There may be a shortage of eggs but that doesn’t mean you cant still make delicious treats for the whole family. Check out this egg free banana loaf perfect for post Pilates snacking or whilst chilling out working from home.
Functional strength is the strength we need in our daily lives to live. To be able to pick up our kids, shopping, go cycling or running we need a balance between strength and flexibility. Pilates exercises build functional strength, by creating a balance between strength and flexibility you do not compromise your body alignment and therefore posture. Often heavy weight training can mean a shortening of your muscles which compromises your flexibility and posture.
Squats and lunges are great examples of functional strength training exercises. These integrated exercises use lots of muscles, whereas isolated exercises, such as leg extensions, do not.
Here’s a scary stat: your muscle mass and strength will decrease 30 to 50% between the ages of 30 and 80. So start using those muscles if you want to do at 80 what you can do at 30!
Doing resistance exercises and movements that help you become stronger, more flexible and agile means you are better equipped to handle day-to-day tasks as well as helping you be less injury prone.
Functional fitness incorporates muscle groups across the whole body it is beneficial to nearly everyone no matter what your fitness goal is. It builds lean muscle and can help you lose weight if that’s your intention. Right up to high performance athletes functional strength training brings a well rounded training session to your otherwise highly targeted weekly routine.
I am going to post some good functional strength training exercises on my youtube channel that you can do in your house and garden.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Following the Government’s latest response to Covid-19, it is with great sadness, I must advise that all Pilates classes are suspended from next Monday 23rd March. I hope to run the next three days worth of classes but please get in touch if you are not attending so I can check numbers. Don’t panic though! I have a new timetable of online classes that you can join from the comfort of your own home. Yes, it will be different, but the alternative is losing the hard work and dedication you have put into making your body stronger, more flexible and fitter.
I know what I would choose.We also all know that sitting at home on our bums is not good for us, so I invite you to join me online, live from Monday 23rd March. I will be running two live online classes a day from my private Beyond the Studio Live group.
Don’t have a Facebook account? I have created an online tutorial on how to set up a super secure Facebook page so you can join in! Please let me know if you have any questions or queries on this. I can also email workouts as an alternative should you wish! Click here to watch the video
I have also added a video on how to join the group and join the online live classes. Click here to watch how to join my page and group on facebook.
To avoid confusion, I am going to freeze everyone’s ‘real’ class payments from Monday 23rd March, so your ‘virtual classes and real classes are not linked.
I have come up with two packages, please let me know by email if you would like to sign up to either of these.
Package one:
- 2 live classes a day – one morning one evening – timetable coming tomorrow.
- Exercises you can do whilst out walking
- Weekly Pilates challenges
- Polls
- Prizes
- Positive lifestyle tips
- One filmed class a week
- Outdoor classes (providing this is allowed from April, should we still be in this situation)
- Weekly roll call and accountability to keep us all motivated and exercising
- Outdoor celebration, Pilates picnic in the park once we can celebrate the beginning of our new ‘real’ classes restarting
Package one is £28 a month (That’s £1 a day, 50p a class, should you embrace all of them! :))
Package two you will get all the above plus:
- One to one postural assessment and plan for helping you improve your posture
- Send me videos of you doing a class and I will give feedback and correction
- One to one virtual class once a week via skype
- 24/7 what’s app support
- First ‘real’ class back is free
Package two is £40 a month
I know how important these classes are for us all and can only hope – optimistically! (along with the rest of the country) that we return to normality soon. Until then I am doing my best to keep us all active and healthy.
I hope you will join me, and we can embrace this new adventure together!
I am here if you need to talk through anything and keen to help you get online and join my classes and stay connected during the next few months. In times like these we really need our community, my wish is that we take our ‘real’ class spirit online!
TRAIL TIP TUESDAY – WHEELIES WITH BEN MATTHEWS
Watch this awesome video by our friend Ben Matthews on Wheelies.
Each week we will bring you a new trail tip that you can put into practise in your own time when out riding your mountain bike. We hope you find these coaching tips helpful. Get in touch if you have a specific skill you would like to improve on.
TRAIL TIP TUESDAY – STEEP DESCENTS
Whether you’re doing casual trail riding or racing, you’re bound to encounter some steep descents. Being able to not only ride but enjoy your ride on steeper terrain is a real game changer!
How to:
1. First things first pick a day when you’re feeling good, have a nice warm up and then head to somewhere steep, ideally with friends so you can spot each other.
2. Start in your ‘attack or ready’ position.
3. Remain relaxed and roll into the descent looking where you want to go, not at the scary root/rock or drop!
4. A roiling wheel is more stable so don’t grab your brakes instead sponge them lightly to maintain a speed you feel comfortable with.
5. Keep yourself pointing down the trail – On bumpy terrain the bike will move around, keep your body pointing down and in the middle of the bike, let the bike float underneath you. Start on smaller slopes and work up to steeper terrain.
Each week we will bring you a new trail tip that you can put into practise in your own time when out riding your mountain bike. We hope you find these coaching tips helpful. Get in touch if you have a specific skill you would like to improve on.
