Part One
The sun shone this weekend and we got out and about, breathing fresh air and getting out in amongst nature. Unlike other parts of the country we are all at liberty to go about our business as ‘almost’ normal, remembering ‘hands, face, space’ and the rule of 6.
A message I choose to adhere to, as I want to stay well, keep my family and community the same and support the economy.
I’m choosing to shop local and support friends and family with their businesses. i addition to choosing environmentally friendly and healthy options.
I’m choosing to focus on blessings and trying to be patient with others (I confess it’s not always easy) and I am muting the negative voices and energy vampires to preserve my mental well being.
Let’s choose to lift each other up and support each other too.
All Hallows
Came back to me on Friday and said no to a return before January 2021 – to say I was disappointed is an understatement, I’ve been teaching group exercise face to face for 37 years and the longest I’ve been away from you guys is my annual holiday! But I have dried my tears, pulled up my big girl knickers and will push on with creating wonderful Zoom classes (as long as you show up for them) and fantastic one to one sessions here at our private Gym and Studio – covid safe, sparkling clean, lovely and new.
I have approached another venue about hiring their facility and am willing to look elsewhere too (if you have any ideas or contacts, let me know). I am putting forward to All Hallows my risk assessment and plan for covid safe classes and hope I can explain to the powers that be how safe I can make our sessions for their students and us.
Lockdown?
Moving forward I am concerned that more stringent lock down rules might affect us and I want you all to be prepared ahead of any such restrictions so here are some suggestions to maximize the fun and effectiveness of working out at home with us on Zoom.
1) You will need a band, some hand weights and a mat (at the very least) and with those items I can give you a fab full body workout. If you participate in Contemporary Stretch classes a Chi Ball is often used (I can get all these items for you, just let me know).
2) If you want to join the Step class then obviously a Step is essential (if you have borrowed a Step and don’t need it for Step class then please return it so that I can loan it to DYBO participants who want to join in).
If you want to borrow a Step for our classes let me know.
3) Make space! Move that sofa, coffee table and so on, it’s only for the duration of the class, having as much space as you can make a huge difference to effectiveness and fun.
4) Get a long Ethernet cable and connect it directly to the router, I can see the difference when participants are connected to the router – the stability and speed of connection is so much better, I know that it is soooo frustrating and off putting when you can’t get a good signal.
5) Connect your device to the TV – the DYBO participants who have connected to the telly/speakers have told me its transforms their class/session experience, they have a better view of what I’m demonstrating and the sound is so much better too (tips and guidance below).
6) Book your session in advance and make a commitment, research has shown that when folks tell others they are attending a class or session (make a date) and pay for it in advance they are far more likely to attend, resulting in greater exercise adherence and better results. We all know that staying at home over the past 6 months has reduced peoples activity levels, their fitness, and lowered mood and mental health we must all be pro-active about taking better care of ourselves and encouraging those we care about to do the same – there is no better time to do this than now!
7) Please please please boost and support your immune system – being locked behind closed doors has weakened it. You also need to improve gut health (high sugar and starchy carb comfort food and drink combined with constant sanitizing, stress, worry and disturbed sleep has damaged our Microbiome and in turn, our immune system).
Declan, Steve, me and some other DYBO family are starting our Gut purify today, ready for the colder months and to boost our immune system.
If you would like to get involved on the next one, message me to find out what it entails.
Back to class?
So many of you have been missing from classes during September that I wondered what I had said? I hope you all return very soon – I miss you and wonder/worry how you are?
I’m here for you and hope you will be there for me.
It looks like we might have another 6 months of this strange way of living so let’s get on with it.
DYBO Live & Online – This week’s Classes are as follows:
Monday
6.30pm Boogie Fit (Beginners/Returners)
7.15pm The Middle Bit – Complimentary when attending BF or CD or £3.50
7.45pm Cardio Dance (Intermediate)
Tuesday
6.30pm HIIT (Simple & effective fitness training)
7.15pm Core Power – Complimentary when attending HIIT or DF or £3.50
7.45pm Dance Fit (Intermediate)
Wednesday
6.30pm Old Skool Step (All levels)
7.15pm Barre Fit (All levels)
Thursday
6.15pm Contemporary Stretch (All levels)
7.30pm Dance & Perspiration (Fitness with a Dance focus, more experienced)
Friday
6.30pm Freestyle Fitness Yoga (Relax, Restore and Reboot)
****** All the above classes change and vary weekly! *****
How to prepare your 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.
Fees, you have three options!
£6.50 per class. Paid in advance please.
10 Class Voucher £55
Membership, unlimited classes, £50 plus a lockdown bonus of free access to all videos of the classes!
(Valid first to last day of calendar month, paid on the first day of the month)
If things get so tight that you can’t afford it then please reach out to me, I want to keep you healthy and happy and help you through this tough time and trust that no-one will take advantage of me.
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. As reference, I do have a Paypal account but it costs money to receive and move money.
Stuffed Pumpkin (BBC Good Food)
Ingredients
- 1 medium pumkin or round squash (about 1kg)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 100g wild rice ( I use the bare naked no carb rice)
- 1 Large fennel
- 1 Bramley apple
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 2 garlic Cloves crushed
- 30g pecans toasted and roughly chopped
- 1 large pack Parsley roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp tahini
- Pomegranate to serve
Directions
- STEP 1
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut the top off the pumpkin or squash and use a metal spoon to scoop out the seeds. Get rid of any pithy bits but keep the seeds for another time (they are great roasted and seasoned with sea salt) Put the pumpkin on a baking tray, rub with 2 tbsp of the oil inside and out, and season well. Roast in the centre of the oven for 45 mins or until tender, with the ‘lid’ on the side.
- STEP 2
Meanwhile, rinse the wild rice well and cook following pack instructions, then spread out on a baking tray to cool. Thinly slice the fennel bulb and apple, then squeeze over ½ the lemon juice to stop them discolouring.
- STEP 3
Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Fry the fennel seeds and chilli flakes, then, once the seeds begin to pop, stir in ½ the garlic and the fennel. Cook for 5 mins until softened, then mix through the apple, pecans and lemon zest. Remove from the heat. Add the mixture to the the cooked rice, then stir in the chopped parsley and taste for seasoning.
- STEP 4
Pack the mixture into the cooked pumpkin and return to the oven for 10-15 mins until everything is piping hot. Meanwhile whisk the remaining lemon juice with the tahini, the rest of the garlic and enough water to make a dressing. Serve the pumpkin in the middle of the table, topped with pomegranate seeds and the dressing.
Gut friendly, seasonal comforting and inexpensive!
I hope you choose to take care of yourself and each other, make healthy choices and of course see me and the rest of the DYBO family at class and training here at HQ.
Love ya,
Helen xxx
