Fit in Fitness

Course Overview

Hello and welcome to fits in fitness in this little introductory video I’m going to be telling you what the course is all about who is suitable for and what you can expect in terms of course content and results for yourself I’m going to let you know how it works what the membership is the fact that you can earn points and of course points mean prices so let’s begin with what it’s all about earlier in 2024 I had a check up at the doctors because I had reached my 50th birthday and I was shocked to find that in a very short space of time I had put on a stone in weight. This was predominantly around my middle but also quite a bit around my my hips and thighs. This was actually the heaviest I had been in my life without being pregnant. However I was eating pretty healthily, taking a few supplements, meditating, journaling, spending time in nature and yet my sleep was still appalling and I was piling on the pounds. With a lot of research and investigation I soon came to realise that cortisol was the culprit. Now cortisol is hormone which is produced in the body when we are stressed. It’s often produced at the same time as adrenaline. Now adrenaline leaves your body pretty quickly, but caught is all hangs around a lot longer and it can disrupt hormones, disrupt sleep, make the body hold on to reserves in the form of fat particularly around your middle weaken your muscles and make you more prone to high blood pressure osteoporosis cardiovascular disease headaches digestive problems anxiety fatigue cognitive impairment and ruin your immune system to boot.

That’s quite a set of effects!

So I had to look at my life and see where the stress was coming from. Now aside from being a single mom to two teenage boys and running my own business, I was also teaching Pilates classes at the times when the majority of people want them which is of course not when they’re in work meaning I was working evenings, lunch times and weekends. I was doing several classes back-to-back and not getting home to eat until around 8:30 at night. Now you’re probably thinking but Sarah I am not a Pilates instructor but you will still have a busy life and things in your life which are causing you stress and making that cortisol skyrocket. Now the reason why exercise is particularly important, and why I have made the class is the length they are, ASP cause as we get older all bodies become more susceptible to feeling the stressful effects of exercise. When we exercise intensely for more than around 20 minutes that is when our bodies go into the stressed state and start producing cortisol. And that’s when we get our hormones disrupted our poor sleep our headaches and as you saw it can actually lead onto all those much more serious long term health problems. Going to the gym to do 20 minutes of exercise isn’t really an option. For some of us we would

spend more time travelling than we would in the weights room, and you are very unlikely to find a fitness class which is less than 45 minutes long. Add to this the fact that exercising in the evening has a negative effect on your sleep pattern because you are getting the body and your nervous system stimulated which makes it harder for it to slow down and relax. That is why these exercise classes are short and sweet, and designed for you to be able to fit into your day, preferably in the morning.

Because these classes are online, and they are quite general, they are not suitable for certain populations. So if you are pregnant or have given birth in the last 18 months these classes are not appropriate for what your body needs rightnow. If you are recovering from an injury or surgery, you will need to check with your healthcare provider as to whether this form of exercise is suitable. If you have been diagnosed with a spinal condition, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, hernia, dia stasis, prolapse, osteoporosis or a neurological disorder, then again these exercises are not designed with you in mind and you would need to check with your healthcare provider as to whether they thought they were suitable for you. Because the classes are only 20 minutes long and I can’t see you while you’re doing them, you are fully responsible for what you do with your body in this time. It is absolutely fine to feel like you’re putting effort into something, but pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is not right. If you do experience pain in any of the exercises, you can ask me about it in the community chat and there might be a simple modification we can make so that exercise or position is comfortable and accessible for you. The exercises require you to be able to get up and down safely and independently from the floor, so again if that’s not something that you are able to do then these classes are unfortunately not suitable for you.

What to expect – in terms of course content each week I’m going to release 3 20 minute videos. Two of these will be more traditional mat Pilates classes with a focus on arms chest back and abdominals. The other class you could call

standing Pilates or barre. For this one you will need a chair, or the kitchen counter or edge of a table will do as long as it feels like you can put your hand on it easily without having to bend or reach. The barre class is going to be all about

toning those gorgeous legs. It’s going to be full leg hips and glutes workout. The classes will be quite intense but they will still include a warm up and a cool down.

You can do these classes as many times as you would like during the week. So for example if your target area for toning is more arms, then you might like to do that video a couple of times. It is entirely up to you. At the end of the week I will release a longer session, round about 30 minutes, which is going to be much more relaxing, it’s going to include lots of stretches and breath work designed to release tension from your body and nervous system leaving you feeling wonderfully relaxed and nourished.

The sessions are designed to raise your heart rate, which will boost your metabolism, be weight bearing to also boost metabolism and to improve muscle and bone density and overall body tone. They are designed to tighten up problem areas such as inner thigh, back of the arms and tummy muscles without building bulk.

The end of the week those sessions will then disappear and a new set will be released. In addition to the core content, i shall be adding short videos on exercise technique, for example how to do squats or what to do if your wrists hurt in four point position, and how to add in weights or resistance bands to your exercise routine, but as i said you can always ask me something specific in the community group. This group is where we can support one another. I shall be posting up motivational material and tips on how to make your exercise routine effective and fit it in with your busy lifestyle. It is where we can share our wins, but also get some support and a bit of a virtual hug when we may have been feeling a little bit under par.

Membership to fit in fitness will be on a monthly rolling commitment. And the more active you are in the community, and the longer you are a member, the more points you will receive. These points will translate into prizes which could

be a discount on another course or a discounted month, or maybe even something else a bit special.

I hope I have covered everything, but if you have any questions, or you’re not sure how this works, please just pop it in the community group.

I can’t wait for you to get started!