Dancing Mama

My post-natal journey back to dancing fit!

”…but I don’t have time for fitness’: short & sweet, little & often, and how fitness could help you through stages of the menopause.

AlisonLoveofDance

20 Plus a Day. Short and Sweet, Little and often. 

I was so chuffed to be invited to introduce my latest ‘challenge’ to the wonderful Kaleidoscopes, a peri – and menopause support group, recently at their monthly support meeting. It led me to share the benefits of an exercise ‘challenge’, which may be suitable and well designed to support women through this stage of life.  I developed my 20 Plus A Day challenge (#20PlusADay) to highlight that even 20 minutes of physical exercise, which can gently increase the heart rate,* could be more beneficial to the changing body, than a programme of one hour+ high intensity sessions on a frequent – or not so frequent (for the time poor amongst us!) – basis.   I’m particularly talking to those who don’t already have a fitness plan in place, or could be something to consider if you’re already doing one or two hours each week and would like to increase this.

Fitness and the menopause

Here are a few key points to highlight of how the body is transitioning through the menopause, and how fitness can support the symptoms and changes, and therefore why it’s a good idea to get ahead and start preparing the body through fitness during the peri-menopause phase:

  • The symptoms of menopause are quite often a result of estrogen imbalance. Exercise is proven to be a powerful practice to combat these symptoms – getting your heart rate up for at least a half hour every day helps boost estrogen levels, which can help take the edge off.
  • Muscle tissue depletes faster as we transition through menopause and beyond – strength based training is highly recommended to keep replenishing and maintaining muscle mass.
  • Increased risk of osteoporosis in the years following menopause – exercise boosts the circulation of blood through the body, nourishing and strengthening the bones, and strengthening the muscles, will also support the bones.
  • Body shape or type is likely to change. Women feel and look physical different as belly fat can increase and be harder to shift – Light aerobic, cardio activity and strength based training is proven to be more beneficial at burning belly fat than long, endurance fitness types such as running.  

Pilates is a key go to fitness type for women transitioning through peri-menopause into the menopause as Pilates focuses on strengthening the muscles and joints, burning body fat, helping to develop muscle mass with the right diet, and some Pilates exercises provide a gentle cardio benefit.  The continuous movement and breath work involved in Pilates will increase circulation and kickstart the metabolism in the body, helping with fat and calorie burning goals. 

I designed the #20PlusADay challenge with two targets in mind:  

Short and sweet – As the research shows that shorter bursts of activity are more beneficial than long, endurance fitness types for women experiencing the menopause; and/or

I don’t have time for fitness – people who struggle to find time for a dedicated fitness plan, or who already have maybe a favourite fitness class once a week, and would like to increase activity, showing how we can make fitness more manageable, to prove we don’t have to specifically get our lycra on or even get in the car to go to a gym.  We can build fitness in small, manageable chunks of time as frequently as possible. Sometimes we don’t have to make it a big heave-ho to fit in the fitness, which can, to some, seem impractical – to some – impossible!

20 Plus a day could be interpreted as eg 20+mins walking, light jog, 20+ reps of press ups, squats, or 20 secs of plank after a warm up and if 20 is feeling too tame, you’re not noticing a difference in your fitness level, or you have more time, why not increase this to 30! This challenge is the springboard to build upon and make fitness a regular habit. Start building up intensity in those 20 mins and work towards the recommendation of a minimum of 30 mins 5 times a week. Contact me if you’re not sure what would work best for your body*

Make fitness manageable for you. Try my 20 plus a day challenge #20plusaday and see what health and fitness goals you can achieve in 2023 through ‘little and often’.

Ways to make a start this February:

⚡️ Mama Strength Spark – see what a month of unlimited online Pilates can do for you;

💪🏻 121 options to fit around your schedule in person in my studio Buckingham, or online options available;

*check with a medical pro if you’re suffering from any pre-existing health condition, have just recently had a baby, or are recovering from an injury. Contact me here if you’re not sure and would like to chat more.

More suggestions about how to make the 20 Plus a Day work for you, inspiration for how to mix and match different movement types, and how to interpret the 20 Plus a Day can be found on my social media platforms – search @dancingmamafitness on Facebook and Instagram.

Will you try the #StoreCupboardChallenge

AlisonLoveofDance

Did you see my #StoreCupboadChallenge?

I made the most of every essential in my store cupboard and freezer and my Oddbox*, without doing a big supermarket shop for the week! I probably saved £40 on my food shop by only buying the milk/juice/bread/breakfast staples – oh and popcorn and jelly beans on a cinema trip (essentials, though right?). 

I’ve done a lot of work to build up my store cupboard so I could still make sure we got the right nutrients for the week and I’d got some good meals left in the freezer from previous meals.  We’re a plant-based household, so it’s not like I was going a week without meat anyway, which can push up the food bill, though of course, so can the good vegan processed alternatives.  I worked through the previously bought processed freezer foods that were still lingering there so it wasn’t just living on veg and noodles for the week.  I also had some evening events with some canapés to help me last longer between meals, but we still had usual good portions of food everyday – plus my Baby O gets her free school meals still, so I get the run down from her on what she’s eaten (or not!) in school. I made sure she got fed well too. I just cooked more consciously for the week!

Here are my takeaways from the #StoreCupboardChallenge:

Oddbox Fruit & Veg Box
  1. I’ll think twice before buying the more frivolous treats that aren’t on my shopping list – I avoided the unplanned temptations by not going to the supermarket for the week;
  2. Massively reduced waste and I was being really careful with ingredients to make them go further;
  3. I discovered some delish food in the freezer I’d forgotten about so it wasn’t all boring;
  4. but yeahhh – some meals were pretty basic (jacket potato baked beans stylee!), but we’re so programmed to have the food we want at our fingertips – or to have the fast food can be so cheap, easy…and fast. It was quite humbling to go right back to really simple basic whole food cooking for the week without the ‘luxuries’;
  5. Saved a huuuuge amount of money for a week, so I can quite happily go for a guilt free meal out as a treat sometime soon – especially as even a meal for me + little one can equal a week of food shopping; and
  6. I found some new recipes and got creative – googled a few on BBC Good Food. Enter in the key ingredients and it finds recipes that match the ingredients (felt like I was on Ready Steady Cook); and
  7. it’s got me thinking more cleverly about my next big shop – what can I make sure I stock up on if I decide to cut my food bill again – might even have a go at the challenge once a month!

So are you going to try the #StoreCupboardChallenge? Let me know how you get on!

*use this code here for £10 off your first Oddbox. I’ll get £10 off too 😉

Leanne Stitt Doula Diary

Empowerment through connection to our bodies & moving through pregnancy

AlisonLoveofDance

Things I wish I’d have told my younger self… I’ve been talking about ensuring we don’t leave our health, and prioritising ourselves, too late. I wish I’d have started connecting with my body on a physical level during pregnancy. I practised hypno-birthing, which worked wonders for my mental health, but really wish I’d have continued moving, exercising, dancing (I got lazy) – and totally wish I’d have discovered Pilates sooner! Leanne Stitt of Doula Diary, and I have been talking about the importance and benefits of keeping moving during pregnancy to help for a quicker and healthier recovery in the post-natal phase. In this blog Leanne shares her thoughts on why its good to keep moving during pregnancy…and beyond!

Connection is our birth right, but it’s at risk.

More and more we are finding ourselves in our heads losing the connection to our own bodies. Education and society also keeps us in our heads, and this is at the expense of our bodily instinct & wisdom.

Reconnecting to yourself and your body when you’re pregnant can be so empowering. Simple adjustments in your day to day can create new habits which will strengthen the connection to your bodily wisdom, which man of us have lost along the way. Learning to reconnect to yourself in pregnancy is also a great tool to take forward into your labour and your journey as a parent.

Connect with the body during pregnancy

Pilates and similar embodied arts like Yoga is often described as the Dance of Breath and Movement which beautifully sums up Birth too. The breath helps centre us providing you with oxygen rich blood, gives us focus and can allow our mind to relax and our body open. Focusing on your breath has been shown to alter your brainwaves in a positive way, decrease stress hormones, blood pressure and Increases oxygen levels and relaxation.

Practicing movement with breathwork in pregnancy prepares you beautifully for birthing your baby, whether that’s homebirth, caesarean birth, hospital birth, whatever your choice, it will influence a more positive experience. Dancing through contractions has lots of benefits and can help baby descend into your pelvis. You can then take these skills you have learned forward to adjusting to life as a new parent. There will be times you will feel overwhelmed and centring yourself with your breath will help you clear your mind. Movement with your baby will soothe your baby, soothe you and support bonding.

Modern society is overwhelming, the constant juggle and expectation of more, so it is no wonder we are disconnected from ourselves. The above advice does not cover only pregnancy and about but moving forward into your role as a parent.

My top 5 ways to reconnect to your body:

  1. Dancing/Movement

Dancing during the first stage of labour can decrease duration and intensity of pain. Instinctive movement can help your baby move down into the pelvis  and will divert attention away from any unwanted sensations. Dancing with your newborn is also a wonderful happy hormone release and the moment is incredibly soothing for your baby.

2. Slow Down and Be Present

Remove yourself away from the noise, switch off technology and pay attention to what you are eating, how you are feeling, how the leaves are changing colour. Note how this makes you feel. 

3. Go outside 

Feel the sun, wind and rain on your skin. Blow away the cobwebs and clear your mind. Fill your lungs with the gorgeous fresh air and oxygenate your blood.

4. Question authority

Stay connected to your own genuine needs and desires by being in the body. Be your own guru and don’t feel guilty for taking the time you need to keep yourself well physically and mentally.

5. Be creative 

Do more of what inspires you. Paint, Make something, read, take a warm bath with your favourite treats. Do that things that you love but you never find time for, make the time. Feeding your soul opens you up to so much peace and joy.

Don’t forget to rest!

Now it is important to note that equal measures of rest and movement are important. Tuning in to your body will help to find the right balance for you. Breathwork can be a key tool and influencer in how we are feeling. When it comes to Birthing your Baby, if you’re too much in your head or adrenaline is taking over it will disrupt the flow of oxytocin which is a key hormone in birth. Breath work & Instinctive movement can break this process. If you would like to learn more get in touch.

Leanne Stitt

Doula_diary@hotmail.com

www.douladiary.com

07875122502

@douladiary

Pilates Studio

Announcing the launch of Pilates @ Juniper Lodge!

AlisonLoveofDance

I’ve finally named my Buckingham Pilates studio! 

Introducing 🌲Pilates @ Juniper Lodge!🌲I loved the idea of giving my studio that mountain lodge vibe, which led me to bring in my love of nature and those alpine views are not complete without fir trees🌲 Coupled with the fact it’s no coincidence that my tipple of choice is…GIN🤪and hey presto the name Juniper kept creeping back in to my contender list! I then started digging more into the name Juniper, particularly as I’m a massive essential oil geek. Love the way scent can transport the mind and elevate health. Lo and behold I discover how the native Americans burn Juniper for various benefits for example…and my favourite discovery of these ancient trees is this: “Juniper trees symbolise the strength and perseverance of human spirit… Even when it seems like we cannot survive, hope is never lost.” If that’s not an analogy for so many facets of my life, my philosophy for how I support my clients and the world at the moment, I don’t know what is.

AND IT JUST GETS BETTER! I’ve organised a giveaway!

Giveaway Competition – win a month of Mama Strength Pilates Programme and more…

Celebrating the launch of my studio, Pilates @ Juniper Lodge, I’m giving away a month of my ‘Pure’ Mama Strength online Pilates Programme and a few goodies in a competition! This is an opportunity to see how, by giving yourself the spotlight for a change in daily manageable ways, you might start to rediscover a glimmer of the energy, strength and muscle tone of the pre-child woman you know still lies within. With this insane prize, you’ll get Pure Mama Strength (a 121 with me plus one month unlimited weekly access to group sessions) and some other goodies…including gin! (no coincidence that I named my studio after a key ingredient of gin…ahem. There were other influences for the name (honest!), which you can read about through my announcement post on my Facebook/IG pages 😉 ).  Enter the competition through my social media pages below – hint: you can apply on both Facebook and Instagram!

Enter the competition on Facebook here
Enter the competition on Instagram here

Mama Strength is aimed at women with younger children who had their kids later in life.  The body can take up to 5 years to recover from childbirth, plus a ‘later in life mum’ body can also take a little more dedicated work to bounce back into pre-child strength, tone and energy, and well, it’s just so worth starting sooner rather than later.

  • Pilates @ Juniper Lodge
Dancing Mama Fitness Pilates

Us parents have got to take time out to prioritise ourselves for a change on a regular basis, separate from that ‘mum’ identity occasionally, and understand that a personal fitness programme can be for you too. Let’s not use the excuse that there ‘isn’t time’ – and see how Mama Strength Pilates programme helps you to getting into daily healthy habits, in manageable ways, with the support of me – a dedicated Pilates coach.

Honestly – getting to grips with my strength and energy through Pilates was a massive game changer for me. I gained the post-childbirth additional curves that tells me my body did an amazing thing, giving birth to my child, but through regularly practising Pilates I feel the muscle and core strength is there underneath helping me to prep for more physical, high impact fitness types like running or dancing – the powerful calorie burners. Work gotta be done on diet and a mix of fitness types to see a total change in body shape, and it’s got to be fun right?  Pilates is a great place to start to lay the strength foundations and build the confidence to move on to the higher impact stuff. Start feeling the results in one month – ready in time for Christmas, and then make a smooth move on to ramp up the NY health goals.  The only way change can happen is by prioritising YOU!

School’s out – but the workouts continue

AlisonLoveofDance

School holiday workouts: A workout attempted will be way more beneficial than no workout at all. 😉

Here’s a thought of the week for you: Sometimes matters are out of our control – including when the kids are at home on school holidays and we have a small person with us who needs entertaining – it’s easy to knock the idea of a work out on the head. 

I try to keep momentum for my Pilates clients in school hols though. This week on our group Mama Strength Pilates Programme session we worked out with the little ones in the room – the kids dipped in and out – an hour is a long session for the young ones of course. We don’t expect them to engage in anything longer than 20 minutes – and for the moments they’re climbing all over us we just go with it.

I keep some structure of the usual Pilates session going – but yeah – it’s nigh on impossible to get through the whole hour without the little saboteurs getting involved. So Plan B: when the kids start trying to copy or show their own moves we re-engage them in and try something structured (we use team work style exercises/stretches in my holiday sessions – the moves can be tried with kids of all ages).

Obviously a bit of play rolling around with them is great fun – just be mindful of your own safety and of the kids. The little ones love jumping all over us – in Pilates we draw the belly button through to the spine to avoid back injury and protect the lower, inner organs etc.

We just have to re-wire/re-focus the brain and, dare I say, ‘manage’ our expectations of how much structured workout will get done! Keep moving during your workout, know the kids will be in and out of the room…before you know it you’ll have burned more calories than you realise! A workout attempted will be way more beneficial than no workout at all.

I quickly sussed out these family home workout hacks in my lockdown home teaching life…and turned the things I discovered with my Baby-O (my social media name for my little girl) into my parents and kids Pilates session I now teach at music festivals. Photos from lock down Pilates with the family, and my sidekick and I teaching at a festival 🥰😜

Parents & Kids’ Pilates at Music Festivals

Achieve and maintain healthy body weight and help to reduce the food bills

AlisonLoveofDance
Fruit & Veg Box of dreams!

I’m hearing a common theme of needing inspiration for healthy eating from the parents I’m in contact with, and equally a hot topic in the news at the mo is families worrying about finances / increasing food costs. This week I’ve been sharing tips and re-sharing some blogs I wrote in my Mama Connect Facebook group, with a few suggestions to get some faff free low cost healthy eating going on that should work for the whole family. I’m supporting my Mama Strength Pilates Programme clients to make minimal changes every day to their daily routines to help prioritise themselves and their health on a daily basis in a manageable way. Here are more easy ways to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, alongside a regular fitness plan (calculate your healthy BMI here). Essentially unhealthy snacking is a major fiend to both body weight and budget, so let’s look at ways we can curb those snacky cravings or avoid over-eating – aand eating less also means lower food bills. Win win all round!:

  1. Get a later brekkie – there’s many mixed reports on ‘fasting’ diets, so feel free to do your own research here (I’m neither advocating or poo-pooing it as I think it varies in the individual), but delaying breakfast until after school drop off maybe means eating closer to lunch and therefore reducing the need for mid-morning snacks.
  2. Brush your teeth after the main course – having a fresh mouth means less likely to want to eat dessert…unless you reallllly want to eat it! 😉 A small drop of Peppermint oil on the tongue also has a similar effect if you’re out and about (check the oil is good enough quality to ingest – I prefer pure, high quality oils like DoTerra).
  3. Essential oils – Sniff ’em, drink a few drops in hot water, massage in to pressure points…oils can play many roles in weight management: curb cravings, increase metabolism, aid digestion, reduce sugar cravings – sooo much potential. I’ll be talking more about these elixirs of nature in the Mama Connect Facebook group.
  4. Drink a glass of water before a meal and eat off a smaller plate – the water makes you feel fuller, and a smaller plate will psychologically make you feel you’ve got enough on your plate.
  5. What are your healthy yummy snacks?? My favourite is a handful of nuts with my morning coffee. Strangely enough the flavours mixed together tastes like some sort of naughtiness! Or find something that you can keep in the cupboard that is at least good quality – organic maybe. On that note – I’ve been saving money on snacking – and now we’re a plant based household, on meat – and getting organic fruit and veg boxes instead.

This Eatwell Guide is a basic but useful reminder of how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet.

Ok obviously we want to enjoy life, right? Life’s too short to be completely virtuous, so everything in moderation. So have a think: what little changes can you make, and where you can get – or curb – your naughty craving fixes?

I’m actually in the upper end of my BMI. What am I going to do about it? Firstly I’m going to take a deep breath – remind myself I’m happy with my body, and how powerful and incredible it is, than I’ll REDUCE MY SNACKING AND GET MORE CARDIO going on! 💪💪💪

Join the Mama: Connect. Walk. Talk! group here for ongoing inspiration and motivation, including in person events, like my monthly free Parent and Kids walks.

How can I find myself if I can’t see the wood for the trees?

AlisonLoveofDance

Sometimes finding a balance between coping with the strain of daily life, or a busy professional world, whilst (as I write in Jan ’21) homeschooling, and then trying to find quality time for fitness, socialising (yes, it will be a thing of the future), or just to be alone with no care in the world just doesn’t seem achievable. Read to the bottom to claim a free trial Pilates session with me!

Be Kind To Yourself & Shine 2021

I’m a pilates instructor, dance teacher, and I have also been a personal assistant for the past 20 years helping busy professional people streamline their lives so they have more time to think strategically, creatively and freely. Transfer this to streamlining lifestyle, homelife, and perhaps there are ways that we can find more time in the day, the week…and find the budget, to be able to have more carefree ME TIME: be able to afford more fitness  – being motivated by a fitness professional to help you achieve goals; to fulfil passions; or for activities, not just for ourselves, but to do with family or friends…

Join my FREE Dancing Mama Connect Facebook Group here

As a fitness instructor I quite often meet their inability to joining in my sessions of: ‘I don’t have enough time’. ‘I can’t afford it.’ And this makes me sad, people! So I got thinking, how can I help my clients overcome these ‘barriers to participation’, and also to remove the mental blocks which will enable them to ultimately attend my pilates sessions, where I take pride in my regular clients’ feeding back that they are so much calmer, or stronger for whatever physical demands of parenting requires? So here we go:

Here are my 3 top tips to work towards streamlining your lifestyle, including:

1. Planning with the household – shared accountability.

A problem shared is a problem halved. What can you share with the people you live with.  Some of us might take on chores/tasks without questioning whether we should be doing it, or if they could be shared with a child. If the child is younger, perhaps start planting the seed of helping around the home now…and make it fun or rewarding! Planning with the family and letting them have input might also increase the chance of their ‘buy in’ to sticking with their responsibilities – hopefully eventually becoming an automated behaviour without your input!

2. Get organised

A weekly planner that is filled out at the start of every week – could be electronic, perhaps on a shared, non-editable tablet, and printable – or it could be a wipeable weekly board displayed in one place in the household. Perhaps a 10 minutes Sunday powow with the family to work out who is going where, what needs to be done, what homework needs to be in, what childcare is needed for you to achieve your Me Time, and most essentially WHERE YOU WILL FIT IN YOUR ME TIME! Connecting organisational digital apps together too is also a brilliant way of planning – Office 365 is great to track tasks, emails, your to do list, prioritising, scanning important letters from school that you keep losing around the house.

3. Financial Planning

Get budgeting – plan your goals you need to spend on – it could be getting a 1:1 fitness instructor to motivate you to your goals.  it could be going kayaking and paying for a membership for a club. And it could be as longer term such as a weekend away with friends.  But plan the budget so you know there’s no additional barrier to getting your me time in.  It could also be something you’re saving towards with the family – something fun for you to do together – me time isn’t just about the time on your own – it’s also making space in your life fo care-free time with everyone, without thinking you should be doing something else.

I’m not generalising in my advice, as we all have different circumstances and home dynamics, and I know some of you will have streamlining your household down to a fine art. My tips are by no means the complete solution.  But I also know the struggles of, for example some single parents, and even if a small part of my suggestions can be implemented, hopefully it’s planting the seed for the chance of a marvellous future, where regular, perhaps even daily time to fulfil passions and hobbies, or sitting quietly alone for more than 5 minutes is a thing.

If you’d like a FREE trial online group Pilates session with Dancing Mama Fitness, complete the questionnaire below, so I can get to know more about the lifestyles of the ‘audience’ I’m speaking to!

Peace and love.

I’d like a FREE Pilates session please!

21 Days to KickStart a Healthy, Fit & Mindful New Year

AlisonLoveofDance
  • Do you need some all round health and wellbeing TLC?
  • Has 2020 left you feeling just meh, stressed and mentally drained?
  • Do you want to know how to strengthen the immune system with foods that we eat?
  • Have you lost motivation for fitness and self care and need some kick start motivation?
  • Do you need to revive your lust for life?
Be Kind To Yourself & Shine 2021 - Health & Fitness Motivation Challenge

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a pretty challenging year, but what if it’s given us a gift? What if it’s given us a fabulous new vision, helped us to re-evaluate what is important in our lives and given an eye opening wake-up call of what’s got to give.

Can you say in 2020 you gave yourself a break, were kind to yourself and allowed yourself to step into your power?

Whether you answered ‘yes’ to the above and now need some 2021 motivation to elevate into that immense power, or if you answered ‘no’ and have acknowledged that something’s gotta give, we’ve got a 21 day plan to give you a guilt free opportunity to be kind to yourself and Shine into 2021: 4-24 January 2021!

Join Be Kind To Yourself & Shine 2021 Here

We’ll be running this for FREE, in exchange for a donation to our chosen charity: The NEED Project, Bedfordshire.

Your hosts will be Alison (@DancingMamaFitness) and Sandi (@SandiRatz PT) – fitness and lifestyle professionals, focussing on prioritising health, balance in wellbeing and passions within busy lives, not just for 21 days, but for longevity.

Sandi and Alison have teamed up with other experts in the holistic wellness industry bringing a whole array of motivational, inspirational and down right life changing knowledge to you, including self Reiki, EFT, self massage and meditation – survival toolkit in times where we can’t always see practitioners face to face, learn how from home!

Throughout the 21 days Sandi and Alison will bring daily inspiration, free fitness and mindset sessions and host parties from Tropic Skincare, DoTerra essential oils, and Juice Plus+ plant based nutrition, introducing some gorgeous, ethically chosen health and wellbeing products to set your 2021 goals off with some quality products.

There will be weekly giveaways, freebies from all experts involved, and two incredible prizes and the end for the winner of a prize draw and the most engaged throughout the 21 days.

Finish the 21 Days feeling Fitter, Focussed and Fabulous. You’re Welcome!

5 Tips to Smash Your Winter Workout

AlisonLoveofDance

Who’s ready for the dark mornings and even darker nights??

Yeah – me neither. Doesn’t always inspire a workout does it – especially one outdoors.

But I prefer workout in the open, and I’m trying to work out how to make the best still of outdoor workouts. Here’s my 5 tips for fitness motivation whilst smashing the winter workout blues:

1. Get kitted out

My best purchase of all time was a Uni-Qlo calf length ‘duvet coat’ as I call it, which I found when I was pregnant in the sales. I could just about fit my daughter underneath in the baby carrier in later years when we went out for our long walks in whatever the elements were throwing at us. I still love it now for those cosy winter walks – I wore it out for a walk yesterday in the crazy driving rain and felt both Snug and Smug at the same time.

Will you need to be warm? Dry? Need certain footwear to match the terrain or gear to match the activity – balaclava underneath a cycle helmet or raincoat with a peak in the hood to keep the rain off your face?

Granted some of the fitness gear can be pricey, but catch the right time of year and you can bag some bargains. That all said, some of the high street brands have their own fitness ranges these days – I quite often buy from Decathalon – it’s reasonably priced, and their clothing lasts me for a good year too!

2. Choose the location wisely.

Start planning some locations that aren’t too muddy – gravel pathways are usually a good shout for cycling, running or walking with good drainage. On road, or concrete pathways good for cycling – I’m not a fan of jogging on concrete as I used to suffer from shin splints – make sure you’ve got good running shoes for harder surfaces. Or what fitness instructors can you find online to save you leaving the house? I’ve been teaching my pilates clients online and it’s definitely helped out for those who have been shielding…and now for those who quite enjoy staying in for their workout.

3. Choose the time to work for you…

An increase in home working has meant we can work a little more flexibly, with some employers becoming more relaxed, and self employed peeps can also arrange their working day and be kinder to themselves to create the space in the diary for a lunchtime workout – some daylight and fresh air to help revive for the afternoon has huge benefits…unless a workout leaves you wanting to snooze!). Timeblock the week so you can make it happen – and sometimes paying for a course will motivate you to stick at it. Quite often with slightly cheaper rates as an incentive.

By far my winning workout situation is when I build the workout in to a part of my existing routine – lately I’ve been cycling my daughter to nursery and doing a route around the houses on the way home to clock up some miles!

4. …which leads me to strategic planning!

Make sure the type of fitness is relevant for the time of day. An invigorating, power workout in the morning or earlier on in the day will keep us mentally focussed, whilst a chilled Yoga session later in the day may help you to sleep, clear the mind and wind down. Different strokes for different folks of course so find out what works for you!

5. Workout with other people.

Nothing like some good motivation from working with a partner or a group of friends. Make fitness social. If you’re not in each others bubbles, fair enough you may not be able to do any contact sports, but team games where you can socially distance are just fun and quite often lead to a social life too. I wanted to join a rowing or kayaking club – might have to find a daytime or weekend club in winter(!), but the clubhouses quite often also have social nights.

Hope this has inspired you to research the options and talk to others about what they’re doing or enjoy. If you can get through the winter without the dark nights as an excuse not to do it, you should fall in to an easy year round workout routine

Fit For You. Fit For Life.

AlisonLoveofDance

New Mat Pilates programmes from Dancing Mama Fitness for Beginners and Open Level for those with previous Pilates experience!

Join me here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/dancing-mama-fitness-30868174193

Discover how Pilates helps to strengthen and tone whilst improving posture and reducing stress and illness by incorporating it in to daily life.

This 6 week online mat pilates course from Dancing Mama Fitness will take the beginners through the simple steps to understanding the ABC of pilates and how to put into daily practise in order to:

🤸improve strength

🤸improve and strengthen posture/alignment, correct postural issues;

🤸improve physical health – helping to stave off illnesses;

🤸make us happier!

🤸beat stress – Pilates focusses on coordinating movement and breath, known through many practices to calm the mind;

🤸help us live longer lives!

The course will include a complimentary 1:1 session, which we’ll schedule on your registration, where we’ll delve deeper in to anything you’d like to work on. Option of additional 1:1 sessions also available. We’ll meet every Wednesday or Thursday on Zoom for 1 HR Pilates and optional 15 minutes mindfulness relaxation at the end.

Hope you can join me. Get in touch if you have any questions: alison@theloveofdance.co.uk