Author: Beck Throup

My SEH Journey – It’s more than just sport!

Posted on by Beck Throup

This week’s blog is written by former student and current Sport, Exercise and Health staff member, Hannah Soodeen.

Hannah, a University of Bristol student wearing a graduation cap and gown, smiling.
Hannah at her graduation

Prior to coming to university, I had an image of university sports being full of posh, scary athletes who were unintentionally intimidating to a not-so-sporty gal like myself. I quickly learnt that there is a lot more to sports than what meets the eye. Through my experiences with the SEH department at the uni I have found the friendliest, loveliest people who just want every student to be involved in sports. I have also learnt that there is a lot of effort put in behind the scenes, for example a whole world of catering, admin, organization and communication in order to create inclusive sporting opportunities for everyone.  (more…)

Intro to the Trails

Posted on by Beck Throup

This week we have a guest blog from Bristol Run Series Partners – Maverick Race, written by Elyse Fletcher. If you’re interested in learning more about trail running read on, and remember to sign up to the Bristol Run Series 6.5k in the Mendips now!

So you’re interested in trail running, you’ve come to the right place. Here at Maverick Race we are all about trail running! We live and breathe life on the trails, always looking for new trails to run on, new adventures to go on and new runners to join us!

But… What exactly is trail running? Why is it (in our opinion) superior to road running? What are trail shoes? And is it only for runners who can run 100 miles over mountain ranges and tolerate an unpleasant amount of mud?

We’ve written a handy short intro to answer those questions.

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The Runner’s Fencepost

Posted on by Beck Throup

Let’s start by imagining a rubber tube, packed tightly with little rubber pellets. You now take out the huge mallet that you just purchased and give one end of the tube a good whack! Due to the compact nature of the tube, much of the force exerted from the strike will travel to the other end of the tube.

Now imagine this same rubber tube is loosely packed, and we give it the same forceful whack at one end. The tube now gets squished by the mallet, flattens out, and force from the strike dissipates from the squished area in a sideways fashion. Consequently, most of the force never reaches the other end.

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Hospitality at Coombe Dingle!

Posted on by Beck Throup

In the world of cheffing, there’s a clear hierarchy: Michelin-starred haute cuisine at the top, mass catering dinner ladies at the bottom. But I’ve never believed in it.

My name is Tim, and I’m the head chef at Bristol University’s Coombe Dingle Sports Centre. I’ve done my time in restaurants over the years, working at some seriously fancy outfits – but I truly believe that, on all the metrics that matter, we match or even beat the gastro eateries. I’m talking here about quality, taste, nutrition, ethical sourcing, environmental impact, low food waste, and most of all, happy customers.

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B:Active – A Day in the Life of a Student Activator

Posted on by Beck Throup

Maddy celebrating at the end of a run!  Hi, I’m Maddy. I am a 4th year Medical Student here at Bristol and I am also in my 4th year of working for B:Active as one of the student activators. My role in the department has taken many different forms over the years, especially throughout the pandemic, but now that things are (hopefully!) settling back into normality I thought it was about time to take you through a typical day in my life on the B:Active team. I am currently on placement in Gloucester Royal Hospital so on weekdays I join our admin meetings remotely and keep up with the team that way. On the weekends however, I am always back on Bristol soil and so I thought it would make the most sense to talk you through my typical Saturday, as this is when I truly get my B:Active fix. 

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Top 5 strength exercises for runners, as recommended by a PT

Posted on by Beck Throup

Following on from our previous post, Sian from SC fitness takes a look at the best strength exercise for runners.

You may have read in our recent blog that strength training is very important for runners. Not only because it’s going to improve your running, but perhaps most importantly because it helps prevent injury. As running is a high impact sport, risk of injury is also high and I bet you have experienced – or at least know someone who has – a niggle or two due to running regularly. It’s understandable, however, that strength training – which is completely different to running – can be overwhelming when it comes to knowing what exercises you should be doing to make sure you’re getting the benefits you need. To help keep things simple and uncomplicated for you, here are my top 5 strength exercises for runners which I advise you include in your training.

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A Runner’s Guide to Strength Training

Posted on by Beck Throup

Our latest blog post for the Run Series comes from Sian at SC fitness. She takes a look at strength training for runners, and where to start with building the right training plan for you!

In a runner’s world, running often takes priority – understandably! However, in order for you to improve your running, to feel good whilst you’re running and essentially for you to be able to continue to run for as long as you want to, strength training needs to be part of your training schedule too. Runner’s can often neglect their strength training for numerous reasons. Perhaps it’s unfamiliar to them and they don’t know what they should be doing, or maybe they find it tedious and uninteresting. Whatever your own reasons may be, if you want to run to the best of your ability and stay injury-free, strength training is a non-negotiable. To help you get started, here’s a simple guide of why you need to and how you can implement your own strength work into your weekly routine.

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Keeping Active to Combat Loneliness

Posted on by Beck Throup

This year for Mental Health Awareness week the theme has been loneliness. Loneliness is something many of us experience throughout our lives, whether we’re at university or later in life. Feeling lonely can really impact your mental health, as you may feel the absence of meaningful relationships around you. Finding connections is an important part of combatting loneliness – whether that’s with ourselves, others or with the world around us.

Keeping active is often promoted as one of the ways that you can promote good mental health; it can help improve your sleep, boost your mood and reduce stress! Regular activity can also help provide the benefits of a structured routine and help build a sense of community.

Today we’re going to highlight some of the ways you can keep active whilst also combatting loneliness.

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