Fitness myths have amazing magical powers of sticking, says expert Mel Mitchell – even when there’s solid scientific evidence to the contrary.
As a personal trainer I hear the same comments and myths that surround the fitness industry all the time – and some of the most frequent are the ones which put people off giving things a go.
Running is bad for your knees. Yes, of course – if you over do the running then it may result in overuse injuries. But then again that applies to all forms of exercise. There is a common misconception that running will also result in arthritis later on in life. There is actually growing evidence that running recreationally can help your knees, and protect them against the development of knee osteoarthritis. And if you already have osteoarthritis, running can be beneficial in terms of improving the symptoms. Aside from the benefits for osteoarthritis, running also improves other aspects of the knee joint, not to mention the huge amount of other general health benefits. It is safe to say that the benefits of running far outweighs the risks.
Strength training makes women get bulky Another comment I hear countless times is. Yes, absolutely – women will build muscle tissue if they start lifting weights. That’s sort of the point. But no, they won’t get excessively bulky. Physiologically, the build up of muscle tissue in women is limited by natural hormones. Women have higher levels of oestrogen and lower levels of testosterone compared to men, which means that strength training tones the muscles and raises metabolism, rather than building ‘bulk’. Strength training also encourages women to produce more growth hormone – which helps metabolise fat and aids in reducing the effects of the ageing process. Ultimately, strength training should not be shied away from based on the fear of bulking up. In fact, strength training plays a valuable part in any fitness routine.
Speak to a professional It is always worth having a chat with fitness professionals; there is plenty of contradictory advice out there and so many myths. Do not be put off by common misconceptions; chances are there will be research and evidence that proves otherwise.
We’re so excited to launch the BV Magazine podcast! Months in the planning, weeks in the making… and we’ve found two perfect local voices in Jenny Devitt and Terry Bennett.
Not to replace the magazine – never that – the podcast is simply a ‘best bits’. Because we totally understand as a digital publication that no matter how good the content, sometimes reading on your screen isn’t practical. But if you don’t want to sit and read a magazine on your screen right now, maybe you do enjoy listening while you’re baking, driving, knitting, gardening, crafting, walking … and now we’re here for you!
If you’re a podcast fan, then you can step right in – just look for ‘BV Magazine’ on your favourite platform (we’re still waiting on Google to approve us, but we should be everywhere else, including Apple, Spotify, Alexa and TuneIn), or just hit play above.
I don’t know what a Podcast is!
If you’re not even sure what a podcast is – fear not. It’s simply an audio version of the magazine – like an audiobook, which you can start, pause and stop, and listen to whenever and wherever it suits you. And it’s super easy if you’ve never done it before – no need to go anywhere special, no need for special programmes on your computer or apps on your phone or tablet. The easiest way is to simply use headphones with your phone, or just prop up your iPad nearby, turn up the volume and press play below. Then simply get on while Jenny & Terry talk you through the latest BV stories.
We’re still working on the format, so do let us know what you think. In the meantime – we hope you enjoy episode one!
Whether you’re looking to grow your career, or start it, look no further. We love the work that we do. And so will you.
About us
Somerset Care is one of the major care providers in Southern England, and one of the largest not-for-profit care companies in the UK. As an award winning company, it’s no surprise that we put our customers at the heart of what we do, by listening to, and understanding their wishes.
Our Care Home teams deliver day care, respite care, dementia care, residential, nursing care, and end of life care. We champion the independence of our residents and encourage them to live their lives as they choose.
As part of your role, your duties will include:
Leading and supervising carers day-to-day, working alongside them to provide high quality care.
Being responsible for resident’s care liaising with their families, and health care professionals.
Be required to administer medication, and monitor resident’s observations.
Why work for us?
We really care about all of our staff and offer a range of excellent benefits:
We have partnered with Wagestream so you can access your earned wages before payday
My Caring Rewards – provides access to discounts at 1000’s of high street retailers. Make My Caring Rewards a part of the way you shop and you could save on average £1,000 per year
Opportunity to gain a qualification – qualification bonus of £100 upon completion
Access to The Hub online learning platform – our one stop shop for learning & development
Somerset Care Group Awards – recognising those who have gone above and beyond
Cycle to Work scheme – you can save up to 40% off the cost of a new bike and accessories
Pension scheme & life assurance
Free counselling service – 24-hour helpline for staff and their families
Return to work maternity bonus of £100
Fully paid induction and DBS paid by Somerset Care
Paid mileage
Enhanced pay for Bank Holidays
Weekend Enhancements
In order to be considered for the role, you will need to:.
Have you Level 2 in health and social care, be willing to work towards your Level 3 and have experience in a health care setting leading a team.
Be passionate, possess good communication, and organisational skills.
Be able to work flexibly across varying shifts, including weekends.
Be aligned to our values of connecting with people, making a difference, doing the right thing, and embracing change.
Are you an ambitious, self-motivated B2B sales or business development professional? Are you looking to develop with a forward-thinking company? Maybe you are excited and interested in technology, but not sure how to get into technology sales? If so, read on.
Who will I be working for?
We’re Nexus Open Systems, one of the South West’s leading IT solutions & managed services companies. We operate throughout the UK, providing industry-leading services and solutions to over 1,600 customers spanning multiple sectors including education, enterprise, SMEs, and local and central government.
IT is an ever-changing, fast-moving industry. Here at Nexus, we’re at the forefront as a Microsoft Gold Partner, in the top 1% of Microsoft partners worldwide. We have some of the most experienced engineers in the Southwest and choose to work with industry-leading technology & best-in-class partners.
We have ambitious growth plans and are now looking for a Business Development Executive to join our team in Exeter, with the aim of progressing into a Business Development Manager role within 18-24 months.
What are the benefits?
We pride ourselves in being welcoming and promoting a healthy work-life balance. As well as personalised Learning and Development schemes, we offer:
Salary up to £25,000 Basic + Commission
Road map to grow into a Business Development Manager in 24 months, earning £50,000 – £100,000
Enhanced pension scheme
31 days’ holiday (including bank holidays) which increases with length of service
Discounted rates on technology products
Regular social and fundraising events
Free Office 365 subscription and domain name
Pool, table football and retro gaming areas in the office
Cycle-to-work scheme
The latest tech for work This is a fantastic opportunity to break into the IT industry, joining a dynamic company offering a great culture and the chance to build a successful career. What will I be doing? As a Business Development Executive, you’ll be responsible for nurturing new relationships with businesses throughout the Southwest. You’ll be focused on new business activity and will be responsible for generating your own leads and appointments. You’ll also follow up on inbound enquires and our marketing campaigns.
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Working within an established team of sales professionals, you’ll be given time to learn and understand IT sales, whilst being mentored daily. You’ll be able to lean on the team until you feel ready to run the show, at which point your earning potential will also increase.
Your daily duties once established will include:
Using a variety of communication methods to develop a new business pipeline such as cold calling, email campaigns, social media, and networking.
Targeting new business opportunities within a variety of markets – supporting IT consultants in planning, delivering, and following up on direct marketing activities in key regions.
Supporting our marketing efforts that promote business activity, and attend new business events
Identifying and developing new opportunities with existing clients, helping to maintain a list of priority clients, and supporting the IT consultants in developing these relationships.
Collaborating with all necessary departments to ensure the best advice is given to our customers. What do I need? To join us as a Business Development Executive you will need:
Previous sales or business development experience, gained within a business-to-business environment
Experience of the full sales cycle, from initial contact through to close
A consultative approach to selling
Evidence of being able to undertake self-directed learning
Have excellent communication skills, both verbally and written, with good proof-reading and editing skills
GCSE maths & English grade C or equivalent Other companies may call this role Business Development Representative, Sales Executive, Internal Sales Executive, Sales Development Executive, Telesales Executive, Telesales, Sales, or Business Development. So, if you’re an ambitious sales/business development professional looking to make your next step, please apply via the link below and don’t forget to include a covering letter: Working hours: 37.5 hours per week. Job Types: Full-time, Permanent Location: We are hybrid working, offering flexibility to work from home and in our Exeter office. You’re likely to be in the office 1 day a week.
For full job spec and to apply please email a CV and covering letter to [email protected]. Or call 01392 205095
Some of the healthiest foods can be the most inexpensive. Nutritional Therapist Karen Geary explores the options for cheap protein and veg.
I have just concluded a gruelling six months writing up my dissertation on sleep disturbance during menopause. I can’t say much here as it is yet to be published, but what I can share are a few surprising things I learned about sleep more generally and what we can do to help us have better quality sleep. The Sleep Council in the UK says that 40% of us suffer with sleep issues of some description and for all kinds of reasons, so we know lack of sleep affects a lot of people. The pandemic has materially added to the numbers, with a number of pieces of research indicating that the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression have all increased over the last two years, leading to greater sleep disturbance and the potential for developing long-term habitual sleep issues if left unchecked.
Sleep isn’t just ‘getting some rest’ Lack of sleep makes us vulnerable to infections and illnesses, lowers our immunity and encourages weight gain. Prolonged sleep deficiency can lead to chronic, systemic low-grade inflammation, and is associated with various diseases that have an inflammatory component, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and neuro degeneration. Good sleep improves your immunity and among other things it can also increase your brain function, promote skin health and control insulin (and therefore help with weight management) and is anti-ageing. Most people who suffer with sleep issues say that have ‘tried everything’, and this was certainly the case in my research. If you struggle with sleep, you have no doubt already heard about terms such as ‘sleep hygiene’, the importance of winding down, stepping away from the smartphones and having a cool room etc. If that is you and you are still not sleeping properly then keep reading. I hope not to disappoint – but then again you already know there is no magic bullet.
Your food may be keeping you awake.
When we eat. Eating too late is a common issue for people with sleep disturbance. By the time they get home from work and have dealt with family and evening routines, mealtimes can be quite late. I had a Spanish client who did not eat until 9pm at the earliest, which of course is cultural for him, but his sleep was terribly disturbed and he was suffering the next day. We agreed to see what happened if he brought his meal time forward and went to bed slightly earlier. Over a period of six weeks he lost weight and the quality of his sleep improved. While this is an example of one, a recent study concluded that both sleep efficiency and the timing of going to bed were factors in managing blood sugar; people who had a later bedtime were less able to control their blood sugar the next morning, and craved a sugary breakfast. Poor blood sugar control can lead to poor sleep. I know from my own experiments, that I sleep (and eat) much better if I eat before 7pm.
What we eat. There was a fascinating edition of Secrets of Your Supermarket Food last year (Season 3, Episode 2 – see it here), when Stefan Gates and Hayley Pedrick demonstrated through monitoring the impact caffeine, alcohol and takeaways can have on sleep. Alcohol and caffeine are well known sleep disruptors, so experiment with what is right for you. A high caffeine, alcohol and salt intake can also wake you up in the night needing to pee, so cut down on those if that is happening to you. There are some studies that suggest that foods with good dietary sources of tryptophan, (found in foods such as chicken/turkey, tofu, milk, salmon, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds) and melatonin (found in milk, tart cherry juice, and pistachios),may lead to better sleep outcomes.
Ageing I found a number of interesting studies showing that while sleep may be shorter with ageing, it may get deeper. So while you may be frustrated with waking up early, the quality of your sleep may not be quite as bad as you think. One way of improving sleep is to make sure that our internal clocks reflect the natural periods of day and night. Help this by consciously stepping outside in the morning and get 15 minutes of daylight into your eyes. This action begins the process of converting serotonin to our night-time hormone, melatonin. Melatonin reduces as we age, so encouraging this through daylight exposure may be helpful. Matthew Walker in his book ‘Why We Sleep”, suggests that if you are waking up super early, try the daylight exposure technique slightly later in the morning.
For more sleeping tips, read the longer article on my website here.
by Karen Geary, a Registered Nutritional Therapist DipION, mBANT, CNHC at Amplify
I am looking for a cook from 6th July – 15th August to help out in our house in rural South West France.
This would suit a student (or ex chalet person) who loves cooking and mucking in and happy to be part of the family. Enjoys people, swimming and helping out.
We will be having lots of friends and family to stay so they must be willing and helpful and can drive.
We are paying £250 per week and includes flights and board and lodging.
A local expert from Citizen’s Advice provides timely tips on consumer issues. This Month: what happens if surprise new restrictions mean events I’ve booked won’t go ahead?
Q: “I love live music and, now that Covid restrictions have lifted, I’m keen to start going to events again. I’ve booked tickets for some gigs over the next few months, but I’m still a bit worried. I can’t quite believe things are fully back to normal. What will happen if restrictions come back in?”
A: It’s understandable that you might be feeling uncertain when there has been so much change but knowing your rights will help you deal with anything unexpected. If you’ve got tickets to an event which goes ahead but you change your mind about going or realise you’re no longer able to go, you have no legal right to a refund. If, however, the event is cancelled, your right to a refund will depend on how you bought the ticket: If you booked through an official seller, and the organiser cancels, moves or reschedules the event, you should get a refund. This is true even if it’s cancelled due to a government ban on large events. If this happens, contact the official seller to find out how you can get a refund. If you bought your ticket from a ticket-reselling website, your refund will depend on the site’s terms and conditions. If you’re worried about the event being cancelled, it’s a good idea to look at the terms and conditions before booking. If you bought from a private seller, unfortunately it is unlikely that you’ll be able to recover your money, even if the event is cancelled or rescheduled. We recommend contacting the seller to see if there is anything they can do. Ahead of any events you’ve booked, keep checking the information from the official seller or organiser to make sure you know straight away about any updates, like changes to the date or cancellations.
Another thing to be aware of is that scammers exploit these situations for their own benefit. If your event is cancelled and anyone – a person or a company – offers their services to try to recover money on your behalf, be suspicious. Make sure that you’re aware of the signs of a potential scam and always be on the lookout.
Our very own in-house food writer Heather Brown, has been shortlisted in the international Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Competition, making the top 10% from thousands of entries globally.
Heather first had an image shortlisted in the competition in 2018, with a photograph of a box of sugar-laden doughnuts. This year, Heather’s image of local cheesemaker The Book & Bucket Cheese Company’s multi award winning brie style ’Shakespeare’ cheese has been shortlisted in the ‘Production Paradise Previously Published’ category. Heather works as a food writer and home economist, running Dorset Foodie Feed as well as working with brands and agencies to help make their products stand out from the crowd. Heather is on the committee of the Guild of Food Writers, and has worked in and around food businesses for the last 20 years. Heather says “I love working closely with business owners to help tell their stories. More and more I think consumers want to see the products they buy in all their unfiltered glory, to know where they came from and about the people who created them. That is my focus when helping a business, whether that is through the building of a website, the taking of photographs or helping them curate some words for an advert or magazine article. “This particular image was taken to try and capture the sheer oozy-ness of brie in a way that might make a customer’s mouth water. It was taken very simply, with a dark background and natural light. I was careful to make sure that the cheese is the real hero in the image.”
Clayesmore has an exciting opportunity for a Catering Assistant to join our team of talented and experienced staff in the heart of Dorset. Clayesmore prides itself in providing a comprehensive, in-house fresh food service to its pupils and staff.
The successful candidate will be well presented and a hard-working team player with a good sense of humour. Experience within the catering trade would be an advantage but not essential as full training will be given.
Please contact Emma Grigg on 01747 813213 if you have any further questions.
Clayesmore is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of children’s and young people’s welfare and expects all staff and volunteers to share in the commitment.
