Outdoor Exercise — Office Worker Health

Review of the first parkHIIT Corporate Challenge

I love the Grant Thornton 5K and wanted to do something similar that promoted the importance of resistance training in the corporate world. I teamed up with Ronan Mahon of Movement Fitness for the first parkHIIT Corporate Challenge which started in mid-October 2018 and ran for 4 weeks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in Ballsbridge. Companies participating in the inaugural challenge included Ibec (who had 13 participants!), AIB, Ernst and Young, Allianz and Just Eat as well as teams of individuals including representatives from Facebook, Arup Engineering and LinkedIn among others.

parkHIIT Corporate Challenge

There is so much going on with parkHIIT and in the workplace wellness space at the moment. It’s been a really exciting and very active couple of weeks! Here’s a snapshot of what’s been going on over the past 10 days alone:

Both parkHIIT and the Workplace Wellness Ireland community formally joined the Healthy Ireland network

parkHIIT - Resistance is Worthwhile

We all need a little bit of resistance in our lives. Resistance exercise that is. Twice a week at least seeing as you asked.

If you don’t believe me then take a look at what the World Health Organization has to say on the matter:

“Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.”

Overcoming Mental Obstacles

A few weeks ago I spoke about my plans to tackle Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntoohil. I'm delighted to report that the climb was a success. My good friend and I managed to reach the summit despite the testing conditions and the mental obstacles that we placed before ourselves. The visibility was so bad as we made our way towards the famous "devil's ladder" section that we couldn't see the mountain we intended to climb!

25 Reasons to Get On Your Bike

Keeping a healthy lifestyle seems to become progressively harder as time goes on. This seems to become even more so, once you get stuck in that 40+ hour work week as we all do. When it gets more difficult to find time to work out you need to be able to prioritize the best bang for your buck activities.

Did you know that cycling as little as 15 minutes a day can have a profound impact on your overall health? Cycling to work is a great way to fit some exercise into your work day if you have that option. The benefits aren't limited to road cycling though, you can take a spin class, ride your bike on a trainer or even just go to your local gym!

Why I'll Be Watching Operation Transformation

Anything that encourages exercise, eating well and community is to be welcomed. No matter what your level of fitness, there’s something everyone can take away from Operation Transformation.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, Operation Transformation is a health and fitness programme airing on Irish TV and Radio that is comparable to ‘The Biggest Loser’ programme popular in other parts of the world.

7 Ways to Make the Most of Your Weekends

Weekends are meant to be cherished; each one of us wants to have a superb weekend. We work for the whole week and make plans about how to have a good weekend but when the weekend is approaching all our ideas collapse in the chaos of work. In this competitive world, successful people know that a well spent weekend is essential to great performance during the week. Everyone wants to have a refreshing weekend so that they can start their Monday with extra passion and energy. So here are some tips on how to make the most out of your weekends.

Detox, Happiness, Health Accountability, Mindfulness, Outdoor ExerciseBrian6 September 2017weekend, relaxation, yoga, meditationComment

Outdoor Fitness - Full Body Workout in the Playground

Who says you need a gym or proper workout equipment for a full body workout? Early last Saturday morning I met my personal trainer Philip Kavanagh from Limitless Functional Fitness and we went to the local playground (while the kids were still tucked up in bed) for an outdoor exercise session. There’s no fitness park or outdoor exercise stations near us but Phil assured me there’s plenty of bodyweight exercises that can be done in a playground giving you a great full-body workout.

Active Parenting

I love to get outdoors as much as possible and that desire hasn’t changed at all since my daughter came along two years ago. She loves the outdoors too which is great. She’s a huge fan of parks and playgrounds so at the weekends we’ll often head off somewhere where she can run about and have me chase after her. I find it a great way to stretch the legs and it's helped me with the light exercise element of my 30 Day Challenge at the weekends. We might walk or trek to a location, hang out, play, go up and down the same slide 100 times, and then make our way back home. We’re both usually pretty tired come evening time.

Cycling Ireland - Top 5 Tips

Almost two weeks after I completed a near 2,000 kilometre cycle around the Republic of Ireland, I’ve documented the top 5 tips that helped me get around this great country on my bike. Some I knew in advance and some I learned along the way. All are equally important, there’s no hierarchy. I have plenty more tips and lessons learned from the trip but I found these 5 to be the most important.

Outdoor Exercise, Exercise and NutritionBrian1 June 2016cycle around Ireland, ireland tour, bike irelandComment