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'CHANGE for life' might just be seen as a Government buzz phrase to get us off the sofa, but behind the seemingly hollow figures is a serious health message.
There’s really only one way to lose weight and stay in shape, and that’s to eat less and move more.
And with today’s sedentary lifestyles, moving more means doing some form of exercise.
It’s a message that’s been taken up by Rotherham Council, which is the only local authority in the country to have four brand new leisure centres, thanks to a 35m investment.
Now 90 per cent of the borough’s 250,000 population is one bus ride away from a sports facility, or a 10-minute drive.
Maltby Leisure Centre, the final one of the four to be built, opened its doors this week – and I went along to see just what’s on offer.
Prices have been kept the same as those at the former council-run sports facilities – 3.30 for a swim and 5.10 for a gym session. Under 16s and over 60s can swim for free under a Government scheme that runs until March next year.
The ‘pay and play’ option is available on everything, along with membership which can prove more cost-effective for anyone planning to be there every day.
Fitness manager Kerry Callan is in charge of the Kinetika gym, which has 50 stations. She started me off on the cross ramp trainer, which gives an all-round warm-up.
The feet are stepping up and down while the arms are moving backwards and forwards, which warms up the muscles and raises the heart rate.
After that it was on to the leg press, the exercise bike, the chest press and the lateral pull down. Kerry gave me a demonstration on each piece of equipment and made sure I was comfortable with the weights used.
I found the leg press the toughest, but was pleased that I could add extra weight to the lateral pull down machine, which exercises the arms.
Then we were on to the exercise balls. Kerry sat beside me to do a series of stomach crunches, first lying on the ball and then lying on the floor with our legs on the ball.
To cool down we went on the treadmills at comfortable walking pace to slow the heart rate.
All the machines have different weight and pace options and tell you how many calories you’re burning – always a major incentive – and, if you key in personal details like your age and weight, it will work out your heart rate and fitness summary.
The equipment has a plug for headphones so you can listen to music or watch one of the four televisions on the wall. If I was there for any length of time I would definitely need that distraction to keep going.
Maltby has a competition-standard swimming pool with seating for 200 spectators, and also a diving pool with two three-metre synchronised diving boards, the only one in Yorkshire outside of Sheffield and Leeds.
The floor of the diving pool can be lowered to four metres, or raised up enabling it to double up as a training pool as well.
Maltby Comprehensive School pupils and children from the surrounding primary schools will have swimming lessons here and it is also the new home of Maltby Diving Club and Rotherham Metro Swimming Club.
I had a quick dip in the main pool, which was a tad cool, and then a swim in the diving pool, which was warmer. The changing rooms have family cubicles, as well as single ones, which are useful if you’re there with your children.
The centre also boasts a dance studio with sprung floor, which can be used for activities like aerobics classes, and a sports hall which can be used for any number of sports, including basketball, five-a-side football, gymnastics and trampolining.
Rotherham’s new leisure centres are being operated by DC Leisure. Regional director Nick Brown said a lot of interest was being shown in the Maltby centre by other local authorities. He said: ”We’re hoping a lot more people will be encouraged to take up exercise – prevention is better than cure.”
For more information about what’s on at Maltby Leisure Centre contact 0845 8800 606 or email enquiries@maltbyleisurecentre.co.uk
The website is at www.maltbyleisurecentre.co.uk
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Weather for Dinnington
Tuesday 07 February 2012
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