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Health and Fitness, Health and Wellbeing, Wellbeing

Rec&Sport app has an update and you should get it now

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The Rec&Sport app has had a little update – making it more user friendly.   Go ahead and update it in your app store, and then close and reopen your app on your device.     

Person exercising at home
Work in a little 10min exercise snack in your day to boost your wellbeing and brainpower!

Why should you get the app (even if you don’t use the gym right now)?   There’s a ton of free resources in there to help you on your wellbeing journey, and you don’t need to come to the gym to make use of them.   If you can put a little exercise into your day, even a snack size 10mins, it will help your mental health and boost your brainpower for study.   Here’s a little rundown:

  1. Select the ‘Coach’ tab, and you will find meditation sessions to try, and articles in Wellness Magazine about all things health and fitness to read.  All curated by the expert team at Technogym. 
  2. Select the ‘Rec&Sport‘ tab, and you can book your group fitness class, or toggle to the info section at the top and you’ll find links to book courts, PT sessions, massage and BCS. 
  3. In the ‘Workouts‘ tab, you’ll find a heap of free workouts that are a mix of in-gym and at-home,  both with and without equipment. Yoga, pilates, kickboxing, HIIT… so you don’t need to leave the comfort of your home to get a sneaky workout in to boost your brainpower.  Save time and study better! 
  4. Need a challenge to get motivated?  Check out the ‘Challenges’ tab, where you’ll find a range of exercise challenges that are worldwide.  
  5. Finally, the ‘Activity‘ tab keep a record of your fitness data and badges you collect for all your movement.   

As a UC student, you get your RecCentre membership for ‘free’, it’s part of your levy payment.  To maintain access to the app, you will need to get your membership sorted, which you can do online.   Follow all the instructions on that page and contact us if you have any issues. 

Ngā mihi
Te Ratonga Hākinakina | UC Rec&Sport  

 

Health and Fitness, Wellbeing

Top tips for Winter Workouts

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With the weather getting a little frosty, it makes it a little less appealing to get your activewear on and hit the gym or pavement.   

Here are our top tips for keeping up your routine during the winter months:

1.  Warm up a little longer 
  • The body needs a good warmup – and in winter even more so!   Think of your muscles, ligaments and tendons like chewing gum.  They’re much more stretchy and less likely to snap or break when you’ve chewed it a little. 
  • Your muscles are the same – get them warm with some dynamic stretching, and depending on the activity, some light cardio.
2.  Stay hydrated 
  • When it’s hot, we tend to drink more water naturally, in an effort to cool down and quench thirst associated with heat.
  • When it’s cold, your thirst sensation is reduced (so you drink less), your body uses water to warm itself and you lose water through your breath.
  • Use a water tracker and aim for those 8 cups a day if not exercising, and a little extra if you are! 
  • A hydrated body and brain will be more focused and alert – excellent for exercise and study!  
3.  Choose the right clothing for the temperature 
  • Choose thin layers, so that you can take off layers as your body warms up. You will get warm – and having nowhere to stash that huge puffer when your body temp is through the roof isn’t that fun.
  • If you can, put a moisture-wicking layer close to your skin –  if outdoors think polypropylene or merino/wool. If you wear cotton, it gets damp and cold real fast!  
  • Consider your extremities – hands, feet, toes, ears and tip of your nose are vulnerable to the cold first, so depending on where you are exercising, take options to make your workout more comfortable.  A headband can make all the difference to your comfort levels and headspace when taking a walk around the park on a frosty day! 

 Most of all, stay active! The benefits of exercise are the same all year round, and well worth the effort! Sleep better, improve mood and focus, manage anxiety and stress levels and more. If you have any questions, feel free to chat to one of our team at the RecCentre – you can book a free 15min appointment via the app. We can show you how to use the app (including all the free workouts you can do at home or the gym), how to use equipment, take you on a tour of the gym, or answer any questions you might have.   

Ngā mihi
Te Ratonga Hākinakina | UC Rec&Sport 

 

 

Health and Wellbeing, Wellbeing

How to join the RecCentre and get your sweat on

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So, you’ve successfully completed Semester 1, but haven’t yet made it into the RecCentre?  You’re not alone!  Or perhaps you’ve just arrived at UC, starting up with us for Semester 2 or for your postgraduate study.   Here’s how and why you should get started at the RecCentre.

  1.  It’s ‘free’

Why pay for a gym membership each week, when you can get everything at the RecCentre?  You’ve already paid for your membership via your student levy, so you can get going without further cash outlay.  We offer group fitness classes, modern equipment, sport courts and a bouldering wall.    Everything you need.   Most stuff is included in your ‘free’ membership, with some user pays (heavily discounted) on a few extras (like social sport, consults, massage and specialist courses).

2.  A healthy body is a healthy mind

It’s true – if your physical body is well (think movement and food), then your mental sharpness (think memory and cognition) improves as well.  It only improves your chances of better grades right?
Move better, feel better, think better!

3.  It’s fun!

Movement should be fun – and we’ve got such a range of stuff to do to get you moving, you should be able to find something that spins your wheels.  If it’s fun (you enjoy it), then it’s more likely you’ll keep doing it.   Aim for 3x week for 30mins for a start, and feel the difference!

How to join

  1. Make sure you have your UC Student ID Card sorted (it’s how you’ll get into the building every visit)
  2. Set up your membership online.  Follow all the steps on this page. 
  3.  Download the Rec&Sport app ONLY after you’ve set up your membership.  The directions are on that page as well.
    (HINT: We  need you to set up your membership first, then your app USING YOUR UC STUDENT EMAIL, so that wonderful automations do the work behind the scenes to connect the two.  If you try to do it the other way, it simply won’t work.  The automations are clever, but not that clever!)

If you’re still having problems, please just come over to the RecCentre and one of our team will help you through.  We’re conveniently located across the bridge on university drive (not the Health Centre or UCSA ones, the other one) or 22 Kirkwood Ave if you’re coming from that side or driving.

Good luck for Semester 2, and we hope to see you down here real soon!

Ngā mihi
UC Rec&Sport | Te Ratonga Hākinakina