As the sun finally appears from behind the clouds in Scotland we are ready for the new summer fitness class releases from Les Mills.
The studio at Virgin Active in the Omni Centre was packed with Body Combat instructors wearing Venum shorts and sporting martial arts fighting gloves. Trainers Dave Cross and Aaron Davison led us on a sweaty journey of calorie burning kicks and an arsenal of punches.
A problem with the air conditioning meant that the mirrors clouded over and the room turned rapidly into a swamp. But all it did was make us work even harder and sweat buckets.
Here’s what I thought of Body Combat release 56.
Dave Cross and Aaron Davison on stage – Body Combat 56 Masterclass
The lower body warm up feels like a whole workout in itself. Seven muay thai knees on each side repeated. Very tough.
They’ve brought the advancing side kick back.
The music in track 3 is Hymn by Tina Cousins. They used it back in release 28. The song was originally recorded by 1980s band Ultravox, best known for Vienna.
In over 10 years of Body Combat the artist they have used most is German rave band Scooter. Track 4 is a Scooter track with a pounding beat that will motivate you to kick harder.
The “matrix kick” is going to annihilate your legs.
Track 8 is immense. Long, relentless and just when you think it’s over, you fight on for a lot longer than you think.
I thought the class was hard, fun and the right balance of musical styles. Where else can hard rock, dub step and hip hop co-exist to create fitness magic but in a Body Combat class?
Your turn: Are you a Body Combat instructor? Do you agree with my first impressions of Body Combat release 56. Share your thoughts. Leave a comment. Participants let me know what you think of the class once we’ve launched it.
You know what happens. As the tray clears the X-Ray, the machine shoves it into a separate channel and delivers it to a security man who has a whole box of tricks containing swabbing equipment and metal detectors.
I had two trays. One for my bag and one for my jacket, ipad and toiletries (all wrapped up in the obligatory clear plastic bag).
The machine selected my first tray selected at random. So the security guy had to search through a few days worth of worn and smelly clothes, and swab everything in my bag. Once done he then put it through the X-Ray again.
My second tray also got selected. This was because the machine didn’t like the shape of my deodorant container (though it was still less than 100ml). The same security guard then swabbed my jacket and toiletries and as before took my second tray and put it through the X-Ray again.
Then the machine mercilessly selected my second tray for a random search.
The same security guard collected it and went once more for his swabs. I said, “Surely you don’t have to swab it again you just did so five minutes ago?” But no. He has to do what the machine says. So he swabs my jacket, ipad and toiletries for a second time and then back through the X-Ray for a third time. I held my breath. Thankfully the tray made it through without being selected again.
I’m not saying that we don’t need airport security, but it seems to me that there should be an allowance for common sense. I had a laugh with the security man about this, but surely it would make sense to give him the flexibility to over-rule a clearly stupid decision by the machine.
Airports offer a grim enough experience as it is. Wouldn’t it be good if they tried to make the security process more sensible? At the moment they overlook common sense in favour of covering the Government’s backside resulting in stupid scenarios like I experienced above.
Your turn: Have you recently experienced Manchester Airport Security? Or any other airport security for that matter. Have you complained? I’d like to hear your stories. Please leave a comment by clicking on “Leave a Reply.”
If you’ve ever been on The Grand National roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, you may have noticed that it performs a very clever magic trick.
The ride tries to replicate the thrills of the Grand National horse race by having two roller coaster trains race each other round a twin track circuit.
But if you board the “blue” train on the right hand side of the station, when you have enjoyed your thrilling journey you will find yourself back on the left side of the station. The other “green” train has swapped sides with you.
The full figure eight layout.But nowhere on the ride do the tracks actually cross over. So what is the secret behind this switching?
This mystery puzzled my grandfather for many years.
Every week he would collect my sister and I from school and take us to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We would watch the Grand National from many vantage points and listen to the screams of the passengers and the roaring clatter of the trains as the rickety wooden structure vibrated and shook.
But even from high up on the Cable Car Ride, or from the observation window overlooking the “chain lift hill”, he could see no evidence to suggest that the tracks actually crossed over. And yet no matter how many times we watched the trains would always return to the station having changed sides.
Sadly the secret of the Grand National roller coaster eluded my grand father. He never found out the answer before he sadly died.
The trains at Beecher’s Brooke.And then one day, many years later, whilst surfing the internet, a childhood memory flashed back into my mind. Could I solve the secret of the Grand National roller coaster? Of course, Google was my friend. Within minutes I had solved the mystery.
The Grand National is a wooden twin track racing roller coaster by category. Known affectionately as “The Nash” by people who grew up in Blackpool, the ride offers many moments of “airtime” that stomach churning moment of weightlessness at the top of each drop.
They built it in 1935 to the plans of respected roller coaster designer, Charles Paige. And they incorporated into the track the special feature that was to befuddle my grand father and many others for years until the internet revealed the answer.
And what is the answer? Well the Grand National is not a twin track at all. It’s onlyone track. The station is actually at the half way point. So after giving passengers one ride, each train has only completed half a circuit and has ended up back at the station on the other side of the boarding platform. The illusion is that they have swapped sides.
It’s called a Mobius loop.
There are only two other roller coasters in the world that do this illusion. The Racer at Kennywood in the USA, and Montaña Rusa at La Feria Chapultepec Magico in Mexico City, Mexico.
The sad thing however is that I never got to tell my grand father the secret of the Grand National roller coaster.
But I suspect he knows it by now too. And on the day I worked it out, he’ll have looked down from where ever he is, lit his pipe, and smiled.
Take a ride on the Grand National with this YouTube video from the Theme Park Review.
Your turn: Have you ever been on the Grand National roller coaster? Did you notice the magic trick of changing sides. Did you know the Secret of the Grand National Roller Coaster Blackpool? I’d love to hear your roller coaster stories. Please leave a comment or share a link to your own articles.
