Weekly Wrap up, Week 36

Beginner's guide to lifting weights, September reset and being mugged by God in a hoodie

Well this weather is somewhat inclement. While my geraniums are struggling to hold up their jaunty heads, my hydrangeas are positively euphoric. Still on a hosepipe ban so I guess no topping up the paddling pool.

This week I have started listening to Ryan Turbridy again on Virgin radio. Having seen him interviewing at Carfest, it reminded me how much I enjoy his gentle Irish banter and dry humour.

I remember listening to his first show when he moved over to Virgin Radio and a story he told from a conversation he had with Sinead O’Connor shortly before she died. She told him that occasionally we all need to get mugged by God in a hoodie. Ryan said that this needed more explaining and then duly went on to share with us. Picture this - someone runs up from behind you and pushes you to the ground or punches you, and takes your phone or your bag and runs off and a few feet away, they stop and look back and take down their hood. They smile at you and you realise that it is God or someone really kind and lovely and they say “you needed that!” - a bit of a rock and roll blessing in disguise. Getting mugged by God in a hoodie. If you would prefer his explanation, you can find it on You Tube.

September is my January. I don’t know about you but when it comes to a reset, a few goals, plans and so on, January just doesn’t hack it. It is still dark, the post Christmas blues are hanging around as we have probably eaten too much and moved too little. The days are short, the credit card bills are dropping on the mat… who feels motivated to set new goals during this?!

September is a far more appropriate time. It is the start of the new school year and if it works for the education system, it works for me.

It is great to have a break from routine and structure but if you are anything like me, you are ready to get back to some normality and a bit of a timetable. I always crave a break from the timbale of life but I know for me, it doesn’t do to wander too far from the path and I am definitely looking forward to a busy and active Autumn and with the ongoing monsoon, plenty of time back indoors to tidy up, sort out and yes, to reset as boy o boy, do we have a busy Autumn here online…

LIBRARY NEWS. I will be recording some new content to add to our library and plan on some more basic Pilates and also some new Snack Bar classes. You have already been notified about the new collection for the upcoming strength classes.

I will be removing the “Monthly Challenges” collection in due course (Sept is in the library). It is good to try these things and see what takes off and what gets less interest so that I know where to put my energy and time but as this has had little response, I will give my time to new plans.

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO LIFTING WEIGHTS.

You will have read my email about our upcoming new classes - this is open to everyone. Members - please find details in your library and please invite anyone you know who has been thinking about lifting weights - £19.99 for 4 classes plus recordings to keep.

Clare’s classes.
As some of you may know, our lovely Clare has got to go for some surgery so from the end of September you will have to put up with me on Wednesdays for a while, as we wish Clare a very swift and full recovery. There may be the occasional guest appearance too, so watch this space and as always, updates in your calendar. We will be very pleased to see Clare return but only once she has had the necessary recovery and not a moment before.

What next?

We have three more adventures to end our busy year. On 15th we are heading to the Isle of Wight (fully booked) and on October 28th I have booked our very own, private Ghost tour in Lymington (more of that in a couple of weeks) and of course, our favourite - our wonderful Christmas lunch which, this year is on the earlier date of Wednesday 26th November at Steffs Kitchen in Beaulieu at 12.30- again details to follow but please put the date in your diary.

I am already planning our October teatime talk but very much hope to see you next WEDNESDAY at 7pm for this month’s guest.

I really look forward to seeing you all again and getting back to a busy schedule and I thought, as we head towards a new school year, this may be a prudent time for a little reminder on class etiquette and health and safety.

All classes open 15 mins early, give or take, and this is the time to set up (and of course, have a chat and catch up) to be ready to start at the scheduled time. Please remember that class information is listed in your calendar so you only need open the class link to see what equipment you need (or look at my mat!).

Life happens but please do your best to be ready to start on time. If you are late, you may miss vital information in the introduction or miss the warm up and prep., all of which is an important part of your class.

Leaving early because you have to dash is again an occasoinal demand of life but is not ideal and as before, you are missing an important part of your class so please do try to allow the full class time. Stretching and warm down may be boring but I assure you, rehabbing an injury because you alwasy skip out before the closing phase is a lot more so.

If you hop up to answer your phone/the door/lean out the window to speak to someone (yes, really), you may miss where we are and, while it is highly amusing for me when you scurry back and squint up at the screen to see what I am doing on my mat, only to leap back in shock when you see ME up at the screen looking straight at YOU, it is not a safe way to practise. Please try to treat your online class as you would your face to face. Give yourself respect and park it all up for 45 mins.

If you do arrive late, PLEASE double check you are on mute.

I will always give you 100% of me in every class. I bring to you over 2 decades of study and practise and experience and passion. I go to great lengths to to keep you safe, challenged, entertained and supported. I give hours of my life to continue my training and professional development, to plan classes to offer variety, interest, fun and progression.

In return, please turn up on time, stay on your mat and give the best you can. That is how we grow.

If you think you are far too busy and important, maybe you just need to be mugged by God in a hoodie.

Amen and have a great weekend x

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I know I need to lift weights but WHAT do I lift?

By juliet • September 3, 2026

SUE SUE SUE - I'm sorry for those who thought I had finally lost the plot (and GREAT to see two of you laughing as much as me) as I managed to squeeze that into a class online yesterday. Still making me laugh out loud. If you havent yet seen Ann Droid on Iplayer, do yourself a favour and settle in. It has got to be one of the daftest, funniest things I have seen in a very long time, and having started to use Chat Gbt a lot more, it is uncannily accurate. How they acted those roles, I have no idea. Just genius. I met one of our online friends for coffee this week and every time we drifted into more serious subjects, we just kept coming back to quoting lines from the series like a couple of daft kids. I highly recommend! And so to weights... It can be really overwhelming. I saw a post recently online that said "I feel more peer pressure in my 50's to eat protein and lift weights than I ever did in my teens to take drugs"! You can't go too far without being bombarded with podcasts, documentaries, magazine articles and radio interviews all promoting the need for a healthier lifestyle and how to achieve it but it can seem too much and very confusing. We recognise that Pilates is excellent but on its own, is not enough. The ideal blend is to practise Pilates, lift weights and then also bring in your walking or running or cycling or tennis. A bit of everything really. We have already discussed the "WHY" element of lifting weights and if you are still unsure, scroll back a few weeks as I have written a few posts on this but there is no denying the many ways it helps us and I regularly get comments on where in your day to day lives you see the benefits. I LOVE this! However, we are still not sure about how heavy to go so let's try and break this down and make it easier to understand . “Heavy” is personal—it means a weight that challenges you, not a particular number on a dumbbell. As a beginner, start light enough to learn the movement and stay in control. If you’re aiming for 8–12 repetitions, the final few should feel noticeably harder, but you should still be able to complete them without swinging, rushing or changing your posture. Aim to finish feeling you could manage another two good repetitions if you had to. If you reach 12 and feel you could easily do several more, try the next small increase in weight. If you can’t reach eight without losing technique, choose something lighter. Different exercises will need different weights, so one pair of dumbbells won’t suit everything. Take time to find your starting point—there’s no rush to lift heavier, and muscle effort should never mean pushing through pain. If you are swinging the weights about, rushing the movement or feel you could do more, you are not lifting heavy enough. If you can't maintain an appropriate posture, are holding your breath or using momentum to lift the weight, it is too heavy.

The Autumn Series and what is coming up

By juliet • August 27, 2026

What to expect as we head into the Autumn Series

Kayaks, clip boards and spinning for Prince Edward.

By juliet • July 30, 2026

As I go all things NF show for a week, I thought I would share some of the memories with you.

Balance. What does that mean to you?

By juliet • July 23, 2026

It's all about balance.

Why slowing down can give us so much more.

By juliet • July 16, 2026

Slow down.... which is what I did on a fabulous day at Wimbledon!

Tennis, Football, Ghosts and Hipflexors!

By juliet • July 9, 2026

WHAT a week it's been...

Route planning and going back to the fundamentals

By juliet • June 25, 2026

Firstly and most importantly, what a wonderful group we are! While several of you very sensibly chose not to travel on the hottest day ever recorded, and some of you are just too far and even overseas, we had a really great turnout for our first Summer Picnic on Wednesday. Ironically I had been searching for somewhere with shelter incase of rain - how could I have possibly known that we would need it for shade. We met in a beautiful venue, with a very welcomed sea breeze and had a great catch up over some amazing picnic offerings. It is always such a joy to bring us together and our social events are something that (as you know), I value enormously. While we continue to grow and reach ever further online, the funny thing is that we are so sociable and the more we meet up for things like this, the better connected we feel when we have a pre class chat online. The photos don't really do it justice and I apologise to those I haven't included but I chose not to use my phone too much and to just capture a few snaps of a really happy lunch. Thank you to those who came. It is always such a pleasure to see you.