Day 12 of Summer Camp for Adults

Day 12:- Friday 19th June 2020

Yoga with Sandee

This is my first session with Sandee and again…. I have thoroughly enjoyed the class. There was only me and one other person in today’s class. As I have already said… I absolutely love these small classes outside. I am so glad I took the opportunity to join David Lloyd as I am making the most of it. 

We start in a sitting position today bringing awareness to the breath and I am in my own bubble. I can’t remember the name of the bubble that I am supposed to be in… but it is a nice one. Leaning over to one side and the arm bent… lift the other one up and over. A few breaths are taken here and back to the centre and back to the other side. Movement and flexibility through the spine and hips. 

Moving into cat and cow poses and into a downward dog. I probably have the sequence completely wrong. 

I remember completing several rounds of Sun Salutations. I liked that Sandee gives explanations as to why we were doing certain moves. Again she has a very relaxing and calming voice. 

Oh oh oh at some point I was a lion… I am surprised I did this out breath but I just went with it. 

Due to being in such small classes Sandee is able to correct me when I am slightly doing it wrong. This is great as I wouldn’t know that I was doing it wrong otherwise. 

My flexibility and also balance is improving so much. I like the stories of encouragement that Sandee talks about during the session. I love how we tell ourselves what we are are grateful for. 

I didn’t mind doing the urrmmm and chanti chanti chanti at the end of the session. Again normally I wouldn’t feel that great doing it but because Sandee explains the reason as to why you do… all my inhibitions disappear. 

There was obviously loads of other poses and sequences that we did within the class but I can’t always remember them. 

Namaste 

A Little Break Before Pilates

I have a little break before Pilates and I watch the end of the tennis session that is going on and a bit of a 1:1 coaching session. Sue and Jo x 2 come off court and stop and chat. They all comment that they are enjoying their time back at the club. I have also told them that I am more than happy to play tennis any day and time. Sue has come prepared today with a packed lunch… she also has a gap before her Yoga session with Regi. Sue is ever so kind and even offered to share her sandwich! 

The break also gives me an opportunity to write some of my blog rather than leaving it to the end of the day.

Ruth the nice receptionist…. I am not sure if that is her title but she always gives you a nice welcome when you come into the club. She has been so nice and encouraging along my journey of getting fit. Mind you so have all of the staff but unfortunately I don’t know all of their names yet. I probably would have felt embarrassed about the amount of times I go to the club to do a class or play tennis but they make it so welcoming it is like second nature walking in. You could never tell if they are having a sh!tty day as they are always smiling and checking that we the members are OK. I personally think they are all doing an amazing job as no doubt they were probably a bit nervous about coming back into the club for the first time. 

I am not sure how I feel when all of the indoor facilities are opened but only time will tell. I am guessing the ‘R’ will be well down anyway and I just hope that if people are unwell they will stay away from the club for a period of time. 

Pilates with Victoria

Just two of us in our class today….. this is great as Victoria asks us what we would like to focus upon. Today we are going to use the weights again, I really enjoyed this yesterday.

Starting off with our eyes shut and focusing upon our breath. Hands on the ribs cage, breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Breathing in ribs expand and breathing out, ribs relax. This simple exercise really does focus you in the moment. 

Eyes open and reaching up and release and open. The normal warm-up of the head and neck. Rolling the shoulders up and forward… yeah I went the right way round today! Hands on the shoulders and arms up and moving. 

Roll-downs…. I love this feeling…. I can really feel my core engaging especially on the peel up, arms above the head and raise onto your toes… I am always wobbling in the first few of these but I am getting better at my balance. 

It is important for me to remember to concentrate on my own breath when doing this class and use it to support the movement. Sometimes, if I forget to inhale at the right point it throws me off a bit but at least I am able to recover quickly now. 

Round you…. twisting round with hips and pelvis facing forward. I feel as though I am rotating round more… this is probably because centimetres have gone from my waist over the last 12 days so it makes it easier. Plus obviously my core is getting stronger.

Wide squats and heal lifts… one at a time and squeezing the calf muscles.

Weights are introduced. We are lifting them up and down. 

Front, up side in and down

elbows tucked in out and in. 

Back muscles. Up and pull down.

weights behind and pulse and squeeze, strengthening back of the arms. stomach nice and strong.

Arm raises, then front, side, in and down. Repeating the above set.

Then chest press… in and out… 4 more, 3, 2, 1, Last one up and down. Draw the stomach in and pulse…. show me 8. Shoulder rolls…. 

Roll down to come onto hands and knees. Breath in ribs expanding and breath out ribs relaxing. Bend the arms taking the elbows out into push-ups. Then sliding right foot away keeping everything nice and still, return the foot and the other side.

Back to upper body, extend the right arm away and left, using the breath in and out. Then opposite arm to leg, engaging the core and softly pointing the foot. These appear to be getting easier. I am sure they won’t be on another day though. Back to press-ups but arms straight down. Keeping core strong.

Onto stomach into star shape and lifting opposite arms to leg. Arms down to side, head in the middle and lifting off and head to the side, back to the middle and lift to the opposite side. 

Leg series on our side. Bending underneath leg and lifting and flexing top leg. Engage the core. Then circling the leg one way keeping it smooth and then in the opposite direction, foot is flex. Both legs out and lift both legs up and down. Lifting up through the waist and a little squeeze. Keeping both legs lifted and little scissor kicks… OK please can I put my legs down… 4 more and yeah down…… 

Into a plank… breathing through the position drawing in the stomach. Oh great the other lady says can we hold it for a minute….. relaxing shoulders down. Let’s go for a further 10… Oh no she has now said let’s go for a further minute… You have to be kidding me… I can’t remember the last time I did a proper plank but there is no way am I going to say no….. keep going…. You have this….. OK, stop holding your breath…. you are supposed to be breathing through it… At this rate I am going to need some oxygen… Just breath in and out…. there you go… You are back in control… 2 minutes. Whoop Whoop!!! Then leg exercise the other side 

Core is being worked today. Shoulder taps…. wahooo you can do these from Mark Raynsford 19 Day challenge. Continuing to focus on the core. But we get to re-cap our breathing first…. Then into a little leg slide…. I don’t like this one… Not because it hurts but my mat annoys me when it slides up every now and again. Then the arms are introduced as well so it is opposite arm to leg. Then sliding both arms and legs away . Feet are still on the floor, drawing in the stomach. 

Table top position for toe taps down. Breath out as you tap. Not bad going… Then repeat… Then knee in and lifting shoulders off the floor looking forward and stretching out the leg… and change. 

Working the waist muscles. Left elbow across to the right knee, then a lift and reach across further. Other side…. still feel as though I am going strong but this is only cos I am breathing out with the movement otherwise I think I would be struggling a lot more. 

Now bicycle flutters… not sure if that is what it called…. but that’s what I am going for! 

Oh now the 100…. and beating the arms down… breathing in for 5 counts and out for 5 counts. Oh my god, I won’t remember to count them…. yes, yes, yes, Victoria is doing the beat and in 2, 3, 4, 5 and out 2, 3, 4, 5…. she is also clicking…. This makes it easier again!! 

Ooohhhhh and a nice little stretch…. and then upper body work with the weights for the chest. Open and close, then up and down, the right arm over the head and left down to the side and in and change sides. 

Spine curls…. again…. I like these ones…. They remind me so much of my physio sessions with Ian at Stanmore Hospital. Then shoulder flexibility and lifting arms over the head and return and peel down and then back up. 

Then stretching out the hamstrings. I am so much tighter on my left hamstring that my right but when we take a breath in and out… I am able to bring it closer to my body. 

There were some more exercises but I am too relaxed to share it all with you… 

Pilates always seems to bring a positive glow! 

Tennis with Sharon, Sue and Theresa 

What a great way to end an awesome day at Summer Camp…. fun doubles with the girls. My serve seems to be getting better…. even though I hit a few out they seem to be more powerful. I have tried to practice a few top-spins today as I watched a video as to how you are supposed to play it. Plus I watched Matt this afternoon coaching and he was using it a lot. 

Sharon and I took on Sue and Theresa to start off with. We had some awesome games and lots of 40-40 your ad, 40-40, my ad. Sharon obviously wanted to practice her serving today!! teehee. Wahoo we won… no idea what the score was… 

Second pairing was Sue and myself versus Sharon and Theresa. Again this was another fun game. Theresa’s serve really improved throughout the matches. Sue makes me laugh as she doubts her tennis abilities. She plays some really awesome shots but then blames it on the wind for keeping the ball in….. this is not how I see her playing… She was definitely going for those wide crosscourt shots with perfect execution! 

1 hour 45 minutes later…. we are done. Thank you ladies for great games and wonderful company. 

Exciting news…. we are going to have post-tennis drinks… I hope I don’t crawl home at 2:30am like I did from Anna’s post-tennis drinks….. The girls have said ‘everyone needs a friend like Anna!’…. this is so true as she is so kind and caring, even if she is a bad influence upon me! 

Tennis done!

Yummy…. I decided to have Fish and Chips tonight!!

Day 11 of Summer Camp for Adults

Day 11:- Thursday 18th June 2020

Walk without ‘Doris’.

Unfortunately, I went for a walk on my own today as ‘Doris’ had a little trip on Tuesday and has bruised her ribs and has sore legs. I still went for a brisk walk around our little park as I wasn’t sure if I would get to play tennis this evening as rain was forecast.

Walk Completed

1:1 Pilates with Victoria

Oh no……. There were supposed to be four of us… but now there is only me.. Initial reactions are:- I am totally exposed… She will know if I am doing right or not. Do I say ‘Shall we cancel the session?’… No, come on Gregory, remember you have just watched Penny from YouCanCoaching this morning about Feel The Fear and Do it Anyway. So what are you waiting for?

I placed my mat down and moved the weights slightly out of the way whilst Victoria gets me a band. Oh exciting…. I haven’t used weights in a Pilates class before. 

I start off with my eyes closed and focusing on my breath, with one hand on my stomach and one on the chest… Oh how I have changed. Normally I would have felt so self-conscious about having my eyes closed… more so that I am doing the class 1:1 but I just go with it. In through the nose and out through the mouth…. Lateral breathing and drawing the stomach towards the spine on the out breath. Making sure my weight are over toes and heals. Imagining a balloon pulling myself out. Then lifting arms up and reach, making sure in the neutral position. Turning head side to side and centre and head tilt the other side. 

Rolling shoulders up and forward…. oh no… I went up and backwards…. did she notice? Of course she did! You are the only person she is checking on! It’s Ok…. I haven’t giggled so I am able to quickly change direction. Then up and over reaching over the other side of the body for the side stretch.

Wahooo roll-downs….. I love these. Lowering the head and chin towards my chest and then gradually walking the hands down and hanging… little shake of the head and wiggle of the shoulders and then peeling back up one vertebrae at a time. 

I cannot remember the order of today’s session but oh no….. Into the dumb waiter. I always feel as though I struggle with this movement….. But I have no idea why I think I struggle. I also do this move with weights. 

I was also a mermaid….. I only like being a mermaid on one side…. There is such a difference between my left and right for this move. 

Within the session, I was on my back and had to roll up and look through my legs whilst my legs were bent, progression to straight and off the floor. The sliding one leg out, pointing the toes and back in and then the other leg, arms are introduced and legs off the floor. 

Bench press whilst lying on the floor…. not sure if they are called that as there is no bench but I know the move that I mean. Then fly-presses. 

Oh at some point I did squats with the weight and bicep curls and then taking the weight behind and squeezing my shoulder blades in. 

Stretches for the hamstrings with the band and taking in an extra inhale and on the out seeing if I can get the leg higher and closer to me.

I am so noticing the benefits of pilates…. I am more flexible, my posture is improving and I am losing weight.

It was definitely worth feeling the fear and participating in this 1:1 class. So thanks Penny for your post this morning.

Feeling Great And On Top Of The World After 1:1 Pilates.

Tennis Doubles with Mel versus Sue and Leon

It is another prefect day for tennis… Wow what an awesome match and it was so close. Mel and I were losing tonight but we managed to pull it back and win the tie-break 7-3. I am playing soooo much better than last night but that’s not saying much really!! Poor Mel is doing loads of running around… it reminds me of playing squash with Keeley when she used to cover about 3/4 of the court!!

Singles v Mel.

Wow both of us are serving really well… and to be fair we are also hitting some really great returns when they are needed. I hit so many dodgy and lucky shots this evening but they all count at the end of the day. Wahoo I won 6-4. We decide to play another set…. which probably wasn’t the best idea as my knee is a bit sore this evening… I think it was from running more than normal!! Wahooo I won again 6-4. I am surprised I beat Mel as she has the most amazing low, fast shot across the court…. mind you it is pretty low and fast straight as well! 

In all a good 2 hours 50 minutes worth of tennis!! 

Yeah No Rain For Tennis!

Day 10 of Summer Camp for Adults

Day 10:- Wednesday 17th June 2020

Finding The Balance

Well after last night’s fun….. I decided to cancel my lunchtime classes as I was worried that I would be over the limit to drive. I really missed them but I kept telling myself it is good to make sure you have rest day.

Tennis Club Session with Casey.

This is my first session with Casey and I was so nervous it was unreal…… it reminded me of my first sessions when I joined the club. I am sure the nerves will settle for future sessions. Leon and I took on Sue and Casey…. well when I say ‘took on’ I use those words in the most loosely terms.. I think we lost 6-1 or 6-2. I am sure we didn’t get as many points as Casey said…. Think he was he being very kind.. Actually he was really kind… there is no thinking about it. 

Tonight I played with way too much slice and not enough control. Casey even jinxed my serving tonight by saying… I guess you don’t hit may double faults. You know it…. double fault and another and another!! 

I shall be back in the game tomorrow!

Day 9 of Summer Camp for Adults

Day 9:- Tuesday 16th June 2020

I am bit late posting my blog….. I blame Anna for being a bad influence upon me as we had post-tennis drinks last night and I didn’t get in until gone 2:30am.

Anyway I had such an awesome day yesterday……. I had my first PT session with Michael.

PT Session

We started the session with chatting as to what I wanted to achieve…. So I tell him about the dress that I want to get into…. It’s not as though I have somewhere special to wear it but it is a reminded that I managed to get fit years and years ago even with a broken leg!! So there is nothing holding me back from doing it again…. Mind you I am quite tempted just to wear it to the shops!! Zoe….. look you manage to stay in the photo…. Poor Zoe I normally cut her out of this photo but I will never forget when her daughter said to me…. My mummy is supposed to be in that photo…. why have you cut her out? Good question no idea… So I thought I would leave you in it! 

The Goal Dress!!

Back To The PT Session!!

We warm-up with a few stretches and rowing. OMG….. Michael is asking me loads of questions and I am thinking I am so out of breath… I cannot answer him. I obviously start to slow down as I am told to keep the intensity… Now increase it a bit more you have 1 and half minutes left. Michael is very good at checking my form. I love this…. He gives me his undivided attention. 

We then do some squats…. Why I say we.. I have no idea…. as Michael doesn’t do them… it’s just me!! Mind you he does demonstrate what he wants me to do… We had over to the bar…. Not the kind I was hoping for with cocktails and wine… but a bar that you lift with a heavy weight on the end…. Thank goodness…. I don’t have to have the weights on. No doubt we will be working up to having them on at some point but for now I am really happy that they are off!

Deadlifts…. Michael gives a demonstration as to how to do it… Back flat, feet at a certain distance, make sure you have your knees and ankles in a certain position ( I can’t remember what this is now but I am sure it will come back to me when I need to perform this move again) Actually…. I am not sure if I had to lift the bar above my head now…. I think this part is blurry as I had a few too many glasses of wine last night! Anyway I got certainly feel my left glute working hard. 

Onto the battle-rope and slam ball!! 30 seconds of battling with the rope and then straight into bending down and picking up the ball, lifting it above your head and then slamming it down really hard on the floor. I love this style of training and it brings back happy memories of my training sessions with Stuart in 2011. Wow I can’t believe it has been that long…. 2011 was the year I ended up with a Grade 4 stress fracture! 

We progress onto the dumbbells and I squat down with them down by my side, explode back up… Not quite an explosion but you get the drift I am supposed to power up!! Oh now I sound like a superhero! Rotate the wrists and into a shoulder-press… I have no idea if I am using the right terminology but I know what the exercise is from this description! 

Once the set is done….. The final section….. The big rubber ring/tyre. Squat down, get underneath it…. flip it over, run round to the other side, bend down, and flip it over etc. OK… I can feel it in my thighs now… 

Then…. wahooo cool down and stretches. I really really engaged the session. Michael was forever walking around me to check that I had my form correct and would tell me how I needed to make slight adjustments. He was very very professional and I would definitely recommend others to take up the opportunities to book their sessions with him. 

PT Session Completed! 

Yoga in the Rain! 

Well I started Yoga in the rain which was actually really refreshing….. I could so tell that the Yoga instructor did not really want to do it in the rain and I was the only person in the class. I think if it was with an instructor that I have had before I probably would have carried on but I didn’t…. I gave up as I thought I have already had an awesome PT session and I am going to be doing Pilates later and tennis.

Pilates with Victoria.

Wow what a difference a hour or so can make in the weather…. It is back to being really sunny.

Today we start with our eye closed…. standing tall at the end of the mat and focusing on the breath… In through the nose and exhale through the mouth. OMG….. This is so relaxing. I think if I was lying on the floor I would have ended up asleep. Drawing in the pelvic floor; pulling in the belly button into the spine…. waking up the core. It is amazing how doing this class has improved my posture, lifting the arms up, reaching to the sky, squeezing the shoulders back. 

Roll down….. I love this move….. I can so feel my stomach getting stronger and stronger everyday. I am definitely going to carry on with Pilates when the club is open. 

Side stretches:- making sure you go up and over, ear in line with the shoulder and reach. Then into the dumb waiter movement. I find this one difficult but again I feel as though my range is improving. Not by much but an improvement is an improvement at the end of the day. 

Down into squats and lift and reach and then the progression for balance and onto your toes. A little scapula squeeze….. making sure stomach is strong throughout. 

Standing tall, inhale reaching up. Exhale hands behind the head, Inhale shrug. exhale relax, inhale open, lift the arms up and exhale and open the heads….. a Corkscrew…. No wonder I had lots of wine last night….. It was as though I had some subliminal message being sent to me throughout the day with the ‘bar in the PT session and now the Corkscrew in Pilates!!) 

Standing in a ‘V’ like position, draw legs in together, stomach strong throughout, imagine a couple of books balanced on your head and bend those legs down.. squeeze those legs together. Waking up the legs muscles, waking up through the glutes…. Oh they are awake alright… even though they feel as though they are in a nightmare at the moment!! I have noticed my glutes are getting firmer!! So it must be working. 

Waking up the torso and the back now….. Stepping feet wide out, turn the feet out, bend the legs, clasp the hands reaching up to the side and bending down. Bend the legs and lift the heel up, up, down, down. Stomach strong and then the other side.

Fold down, relax the head, hands onto floor feet into hip width apart…. Then rolling down, walk the hands out into press-ups…. and then walk back…. slowing do it again. Stack the spine bit by bit. Then hold plank position…. drawing the belly button in… 8 counts here…. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then into an inverted V allowing the blood to flow around the body and stack back up and repeat it again. I seem to be getting stronger in the plank. 

Wahooo child pose…/ rest position…. then onto your side, lift both legs up and down… try to lift up through the waist keeping your core strong. Stay lifted then little scissors. Then bend the bottom leg and lift and lower the top stretched out leg…. rest your head…. oops that would be me lifting it up… why I need to look at my legs I do not know…. then round they go…. circle the leg round… nice and smooth and then the opposite way… well done…. before you come onto the other side….. back into that plank…. yeah go me…. Then we do it all on the opposite side as we don’t want to walk lopsided! Then holding the plank again… breathing through it… nearly done… 4, 3, 2, and 1

Today’s session seems to be flying by. Then into a starlike position…. right arm. left leg up and down and then left arm, right leg up and down…. Then pressing finger tips into the floor, chest lifted up, neck is long, keeping focus down and forward…. little flutter kicks… stomach strong throughout.

Rest your head into your hands….. Then lift the right leg, towards your bottom, flex the foot, push the heel up and down. Then work the heel in, flex the foot lift it up, stretch it out and down…. 

Moving onto our back….. curl-ups…. Progressing to feet up off the floor. Then into opposite arms to legs slides softly pointing the foot and then a little bit harder feet off the floor. Don’t forget to keep the neutral position of the back. Then wahooo…. both arms and legs at the same time…. aren’t I the lucky one?? Actually, today for some strange reason it seems to be so much easier than the normal. I am not sure if the class is easier or whether I am getting used to these type of exercises. Then lift and twist to the opposite knees. I like the reminders to inhale and exhale as I think before I used to do it in the wrong order for the movement! Wrapping hands around the right knee and stretch out the left leg and lift the head up and change. 

Now we focus on the waist a bit more. Then we are into position 1 which is still on our back and knees toward the body and toes together and knees out. Position 2 stretch the legs out .Position 3:- turn the feet out and flex the feet. Position 4 take the arms up and over and circle all around and we lift a little higher. Then we are into single leg raises, pointing the toes to lift and flex to lower. Just a simple up and down!! 

Now spine curls….. and gradually tilting the pelvis back and gradually peel off and back down. Then we are into bridges, lift the right leg off the floor, up and down…. keep the hips level, stomach strong throughout. I can feel the sweat dripping all down my back… It is gross! Then the left legs turn… by the way don’t think we only do one set of these or any of the other exercises as we don’t!! 

Now sitting with our legs straight out…. walk the hands towards the toes…. and walk them back and sitting up nice and tall.. breath in breath out walk the hands in. Take the straight leg behind and reach the arms up and over into a side stretch and work your way down onto your elbow. Then into the mermaid….. Reach up and over and take the hand behind and look into the palm. Then both hands behind and open up the chest and thighs and lift the buttocks and push the hips forward and release. 

Moving onto hands and knees and into a cat stretch. Pushing up inhale exhale and drop into flat back position. Lifting right arm and left leg up…. balancing the drinks on your back… Keep the core engaged. Then step the right foot forward in between our hands and lift the arms up and push the hips forward. Look towards right hand. Then move back so the right leg is straight…. stretching the hamstring. Then moving into child’s pose. Then walk hands all the way to the left with right hand on top of the left feeling a nice big stretch down the side of the body. Stretching into an inverted ‘v’. Then child pose for a few moments of stillness. 

Back onto hands and knees and gradually rolling up and down the spine standing up and down. Then including the arms to reach up and open. Progressing into side stretches… oh that feels great….. then arms above the head and lower….. Deep breath in and deep breath out…. Well done…. it’s over…. the time just flew by.

Pilates done and all hot and sweaty… Yuck! 

So good….. Lemon muffin!! 

Tennis with Mel.

I had another fun session with Mel. The games are lasting so much longer and we battle 40-40 your advantage, 40-40, my advantage and so forth. It seems never ending. I end up winning 6-3 but the score could have gone either way. It was a great game for practicing our serves and also return of serves tonight. The weather is lovely. 

I need to get quicker around the court as all tennis players play such a lovely top spin shot that just flies off the court. I so need to learn how to play this shot…. 

Post-tennis drinks!

What a wonderful night it was…… Anna is such a bad influence upon me…. not though I need much influencing to be fair. It was a fun night with lots of laughter and wine. I so needed tonight… I remember getting home just after 2:30am hence the late blog!

Day 8 of Summer Camp for Adults

Day 8:- Monday 15th June 2020

Progress/check-in tracker day!!

I was super excited to check my progress today as I could already feel and see the benefits of Summer Camp. So I step onto the scales and get in…… 2.2kg lost. This is a running total rather than a weekly total by the way. Then it was onto the measurements. I was chuffed to bits about all of my results…… Drum roll please….. 4cm off my chest, 7cm from my waist, 3cm from my hips and 2cm from my thigh.

This is so true!! 

Tennis with Mel.

Mel got caught up in traffic this morning so I made the most of lying in the sun and calling an old work mate…. ‘Moon’. It was great to catch up and before I knew it…. I was back playing tennis. It was as though I was on holiday playing. The sun was shining and not a care in the world whilst I was out there hitting some balls. My serve was going really well…. unfortunately Mel has a killer return of serve that is delivered with such fine execution and so low to the net I would like to add! 

Perfect Day for Tennis at 9am! 

Our rallies are lasting so much longer…. is this because we are both getting fitter or our tennis shots are improving or a combination of both? I can feel my legs a little bit achy today but at least I did the sensible thing and I have cancelled this evening BootCamp… I don’t really want to cancel it but I know I need to rest my legs so that they have time to recover as after this game of tennis, Mel and I are playing doubles with Leon and Sue before Mel and I undertake Legs, Bums and Core. 

It was another real close game and set with Mel. So many deuces, your advantage deuce, my advantage. It seemed to go on and on.

Just Chilling before Tennis

Tennis Doubles.

This was the quickest game of doubles ever as Leon and Sue were late…… But it was so nice to see them as it was getting hotter and hotter out on the court and it was only 10:20am. Lots of fun and laughter was to be had.

Legs, Bums and Core with Claire.

I absolutely love this class even though it involves the dreaded ‘step’… Now that isn’t the naughty step but sometimes I feel as though I should sit on it as I can’t always keep up but you know what I am trying my hardest. I also feel as though I am lasting longer before my knees need to have a little rest. 

Claire is so full on energy and she has a lovely bounce in her walk when we ‘walk it out’…… My walk is somewhat lacking in bounce…. But it will get there! So we start with a gentle little walk and introducing shoulder shrugs and then roll-backs. Big move and heel raises. Walk it through…. feet wide and use your hips more. Step-taps, arms push across and then to the ceiling.. or sky in this case as we are outside.. The sun is shining, it is amazing. Hamstring curls. I love it when I get confused Claire will just say ‘anything will do’. I am sure she works on the same ethos as myself…. as long as you are moving you are doing really well!! She doesn’t even sound out of breath as she gives us instructions as to what we are supposed to be doing. Little leg toes out in front and then flicks… 

Change of song… Put your Hands Up for Detroit. (Naturally the hands have to go up at some point during this routine) Marching forward, on the spot and back… then side taps… All the time we are increasing the intensity. Wahoooo….. jogging… then forward side tap and back.. Stay with it…… feeling warmer?? Oh yes……. and more jogging with biceps curls… weight into the heels and arms across across now behind…. starting to get harder as we get onto the step and walk it through. Left leg and drop off the step…. This is where I already start to hurt… Not sure if it is because I remember doing it last week!!! All the time we are low and therefore working our glutes and legs. Then staying with the leg…. touch the floor and the sky… floor, sky. Oh yes…. Claire you work us and make sure we get lower!! The changes of legs get quicker and quicker. Squat and jump onto the step… I struggle with this. I can only manage a few but that is a few more than last week! We are having to stop every now and again to get water as it is such hard work especially when it is so sunny. But I am loving it. I could go in the shade but nope here I am working out in 24 degrees. 

I have trouble trying to bend the leg that stays on the step whilst the other leg goes to the floor with a light tap and back up. Yeah more squats….. 8 more. We are almost sitting on the step as we are getting lower and lower. Bend your knees. Down and lift the knee and tap. Other side… bend knees, sit back into it right foot up up up. 

So we have been working hard going from the side but now we are stepping back off the step. Front leg bent and back and tap and up. Other leg then back and lift the knee up. Then bend, tap, lift, extend. 

There is no let-up during the session but I am loving it. The satisfaction that you get from doing the class is amazing. The music is fast and keeps you motivated and so does Claire. She is fully aware when people are starting to struggle and words of encouragement are given. I can really feel my glutes are having a great workout. Yes… I get to shake my legs out…. but we are quickly moving into a wider stance… Claire checks that we are all OK… She has a great sense of humour… ‘I don’t want to do CPR but it is OK I can say what I want as there is no feedback on the app’. So in the wide stance we are squatting and then one heel up and hold it down and then pulse pulse pulse pulse. Then lower….. and a little bit lower.. and feel the burn. Heels down and singles. Pull the thighs up… 

Can you feel it yet?? Are you kidding me? Why did you have to say can you feel it YET?? I have been feeling it for the last 20 minutes!! Mel…. hurry up and say you can feel it so we can stop or at least go easy!! Mel is like a machine… she is not showing any signs of flagging! 

Lateral lifts…. balance has completed given up the ghost…. I step off the step and try to do it on a flat surface in the hope that I can stand on one leg… but nope…. Legs are saying no more….. but fear not….. I use the crash barrier that is at the side of the class as part of the one way system! It is as though I have my own ‘barre’ and I am able to continue just having the reassurance that if my legs do give way they won’t snap! 

Hurrah onto our mats for abs work!! I can’t stop laughing….. we are all struggling to get onto our mats… Claire says ‘Don’t spring into action you lot….. There might be someone thinking about coming to my class… and you lot would put them off… don’t go into marketing my class’. I personally thought we would be a good advert…. just goes to show how hard we are working! 

We all finally make it onto the floor and abs here we come…. we are ready for you!! Leg extensions…. yeah this isn’t too hard today. Shoulders higher, extend both legs and crunch… flatten the stomach and crunch…. Breathing out and in. 

Continue to lift head and shoulders and pulse! Roll up and onto your side…. side on plank…. Lift up and bring top knee in and out. Bottom hip from the floor… elbow to knee… OK it is getting harder…. hold it in and pulse…. then hold it…. lift up….. leg lift! 

Other side….. Then normal plank…….. make sure your bum is down…… Wahoooo we have success….. Claire is pleased with us all!! Drop one knee and then the other knee….. just a few more…. and drop…… OOOPPSSS I have gone for the spread eagle! 

Yeah stretches……. oh wow that was totally amazing!!!