Harpers Fitness is supporting the NHS’ high profile Know Your Limits campaign to help raise awareness of the relationship between alcohol and their health.
Alcoholic drinks are not only high in calories (a 250ml glass of wine or a strong pint of beer can contain about the same number of calories as a sausage roll) but can also affect exercise performance. For example, drinking too much alcohol in the 24 hours before exercising means you are more likely to develop muscle cramps – not great if you are training for a sports event or just trying to keep fit and healthy.
In the longer term, regularly drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of developing illnesses such as mouth, liver and breast cancer, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.
Many people don’t realise how much alcohol they are drinking. One of the campaign’s aims is to raise awareness of how many units of alcohol are contained in typical alcoholic drinks. For example, a large glass of wine (ABV 12 per cent) contains three units and according to a campaign survey, 77% of people didn’t.
How members are being encouraged to pick up a ‘drink diary’ leaflet, which will help educate members of the public of the dangers of excessive drinking. Those customers and members who complete a drink diary will be entered into a free prize draw to win a range of personal training sessions.
Kevin Yates, National Health and Fitness manager for Harpers Fitness said: “We are pleased to be supporting this national campaign and we hope that our activities will help local people understand the negative impact alcohol can have on their everyday lifestyle.”
More information can be found at www.nhs.uk/units. The NHS recommends that men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol daily and women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units daily. Units. They all add up! 