Tag Archives: sport holidays barcelona

Celebrity Pilates, Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Kim Kardashian goes Pilates shopping

Kardashian Pilates BarcelonaKim Kardashian goes Pilates shopping

It’s been a good week. In London it’s been cold and snowy but I’ve got a lot of work done, and in Barcelona it has been warm and sunny with a lot of training sessions and fitness/sport holidays. But now it is Friday so time to relax with my blog and look at the lighter side of Pilates.

I changed my career from a desk-bound job in the City of London many years ago to teach Pilates and wellness because I wanted to get more satisfaction from my work, and because I wanted to help people.  Having educated hundreds of Pilates teachers all over the world, I know for a fact that many of us are motivated by the desire to help other people. But who would have guessed that we would be helping Kim Kardashian?

But Kim needs our help! In Twitter this week she posted the message:

“Does anyone do Pilates? What’s the best machine? I am going to get one for my gym anad I want the best one”

So, what is your opinion for Kim and why? My initial reaction was that she should not worry so much about buying her own equipment or the type of quality of machine, she should start by worrying about the type and quality of a teacher who will teach her. But I am sure we can still give her the wealth of our knowledge and experience, and I am sure that many of you will have differing opinions that you want to share, be they serious or with a touch of Friday Celebrity humour…

Chris Hunt is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength. He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises Pilates events, retreats, fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona and Ibiza. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris Hunt, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris Hunt pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.
www.facebook.com/chrishuntofficial

Current Affairs, Health and fitness, Travel

Guilt-free fitness and sport holidays and retreats in Barcelona and Ibiza 2015

Barcelona SUP fitness sport holidays

www.barcelonabienestar.com

Guilt-free fitness and sport holidays and retreats in Barcelona and Ibiza 2015

It’s the time for New Year Resolutions, many of which will be about health, weight-loss, fitness and happiness. If we pray or ask the Universe for happiness, the Universe will not give us happiness, it will give us the opportunity to find happiness. If we ask for health, we are not given health, we are given the opportunity to get healthy. I’m sure you get the principle.

With this in mind, I want to ask you what will you be doing on your holiday this year? Have you ever had a “guilt-free” holiday? In the past, many people saw their holiday as not only a time to relax and get away from the stress and strains of everyday life, but also a time to forget fitness and health regimes, and eat, drink and then eat some more.

The popularity of the “all-inclusive” holiday has only made things worse. If the food and drink is free, then why not make a pig of yourself? Besides, you are on holiday so there are no rules!

I have never understood the mentality of some people that when they are on holiday think it’s OK to forget all common sense about diet and behaviour, and see those few weeks every year as a time to “live a little”, cut loose and try to justify all this out-of-character behaviour by saying “it’s OK, I’m on holiday!”

The notion that overeating and drinking is “living a little” or even “treating” yourself makes absolutely no sense at all. So this year instead of spending the winter and spring months dieting and working-out in order to look good on holiday, then pig-out for a couple of weeks whilst away, and then start losing weight again ready for the annual Christmas binge, I have a suggestion. Why not have a holiday where you do not undo all the hard work you do for the rest of the year? Why not have a holiday where you do not have to feel guilty everyday and even more so when you get home? Why not have a holiday where you go home fitter, stronger, more relaxed and proud about having achieved some new experiences?

You do not have to pray for this, it is all possible, and with Barcelona Bienestar together we can make it happen. Bienestar is Spanish for “wellness”, and my business offers fitness holidays, sports holidays and many retreats to Barcelona and Ibiza. We offer 17 different sports (including hiking, cycling, golf, surfing, stand up paddling, mountain biking, scuba diving, tennis, horse riding etc), all of which can be done by anyone, from experts who want to improve to first-timers who want to learn. We offer dozens of fitness activities and techniques (including Pilates, TRX, HIIT, boxing, group training, personal training, circuit training, boot camp, tabata etc), and these again are suitable for beginners and more experienced exercisers. Lastly we offer several different retreats (such as wellness, detox, weight loss, meditation, yoga, team-building and corporate). We also offer family activity holidays.

The beauty of our holidays are that as well as offering packages that we have built for you, we also offer you the chance to totally build your own holiday from scratch. You can choose any of the sports and any of the fitness activities in any combination. We can arrange your accommodation for you (from beautiful farmhouses with private pools to apartments in the city), transfers and help you with any other aspects of your holiday.

Do not misunderstand me. As the pictures on my social network sites show, I love to enjoy myself in the best bars and clubs in Barcelona and Ibiza. I love the wonderful food here. Play hard is all part of a balanced life. But to do these and not feel guilty, to do these things knowing they are part of a healthy lifestyle, is truly having fun. With this in mind, we can also organise excursions to the wonderful local attractions, and nights out for you and your group. And of course there is always time to relax on the beach and have one of our relaxing massages. You can do as much or as little as you want to.

Interested? Well it gets better. If you bring with you a group of 8 people, then as organiser you get your accommodation and all activities for free! We can even pay for your flight (or at least contribute towards this dependant on the total cost). So for a little bit of organising, you can have a free holiday, or share this discount with the rest of your group. You will be surprised as to the cost of our holidays, as they are typically much cheaper than you might think.

There is lots more information on our website, www.barcelonabienestar.com and you can ask as many questions as you wish.

In your photo album, or on your Facebook and Instagram account this year, as well as the typical images of you on a sunbed and drinking an exotic cocktail, wouldn’t you prefer to post extra pictures to all your friends of you surfing? Or rock-climbing? Or swimming, cycling, hiking, SUP, playing tennis, volleyball, snorkelling? Well, as we like to say in Spain, “Todo Es Posible!”

Chris Hunt is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises retreats, fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona and Ibiza. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona and Ibiza, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris Hunt, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris Hunt pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

Celebrity Pilates, Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Manchester United Footballer turns to Pilates

Barcelona Bienestar Man Utd

Manchester United Footballer turns to Pilates

I love writing about Pilates, but I especially love writing about Pilates and men. I have done it many times before, and I hope that I will do it many times again.

To read my previous articles you can click on:

http://www.chrishuntblog.com/2014/03/20/men-do-pilates-ask-dwayne-allen/

http://www.chrishuntblog.com/2014/06/17/you-do-pilates-are-you-gay-pilates-for-men-landon-donovan-and-moscow-time/

http://www.chrishuntblog.com/2014/11/03/pilates-for-men-ex-england-football-captain-steven-gerrard-says-yes/

The reason I love it so much is that we all know just how much benefit men get from doing Pilates, so it is a crying shame that more don’t do it. We all know the facts; that Joseph Pilates was a man, and that he trained other men many years before Pilates become synonymous in many people’s minds with dancers and women.

Here in Barcelona, I have lots of men who come on my Barcelona Bienestar  fitness and sport holidays where Pilates forms an integral part of the training.

I hope that Phil Jones’ story might encourage a few more men to venture into a local Pilates studio or join a class.

Manchester United defender Phil Jones is the latest Premier League footballer that has turned Pilates in a bid to overcome the injury problems that have blighted his early years at Old Trafford.
The England international made his latest comeback for Louis van Gaal’s team in the recent 3-0 Barclays Premier League win over rivals Liverpool.

Jones was rushed back ahead of schedule but came through unscathed and afterwards he revealed he has turned to some of the game’s more modern conditioning methods as he bids to maintain fitness.

‘I started the pre-season and played every single game and every single training session,’ he said. ‘Then, on international duty, I pulled my hamstring and I have never had a muscle injury so it was disappointing. When I was coming back I then had shin splints. It has been unfortunate. I have been doing a lot of work in the gym and hopefully that will stand me in good stead for the rest of the season. It is strength work, yoga and Pilates and loads of stuff. I will do anything I can to improve myself. My aim right now is to stay fit and stay focused and get a run of games under my belt.’

I hope that Phil Jones’ story might inspire more men to take up Pilates.

Chris Hunt is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises retreats, fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris Hunt, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris Hunt pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

Health and fitness, Travel

Free Retreats, Fitness and Sports holidays in Barcelona and Ibiza!

Barcelona Ibiza Free Holiday

www.barcelonabienestar.com

Free Retreats, Fitness and Sports holidays in Barcelona and Ibiza!

Free Retreats, fitness and sports holidays in Barcelona and Ibiza? Really? Surely in this day and age nothing comes for free, afterall, there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Maybe, but here is a wonderful opportunity that for just a little effort, you can get yourself a free fitness or sport holiday in Barcelona or Ibiza.

Who are Barcelona Bienestar?
First things first, who are Barcelona Bienestar and what does bienestar mean? It’s Spanish for “wellness”, and it’s what we offer to people from all over the world. Barcelona Bienestar are the experts in retreats, fitness and sports holidays to Barcelona and Ibiza. We offer a VIP tailor-made service to clients from all over the world. Our clients have visited us from places including Russia, the USA, China, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Latvia, Australia and Thailand. Why? Because everyone loves Barcelona and Ibiza! They are on most people’s wish-lists for a vacation, so what better than a dream holiday that includes health, fitness and sport?

So what do we offer our multi-national clients? Simple answer is anything they want. We have no barriers, no limitations. We have never failed to deliver exactly what our clients ask for. From fitness, sports, restaurants, secluded farmhouses, night-club entry to privates cruises on a beautiful yacht. We teach in English, Spanish and Russian. Todo es posible as we like to say in Spain.

Sports
We offer an amazing range of sports because in and around Barcelona and Ibiza there are so many possibilities. Sports we specialise in include surfing, SUP, snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking, kite surfing, rock climbing, hiking, golf, football, scuba diving and tennis. Our holidays will give you the chance to have specialist training for the sports of your choice, and also the chance to take part in that sport, everyday of your holiday if you wish. So if you want to learn a new sport, or get better at a sport you already love, then we can help.

Fitness
We help our clients to achieve many different fitness goals including cardio fitness, muscle gain, weight loss, and we love to teach people new techniques. We use many different methods including personal training, group training, Pilates, yoga, HIIT, TRX, body weight training, boxing, kettlebells, tabata, weighted vests, circuit training and many more. We can train you inside, or even better outside. We use quiet secluded places, and we use the beach, parks and the mountains.

Retreats
We offer a wide range of retreats including:
1) Leadership
2) Teambuilding
3) Corporate
4) Detox
5) Meditation
6) Wellness
7) Weightloss
8) NLP
9) Life coaching

We work with many businesses to orgainse leadership and teambuilding events that are always very popular. You are free to choose one or many of these activities to make your retreat perfect.

Our Packages
We can help organise as much or as little of your holiday as you wish. You only have a to organise your flights and we can do all the rest. We can arrange accommodation to suit your budget and your needs, from private farmhouses to beautiful hotels. We can give you a special diet or detox. Even after your daily program of sport and fitness, there will still be plenty of time to explore, enjoy and relax. We will help you hire a car or even better a bike. We will tell you the best beaches in around Barcelona and Ibiza, and the best restaurants. We can usually get you a reduced or free entry into the best discos, bars and places to dance all night. We know how to train hard, but we also know how to play hard as well.

We also offer a personal photographer to capture some of the special moments of your holiday.

We can also organise excursions to the famous landmarks in and around Barcelona and Ibiza. We can book you treatments including sport massage, relaxation massage, physiotherapy and chiropractic. Remember, todo es posible.

Even after your sport or fitness holiday or retreat to Barcelona or Ibiza is over, our service does not stop there. We offer online programs to keep up the good habits you started on holiday with us. We will also keep you updated about sport and events and when you come back for another holiday (over 75% of our clients come back) then you get a special loyalty discount.

Free holidays
So, enough talk you are thinking, how do I get a free holiday? It’s simple, and here’s how.

First, please like and share our FACEBOOK page.  We will be checking! 🙂

If you are a trainer or club owner, then bring a group of your clients (minimum number of 8), then you get your holiday for free! You can either enjoy receiving fitness sessions for a nice change, or if you love what you do so much that you just can’t stop teaching, and you are a certified and qualified trainer, then we can incorporate some of your own training sessions into the holiday. If we like what you do, we might invite you back to Barcelona or Ibiza as one of our trainers.

If you are not a trainer but just love keeping fit or playing sport, why not get a group of your friends or sports club together and enjoy a fitness or sport holiday in sunny Barcelona or Ibiza. Again, all you need to do is bring 8 or more friends and you will get you holiday for free.

We only have a limited number of weeks available next year for this special offer, so please contact us as soon as you can so we can discuss your requirements, and start planning your dream holiday.

You will have a holiday in Barcelona or Ibiza that you will never forget. Remember, when you chose Barcelona Bienestar, todo es posible!

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises retreats, fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

 

Current Affairs, Health and fitness, My life

Pilates: Mental Illness, Robin Williams and Ignorance

9 Comments

Robin Williams Chris Hunt Pilates

www.chrishuntwellness.com

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I feel very passionate about mental illness and its link with physical fitness. If this topic interests you, then you can read Let’s talk about depression: Is it Real?, Depression: Positive Thinking, and Exercise is only one part of Total Fitness.

As I said in a previous blog, “If you know someone who is suffering from depression, don’t judge or offer them advice. They don’t need that and it doesn’t help. They need your understanding and support. Question is, can you give them only that?”

My father died whilst suffering from Alzheimer’s. “Dementia: I lost my father, don’t lose yours” was the hardest post I have ever written. So it’s with interest that I have been watching the media following the tragic death of Robin Williams.

The increasing number of public figures who are having to apologise for comments they made in the past few days clearly shows the absolute and total ignorance some people have when it comes to depression. There is no excuse, no excuse to make such stupid comments, especially when you are in a position where some misguided people may actually listen to you and take your words for the truth.

Rock star Gene Simmons has apologised about his “spur of the moment” remarks about people who suffer from depression. The Kiss singer and bassist sparked outrage after saying he is “the guy who says ‘Jump'” to those who are suicidal. He is quoted as also saying that his advice was that if you are depressed you should “kill yourself”.

Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda has quit Twitter following the abuse she got from followers. People were telling her that her Dad was selfish and a coward to kill himself. Fox News TV anchor Shepard Smith sparked criticism after also suggesting the actor was a “coward” to kill himself. Meanwhile TalkSport in the UK has apologised after its radio presenter Alan Brazil said he had “no sympathy” for suicide.

All of these people have now apologised of course, no doubt worried about their ratings and future job prospects, but I have little doubt that their first words were the true way they feel about depression. And that worries and scares me in equal measures.

Make no mistake, anyone who thinks that Robin Williams is a coward or that he is selfish, or that suicidal people should “jump”, have a serious problem. These people should go educate themselves about depression and think before they make totally ignorant statements. I am serious. If there is even 10% of your mind that when reading this is thinking “they should pull themselves together” then please read my blog articles above and then go educate yourself because you are misinformed.

In my blog today I want to ask you to share your opinions and experience with clients who suffer from depression. Many distinguished Pilates teachers say that Pilates can help people suffering from depression. Pilates without doubt helps to relax the mind and energise the body, gives body awareness, can improve self-image and has meditative qualities if taught in the correct way. I found meditation after my own personal experience with depression, and this is why I travelled to Bangkok to study meditation in a Buddhist monastery. This is also why in my Pilates system Pilates EVO, I integrated mindfulness meditation. When I am travelling the world to train new Pilates EVO teachers, this is one of my favourite parts of the education because most teachers have little or no experience of meditation, and at first some find the whole concept very difficult to grasp.

Meditation is becoming more and more acceptable and proven in Western medicine as a treatment for depression. There are many books on the market, but one of my favourites is The Mindful Way Through Depression. Click on the picture below to read more.

Thank you Robin Williams for all the joy you bought into this world. You will be missed. I hope that your torment will continue to bring the debate about depression to a wider audience, and I hope that more and more people will gain a greater understanding.

In the U.S.: If you are contemplating attempting suicide, there are people who can help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

In the U.K.: For confidential support call the Samaritans  on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

 

 

 

 

Health and fitness

Pilates for Golf


Chris Hunt Pilates for Golf

www.chrishuntwellness.com

Wednesday is sport day. Today I want to talk about Pilates for golf.

There are a growing number of “Pilates for golf” type books and DVDs on the market. As a keen golfer (I have never had the time to get my handicap below 18 though), I must say that many of these publications strike me as people jumping on the bandwagon rather than a serious attempt to improve a golfer’s performance. Many are written by people who have clearly never swung a golf club, and others are so general that they could be a book to improve golf/running/tennis/most other sports.

But the biggest criticism I have is that to actually be useful to golfers, any such material must be written in a way that actually engages club golfers. The average club golfer may have never exercised. Most I work with have never been to a gym or attended an exercise session. I joke that most golfer’s warm-up is a bacon sandwich, and cool-down is a pint of lager! Whilst golf is increasingly a younger person’s game and it is crossing the gender barrier, the basic fact remains that it is still dominated at club level by middle-aged and retired men. As Pilates teachers, I am sure we all know that this demographic is possible the hardest one to get engaged in Pilates!

Those of you who have read my blog before will know that it is a crusade of mine to get more men doing Pilates (for example see “You do Pilates, are you gay?” and “Men do Pilates”) and the fact remains that that nearly all golfers I have ever met would see a big improvement in their game if they did Pilates. So why is this?

I have worked with many golf Pro’s as by working together on technique and body function, we can get the best results. Whilst a golf pro can say to a golfer “swing this way”, many golfer’s cannot swing the way they should because their body can’t physically do it. By doing Pilates, a golfer can make corrections to their body; strengthen the core, increase flexibility, build stability in the pelvis and shoulder girdles, and balance both sides of the body, all of which will allow the golfer to hit the ball farther, straighter and more accurately. But these are just some of the benefits that Pilates can have.

The most successful way for a golfer to reduce their handicap and improve consistency is not to spend hundreds of pounds on new clubs. It is the golfer that plays the game, and not his equipment. As long as the clubs are capable, the biggest results can be achieved by changing the qualities of the golfer. It is for this reason that Pilates has been used by professional golfers such as Tiger Woods for many years.

Why is Pilates so good for golf? I produced a document for the World Golf Federation in which I tried to simply explain the benefits using the most common questions that I have been asked throughout the years by club golfers. To view this document please click the link below.

Pilates for Golf

I hope that this will help many club golfers to understand exactly why they should be doing regular Pilates, not just from a book or DVD, but from their local Pilates teacher! You can also click on www.sportcorestrength.com to see how Pilates can help other sportsmen and women.

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.