Weekly Wrap up, Week 37.

Weights, IOW day, Ghosts, library changes and more

I mean however bad your week may have been, Amen that you are not the Prime Minister. Is it comedy or a horror show? Either way, we can stop watching Corrie for a while as we wonder at how mad it really can get. They have only been back 5 mins..... so many of us struggle with imposter syndrome... clearly no such concerns at No 10.

How many of you had that epic storm this week. I thought the sky was falling in on Monday night… at the first clap of thunder I knew it was only a matter of seconds before a traumatised little Gretl (my rescue Jack Russell, known for her random moments of irrational overreactions) launched herself onto the bed and wrapped herself like a scarf around my neck, both of us a bit hot and hyperventilating, while the windows rattled and the rain hammered down. Bertie could be heard snoring contentedly at the bottom of the stairs, totally unaware.

I remember one Bonfire night when Bert really did surpass himself. He was lying on his back snoring loudly as fireworks whizzed and banged not far from our front door. I crept into the kitchen and without even turning on the light, quietly opened the fridge door to get the milk for my tea and as I closed the door, there he was, sitting expectantly, tail wagging!

It is GREAT to be back. I miss you all when I am away from teaching but annoyingly, I am still a little under achieving. You will have noticed that I am up at the screen a lot more and doing a lot less, as I try to be responsible and rest while whatever it is, works it’s way out. SO boring but I am in very good company as I hear a lot of you have also been very unwell. Hopefully we are now building super immunity as the weather turns.

As we head into Autumn, we hit the ground running…

WELCOME back to 3 returning members and WELCOME to 2 “new to us” members! It is great to see you online and I can’t wait to share all our online perks and benefits with you.

Beginner’s guide to weights. WHAT a fantastic response. It just goes to show that we KNOW we need to lift weights and how brilliant that we are taking responsibility for our health and wellness. I was delighted to see such a big class of new faces and have already been diarising two more blocks of classes to see out the year so watch this space. I am planning a regular evening class so make sure you are on my mailing list to hear all updates and info.

I very much hope the weather behaves itself and really look forward to seeing 15 of you on Wednesday for our Revitalise day on the Isle of Wight with the amazing Clamerkinwild and her flower farm.

Ghost tours - members you will have received your email. Sorry to be members only but spaces are very limited - you see! SO many reasons who being an online member works!

ONLINE LIBRARY. You will see some subtle changes in the library, to make navigating even easier. Pilates with light weights, Pilates with small equipment are now separate to the mat classes so hopefully you will go straight to what you are looking for. Also a new collection for blocks of strength classes for the 6 week challenges (Tuesdays and Fridays ) and the current bock of 4 - again so you can go straight to the class you are looking for. I hope you find this helps and always welcome feedback.

I hope to be recording from next week as I see some gaps I want to fill and some areas that I can develop.

Reformer life. I am really enjoying working on my reformer at home and look forward to using these skills to enhance my teaching as well as to give me inspiration for my “bringing the reformer to the mat” classes which I know you will love. I really enjoy learning and developing and then bringing it to our classes. I will also be offering an introductory price of 121 sessions on the reformer at my home so if you fancy a session or few, get in touch.

I have lots of plans for us this Autumn and will also be dropping in extra classes here and there. More of that to come but for now, have a super weekend and see you on the mat very soon.

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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.