This month's fitness challenge is all about Pilates!! I have been asked for a while to put together a flexibility fitness challenge, so the scientist in me went back to the origins of where the Pilates fitness challenge began.

What is Pilates?

Well Pilates was inspired by Joseph Pilates and this fitness concept was originally known as Contrology before his death in 1967.  In his book Return to life through contrology (1945), Joseph Pilates presents this methods as a series of controlled exercises aimed at improving flexibility, building strength and developing control and endurance in the whole body.


Is it spiritual?

Although Joseph Pilates studied various disciplines (including yoga), his contrology method adapts some of the yoga poses for fitness purposes and doesn't refer to alignment of energy like other eastern disciplines do.  So no, it isn't!

What about the breathing thing?

Lol to breathe is life! In contrology, there is an emphasis on controlled breathing to improve the uptake of oxygen into the muscles and engaging the core.  It's not actually a bad thing, as the worst thing you can do when exercising is to hold your breath!! That extra breath can help the body to open up and allow the muscles to do their thing! All my mum readers will totally understand why breathing helps with giving birth!!

So how does this months challenge work?

I have taken all the original 34 mat exercises from contrology and put them all on one sheet for us to practice. According to Joseph Pilates, the sequence of exercises are to be repeated daily. He famously said;

"In ten sessions, you will feel the difference, in twenty you will see the difference, and in thirty you’ll have a whole new body.”

So let's commit to see whether we reach the outcome of a whole new body.  I am excited about this challenge, as I have never allowed myself the time to be more disciplined in this area and in the nicest way possible, the classes were boring!!! Lol thank goodness for Cassey Ho who devised her Pop Pilates method which combines fun upbeat tracks (check out www.blogilates.com)

Wait, how do I begin?

The printable has a summary of the moves and I have put together a short how to video which demonstrates all the exercises (with modifications too).  Now those of you who might be more flexible, feel free to extend your legs higher or lean further forward! The great thing about contrology is that you can develop everytime you practice!

Good luck and keep me posted on your progress

Xoxo 
P.S  As always, you can click on the poster and download a copy to share with others too! Sharing is caring as my kids always say! LOL

Is it just me, or did we just fly through April?!  We have had a lot of things cancelled over the last few weeks, including the London Marathon.  Yesterday would have been the date of the 40th London Marathon and whilst I did not sign up for this years race, I will always look back with pride knowing that I completed the marathon in 2014!

Now it is NOT a small thing to complete 26.2 miles of anything!!  Whether you have walked, jogged or run the distance, I salute you because you made it to the end.  I guess being in this lockdown is a little bit like running a long distance race; we have had a number of hurdles and setbacks that might have gotten in the way of achieving the goals we originally set ourselves, but the marathon continues.  So if your goal was to become more active or eat a little more healthier, then it really is never too late to get back on track.  Just take it one meal at a time and one workout at a time.  

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Ladies, I just HAD to share this with you

So a friend of mine and celebrity PT Richard Callender is giving away FREE access to his online fitness programme CG Ignite for the whole of May.  Now I have trained with Richard and followed his programme before and honestly, for you to access this for FREE is amazing (because it is worth HUNDREDS!!).  So if you are looking for great workouts, a supportive community and nutrition tips for FREE for 30 days, then please visit

https://callendergirls.com/product/callender-girls-ignite-may-special/

Honestly, Richard has been a great mentor to me over the years and I love this passion for helping women to feel their best.  Get in there quick, as the programme kicks off on May 1st, so register by April 30th!!

This week's video!!

I hope you enjoyed the videos in the spring fitness series? This week I am sharing another bitesized dance video for you! It is a really quick and easy follow along dance video and I would love to see your version of the routine, so as always, please tag me in any of your pictures or videos doing the routine.  I will be back again on Thursday to share the May Fitness Challenge

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​As a fitness professional, I wear many hats and one of the biggest questions I get asked, is what can I eat or drink to reduce my risk of COVID-19?  Well there are no special foods or potions to drink to reduce the risk.  Obviously eating a healthy balanced diet is helpful for our immune system regardless of a global pandemic.  However, health isn’t just about not having a disease or illness, but taking care of our physical, mental and social wellbeing.  This has promoted me to share 5 evidence based steps to making sure that we are looking after our health during lockdown;
 
-Connect with others: Thank God we have the technology to still connect with our friends and family online or through the phone.  Don’t assume that someone is OK, just because they are posting happy selfie pics or think “oh well they have lots of people at home, so they must be fine”.  Be intentional with your connections this week!

-Be Active:  These are not just my ideas, it’s a fact!  Evidence suggests that being active can help to stimulate changes to your brain to help to lift your mood!  So find a form of physical activity you enjoy and make time for it!!! (a nice segway into my weekly bitesized fitness videos – see below).

- Learn new skills:  This isn’t the time to just binge watch TV shows all day!  Research has shown that you can improve your wellbeing by trying something new.  Not only does this give you a sense of purpose, but it serves as brain training and an opportunity to connect with other too whilst learning.

- Give: There are so many ways we can give right now - whether it's our time, money or resources to help others.  These acts of kindness can help to take the focus on our situation and help bring joy to others.


-Be mindful:  The things we reflect on and the words we say can have a positive or negative impact on our wellbeing.  Yes there are a lot of bad things happening right now, but lets try to focus on the things that bring joy.  Don't suffer on your own either, reach out to professionals who can help you in this area.

I hope you found these evidence based tips useful?  The key thing is to make it your own.  Why not take each day and focus on these steps.  I will be sharing these on my social media this week, so do look out for it.


Over and out (and don't forget my new workout!! LOL)


xoxo

I hope you enjoyed your Easter weekend?  This period of lockdown has really got me into sustainable cooking and thinking about how we can reduce food waste.  At home, we have really dug deep into the pantry and made the most of what we have before jumping out to buy more!  I was inspired to try cooking with leftover banana peels following an interview I watched recently with Nadiya Hussain (Great British Bake Off winner)!  If you didn't see my recent Instgram post, I have put a few pictures in the gallery below.  


Have I lost my mind?

LOL no I haven't.  But what you are not hearing in the media right now is the amount of food waste that is going on right now.  Not surprising either, as people were filling up their trolleys to the brim and not really thinking about whether they actually needed it.  With banana peels, they are full of as much fibre and potassium as the actual fleshy part.  So apart from making a good composte, give them a good clean, chop them up, boil them, season and toss them into a stir fry.  It tastes really delicious and not of banana at all. I served it to the family without revealing the secret ingredient until the end and it went down a treat!  Don't take my word for it! Give it a go.

This weeks bitesized workout

So we are continuing with our summer fitness series, but with a playground inspired HIIT workout.  This workout will have you doing hopscotch to monkey bar swings! Remember plastics? Just think the human version on cats cradle! Let me stop talking now as I'm sure some of you are reading this thinking what is she talking about! Lol if you know, you know!

It might not be the spring that we would have hoped for, but it is here!  So I am here to be your accountability partner by keeping you active at home!  This week I am sharing the first of our HIIT workouts in our Spring Fitness Series.  No equipment needed and even though I filmed this outside, all the moves are living room/family friendly and you don't even need to get on the floor!

The goal is to perform at least 4 rounds of the exercises. I do the first round with you on the video.  If time is short, spread out each round throughout the day.  You can team this workout with our April plank challenge too to mix things up in the week.

Let me know how you get on and continue to share this post with friends and family. Next week we have a playground inspired HIIT workout coming up. 

Happy New Month!  This month we are working on improving our core strength.  I am bringing back the Tabata style, so that means we will be working as HARD as we can for 20secs and taking a rest for 10secs.  The REST is a key part of this challenge, so make sure you use it!

I have uploaded a demonstration video below to show you how to perform each exercise.  if you can't do a full plank, you can always do a modified plank on your knees or even do a standing plank challenge.  If you need a video for that, just send a message to info@inspiredbyvu.com

Staying Active during lockdown

I have always been committed to supporting people to be active in their own homes, so check out all of my videos and previous fitness challenges (with more weekly videos to come, so stay subscribed to my You Tube Channel).

​  However, there are so many other amazing trainers who continue to deliver high quality content, so do shop around!  The fitness trainer of the moment is The Body Coach, aka Joe Wicks!  He has committed to delivering daily 30min PE sessions LIVE on his You Tube page during this period and donating funds generated to the NHS!!  So if you are not currently following The Body Coach, what are you waiting for?

My thoughts and prayers are with those serving on the front line or have been affected by COVID19.  I will do my best to continue to share as much as I can via You Tube over the next couple of weeks.  I have a lot more Bitesized fitness videos for you and have included some dance ones which people have asked for.  So you can do these alongside this months plank challenge.


Ok that is everything from me for now! Looking forward to working out with you.

XOXOXO

To all the Mum's reading this, I wanted to wish you a very HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!  I know we won't get to go for those lunches with the rest of the family or that spa weekend as planned this year with everything going on right now,
but just know that you ARE loved and appreciated. 

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​ I just wanted to jump on real quick to share a useful resource that I have put together filled with indoor fitness activity ideas.  There are LOTS of things you can do really and so many amazing people are doing things online.  Click on the picture above to download your copy.  Feel free to share this printable on your social media and with family and friends.  Self isolating isn't an excuse to be inactive!!

Keep well and stay safe xoxo

It's March!!!  I love this time of year, as we are starting to wake up to brighter mornings and get to hold on to the daylight until at least 6pm!  We are already a few days into March and I almost forgot to load this Month's fitness challenge on this platform.  Some of you may have already seen it on my Instagram page, so if you are not already following me, what are you waiting for (@inspiredbyvu).

This month's challenge 

You've got 4 exercise combinations targeting the upper body, lower body, cardio and abs.  Each exercise lasts for one minute, so you need to do as many reps as you can in that time.  As always, we will be repeating this whole circuit 5 times, to make our 20min workout.  So get your workout playlist ready as we get fit together!!

Check out the short demonstration video below which shows you how to do the exercises. Remember, you can modify the exercises to make it suitable for your level and add weights to increase the intensity.

As it's International Women's Day on Saturday 7th March, I'm doing a pop up class which will feature this months fitness challenge, so if you want to join me and some other fit and fabulous females, drop me an email and I will reveal the details of our secret location (info@inspiredbyvu.com)

XOXO

Welcome to February!  New month, means time for a new challenge!!  If you have been following me on my Instagram, you will have already seen the new Cardio and Tone Tabata Challenge. 

How the Challenge Works

We will be working out in 20 second intervals and 10 seconds of rest. So in total, it should take 20mins to complete the whole workout. The poster on the left highlights all the key exercises which you can print or download.  As you can see, we will be using dumbbells (DB) for this one. You are also going to need an interval timer to keep you on track. There are lots of free ones online to choose from (I use the Interval Timer app for android phones).

Strength training is important for all of us regardless of our fitness goals or age.  As a minimum, the recommendations for strength training activities is at least twice a week. So for the rest of this month, I would like to challenge you to try out the February challenge.

If you don't have any weights at home, you can grab a set at your local supermarket or sports store.  Or you can use a resistance band or pick up some heavy cans in your pantry, whilst you are getting started, so there are NO EXCUSES!! I have uploaded a short video which demonstrates the 

I would love to see how you are getting on, so please tag me in some of your pictures and don't forget to share the love by challenging your friends to do the same!


​xoxo

Happy New Year!  Wow just like that we are in a whole new decade!! 2019 was certainly a productive year. From finally graduating to launching new programmes under the Inspired By Vu family!  Honestly, I am so excited about the opportunity to help to change more lives through fitness and nutrition!

So what is new for 2020?

FREE Monthly Fitness Challenges
Well, I am bringing back monthly fitness challenges! I am truly passionate about empowering people to get fit in their own homes.  Yeah we have been sold the "going to the gym" hype and whilst I train people in the gym setting, not all of us have the time or resources to go their.  The best equipment we can use is our own body, so stick with me this year as we get stronger together.  
Check out this months 20min Tabata challenge.  Tabata is an advanced form of HIIT training which involves a circuit of 4mins with 20 sec intervals of very intense exercise followed by 10secs of rest. This sequence is repeated up to 8 times.  Not for the faint hearted at all!  I have taken the principles of this method to develop my 20min Tabata challenge.  The core exercises might seem straightforward, but the intensity EXTREMELY high.  If you want to tone up, torch some calories and build endurance, then join this months challenge and aim for 5-6 sessions a week.

Fit & Fabulous Mums - Digital Weight Management Programme

I had a lot of mums requesting a place on the funded programme we ran last year, but some couldn't get to the venue as it either clashed with other appointments or were going back to work half way.  So I decided to pull all the resources together and launch an online version of the programme.  From the comfort of your home you will have access to;
-Weekly fitness and nutrition challenges
-Nutrition support
-Weekly activity diary and support materials
-Fitness video tutorials
-Bonus 7 day Essentials Challenge
-Lots of support and advice from me!!