Choreographytogo Instructor Newsletter 5th April 2012
from Rachel x
Good Morning
Over the last few weeks I’ve been simply ecstatic by the amount of feedback the newsletter has been getting. I’ve lost count of the amount of email, tweets, facebook messages and even texts from people expressing how they love to sit with a coffee and digest all of the articles and info. Writing and editing the newsletter has been a weekly task of mine for over 10 years now. In over 10 years I never get stuck for things to write about, there’s just so much going on in our fantastic industry! Your feedback means so much to me, the newsletter takes hours to write and put together and I so appreciate your taking the time to read and feedback on any channel!
This week’s newsletter sees my Part 3 of Crisis in The Weight Loss industry as I continue on my quest to smash the usual weight loss myths, and help our class members regain their figure, health and sanity. Keep your feedback coming on this, it’s really helping me shape future projects. My next KSFL2012 Detox starts right after Easter on Monday 16th click here for more info
I’d like to welcome back to the newsletter Vikki Scovell. If you are an avid C2GO newsletter reader you will remember Vikki used to write a weekly C2go article. It was always a popular, happy, and sunny health related piece and Vikki wrote for me for many years. Vikki was into growing organic food, gardening, amazing cookery and baking, hooping and writing, a real 20th century Barbara – The Felicity Kendal character from the Good Life!……… I’m sure many of you don’t know, Vikki suffered a terrible accident and her whole life changed overnight. I’m mentoring Vikki now and have persuaded her to write again for the newsletter. It’s an extremely poignant article and I know you will enjoy it.
Last week I talked about Branding, Marketing and Packaging after witnessing the explosion of Piloxing and Bokwa at IFS. This clearly motivated a whole of bunch of you to FINALLY get those class concepts packaged and ready to go. A huge well done to everyone who emailed me with their ideas and concepts. I’m looking forward to seeing you roll them out.
New Downloads
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Do you want a Tough Full body Workout that doesn\’t contain any power or jumping moves? Ive been asked a lot this week to create something that is challenging but not as hard on the joints. Here it is… Its another full on 10 minutes of 50seconds on 10 seconds rest that you can easily slot into a wide range of classes. My classes are loving this and I’m sure yours will do as well. Click here to view | |
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2 Tokens
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Length: 11 mins | |
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£ 3.99
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Size: 49.0 MB | |
Crisis in The Weight Loss Industry by Rachel Holmes – Part 3
Cooking with Coconut Oil
As many of you know, I advocate “Eating Clean” for Fat Loss for Fitpros, based on The Paleo Diet, Biosignature from Charles Poliquin and my own self nutritional experimentation. When you really get into Eating Clean and begin cooking meals from scratch with non processed ingredients, sourcing organic meats and veggies etc Eating Clean becomes as easy as popping a Findus Lasagne in the microwave (God Forbid!”) Choosing the right cooking oil can be a little bit confusing.
One type of fat that that you should consider switching to is coconut oil. Coconut Oil?
I have lost count with the amount of folks that have said “Rachel you are crazy it’s massively high in fat and you want me to use this nearly every day????”
Many people avoid coconut oil at all costs because they see that it’s high in saturated fat and think that means they should be opting for something else – something that contains unsaturated fats or monounsaturated fats.
Coconut oil contains a type of fat that is handled differently in the body than most saturated fats and it’s actually a very good type of fat to consume.
Why Coconut Oil Is So Good For You
The form of fat that’s found in coconut oil is referred to as medium chain triglycerides and is considered a top fat burning food.
This form of fat is used immediately as energy for the body, just like carbohydrates would be. So for those who are utilising low starchy carb diets, it’s a fat that can actually be a very powerful weapon and act in your favour. In addition to this, coconut oil can help to promote a healthier heart by improving your cholesterol levels, rather than raising it like other fats would do.
Finally, coconut oil can also help to enhance your overall level of immunity in the body, so that’s another key benefit that it will provide.
Those who are using coconut oil in their diets will find that they recover faster from each workout session they complete and aren’t suffering from common colds nearly as often either.
How To Cook With Coconut Oil
Coconut oil can be used as an easy replacement for other oils that you use during the cooking process and can be added into smoothies, used in stir-fry’s, used to prepare a sauce, or added into your baking recipes as well for a special treat that offers a unique taste.
Coconut oil will help to add moisture to your dishes, making them flavourful and more satisfying
Coconut oil has multiple benefits ranging from improving body composition to boosting immunity and bone density. It has been used to nutritionally support HIV, cancer, and diabetes patients to name a few. Most of the health benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to lauric acid. It is converted to monolaurin which has been shown to help the body in dealing with multiple types of bacteria and viruses. Because of its anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties, it is valuable in nutritionally supporting IBS, and Crohn’s disease patients.
Because of its biochemical make-up, coconut oil supports weight loss efforts, as it supports the thyroid, and takes a load of the pancreas.
Coconut Oil at High Temperatures
Coconut oil is saturated fat so it can be heated to a very high temperature before it goes rancid. You can heat coconut oil up to 190 degrees whereas olive oil can only be heated up to 163 degrees and a vegetable oil like sunflower oil is only good up to 100 degrees. When you pass these heat thresholds the oil will start to produce free radicals which do things like speed up aging and cause diseases.
You can source good quality Coconut Oil from Holland and Barrett or from numerous websites online.
You can sign up for my KSFL2012 Program for Fitpros Starts again Monday 16th April 2012 Click here for information
It is so true that money does not bring you happiness. I sell products that work, I but products that work. I sell advice that works and I buy advise that works.
I am inspired by Rachel Holmes, Michael Steel, Andy Wake, Rachel France, and 1000 other people that I meet week in and week out making a practical difference to our industry.
Enjoy Easter – eat well and rest. Next term is a new term and one that can offer you every success that you wan
Tweet Jayne @Jaynenicholls
Fuel for the body by Sally Ghafoor
Human beings are designed to eat certain types of food or fuel if you like. So if your filling up your internal engine with processed and artificial food then your going to be creating problems for that engine, and what if your children are also filling up on that type of food as many are tending to eat this type if food daily, it's going to affect their health for the rest of their life. As a fitness instructor the food you eat affect your physical performance and your health, so if your always tired and hungry you are probably running on a low blood sugar. Your probably eating too many carbs, my main food used to be jacket potatoes, and I would wonder why I was so tired - my engine wasn't functioning correctly. If your eating the fit foods your body becomes more efficient and your fitness level will increase. So here are my tips to ensure your engine is running smoothly Water - one of the most important fuels for the body, digestion, absorbing nutrients and the elimination process in the body is one of waters many skills Carbs , designed to provide you with the energy needed, but there are different types of carbs.... Good carbs - vegetables, legumes, fruit, sweet potatoes, Bad carbs - sugar, bread, soy, corn, flour Fats - fats are needed in the body transporting essential vitamins, good fat - almonds, pine nuts, brazil nuts, seeds, fish oils, avocados Bad fat- homogenised milk, vegetable oils, trans fats, artificial sweeteners and flavours. Protein, avoid pork and non organic meat, go for organic grass fed beef, fish, organic free range eggs, organic chicken.
I hope this will give you more ideas of fuelling your body, for more info on the nutrition workshop starting soon and to get £100 off go to www.sallyghafoor.com
Good things come to those that wait By Claire Mockridge Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert
So, what do you think? Do “All good things come to those that wait”? I tend to disagree with this statement, particularly when it relates to business.
I’ve had a pretty amazing week so far, to be honest. My Pregnancy Fitness DVD “Don’t let your BUMP get in the way” won the Twitter #SBS (Small Business Sunday) Theo Paphitis competition late last year, and on Friday last week, I was personally invited to meet Theo, join the #SBS community and network with other #SBS Winners. It was a truly amazing and inspiring day, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
The Event was held at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham and it was a fantastic opportunity for me to promote my brand, products and business, and meet others doing exactly the same thing. I love a bit of networking me, and I was so honoured to be amongst some really successful entrepreneurs in small business and a select few Dragons’ Den winners.
If you’re on Twitter and you’re successful at using it, you’ll realise that it’s a Social Networking platform which is all about “engaging” with your followers. In other words, it’s about getting your name out there. If you’ve opened an account, but just don’t “get” Twitter, follow me @ClaireMockridge, as see what I do on a day-to-day basis. It believe Twitter really is an underused tool when it comes to marketing, advertising, building rapport and profile raising in business.
At the #SBS Winners Event, Theo addressed the crowd with a fairly awe-inspiring speech – he was clearly in his element up on stage with the jazzy slide show behind him, advertising the new #SBS Winners logo design. He announced plans for the new #SBS Winners website, which all of the past and future winners will have exclusive access to. He took questions from the floor. He was proactive. He welcomed us to his new community.
Now, one of the things Theo highlighted in his address was that, if you’re a small business, you’re not going to get anywhere if you’re shy. You simply HAVE to get your services promoted and get your face out there and publicised, regardless of what type of business you run. Are you doing enough to ensure your business is well-known in the circles you want it to be? Have people heard of you? Do they want to be part of your community?
Clients who’ve been with me for years joke and laugh when they see my face in the local free magazines/newspapers every time one hits their doormat, but, at the end of the day, it’s profile-raising, and it’s exposure to me and my business, isn’t it? “I saw your face in the local magazine again, Claire” is often what they say. This feedback, whichever way it’s given or received, proves it’s worked and has had the desired effect. I’m not abashed by these remarks at all. It’s a measurement of success.
You are the face of your company and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed to plaster yourself on all of your literature, business cards, leaflets and/or website. Prospective clients want to get to know you, and they want above anything, to associate you, the owner of your company and website, with the face behind it.
As you know, I work with a niche client group: pregnant and postnatal women. I have a very transient client base and therefore women aren’t pregnant for very long, and new mums go back to work within 6-9 months after their baby has been born, so I have to continually get my face out there to reach potential clients in waves throughout the year.
Good things haven’t come to me because I’ve sat around waiting for them to happen. Good things have occurred because I’ve worked hard getting them to come to me! I have a real passion for success. Success can be measured in several different ways, so what are you waiting for? What’s your measurement of success? Go out there and get it, rather than sitting there waiting for it to come to you, because it may never happen.
If working with pre/postnatal clients appeals to you, why not join my Private Facebook Group for FitPros who either: a) want to get qualified to teach pre/postnatal or, b) are already qualified, but want hints and tips on making their business more successful: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/clairemockridge/
Tour date for my Pre/Postnatal Exercise and Marketing “Bridging the Gap” Workshop is 19-20 May 2012 at David Lloyd in Derby. It’s not just pre/postnatal exercise content you’ll learn here, it’s also the marketing and business acumen skills required to find, retain and build rapport with pre/postnatal clients. For more details of this Event, see: www.facebook.com/ClaireMockridgeBridgingTheGap
Or, connect with me here:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/clairemockridge1
Twitter: www.twitter.com/clairemockridge
Blog: http://clairemockridge.wordpress.com/
Bye for now.
Claire Mockridge
Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert
It’s A Miracle ! ….Turning Water Into Wine
by Andrew Crawford
The spring KSFL 2012 intern finished this week with a bang..!! I was at IFS in Blackpool when this momentous 14 day challenge finished…
What was the first thing I did?……I performed a miracle…!!
I turned water into wine……
Yes….I swapped the daily intake of fresh cold mineral water into an ice cold bottle of veuve clicquot……in fact, I had 5 bottles in total that night…..
How did I feel….? F**ping Marvellous…!!! burp…!!
I was over 1 ½ stone lighter than I began, waist 2 inches slimmer and biceps 1 inch bigger……I didn’t measure anything else..!
I was even able to fit into one of my old outfits…..full black leather from head to toe…..let me tell you…3 weeks ago I couldn’t even do up the zip let alone the tight buttons …….The challenge… in fact the claim of fat loss and weight loss definitely worked with this programme. I defy anyone who has taken the programme and was serious about it following its instructions…not to have lost in some way.
The next day, early morning , I was flying off to Eygpt….a bottle of champagne to accompany me during the journey across to the desert…I am surrounded by food and drink ALL day…this will test my resolve.
So….at IFS I met Karen Wellington and true to form I got my ‘grope’….in fact I got a few just to make sure…. I was surprised she recognised my new slim, tight, svelte, toned, heavy boned firm frame and enhanced ‘mojo’….in addition I must say hi to all those other readers of these articles I met at IFS who encouraged me to continue to write…..Thank you. X
So Andrew….
What has your miracle of turning water into wine, your new firmer frame and crossing the desert to Egypt got to do with finance?
Well…these are all changes……..last week we saw changes that will affect the amount of money that is kept in your pocket..untaxed…the government calls this ‘The Budget’…….
With this new found ‘wealth’ you could turn Evian into Smirnoff, fat into thin and Bognor Regis into Marbella…..your own little miracles…!!!
Our personal allowance has now gone from £7,545 in the tax year 2011/2012 which finishes next week on 5th April into £8,102 from April 6th.
On the face of it, this looks great but there is always a consequence.
What is this consequence?
High taxes on petrol, cigarettes and alcohol, essential services, local council tax charges, insurances, road charges….and on and on……
Give in one hand. Take from the other…..
What can we do about this?
Well…as I said before….ensure you utilise ALL possible instances of personal allowances in your household…..if you run a business.
Remember….that ‘Everyone’ gets a personal allowance, so make sure you don’t lose it.
If you don’t use it…you lose it…..just like your muscles..!!
If you made that annual trip to Blackpool for the IFS why not let the taxman pay for it?
Remember, this is a training weekend therefore… for all you self employed Fitness Professionals…this is tax deductible…..whoop whoop…!
If you are not self employed yet but are still thinking about it, save your receipts and claim for the weekend in a few years time. You can put the whole cost of the event towards your pre-trading expenses.
Don’t forget that even if you are employed and work within the health & fitness industry, you can also make a claim. The claim can be set against your employed income…the result….a small tax refund…good eh?
I know it was quite a distance for some of you but…..it was fantastic once you get there. If you thought your car won’t make it…hire one. Yes, this can be claimed as well so there was no excuse not to have been there.
Another thing…..if you got reimbursed for your mileage and it was not the full 45p per mile, you can claim the difference plus any parking or toll fees. Thanks taxman.
It’s worth mentioning that director’s of their companies can get an advance of £1,000 for their expenses. Make sure you account for it and spend it within 6 months.
It’s not a case of if you could afford it….could you afford to miss it……. Let the Tax Man pay…
The 10 Commandments of Tax Tips
1.Keep every single receipt you spend on the weekend, or any similar
2.Log your mileage or keep your petrol receipts to and from IFS 2012, claim the full £0.45 per mile.
3.If employed, claim expenses against your employment income.
4.If buying equipment on the weekend, you can claim up to £50,000 in full against your profits.
5.If you are the director of your business, get your company to reimburse all of your expenditure.
6.If you haven’t started to trade yet, the expenses incurred on the weekend can be claimed within 5 years before starting to trade.
7.If your buying items as a gift, you can claim up to £50 a year to each person, against your profits, as long as the gift advertises your business.
8.Drinks and meals away from home on the IFS 2012 training weekend are allowable deductions.
9.If self employed ensure expenditure is wholly and exclusively incurred for your sole trader business.
10. If you have a limited company, ensure expenditure is incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily
The above 10 Commandments applies to all your weekend conventions.
I’ll see some of you when I return from Egypt next week…..’darker’ than you saw me last week…….is that possible?
Yeah baby…..!! Check out my white bits….!!!
I’m still sucking on the Evian but have introduced brandy & champagne to the mix…uumm…
Speak soon…
Andrew Crawford
Visit our website at: www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com for more FREE resources and articles.
‘Like’ our page at: www.facebook.com/fitnessindustryaccountants
Andrew Crawford can be contacted on twitter @tax4fitness or info@fitnessindustryaccountants.com
Vikki Scovell – FitBite
Hello, this is two connected stories; I hope they might be a spring board to some useful thought for you or at least make you giggle on a Thursday morning. Back in the day I was writing one article a week for Choreography to go (useful ones- not like this!). I was moved to share my sunny thoughts on exercise and lifestyle with all of you good people. Writing was simply one of those things that I did, like getting up and having a shower in the morning. Then as they say, (dramatic pause and meaningful look) my world turned on its head.
Two years ago I had a serious horse-riding accident. Through the morphine, I remember insisting the helicopter paramedics phone Rachel in case I couldn’t make boot camp master class the next morning (???). I had dislocated my hip; the head of the femur had been ripped out of its socket and rebounded through the pelvic bone. My head took a bashing (which explains a lot) as did my back. My knee was where a knee shouldn’t politely be and my sexy new jodhpurs had been removed with scissors; they were ruined. It made natural childbirth seem like a rather jolly tea-party. They thought I had broken my spine; the things that went through my opiated head were not things any positive, strong woman and mother should think. After an impossibly long wait it turned out that my spine was only bruised but my hip was worse than expected, and I underwent hideous reconstructive surgery. The surgeon told my husband that I might not walk again. All I could think was that I was going to get fat. Here was I; Ms super-fitness queen unable to move, Ms Organic princess presented with hospital meals that I would not insult a FOOD recycling bin with, Ms positive-thinking completely unraveled. During the op, my glutes were severed. This meant that I had one buttock which drooped all the way down the back of my leg; we are talking ZERO muscle tone here. I was sent a 24 year-old Greek-physio -God, and forced to stand on a Zimmer wearing half a nightie, pin cushioned with drips, with my sagging butt on show to MR Universe; IGNOMINY. My brain didn’t say; get up and fight this girl! My brain said; OMG the thousands of squats, the iron I pushed to make this buttock fabulous; and now it hangs like a balloon on a garden gate a week after a birthday party, and after years of waiting for a Brad Pitt lookey-likey to come my way, I meet him and have to show him this monstrous bottom. My mother gave me SERIOUS talking to about priorities. I started hydrotherapy with a clinical Pilates instructor; I concur to being the most irritating person to teach as I knew it all (I didn’t). I fought to get better too quickly, I wanted to WOW everyone with my miracle recovery, and to an extent I did. I blushingly admit to performing a single leg squat wearing high heels, hold ups and a fairly short skirt in front of my surgeon; he was SPEECHLESS. I thought he was amazed by my near-perfect squat; I realize now that I had severely underestimated the power of clinical drugs on normal brain function. Back to my tutor; she taught me some things which I will share with you now, as there is nothing as dull as someone else’s medical history. She made me deconstruct my mental programming; my need for hardest, fastest, heaviest, most technical. She re- taught me the basic foundation to build upon; rehabilitation of neural connections, simple dynamics of the muscles and joints, and basic range of movement training. I wanted to do jumping jack press-ups; she wanted me to attempt hip flexion and extension. I wanted yoga-teacher ROM; she wanted to work towards 50-70%. She appealed to me to use what I had learnt in my work life, to remember that Jane Public is weak, unconfident, and needs reassurance and a carefully planned build-up. She was however talking to the person who had tried to source sick-bags to have printed up with my boot camp logo as a marketing ploy. Ok, so what did I learn from all of this? That the body has the most remarkable powers of healing, that great strength comes slowly, that for some people achieving average would be a momentous achievement, that hospital ‘food’ contravenes both human rights and the Oxford English Dictionary definition , and that having a great bum was more important than ALL of this.
Last week I went back to my hydro unit with my PT client Katie who is paraplegic following a riding accident. I parked by the heli-pad and sat pool-side, watching her learn simple techniques to develop flexibility and core strength using the water’s support and freedom. Katie has a demanding job, swims every week, has just got back from skiing, and she is kayaking round the west Scottish coast in two weeks’ time before her new horse arrives. She blows my mind. Working with her has reminded me of the power of positive mental attitude, and the important foundations of training. But PMA is not all of it; we have to work with what we’ve got. Katie spent months with a rehabilitative trainer who was determined he could get her walking. He could not let go of that dream, and he injured her, exhausted her, gave her hope, and then despair. I understand how he felt; I would give anything to create such transformation, to give someone such a fantastic gift. But that is not always possible, we have to know our limits, and even if we can’t work miracles, we can still create positive change. Some people have less to work with, and most people will not achieve perfection, or anything near it. As exercise professionals it is our job to encourage, support and provide a framework and launch-pad for meaningful improvement and achievement. Some goals may seem small-scale to us, but even if we want our clients’ success to mirror our own ambition and belief system; it is actually about them, not us. So this is the story of three trainers, one with balanced realistic goals who gifted me the momentum to surpass them immeasurably, one who meant so well but set his client up for crashing failure, and little-old me who wants to be inspirational, knowledgeable and understanding, but still gets violently twitchy at the person in class who can’t do anything in time to the music and always goes the wrong way.
It’s nice to be back; thanks for reading.
Vikki Scovell.
Fed up with “Can’t” by Leapin Liz Hindley
Frankly we are all busy. You’re busy, I’m busy, the whole world seems mad busy.
But by the time you have listed out all the reasons why you are busy you could have performed a few simple exercises that would help with your health and fitness and put you in a positive mindset for the day.
For me personally, the last six months have been a total eye-opener. As a fitness instructor I had presumed that I was getting enough exercise. I certainly seemed to be wearing my “Leaping Liz” workout outfit every day. But in reality, was I doing any exercise to benefit ME?
When I started working out with Rachel Holmes over the internet, doing her KickStart Fat Loss 2012 programme I was shocked at my lack of strength. I was also amazed at how my poor muscles ached even though the workouts were “only” 10 minutes (felt like a lifetime!). As a fitness instructor I felt like a fraud. How could I have let myself get to the point where I struggled to perform a short exercise routine?
This was a kick up the backside that I needed. I started following a tough interval programme in January. Here I am in March feeling fitter and stronger and more like the fitness professional that I want to be. I feel confident leading my bootcamps or standing in front of school kids (my area of specialism) knowing that I am living the kind of lifestyle that I am preaching to my class participants.
So why am I fed up with “can’t”? It is the word that I used to use about my own position: I “can’t” lose weight, I “can’t” find time to workout, I “can’t” get up earlier than I already do, I “can’t” possibly need to do more exercise, I “can’t” change the way I eat, I just “can’t” shift this bodyfat now I have passed 40. And listening to others saying, “I want to get fitter/ slimmer/ healthier, but I CAN’T find the time because of my job/ the kids/ the dog…”. Do you recognise yourself if my own position?
STOP!
Guess what – I “can”! And if I can, with my business to run, kids and husband to feed, rabbits, washing, cleaning, Mum’s taxi service, “The Apprentice” (not to be missed!), friends I want to spend time with, holidays, weekends etc. etc., then you “can” too. It wasn’t always easy getting up 15 minutes earlier, especially in deepest darkest January, but staying focussed on the reasons for doing it, and being realistic means that I am well on my way to being fitter, slimmer and stronger. Join me.
Follow me on Facebook: Liz Hindley, on Twitter: @Leaping_liz or pintrest: www.pintrest.com/leapingliz
Does this ring a bell with you? by Cori Withell
The body and in particular the brain are wonderful pieces of ‘kit’. They will keep going and going and going until they do eventually hit breaking point. So, why do we not learn from this and learn to seek help from those that can help before it gets to the point where we cannot cope. When looking at stress and depression, it is very rare to wake up one morning and not be able to function, or to have a complete breakdown without warning.
Before I had my breakdown, I had been ‘functioning and surviving’ for almost two years before my body finally said ‘no, I have had enough’ but when that point came I was utterly useless. Why couldn’t I have asked for help months beforehand? For me, the image that I projected in the beginning was so important and precious to me that I did not want to let anyone know there was any hint of a problem. That I was not the consummate professional would have been unbearable for me. Looking back it now it seems ridiculous but this is what people DO think, and it is how we DO behave.
Health and happiness x
Best wishes
Cori x
Have a wonderful Easter everyone!
Love always
Rachel x
Good Morning Team! I hope the snow hasn’t disrupted your classes too much this week! It’s been incredibly heavy here in Derbyshire, which reminds me—it’s always
We are thrilled with the messages coming in from our Fitness Pilates Summit Event THANK YOU to all of you wonderful people 🥰 We can’t
We are proud to announce that our Fitness Pilates Reformer Certification is endorsed by National Governing Body EMDUK ✅OUR NEXT COURSE is running on Friday
PRESS RELEASE Big Achievement: First Graduate of the Fitness Pilates Reformer Course. We are thrilled to announce that our very first learner, Helen Wilson, Helen
Launching the new YMCA Level 3 Award Menopause Qualification Be the first in the UK to gain your Level 3 Menopause Practitioner qualification. Delivered online via Zoom,
Thank you to all who joined us at the 2024 Fitness Pilates Summit at Hilton, Canary Wharf, 17th November in London! WOW what an unbelievable
