March 28, 2013 9.29 am This story is over 131 months old

Lincoln fitness: An Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman

Just keep going: Lincoln fitness returns, with a bit of a pep talk and joke to get you ready for your next workout.

Hey guys, hope you are all doing great!

So, an Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman were taking an intelligence test. They were all asked the question: “Which bird does not build its own nest?’

“It’s the canary,” said the Englishman “He lives in a cage.”

“It’s the parrot,” said the Scotsman “He lives in The zoo.”

I’ll get back to that at the end, great joke! I heard it this weekend as I was away, and it’s always great to expand your knowledge, in whatever field of work you are in.

I learnt a lot whilst away, one thing being about fat loss and strength training. As personal trainer Alice Burron found, if you strength train more often, you actually burn more calories sitting down and doing nothing! Here are some more benefits:

  • Helps to slow down or halt muscle loss that accompanies ageing. A typical adult loses about one-half pound of muscle per year after the age of 20, lowering your energy levels and leaving you feeling generally weaker.
  • It helps to manage or reduce pain from problems such as arthritis or old injuries.
  • As well as improving glucose metabolism, blood pressure, muscle strength endurance, body composition and insulin sensitivity, it can also improve your mood, sleep, balance and brain functions.

I thought I would simply put those facts out there, as sometimes we forget why we are doing things! I, for one, remember when I used to walk into the gym and copy what others were doing, simply because they looked great and figured that is how to do it.

If you do exercise regularly, think back to the start when you were unfit; no strength and no clue. Simply by putting your foot out the door and going for a walk, you are doing something more than you did yesterday. A step in the right direction, literally. Maybe you appreciate how easier it is walking up Steep Hill in Lincoln!

The point of all this is that realise you are doing amazing, and keep continue in making a difference in your own life; for the better!

Hope this is a bit of good motivation for you!

Oh yes, that joke!

“It’s the cuckoo,” said the Irishman.

“Very good,” said the examiner “how did you know that?”

“Everybody knows the cuckoo lives in a clock,” said the Irishman.

Ross Burns is a community fitness instructor and personal trainer based in Lincoln. He also regularly blogs on his website about common fitness queries and issues, and run his own gym.