Ask us

In this section we try to answer questions about the club and fitness in general.

One of the most common queries we receive is as follow:

“I have joined gyms before but never stick with them – why should I join Smarmore Castle?

Every year thousands of people across the country start the year off with good intentions. “This is the year I’m going to do something about my fitness” we tell ourselves. We’re all very enthusiastic at first. We visit the gym three or four days a week, go swimming and watch what we eat. Then things start to slide. We get days when we can think of a million reasons not to exercise. It’s normally after a busy day at work or at home. We feel tired or get sucked into watching the match or soap on the telly. Gradually we lose the motivation to go to the leisure club. We miss a day here and there and all too soon days run into weeks and weeks run into months. Exercise becomes something that we used to do and we end up feeling more tired than ever.

Here are some tips for staying on the path of good health and motivating yourself to keep going.

Ask your instructor for help in designing an exercise programme that will actually deliver what you are after. All of us have different reasons for training from wanting to lose weight to having more energy. It’s a fact that regular exercise delivers but you need to be doing the right exercise to achieve the results you are after. The instructors at Smarmore Castle can give you expert advice on what to do.

Remember that you won’t see instant transformations. Improvements can take between 4 to 8 weeks but rest assured that results are just around the corner if you stick with it.

Try and make exercise part of your weekly schedule. With a little planning you can fix times during your week that exercise slips into your routine leaving you with no excuses. (You can always tape the match or soap while you are down at the gym).

Your time in the gym can be a good chance to turn off for a few hours. Time exercising is time for you, uninterrupted “me time”. Everyone needs and deserves it. Afterwards you can catch up on the latest news in the jacuzzi.

Get a friend to exercise with. It’s great for motivation and encouragement. Tell the people who care about you your goals and their encouragement will motivate you more.

Vary your fitness programme. People sometimes stop exercising because it gets boring. You can avoid this by going back to your instructors and getting them to design a new programme for you. They will thank you for the challenge. Keep a look out for fun events that may be happening such as gym challenges that offer a chance to do something different.

Monitor your progress as it will remind you how well you are doing. After you have been exercising for a while arrange to have the instructors re-assess your fitness level.

Congratulate and reward yourself for meeting targets.