Why I love the sunshine!

Today looks as though it is going to be a sunny day. That’s good for all of us because it lifts our spirits and makes us want to go outside, cycle to work, walk the children to school instead of driving them, do some jobs in the garden, wash the paintwork down – anything that enables us to be in the warmth of the sun yet putting our time to good use. Great! We can get a bit fitter without having to find time to actually do a ‘fitness programme’ as such.

As some of you will know, over the last few weeks I have started taking ice skating lessons. It’s hard work but I love every single second that I am on the ice with my coach, Karen, who is so patient, encouraging and a brilliant teacher. I’ve had eight lessons with her so far and she gives me ‘home work’ which involves practising moves on the floor, (usually in my bathroom), where I am training my brain to help my feet and balance go a certain way, and in unison! It is a strange sight to see but a very worthwhile exercise as by practising on carpet and bare feet I am developing my neuro-muscular pathways to learn the moves so that I can do them more easily.

Our neuro-muscular pathways are created in our brain when we learn a pattern of doing a certain task – changing gear in our car, lifting one leg in front of the other when we go upstairs for instance. Over time those activities become completely automatic and that’s what I’m working on with my feet and my balance in the bathroom. It’s really hard to learn the different moves in skating, not helped by the fact that when you are skating you are moving around on sheet ice and you are balancing on a blade that is just one millimetre wide! But it’s coming and I’m learning and progressing with every lesson. I’ve even become more confident about falling and can get up again without any effort. That is, in fact, a really big deal! Yesterday I fell four times and twisted my knee, bashed my wrist, fell hard on my back and later hurt by thumb – but it’s all fine. Nothing that won’t mend in a couple of days and as my coach said, ‘it’s good to fall, because you learn more that way’. Excellent! I suppose I should be looking forward to falling lots more!

We all need to be aware that our neuro muscular pathways need to be worked on. Practise makes perfect. Whether you’re a golfer who lifts their head up when they shouldn’t, a tennis player who rushes the shot each time or a member of newly joins one of our classes and struggles a bit the first time they do the exercise routine, by learning the right way, practising regularly, and persevering, our brain and our body quickly learns what to do. That is what is so encouraging. It only gets easier with practise. As we become more proficient, we can become more ambitious, play better, exercise in a class at the higher level, perform more difficult moves on the ice rink! It is that progression and improvement that stimulates us and encourages us to continue. The better at it that we become, the more likely we are to carry on in to the long term. That must be our goal.

If you are thinking about joining one of our Diet and Fitness classes and you’re scared witless that you are going to be un-coordinated when you exercise, why not start off by getting one of my fitness DVDs and learn a few of the basic moves first. They are easy to follow and they all include similar moves to those that are taught in our classes. All of our class instructors are trained to the highest level and they can cope with people of all fitness levels and abilities so don’t worry, you will never be made to feel embarrassed. But it could just be that fitness challenge you have been waiting for. Check out our website for details of my DVDs and our classes.