Lyceum Fit

Lyceum Fit and community engagement

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:56:00 GMT

Last week Lyceum Fit teamed up with the Harrow Club and the local council, in particular the GVEU (Gangs, Violence and Exploitation Unit). Both Sabina and George went down to Hooke, Dorset for two days to help out with the Harrow Club’s youth residential project.

The Harrow club is a fantastic charity that operates around South London. It runs a number of different Youth Clubs and projects around the area. Lyceum Fit was lucky enough to get involved and help out with one of their community residential youth projects. For quite a few months Lyceum Fit has been communicating with the GVEU and the Harrow Club to try to help deliver a program for young vulnerable kids.

The idea is to use sports and fitness as a tool to draw the kids in. Then after, to have a workshop to discuss certain issues or topics in order to exercise the mind and to draw vulnerable kids away from gangs, violence and exploitation. This very much fits in with our philosophy of “train the body, train the mind.” The idea of the trip was to listen to the demands and needs of the kids around the Sands End community in order to develop a program to address these needs.

Lyceum Fit helped with some of the activities and organised a listening event to focus on our main goal of the trip, which was to listen to the needs of the kids. At times it looked like George was having more fun than the kids, especially during the mud run. He also helped lead the night walk and nearly got us all lost! To begin with, the kids were reserved about the idea of taking part in the sporting activities, however as soon as they got moving we could see a shift in their enthusiasm, and the rapport started to build.

Going forward our biggest challenge will not be to deliver the program, but getting the buy-in from the kids, as well as influencing them on the benefits of how to lead a healthy, fit lifestyle. Next step for us is to consolidate our findings and come up with a plan on how we can best facilitate and attract the teenagers to active ways of spending their free time.

We also have support from Arc’teryx, a top outdoor clothing company to help us to engage with communities that may not have had the exposure to the benefits and rewards of the outdoors. We are very much looking forward to continuing working with the GVEU and the Harrow Club and hopefully, we can start making a bigger impact on our local community. Stand by for more community projects from Lyceum Fit.

Lyceum Fit Running the UTMB

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 09:08:00 GMT

Race Report of the UTMB for Lyceum Fit Personal Trainer

I had forgotten how hard it was and having done the Tor Des Geants (350km, 31,000m altitude gain) last year I thought the UTMB would have been a ‘walk in the park’ (mountain). However…ultras never are, which I should probably have learnt by now!

This year I wanted to beat my previous time of 40hours. The goal was to do it between 35-40hrs, which I did, completing the race in 37hours. I am happy with the result, but if I’m honest I would like to have come in closer to 35hours. My training didn't go smoothly and I didn’t do as much as I had planned because of a number of unforeseen issues. All that said, the training the week before went very smoothly (I will write another post regarding my thoughts on training and preparation soon).

‍THE RACE‍

I started fast on the Friday and was on course for hitting around 30hours, however, I soon slowed down and really started to feel it coming into the day on Saturday. Although the temperature wasn't super hot, the sun was very intense and made some of the long climbs even longer.

During the second night, I actually fell asleep twice, on the move, during two of the climbs. Luckily each time my sleepwalking was woken by another runner…not so luckily for them, they then had to try and stay awake listening to my chat! ��‍♂️��

After sleepwalking through half the night I decided to have a coffee at the next checkpoint and managed to finish very strong. As you can see from the third and fourth pictures, getting a better time than the previous year meant coming in early in the morning and there were, therefore, fewer people to greeting and cheering at the finish line (not everyone likes the 4am starts apparently…!) Still an utterly incredible experience and feeling none the less.

It's funny, whenever you are running an ultra you always think ‘never again’ but as soon as it's finished you are planning your next one! I think next year I will do a few shorter races and then in a few year's time, I will come back and conquer some of the big ones again! That may change though… ��

Climbing Matterhorn (4478m) - The Lyceum Adventures

Sat, 27 Aug 2022 11:13:00 GMT

Matterhorn is one of the most iconic Mountains in the Alps. Its distinct pyramid like shape is well known to many people - not only aspiring alpinists but also chocolate connoisseurs (just check Toblerone packaging)

I wanted to climb Matterhorn for some time, I am not an experienced climber and apart from having decent amount of fitness, my technical abilities are ...well ... let's say, there is plenty of work to be done there. Before even attempting to summit this mountain, I have spent a lot of time in Snowdonia, climbed Mt Toubkal (4167m) and Mt Kazbek (5054m) to become confident using crampons and an ice axe, as well as test how my body reacts to 4000+ altitude. All that together with my usual s&c sessions in the gym (focusing mostly on overall strength and joint stability, plus mix of low cardio and high intensity interval training helped massively).

PREPARATION IN CHAMONIX AND ITALIAN ALPS

Upon arrival to Chamonix, we found out that due to rock fall risk, Matterhorn was closed for climbers. 5 days we were spending in France, were dedicated to acclimatization and training before the main climb. This season has been unusually warm. Snow and ice melted faster and on a bigger scale than it has EVER been recorded before. Because of this situation, the danger of falling rocks was very high. The ice that served as a "glue" sealing rocks together and holding them in place, is not there anymore or there is less of it. Fortunately for us - the Swiss side via Hornli Ridge opened on Monday, which allowed us to follow with the climb as planned.

The main goal of training in Chamonix was to:

Acclimatise to the altitude
Get comfortable with climbing whilst using equipment and working with our guide
Get comfortable with exposure (we had a fantastic day of training on a ridge on the Italian site)
Get use to climbing using B3 boots.

I am not going to describe in detail the full training we did with our phenomenal guide Oscar. It was an incredible adventure that pushed us way beyond the comfort zone. We were experiencing a serious adrenaline overload each day and had a great fun with it. The days started as early as 6 am. Any grumpy feeling we may have had waking up, disappeared within seconds when we were trotting the glacier watching the sunrise surrounded by an absolute silence but the sound of our crampons hitting the snow.

CLIMBING MATTERHORN

HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO CLIMB MATTERHORN?

We have climbed via the Hornli Ridge, which is the most popular route. It offers a moderately technical ascent (graded AD) with a vertical height gain of 1300m. The most difficult sections have fixed ropes. There are a few long climbs and plenty of exposure, which especially in the upper parts, was a bit tricky for me, the wind was freezing and pretty strong. Thibaut climbed with Oscar, I had Polly from Wales as my guide. I was a bit worried, as after training in Chamonix, I knew and liked the way Oscar worked, this climb however was the first adventure I was to do with Polly. All my worries proved to be completely unfounded. She was a phenomenal guide, great support and I really enjoyed being guided by a female. We were roped from start to finish.

For me personally the biggest challenge was the strong wind we were caught in on the ridge close to the summit. This was the only moment I felt quite vulnerable, but I had a great trust in Polly. Slowing down was not an option, as we wanted to get out of the wind exposure as quickly as possible. In terms of physical fitness, once you relax into the climb and try to use the body efficiently without creating too much tension - it is a very nice sustainable effort, not easy, as it is a long day, but doable. You need to be prepared for 7-12 hours of climbing, depending how fast you are on the way down. Yeah, it was not the way up that was the hardest - it was coming back down. Also bearing in mind there is plenty of exposure - a good head for heights is very helpful ;).

All groups started near the Hornli Hut, the start times are around 4pm. Swiss guides and their clients have priority and begin the ascent. Our turn was around 4.40am. We had about 3hrs and 20mins to get to the fixed ropes (just above Solvay Hut). If we didn't make it to this point within the assigned time, we would not be allowed to continue to the summit and would have to turn back. We reached Solvay in 1hr 45 mins, which gave us plenty of time to get to the fixed ropes within the assigned time frame.

I always liked climbing or running in the dark. It is a truly special experience that keeps your senses and alertness in a heightened state, therefore I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of the climb. Watching the sun rising as we approached Solvay was truly breathtaking.

The climb from Solvay (located at 4003m) up becomes more technical, with only 475m left, the summit seems to be very close. It is ... not. The next 475m was fun, apart from the freezing wind I probably enjoyed this part of the climb the most. This section of the route can get crowded, as you encounter climbers who are already descending, but fortunately for us, the day was not too busy. Seeing St Bernard Statue at the top of Matterhorn brought a huge relief, at this point I felt really cold, despite having all the right kit tested previously in pretty extreme conditions. The wind was biting hard. After the initial excitement of making it to the top, I realised ... it was only half of the way, we needed to go back down.

To describe the descent I will only use one sentence - Well... it was a fight ;).

Needless to say, we made it to the Hornli Hut in one piece, exhausted but very happy.

THE WHY?

For us climbing Matterhorn was not only about the adventure and personal challenge, it was about much more. Myself and Thibaut decided to summit this iconic mountain to raise more funds for medical supplies for our friends fighting in Ukraine. This was our main objective and drive.

Summary - someone has told me, that it is not the fitness but the determination that makes you succeed at climbing. Determination is very important, but no amount of it will make up for lack of physical fitness and technical competence. Prepare yourself, do the groundwork, be responsible. Before taking on more technical climbs, choose "easier" Mountains with sufficient height, so you can experience how you feel at 3000m+ altitude without the technical demands of the climb. Being physically, technically and mentally prepared gives you a bigger chance of summiting, than relying on sheer will power.

THE KIT (What I Personally used)

Black Diamond Neve Crampons
Camp Armour Helmet
Black Diamond Raven Ultra Ice Axe (only used in Chamonix, not on Matterhorn)
Blacl Diamond Head Torch
2 x gloves (thick and thin)
B3 Boots Saleva Women's Vultur Evo GTX
Merino Wool Tee (Innov)
Merino Wool long sleeve from ISOBAA
Arcteryx Nodin Jacket
Arcteryx Beta Jacket
Arcteryx AR-385A Harness
Arcteryx Gamma Pants

New Fitness Studio near Parsons Green, Fulham

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 11:49:00 GMT

Welcome to Lyceum Fit

Come see Robbie, Sabina and George at Lyceum Fit a new Fitness studio near Parsons Green. We are located in the North West corner of South Park. We are in partnership with the Sands End Community centre.

We offer personal training sessions, group exercise, and bespoke kids fitness classes.