Fitness Is For Life: Cristian Dode | Diabetes And Fatherhood

Kickstarting my fitness journey

Xercise4Less Hounslow member Cristian Dode had all the reason in the world to improve his fitness. After recently becoming a father, Cristian decided it was time to kickstart his fitness journey and with the help of Xercise4Less Gyms, he has been able get on the road to a healthier life.

Cristian also suffers from diabetes and constantly has to monitor his sugar levels. Having a better level of fitness and a more active lifestyle will help Cristian to achieve these goals and be able to combat diabetes.

'I feel slim for my height'

Whilst weight loss is a primary target for a lot of gym goers, Cristian wants to gain weight as he feels he is slim for his height.

“I want to gain weight as I’m too skinny for my height. I want to do this in a healthy way and be able to balance my sugar levels.”

Finding solace at Xercise4Less Gyms

Attending the gym up to four times a week, Cristian performs a range of activities to help develop his fitness and give him the best possible opportunity to reach his goals and targets.

“I enjoy working out with all sorts of equipment. The main ones I use are; kettlebells, dumbbells, the bike and the cable machine. I like to lift free weights and do my cardio to keep it balanced.”

Aside from making the most of our dedicated training zones, Cristian also participates in some of our fun, functional fitness classes.

“Classes I like to attend are health and wellbeing, high energy and toning and conditioning.”

Setting realistic targets

Every fitness journey takes time, and Cristian is certainly no different. He is aware that to be in the best physical condition he needs to keep up the good work and remain dedicated. He has set himself a target and made a plan of how often he intends to use the gym.

“I think it will take between 9 and 12 months to achieve my target. I currently visit the gym four times a week and I spend around an hour for each session. In addition, I will try my best to eat more healthily and avoid certain foods to complement and optimise my training.”

“The biggest challenge will be if I can keep my motivation going as well as having the time to keep going to the gym.”

Keep up the good work, Cristian! Get those gains!

Calorie Deficit vs. Calorie Surplus

How do you lose weight or gain weight easily?

We all train for different reasons and we all have personal fitness goals we want to achieve and at Xercise4Less Gyms, we want to help. Whether you’re new to exercise, a casual gym goer or a gym enthusiast, it’s important to know how nutrition can impact your weight.

If your biggest fitness goal is to lose weight, you need to make sure that you burn more calories than you consume every day. This is called a calorie deficit.

A calorie deficit doesn’t mean you need to spend hours in the gym – you just need to be generally more active. This could mean spending just 30 minutes exercising every day maybe doing a high intensity workout (weight training or cardio training) but also walking 10,000 steps a day and generally moving more. By keeping a track of your food intake on an app like MyFitnessPal, you’ll know exactly what you’re eating and how many calories you need to burn to make sure that you’re losing weight.

If your personal fitness goal is to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus. This means that you’re eating more calories than you’re burning.

A calorie surplus doesn’t just mean eating more food and exercising less because it’s important that you maintain a regular workout routine and stay active and healthy. Whether you prefer to use weights when you’re training or stick to cardio, train in a way to suit you whilst making note of the food you’re eating.

Burning calories at Xercise4Less

Nutrition is an important part of your weight loss journey, so aim to find a good balance between your gym workouts and your diet. Establishing a gym routine alongside a healthy diet will only help you achieve goals quicker.

In Xercise4Less Gyms, we have a range of facilities to help with weight loss. Cardio zones encourage you to burn calories and transform your fitness with treadmills, rowers and steppers. Resistance machines and free weights also aid weight loss over a longer period of time. Don’t be afraid of using weights and doing strength training, it all helps to burn calories and add lean muscle.

We also run a wide range of exercise classes that will support your fitness journey. If you’re stuck for what to do in the gym or fancy something a little bit different, try a class. High intensity classes such as Zumba, Indoor Cycling and Power Pump will help you burn a high number of calories in a short period of time. You may have tried these online now so why not give them a go once we re-open too?

Group Exercise Class

Gaining weight and muscle using Xercise4Less

If your main goal is to generally gain muscle and weight, we have some great equipment at Xercise4Less Gyms that could help. Within your great value membership, you can do progressive weight training using free weights and resistance machines to support your fitness journey.

By using equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells and resistance machines such as the leg press, bench press and lat pulldown, you can build and maintain muscle. Our cardio zones can still be useful – to build your general fitness and stamina meaning that you can lift heavier weights and for longer. Generally, low intensity workouts are better suited to you and your weight gain goals though. 

Bodybuilding - woman lifting

Why join Xercise4Less Gyms?

Don’t miss out on transforming your body into the shape that you’ve always wanted. Join Xercise4Less today whether you’re ready to join a gym, new to gyms, a casual gym goer or already an experienced gym user. Our members find everything they need to reach their personal fitness goals from our friendly staff to dedicated Ladies Only gym zone, special Spin studio or group fitness classes including the famous Les Mills workouts.

Get fit for February | £5 First Month & £0 Joining Fee

Get Fit for February - Main
Get Fit for February - Main

Get fit for February!

At Xercise4Less Gyms, we understand that your fitness journey is important to you. 

Whether you started your fitness journey months ago or have never visited a gym before, we want you to join the Xercise4Less family and start achieving your goals with us.  

Getting through the initial workouts in January is always the hardest part of training, but now that you’ve survived that, what is your next big fitness goal? Use this month as an opportunity to focus on new training goals in our gyms and with our latest promotional offers, now is the perfect time to join and do exactly that. By joining Xercise4Less Gyms today, you pay just £5 for your first month with NO joining fee. 

Fitness all year long

We all lose a bit of motivation from time to time but when you feel less motivated, remind yourself why you started. To build strength? For weight loss? For overall improved fitness and wellbeing? Fitness is for life, and with a positive attitude and hard work at Xercise4Less Gyms, you’ll smash your goals in no time. 

If January was all about establishing new routines, use February to try new things and push yourself to the next level and achieve your overall fitness goals.

Our gyms allow you to try lots of different workouts and types of training. As an initial challenge, you could spend an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill, reach for the slightly heavier dumbbells, or, try one of the many fitness classes we run. Setting yourself small challenges regularly will only result in positive results. 

running on a treadmill hiit blog

Gym workouts to suit you

We want to help you on your fitness journey the best that we can – that’s why we put together workout guides for you to follow in our gyms – whatever your fitness level or goals. 

Your overall goal might seem far in the distance, but with smaller steps and lifestyle changes along the way, you’ll get there. Our friendly staff will try their best to support you. By choosing Xercise4Less, together, we can help you on your fitness journey.