Like everyone else, my best laid plans are sometimes driven off course and that what’s happened this week, a tennis sized curved ball has been hurled at my head but balls bounce, so I’m aiming to bounce with it. When I was a young dancer performing 5 shows a day at a huge trade fashion show in Germany I fractured my lower back (a stable spondylolysis plus strained ligaments) at the time, despite my obvious agony, I received no help or treatment and didn’t know until I got an x-ray when I got back to the UK. The muscle spams must have helped keep my spine stable. Despite this injury and decades of sport, dance and training I regard myself as lucky as I’ve only had one significant reoccurrence of acute back pain until now… a call with 111 and a trip to Acute Injures at Frimley Park Hospital this weekend has provided me with pain and anti-spasm medication.
I’m blessed to have lots of training, education and experience with managing and treating back issues and so will be following my own advice over the coming days until it’s settled. I aim to teach/train you all this week, be it mainly from a verbal coaching perspective and so will be relying upon your energy, focus and support please – the more there are of you in class, more people means more atmosphere and experts for the newbies to follow. Hopefully I will be back to bouncing about leading from the front in no time – I hope to have your understanding and support!
Thankfully I had got in front of this curved ball and already prepared this week’s classes, including all new choreo for our Tuesday Dance Fit & Fab class. The track is a request from a class member – you will love it.
I hope you are undertaking the February Healthy Heart Challenge, how are you getting on I would love to hear?
Here is some more information to consider when managing your heart health, taken from a piece I wrote for one of last February’s Blogs
This week is about self-love, stress management and its effect on heart health.
“Studies suggest that the high levels of cortisol from long-term stress can increase blood cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure which are common risk factors for heart disease”. (British Heart Foundation)
So whilst stress itself might not give you a heart attack (if you are a healthy individual), the impact that long term stress has on hormone regulation such as on-going increased cortisol levels, exhausted adrenals due to excessive adrenalin production (impacting other hormones in the body and the body systems they influence), sleep deprivation/poor sleep quality and how that impacts cognition, mental clarity, function, mood and performance plus inappropriate life style choices such as poor diet, too much refined sugar, junk food, alcohol, caffeine, drug usage (prescribed or otherwise), smoking, poor dietary choices, and insufficient exercise, increased body fat, reduced libido, low energy and ‘joie de vivre’, withdrawal from friendship, companionship and consequently isolation will all impact heart health over time!
Want to read more go to https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/stress-and-heart-health
We have two spaces left on our First aider training day this coming Saturday, so how about investing in the gift of life saving!
The week ahead…
Sweet Potato Peanut Curry
Thick, creamy, and full of flavour, this curry is guaranteed to be a new favourite and is packed with Gut health boosting ingredients !
Ingredients
Vegetable or Coconut oil, to cook
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
3 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 – 2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tbsp plant-based fish sauce or soy sauce (or to taste)
1 lime, juiced
2 cups spinach
Coriander, to serve
Chilli oil, to serve
Peanuts, to serve
Method
Heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened and translucent.
Add the minced garlic and grated ginger, and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, until fragrant.
Stir in the red curry paste and tomato paste, cooking for 2 – 3 minutes to release their flavours.
Add the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, vegetable stock, coconut milk and chilli flakes.
Stir until combined then mix in the peanut butter.
Bring to a simmer (uncovered) for 15 – 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are just cooked through.
Stir in fish/soy sauce, lime juice, some extra peanuts (or cashews) and sweet potato leaves until wilted, then serve with coriander and chilli oil.
Nom nom nom…
Have a fab week!
Love ya,
Helen x
DYBO Live & Online – This week’s Classes are as follows:.
At All Hallows, Farnham & DYBO Studio, Church Crookham (Book in Advance only): Zoom class details further down the page.
Monday (AH)
6.30-7.15pm: Boogie Fit
7.30-8.15pm: Total Tone – with bands, handweights and mat.
Tuesday (AH)
6.30-7.15pm: 5 in 1 Fitness – with bands, handweights and mat.
7.30-8.15pm: Dance Fit & Fab
Wednesday (DYBO Studio)
6.30pm Old Skool Step – Step, hand weights and band.
7.30pm Barre Fit – Something to assist balance like a barre, eg. chair, worktop, mantlepiece etc.
Thursday (AH)
6.15-7.20pm: Contemporary Stretch – various equipment used at each class, contact me for info.
7.30-8.30pm: Dancespiration
Friday (DYBO Studio)
6.30-7.15pm: Friday Fitness Yoga Express
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Joining us at All Hallows or The DYBO Church Crookham Studio? – Protocols and Information
I’m so happy to be able to run Face to Face classes at All Hallows and at the DYBO Studio in Church Crookham. My primary objective is to ensure that we all have a wonderful time with effective and fun classes that are engaging, relaxed and of course, safe.
Preparation
1) Firstly ensure that you have booked by sending us an email info@dybo.co.uk confirming all the classes you wish to attend plus your payment method, be it as a member, using your voucher, or pay as you go. No on the door bookings or payments can be taken. Bookings are not refundable or transferable. I will keep records of all attending, please also keep a record of your own attendance too.
2) Preparing your kit bag/box. This depends upon the class you are attending.
Boogie Fit, Dance Fit and Dancespiration crew will only require your indoor trainers/dance shoes to change in to, sweat towel, and drink.
Total Tone and 5 in 1 crew – in order to prevent cross contamination currently I am not sharing equipment in a group exercise setting so you will need your mat, a resistance band and light hand weights/equivalent in addition to your trainers, sweat towel and drink.
Contemporary Stretch crew need a mat, band, chi ball and on the last Thursday of the Month you will need 2 x tennis balls and a sock for our Trigger Point and Myofascial release class !
3) Re borrowing equipment – if you would like to try a class or have forgotten equipment then you may borrow equipment on that occasion and please ensure that you sanitise it before and afterwards (sanitising products supplied). I can assist you with sourcing your own equipment inexpensively, moving forward.
On the night
*When you arrive at All Hallows, enter the school via the gates to the left as you face the school and follow the road around the school buildings.
*Please park in the playing courts and walk between the old school building and new sports hall, up a few steps on to the outside seating area, the studio door is to your right.
*Participants are required to arrive 5-10 mins before the class.
*Please change into your clean trainers for indoor activity as you enter, e.g. slip off your outdoor shoes, place your bag, walk to activity area then put indoor shoes on, the same in reverse to leave. This is to maintain the hygiene and cleanliness of the space, avoiding stones and glass being walked in and potentially causing injury and to protect the lovely new wood floor.
*The toilets are open to use but please arrive changed, ready for activity so as to keep use time minimal and avoiding queues.
*After a wonderful class change from your indoor trainers to outdoor shoes and sanitise your hands again if you wish.
*Please tell friends and family about our wonderful classes!
When joining me at the DYBO Studio (No.42, GU52 0YA) I will send information directly, including entrance code for the Studio and please note, advanced booking is required.
Fees, you have THREE options!
Please note that all Classes must be booked and paid for in advance and are non transferable or refundable.
Online payments only.
45 min Class – £8.00, 60/65 min Class – £8.50.
10 Class Voucher: £75 (to be used within 12 weeks of purchase).
Membership: £55, unlimited classes, plus a bonus of free access to all class recordings on our DYBO TV channel, and another bonus of a £5 discount for one to one services for current membership holders.
To be paid by the 1st day of the month (at the latest) and is valid from the first to last day of calendar month.
One full month’s notice of membership suspension/cancellation is required with one membership restart permitted within a 12 month period.
Bank details are UK Fitness Academy Ltd.
Sort Code 09-01-28, Acc No. 04284324
Please email me when you have made a payment and use your name and what it’s for as a reference. eg. Jane Smith Class Voucher
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Joining us on Zoom? – Links and Information
Monday
6.30pm: Boogie Fit
7.30pm: Total Tone
Tuesday
6.30pm 5 in 1 Fitness Class
7.30pm Dance Fit & Fab
Wednesday
6.30pm Old Skool, Step & Strength – Step, hand weights and band.
7.15pm Barre Fit – Something to assist balance like a barre, eg. chair, worktop, mantlepiece etc.
Thursday
6.15pm Contemporary Stretch
7.30pm Dancespiration
Friday
6.30pm Friday Fitness Yoga Express
****** All the above classes change and vary weekly! *****
How to prepare your Zoom environment
- You need space to move 2 side steps, 4 walks forward, 4 backward. Move trip hazards and furniture as much as you can (get help, be careful!) to give you maximum space for upper and lower body movement. Roll up rugs or secure them so they don’t slip or cause you to trip.
- Plugging your device in to your TV with an HDMI cable is brilliant as it gives you a good picture of you (like a mirror) and me – as well as boosting the sound if you go through the TV/Hi-Fi sound system. If you can place your device under the TV, then even better.
- I know some of you are using your phones – try to plug in to a speaker system (even those little speakers we have when we go on holiday would help) so that you can hear better as you move back from the phone. Angie has tried Bluetooth earphones and it worked well.
- Ensure you have maximum access to your Wi-Fi in the house and as close to the router as is feasible. Take phones off the Wi-Fi system and pop them on to your 4/5G network or place on airplane mode, unless that’s what you are using to join us, obviously. Ask family to do the same for the duration of your class – keep them off the internet whilst you need the bandwidth. The more bandwidth you have, the better the picture and sound and the less likely you are to lose the feed. Your health is a priority at this time and I’m sure they can do something else for that short time!
- Ventilate your exercise space, have plenty of water and towels to hand, keep your exercise equipment close – if you need anything, let me know.
- Wear correct footwear for your activity – putting an old pair of socks over the toes and ball of your trainers will help reduce friction when exercising on carpet (if they are a really old pair, cutting the toes open and then just having them over the ball of the foot is even better). It’s up to you if you want to dance or train in bare feet but be careful if you don’t usually do this as it takes time for the muscles and connective tissue of the feet and rest of the body to adapt to barefoot training.
- Make your own gym equipment. Save laundry liquid or milk bottles – you can fill them with water or wet sand/rice etc. to add weight and make a dumbell/kettlebell. I recommend you make a few in differing weights and you have written on them so you know what they weigh and seal the caps with tape to prevent leakage. Get a heavy duty shopping bag and put weighty items in it, check they can’t fall out and you have a kettlebell alternative. Make your own hurdles, put cushions, pillows, boxes, books on the floor to jump over. Use household items as floor markers for circuit activities. The stairs and outdoor steps are great temporary steps/benches for cardio and upper body work. The garden is a great open space to make an assault course or if you can get a signal, take your class or PT session outside, but do make it safe.
Disclaimer
I declare that all of the information I have given (both written and verbal) is accurate and truthful. I know of no reason why I cannot participate fully in any exercise programme and I do not deem it necessary to consult my medical Practitioner/GP/specialist. I undertake to inform my instructor should any information change.
I understand that I participate at my own risk and that any information given is not intended to replace or represent medical advice. I agree to comply with all terms conditions and class protocols and instructions as outlined above and whilst attending DYBO classes/training.
Do not attend classes if experiencing symptoms of Covid 19, Flu or airborne transmissible infection or have tested positive.
