8 Walks over Hambledon Hill & Hod Hill in Dorset

Hod and Hambledon Hills are ancient iron age forts, two of the best in the country located a stones throw away from each other in the rural Dorset countryside. Surrounded by beautiful villages, excellent local pubs and views from the top across the Blackmore Vale these two forts make for an excellent excuse to get out walking.

We’ve curated 8 walks for you to take your pick at depending on the length of the walk and whether or not you want to walk over both Hod and Hambledon or just either one of them.

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How Much Salt is Too Much?

Salt is very important to our diets, in nature sodium and chloride are found together to make our favourite table condiment “Sodium Chloride” or Salt. Excellent at enhancing the flavour of our foods, it’s also plays an important role in maintaining water balance in the body for muscle & nerve function.

Certain physiological reactions and illness including excessive sweating, burns, server vomiting and diarrhea and kidney damage can lead to a loss of salt in the body which should be quickly replaced as low levels of salt in the body can lead to dizziness, muscle cramps and exhaustion and if not treated may lead to life threatening shock.

Salt however is generally not a problem, it’s in many foods especially processed meats, snacks and fast food. High levels of salt contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. 

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You, Coffee & Exercise

Coffee is a habit of many peoples workday starting from when they get up and often continues well into the day but does this seemingly harmless habit that gives us such a boost affect our diet, health or fitness? 

Coffee is a stimulant with the stimulation coming from ‘caffeine’ found in many drinks both hot and cold it’s an addictive stimulant. Caffeine however is not only found in stimulation drinks, coffee & tea, it has an active role in many weight loss pills and fat burners! The reason for this is the physiological affects it has on the body which are similar to light cardiovascular exercise without actually doing it.

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The Simple Guide to Creatine

Creatine pronounced (Kre’ah-tin) is becoming increasingly popular in the health and fitness supplements market. No doubt you’ve heard of it but it’s unlikely that initially you’ll have any idea of what it is or why it could help you achieve more and reach your goals.

Creatine is a supplement to primary increase muscle size, it’s not a weight loss supplement, creatine should be taken as per suppliers recommend guidelines together with a structured exercise programme for increasing muscle size and a balanced healthy diet.

It’s worth noting that it will only have any effect if you do indeed work out, it will have no effect if taken on it’s own without working out, other than increasing the amount of Creatine stored in your body which is useless as you are not working out.

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Sport Specific Training for Better Results

Exercising & adhering to a regular training plan is not for those who just want to lose weight. The need to be fitter, more able with better performance is often though participation is sport or a regular sporting activity. While generic training has it’s benefits and to some degree might benefit anyone, training specific for the activity or sport you regularly undertake or compete in will bring about better performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Personal Trainers are trained in creating training plans with the wealth of exercise knowledge to build effective and specific training programmes that reflect sport specific movements, from the warm up to training muscles to fire in a certain order with maximum performance, to get the most out of your training you need to get specific.

Specific Training = Better Results

 

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How Much Protein do Women Need?

Using protein supplements is often seen only necessary for males or those looking to gain huge bulk in muscle. However this is untrue as we all require protein in varying amounts depending on the demands we put on the body. Often the amount of protein our bodies require from training is more than what we can provide in our everyday diet. To enable full recovery of our muscle and maximize muscle growth that will tone and define, protein supplements might well be the answer. Here is a quick guide to protein for women.

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