Weekly wrap up. Week 28. 2025.

Athens, training and here comes July!

Forgive me a very short post pending a much chattier one very soon as I have lots to tell you about my week.

Yes, it does indeed look like a toture chamber. To be fair, it sort of is....

I had a very busy 4 days and this is a short post and I will share more in the next week or two.

Athens, July with MK Pilates.

Left home at 4am, arrived back home at 4am. Amazing what you can pack into 4 days but here goes -

Loads of learning, feta cheese, new friends, baklava, Greek police (had to be there), olives, new contacts, inspiration, roof top virgin marys, Acropolis, shopping, mousakka, 40* heat, smallest balcony in the world, reformers, balls, sveltus bands, loads of laughing, Ubers, Greek salad, coffee, fascia, Cadillacs, gossip, more laughing, making connections, anatomy study, shorts, new ideas, new ventures, Quality street, pizza throwing, karate kicks, mamma Mia, skateboarding, breath, my dreadful shoulder alignment, strength v mobility, cinnamon buns, night markets, metro, new cues, new ideas, co contraction (who knew? 🤣), elephants in Tanzania v elephants in Athens, more laughing, brain overload, soldiers Pom poms, wooden penis keyrings (why tho?), worst cabin crew in the world (so bad it was hilarious), full immersion, stories from the original studio, learning from the best, reminding myself why 22 years down the line, I still LOVE what I do, passion, belief in what we teach, the method, practice, physios and osteos and movement specialists, friendly locals, did I mention laughing?, learning from 2nd generation, warm pitta and hummus, tzatziki, cats, graffiti, air bnb, being surrounded by energy and passion and knowledge and experience. Such a fantastic time 🙏❤️

I LOVE throwing in weights, mixing it up, slight deviation here and there but having time like this reinforces to me why I chose Pilates, why I totally trust in and believe in The Method. It works. My God, it works… I am probably the strongest I have been in years, having added weight lifting to my life but on the mat, on the reformer, no gimmicks, just pure Pilates under an expert watchful eye, I was trembling, shaking, complaining, whinging and trying to laugh my way out of the bits I couldn’t do…

The fact is Pilates works, like nothing else does, and the more I know, the more I need to learn. I know I’m in safe and trusted hands and keep pushing forward in my learning journey.

After all these years of training and courses and with the advancement of technology, I always choose to hand write pages of notes in a trusted A4 notebook, complete with stick man diagrams. I have boxes and boxes of these books, and am rather attached to them - some are decades old but I just can't let them go! Maybe it is the physical act of writing things down that help to cement the facts in my brain. Maybe I am just a bit stuck in my ways!

I have so much to share with you both for my teaching but also for my understanding of movment, anatomy and more which I just love learning.

I need to take the time to go over all my notes and digest it. I had this idea of making a start on that on my (late to leave, 10pm flight home) but as you can probably imagine, I was asleep before take off.

Meanwhlle I am really keen to buy another reformer and am just measuriing up in my little spare room studio and wondering how on earth I am going to squeeze it in! While the measurements are not working, I am determined I can work it out!

I am wrapping up now and sneaking off to Swanage tomorrow in my camper van with my dogs and a good book (and meeting 2 online members in their van and friends who kindly invited me) for a few days sitting in the sun, drinking tea, watching Wimbldeon and reading - can't wait! I will be back bright eyed and bushy tailed for Monday.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful weather and have a really lovely weekend.

What is coming up.

WRINKLES? AGEING SKING? Read on....

I am really looking forward to our upcoming Teatime Talk. TUESDAY 15TH JULY. 7PM.

Dr Vix Manning will be telling us about her soon to be published book "The Inflammation Game" and how inflammation in the body can cause all sorts of nasties, not least AGEING OUR SKIN?!! Never mind aching joints - let's talk WRINKLES! So before you skip off for some botox, put this one your diary and remember to share the love and invite your friends and family. As always our talks are free of charge and open to everyone. Head to Teatime Talks on my website for all info and online members will find the link in the live calendar.

Finally... How are you getting on with your July challenge?

No live classes on Friday but a full timetable next week and LOADS of new facts, information, class ideas and more coming your way soon.

Have a great weekend.

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Sitting in Southampton airport and other stuff

By juliet • April 9, 2026

I want to keep it as on point and brief as I can and here are some cold, hard facts. Doing SOMETHING is a lot better than doing NOTHING! Whatever equipment you use and program you follow is far less important than the fact that you show up. Regularly and consistently. Only 30% of adults meet the resistance training guidelines and this drops to as low 10% for older adults. What is required? Training all major muscle groups at least once a week Aiming for 2 - 3 sets per exercises Using a weight that is getting challenging by the end of the set Moving through full range of movement. Now, why this is good news is that this can be acheived in whatever form of exercise takes your fancy and over here on our Pilates mat, we tick a lot of those boxes. Going into the 100 and wishing for the end, sitting tall in your Spine Twist and pushing for JUST ONE MORE rep is meeting this! We go through full range of movement, we use bodyweight as well as small equipment, so even if you are not lifting weights, you are doing your bit. (N.b. provided this is min. 3 times a week and you are pushing yourself to max ability in each of those sessions in one way or another and bringing in bands, small weights etc for additional resistance) WHAT COUNTS BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES AT HOME BANDS, BALLS, BODY WEIGHT, LOOPS A QUICK EXPRESS SET WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM YOUR RUN/WALKING THE DOG 15 MINS IN THE KITCHEN - YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPLICATE IT IT DOESNT NEED TO BE FANCY, STRUCTURED OR ELABORATE. IT JUST NEEDS TO HAPPEN Generally ALL types of resistance training work, as long as they are performed with high efforts which means that you get to a point where you are almost at failure. In other words, choose what you enjoy as you are more likely to stick to it and work harder at ut. CONSISTENCY IS KEY and the BEST exercise programme to do is the one you enjoy and will be more likely to stick at! MEMBERS. We have multiple classes involving strength and resistance every week. NON MEMBERS - I am just putting dates together for another 4 week strength program. Please email me if you are interested. More details to follow (I am delighted to be starting a 4 week strength training session with my local running club so I really am doing my best to share the love! )

Why runners need to lift weights

By juliet • April 8, 2026

Let's start with Improves balance and coordination Improves bone density Boosts metabolism and weight management Enhances mental health Helps with daily activity A few more?! Improves posture by strengthening your core and back muscles Reduces risk of injury by strengthening joints, ligaments, and tendons Helps regulate blood sugar levels and lowers risk of type 2 diabetes Improves sleep quality and helps you fall asleep faster Enhances athletic performance (speed, power, endurance) Slows down age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) The ACSM (American college of Sports Science) is the bible of the fitness world with regards to fitness and exercise prescription and has recently done a huge survey, publishing it’s findings in a new report which has got the fitness world very excited as it is the first survey of it’s kind since 2009.