First of all, if you have recently purchased one of our 8 week unlimited bootcamp vouchers on Groupon, thank-you very much, we are sure you will not be disappointed!

Below are some instructions as to how to redeem the voucher, plus some frequently asked questions:

How to Redeem your Groupon Voucher:

Your first session must be booked in advance. To do this, please send an email to info@primalfitness.co.uk with the following information included:

If the voucher is for two people, please also supply the name of the other person who will be attending

Please note – The voucher can only be used for the site which is specified upon it. No exceptions possible.

This is a 10 digits long, a mixture of numbers and letters e.g. AB123C456D, not to be confused with the Groupon Code, also 10 digits on newer vouchers, but all numbers first (thanks for making it easy groupon…)

As you can imagine there has been high demand for first time bookings. When requesting a date, please provide us with 2nd and 3rd choice options in case your 1st choice is full.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Do I have to book in for every session?

A: No. Only your first session must be booked. From then on just turn up on the day, 5 minutes before the class is due to start.

Q: How many sessions can I attend?
A: You can attend as many or as few of the three sessions available per week as you like during the 8 week period.

Q: If I have bought a voucher for 2, do we both have to attend the same sessions?
A: No. Once you have done your introductory session, you can come separately.

Q: Do the 8 weeks have to be consecutive?
A: Yes. The 8 weeks start from the date of your 1st session, and run consecutively with no exceptions.

For all other general questions on timing, location, parking etc, please check our Frequently Asked Questions Page.

I just wanted to give you all a heads up about a special workshop a friend of mine is running focused on dealing with back pain.

Jo’s workshops are fantastic, and have worked miracles for many people who had previously tried everything else, and almost given up hope of ever being pain free again!

If you suffer from chronic back pain, and want to start being able to live and move freely again, I’d strongly recommend you check out the details below:

PureFlow Workshop: Getting Your Back Back

Saturday 2nd June, 12.30pm-2.30pm
Venue: The YogaPilates Studio, Chorlton
Unit 14, Albany Road Trading Estate
Albany Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21 0AZ
(www.yogapilates.co.uk/studio.php)

Full Price £15 (£10 conc) booked in advance

Whenever you have a general pain problem, chances are you have a movement problem. This is particularly true for our backs. But disrupted muscle patterning and poor usability in our centres can translate not only as nagging back pain but also stiff necks, painful shoulders, creaky knees, … and so on!

So in this workshop, we’ll be looking specifically at how we use our backs – how our bones affect the transmission of forces generated through muscle synergies – and using movement explorations to refine particular core relationships and highlight new options for better, pain-free movement.

For more information or to book your place, contact Jo on:
07850 063188 / 0161 8810746
dogdaysblue@googlemail.com

Jo is kindly offering “first dibs” on places to Primal Fitness members, but spaces are limited so if you are interested, get yourselves booked in ASAP.

Throughout May and the first half of June, we will be running some FREE fitness classes in Manchester City Centre, Piccadilly Gardens to be precise.

This is part of an initiative called PiccFit, organised by Piccadilly Partnership and CityCo.

The classes will be open to anybody interested, all you have to do is turn up!

For more info, check out the press release below, and you can also download a brochure here.

Turn up and take part in free fitness classes in Piccadilly Gardens

Piccadilly Partnership in conjunction with CityCo, Manchester’s city centre management company are hosting Piccfit, six weeks of free fitness sessions in Piccadilly Gardens this summer.

From 4 May – 15 June anyone can turn-up and take part in a range of hour-long classes per week at lunchtime, after work and at the weekend.

The work-out classes will be run by expert trainers in a range of popular activities including Kettlebells, Zumba and Yoga. There will also be regular legs, bums and tums, parkfit and bootcamp sessions.

On Friday 4 May to kick-off the Piccfit programme, there will be a taster event from 11am – 4pm in Piccadilly Gardens where anyone interested in getting fit and having fun can meet the instructors and try out the sessions.

Alexandra King, Piccadilly Partnership Director for CityCo said: “Piccfit is all about community fitness and making the most of Piccadilly Gardens, the city’s most popular open space. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or fitness fanatic – just turn up and enjoy some free outdoor’s fun. It’s going to be fun, friendly and best of all it’s free”

Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s city centre spokesperson said: “This is a great use for Piccadilly Gardens. Around 80,000 people walk through the Piccadilly area of the city centre every day and we are committed to offering opportunities for them to enjoy this public space. We hope people who live and work in Piccadilly and the surrounding area come and join in the fun.”

One of the instructors, Steve Dawson, who will be taking the Kettlebells classes added: “This is a great idea and will encourage more people to try a new activity and improve their fitness.”

Any equipment need will be provided. Suitable clothing should be worn but unfortunately there will be no changing facilities so those wishing to join in must come dressed ready to work-out. Booking is not necessary.

For more information and to download the full timetable visit www.piccfit.com

For more details about CityCo and Piccadilly Partnership visit www.cityco.com or www.piccadillymanchester.com

You can view details of the event on facebook here: Primal Fitness Pure Running Seminar May

You can also read a review of February’s seminar here.

Spaces are limited to 10 people, so hurry and add yourself to the event if you want to attend (you can secure your place with a non-refundable £10 deposit).

Just a note to warn you that there are roadworks on Nell Lane between the park car park and Mauldeth Road West.

If you normally come from that side, I would recommend coming down Wilbraham Road or Edge Lane instead.

You’ve got no excuse for being late now, so don’t be trying to get out of burpees by blaming it on the roadworks!

Simon

Here at Primal we’re already converts, so we decided to take them up on their social fitness plank challenge, but added a little twist to make things a little more interesting!

Check out the video below from our warm up on a beautiful January Saturday morning:

All activity is good, but it’s best done outdoors with friends!

This week’s health news has been fairly quiet, here are a couple of articles that peaked my interest:

Eating real food, cooked in a traditional manner is good for you shocker!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8923019/Fish-could-protect-against-Alzheimers.html

The only thing that irks me about this is the immediate leap to call for more studies into the efficacy of Omega 3 supplements. Simply eating fish of course is not profitable enough! Thankfully the lead scientist on the study, Dr Raji does acknowledge that:

“Studies like this definitely justify trials that will look at Omega-3 fatty acid supplements. Having said that, I would speculate that taking supplements is no substitute for a lifetime of eating fish.”

Well said that man!

Shed’s are good for men’s health – But for how long…

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/3970866/Sheds-are-good-for-mens-health.html

This is a good reminder that there is considerably more to health and well being than good diet and exercise alone.

Unfortunately, it seems like the nanny state want to ruin any benefits of men’s shed time by attempting to capture them inside and conduct health promotion activities on them…

A Chilling Warning?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8926065/Puzzles-bowls-and-singing-can-halt-dementia.html

This article totally horrifies me. Essentially, we have had to recruit scientists, and undoubtedly vast amounts of public money to discover that if you leave old people to rot in a home, with absolutely nothing to do, they will go mad more quickly than if you give them something to do for a couple of hours.

We have come to accept that physical and mental degeneration are a natural part of life. This is not true. Eat real food, and keep moving naturally and using your brain and there is absolutely no need to end up like these poor people.

Coffee Shop Caffeine Level “Vary Wildly”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15968515

In all honesty, if I was pregnant (highly unlikely I know), I wouldn’t consume anything prepared by any high street chain, and I think the strength of coffee is probably low on the list of things to worry about when you have trans and rancid fats, dubious additives, BPAs, huge loads of sugar and soy based oestrogens to worry about (though to make it clear I would avoid coffee altogether while pregnant as well).

However, as I’m pretty sure I’m not pregnant, I’m off to find Patisserie Francoise…

That’s it for this week, in the meanwhile, don’t forget there’s still time to order one of our Paleo Christmans Hampers for delivery Christmas week:

http://www.primalstore.co.uk/shop/paleo_xmas_hampers/

The Raw Milk Revolution

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/nov/23/raw-milk-revolution

Thought I’d start us off with a more positive article today, after the doom and gloom of last week!

Overall, not a bad report from a mainstream paper. The main article itself is still clearly steeped in the conventional wisdom – Assuring us that the “risk is minimal” (implicit suggestion that there is greater risk to your health from raw milk than pasteurised which I would argue as questionable), and also assuaging our fears that milk is a high fat product rather than extolling the benefits of raw milk as a higher fat product.

That said, the article does link to a great page dedicated to the benefits of raw milk: http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html, so I guess I really can’t complain too much!

Here’s my take on The Dairy Debate.

More on Cervical Cancer Jab:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2065795/Cervical-cancer-vaccine-u-turn-Gardasil-replace-rival-Cervarix.html

Hmm, maybe these vaccines are a necessary risk, after all, how else could we possibly avoid 12 year old girls from contracting STDs…

Dangers of Staggered Overdose of Paracetamol

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238220.php

Pain killers are a prime example of conventional Western medicine’s tendency to treat the symptom rather than the cause. I was always reticent to take any form of pain killer, and haven’t done so in well over a decade.

Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. Regardless of any deleterious effects of the medication itself, if you are simply numbing the pain, you are not treating the underlying condition and it is more than likely only going to get worse.

Illness, pain and discomfort are invariably a warning sign that your diet and lifestyle are incongruent with your genetic make up. Trying to ignore and cover up these warning signs is never going to be a smart solution!

And Finally…

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/11/23/sleep-texting-caused-by-stressful-daily-life-115875-23582954/

Again, all I can say is that if you find yourself doing this, you need to seriously re-asses your life!

That’s it for now, my advice, switch off whatever device you’re reading this on, turn off your phone and go out for a stroll in this lovely November sun!

Simon

First up this week, we have scientists trying to grow meat in a petri-dish:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/science-meat-idUSL5E7M31VE20111111

As always, the criticisms against meat production are all specific to industrial meat production/CAFOs.

I whole heartedly agree that industrial meat production is inhumane, environmentally unsustainable and results in meat that is bad for your health. What these kind of articles fail to realise/mention, however, is that industrial plant based agriculture is also environmentally unsustainable, results in the destruction of entire ecosystems and species, and produces food that is even worse for your health!

Eating locally sourced grass fed meat is the most sustainable, ethical, nutritious (and tasty) way to feed the population.

The hills of Lancashire from where we source our meat require no irrigation, fertilization or the use of pesticides in order to grow grass. While we can’t eat the grass, cows and sheep can, and very kindly turn it into super nutritious tasty meat for us to eat.

Yes it is true that cows and sheep produce green house gasses while digesting the grass, but this is a false argument, as if they didn’t eat the grass, it would eventually die, and then be decomposed by bacteria releasing the same gasses anyway! Of course you could stop this by concreting over all the hills and building meat factories on them…

Next up, an interesting article on the use of “mirror therapy” for the management of arthritis pain:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/nov/14/mirror-therapy-reduces-pain-arthritis

The role of the brain in the perception of pain is a very interesting one. I believe that when dealing with any kind of illness or chronic pain, the patient’s beliefs, attitudes and mental state should always be addressed. If a patient has a positive outlook, they are far more likely to recover and have lesser symptoms.

That said, in the case of this particular article, the pain reductions are rather modest to say the least, and this approach is attempting to treat the symptom alone, not the cause.

Following a Paleo/Weston Price/GAPS style diet and getting plenty of vitamin D should be the first port of call for anyone suffering from this terrible disease, with any form of pain management being used as a supplement to speed recovery, not a stand alone treatment.

Vaccines strike again:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5idim5cUILJq8QElTJ35tPXeaL49w?docId=N0655721321348995316A

The evidence for most vaccines is spurious at best, but the HPV jab has got to be one of the most tenuous of all.

The story goes that cervical cancer can be triggered by the the sexually transmitted human pappiloma virus, therefore vaccinating against it should protect against the disease.

Unfortunately, the vaccine only protects against two out of over 100 strains, and there is not even any data for how long this protection lasts.

Surely a better solution would be to naturally boost young people’s immune systems through proper nutrition, whilst simultaneously cutting out the foods that feed cancers (i.e. sugar), coupled with better education of safe sex?

On the subject of safe sex…

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111114/contraceptives-water-prostate-cancer-111114/20111114/?hub=EdmontonHome

This article does a good job of making it clear that correlation does not imply causation. The theory of chemicals being excreted by women taking oral contraceptives making their way into the water system does sound a little tenuous to me, but I suppose stranger things have happened. I do often dread to think what is in the water we are drinking, and always use a water filter (I use Aqua Optima Filter Fridge Jug 12 Month Pack)

NHS Cheifs recognise we are facing a “tsunami of need”, but have little clue as to how to deal with it:

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/11-11-15/NHS_chiefs_call_for_chronic_disease_revolution.aspx

Some pretty scary figures in there. With so many people sick all the time, how did our species ever survive without the NHS to manage our symptoms?

There is an old adage – Prevention is better than a cure. Unfortunately it seems that no one dealing with this “tsunami of need” has come across it before. All these illnesses are preventable. Surely a more reasoned approach would be to prevent the people from getting sick in the first place, rather than trying to manage their symptoms once it’s too late? But then I suppose we’d have no need for the NHS and these experts would all be out of a job.

Cancer rate fuelled by obesity?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health-news/2011/11/14/cancer-rate-rise-in-uk-fuelled-by-alcohol-and-obesity-115875-23559048/

While I agree that excessive alcohol consumption and obesity are not good things, I think that this article rather misses the point when it comes to what is fuelling the cancer rate rise.

Obesity is simply another possible symptom of the toxic elements of the modern diet, vegetable oils and processed sugars in particular. Though an obese individual may be more likely to get cancer, this is because they are more likely to be consuming more vegetable oil and sugar, not because they are carrying around more fat. Those “lucky” indivduals that can “eat anything” without gaining weight are far from lucky in my eyes, as they are equally, if not more at risk from diseases such as cancer, but are perhaps less motivated than those that gain weight easily to change their diet.

Sorry for all the doom and gloom in this week’s news – The good news however, is that all these modern ailments are fully avoidable. It will not come in the form of an injection supplied by the state however, you must take matters into your own hands, eat real food, and move as nature intended.

Have a good, Primal, weekend!

Reducing Salt could increase heart disease risk?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8879077/Cutting-back-on-salt-may-not-lower-heart-risk.html

These articles on salt is good, salt is bad again is getting a bit like watching a tennis match!

One has to wonder what the agenda is behind trying to reduce people’s salt consumption, despite a complete lack of evidence that there are any real health implications. Yes cutting salt back produces a modest reduction in blood pressure, but this tiny change has never been shown to have any impact on CVD or stroke risk!

Are the anti-salt zealots convinced by their own bias, or is there some other agenda? Perhaps salt is too expensive and food manufacturers want to retrain our taste buds so they can cut the cost of their products? Wild speculation of course, but you can’t help but wonder why the big food corps aren’t jumping all over these pro-salt studies?

One has to note of course that this study found that lowering salt, in addition to dropping blood pressure, also led to a rise in the dreaded cholesterol (cue scary music), so perhaps they want us to cut down on salt so we can chug down some more statins…

My Primal perspective is that the whole argument is actually a bit of a straw dog, as the white stuff under investigation is not really salt, but refined sodium chloride. Real salt, be it bluey grey sea salt, or pinkish rock salt is truly essential for life, with a delicate balance of essential minerals. While white refined salt may not be particularly bad for you, I don’t think it has any significant health benefits either.

Do yourself a favour and cook your own food, adding real salt to taste and let your tongue tell you what is good for you!

Calls for mobile phone health warnings:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8878467/Call-for-mobile-phone-health-warnings-despite-inconclusive-evidence.html

It is interesting, that despite a complete lack of evidence of any danger from eating saturated fat (consumed for millions of years), we are not only warned against its consumption on a daily basis, but we may even be taxed for consuming it, while on the flip side we are encouraged to keep using mobile phones (used for decades at best), despite growing evidence that they may have serious health repercussions.

Perhaps I’m paranoid, but I never keep my mobile phone on my person, try and text rather than call, and keep conversations as short as possible. Though mobile phones may not have been conclusively proved to be a definite cancer risk, nor to definitively reduce fertility, there are certainly strong indicators that this may be the case.

What really annoys me is the way that these items are portrayed as essential to life, and that unnecessarily scaring people from using them as much might negatively impact their lives in some way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a complete ludite, and there are times when I have been very glad of my mobile – Being able to phone the AA while broken down in the middle of the peak district for instance – But this does not mean that you have to be connected 24/7. I honestly believe that the potential negative effects of mobile phone use could be as much from the stress of being constantly “plugged in”, as from any radiation risks.

I have personally found that limiting my phone use – Switching it off at night, regularly leaving it at home when I go out, and never checking email or social networks on it, has been a positive experience, which has already paid dividends, regardless of whether mobile phones turn out to be the next cigarettes or not!

Writing down prices in Tesco illegal?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/sep/16/tesco-shopping-supermarket-prices-check-writing?INTCMP=SRCH

This is an older article which I just came across on facebook yesterday and found rather interesting.

Why would Tesco be so cagey about someone writing down their prices you might ask? Probably because the who illusion of supermarkets being cheap and good value for money is exactly that – Just an illusion.

A few key items are sold very cheap – Bread and “milk” (if you can really call the highly processed, pasteurised and homogenised gunk on the shelves milk). These are what are termed “loss leaders”: The Supermarkets actually lose money on these key items which the majority of people buy as staples, but then recoup these losses with huge profit margins on other items.

Can you tell me how much an apple is? Or the price of steak per kg? Thought not!

Supermarkets employ lots of crafty tricks to keep you in the dark, such as pricing everything in different ways – per item, per kg, per lb, per 100g, all to make comparison tricky, and then compound this by regularly changing prices, and putting all manner of different changing offers all the time.

Do yourself a favour, and avoid the supermarket altogether. Shop at your local butcher, fish monger, grocer and delicatessen. I guarantee you’ll save money, and get much better quality produce.

If you live in an area that doesn’t have such places (which is ever more increasingly likely unfortunately), get your produce online. Our meat boxes for example enable you to get much better quality meat (free range and grass fed), at a lower price than the supermarket, whilst giving a better deal to the farmers.

That’s it for this week, in the meanwhile stay Primal.