L.I.F.E. at Troutbeck Bridge

My run of luck with online competitions continued this month with an e-mail telling me I had won an hour with a personal fitness instructor at L.I.F.E. at Troutbeck Bridge near Windermere. They run a monthly draw for answering a simple question on their web site and you can choose from a range of fitness prizes at the gym.


LIFE stands for Leisure Initiative Fitness Excellence and the centre is a charitable trust providing a swimming pool and leisure facilities for the South Lakeland community. The current facilities are:

• 25 Station Gym
• 25m Swimming Pool (swimming lessons for children and adults)
• VibroGym Suite
• Personal Training with personalised fitness programmes
• Dual Lane inflatable for kids
• AquaFit classes

I was quite nervous about my session as the image of personal fitness instructors as tough types giving no mercy! Turned out that Sara was a much more friendly instructor and didn't try and kill me with overdoing it. She gave me a good overview of gym safety and then took me through an hour of cardio and weight training to help with my weight loss goal. With every piece of equipment she first of all demonstrated how to use it correctly and then checked that I was doing things right and gave pointers as to improving my technique. Not only did I use the equipment but she showed me exercises that I can work on at home. There was a lot of work on my core muscles so whether or not I can get out of bed tomorrow will be an interesting discovery... All in all a good introduction to the gym and useful pointers as to how to take my fitness further - now I just need to find someone to pay for my gym membership...

The centre is looking to replace it's gym with a newer more hi tech one over the summer. The fly in the ointment is a severe lack of funding as South Lakes District Council has had to stop making contributions as part of their budget cuts. Many of the local schools use the pool for weekly swimming lessons and the private swimming lessons are very popular (750 children a week!). However the gym is under utilised and they need more members to be able to afford the upgrades they need to make the gym more attractive and get more members. It needs £50,000 a year to run the facilities and £500,000 to upgrade and revitalise the facilities (more on this on their blog). Without local people using the facilities then they may end up being lost which will be a great loss to local children who benefit from the swimming classes.

I am doing my little bit by taking my children along for a swimming assessment later this week and hopefully getting them enrolled into a swim class. Unfortunately at the minute I can't afford membership for myself even though they offer competitive rates:

Full Membership (Anytime use of Gym & Pool)	£25 per month £45 per month - per month
Corporate (terms and conditions apply)	£20 per month - per person
Student (Over 16yrs-old and in full-time education)	£15 per month
Active Youth (Age 14-16yrs, CV equipment only, must be supervised by responsible adult)	£12 per month
One Month Only	£35 per month

I do hope that I can make more of the facilities there even if its just for adhoc sessions when I have some free time as the Pay As You Go rates are not extortionate:

Gym & Swim	£5 per visit
Adult Swim10 Adult Swims - get one free	£4 £36
Child Swim (4-15yrs-old) 3yrs-old and under	£2.50 FREE
Personal Training	£20 per hour
VibroGym - Induction Course of 10 sessions	£15 for 30 minutes £50
Child and Adult Swim Lessons	£30 for 6-week course
Parent and Toddler Sessions	£5 inc. teacher £4 without teacher
1 to 1 Swim Lessons	£20 for 30 minutes

So if you live in the South Lakeland area go and give the gym and pool a go. It wasn't at all crowded in the gym so it was a more pleasurable experience than in other places I have been.