learn something new … a skill, a challenge, something we thought we could never do – but most importantly it has to be fun.  If it’s a physical skill of any kind, there will be fitness and wellbeing carryover. Set a challenge rather than a resolution – if you want a resolution make it a reward based one.  How about you stop drinking in January but at the same time you learn to juggle – now if you manage two cycles of juggling with three balls, that has to be worth a glass of wine at dinner.

If you want to get fit, strong, elastic, confident, courageous  and exuberant , all natural qualities of the human animal, try a movement challenge, slacklining, balance work, precision jumping, vaulting , tree climbing– there are a whole host of new skills you can master and get super fit at the same time.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do – BEGIN IT
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it – Goethe

If you think you have missed the boat for New Years challenges because it’s now mid January, you are just kidding yourself – start now !

Here are some ideas just to kick off 2012 –