NOVEMBER 2024 NEWSLETTER – FITNESS PILATES
Dear Fitness Pilates Member
Hope you had a good October and enjoyed the Halloween celebrations if you attended any. Here we are in November, the month before Christmas. So much to do, so much to arrange before the big event. But no matter how busy you are, it is still important to make time for YOU.
Planning for the Christmas holidays – My last working day will be 13th December.
All classes will resume back to normal on the 6th January 2025.
Class Timetable
Monday – Stisted Village Hall 0930-1015 & ZOOM – 1100-1145
Tuesday – 3rd Tuesday of the month – Fitness Pilates/Mindfulness – Carers Connect – Bradwell Village Hall 1115-1200
Wednesday – Wethersfield Village Hall 1100-1145
Thursday – Coggeshall Village Hall 1100-1145
Friday – 1st Friday of the month – Fitness Pilates/Mindfulness – Carers Connect – St Peters Village Hall 1115-1200
Don’t forget…. if you can’t make the ZOOM times then I can send you a recording for just £6. Let me know and I can forward you a link from my YouTube Studio.
St Peters Village Hall/Bradwell Village Hall Pilates/Mindfulness 1st Friday and 3rd Tuesday of the month. If you or anyone you know cares for someone then you are more than welcome to attend. Classes are FREE. Light refreshments will be provided before the class. This is a good time to offer one another support and friendship from other carers. If you would like any further information then please do get in touch.
Christmas is coming up so FAST! – CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEAS!
I don’t know about you, but every year I struggle to find Christmas presents to suit my family and friends. If you also have a similar problem then I have the perfect solution.
Is there someone you would like to buy for who has talked about Pilates but has never actually got around to attending a class? Then I have your ideal Christmas gift sorted. How about a gift voucher of classes? You could buy 1, 2, 3 or however many you require. Let me know and I will issue you with a personalised voucher.
I also have a few black Fitness Pilates T-shirts left in stock, S M and L so if you would like one then please let me know. They are £17 each.
Golfers Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis)
Recently I have been experiencing golfers elbow, (it flares up every now and then) particularly on my right side. I have had various treatments with physios, osteopaths (shock wave treatment) acupuncture and nothing seems to be helping. It’s a very difficult joint to heal as the tendons are inflamed and gripping can be quite painful. Simple day to day activities can cause an onset of discomfort. So I started researching a little bit further and have been working on strengthing my wrist/forearms with loaded exercise. I thought I would share this with you. If you are, like myself, hypermobile of the elbow joints, then I/we are very prone to injuries. Its understanding the condition and rehab exercises, that can help. Below is an article on research of how overloading tendons can help with healing. I am also attaching a link to YouTube, which I have been referring to for specific exercises. I hope these help if you are now or in the future suffer from this condition.
Researchers analysed 110 studies exploring exercise treatment programmes for tendon pain and dysfunction (tendinopathy) of the Achilles, shoulder, elbow, knee and hip. They showed that:
- exercise using weights or a resistance band was more effective than using bodyweight alone
- having rest days was more effective than exercising every day.
The findings will help clinicians (particularly physiotherapists) prescribe exercise regimens for people with tendinopathy.
The issue: how much exercise is best for tendinopathy?
Tendons can become painful, stiff and swollen, and begin to deteriorate; this is called tendinopathy. The exact causes are debated but tendinopathy is not restricted to people who are athletic; the condition affects adults and children in the general population. It usually occurs in the back of the lower leg (Achilles), shoulder, elbow, knee or hip.
Research suggests that exercise is often recommended for most common tendinopathies, but it is unclear exactly how much exercise is most effective and there are no specific guidelines.
The intensity of exercise can be increased by pushing or pulling against a force, for example by using weights or resistance bands. So, using bodyweight alone, you can exercise a tendon in the lower leg (Achilles) by standing on your toes then lowering and raising your heels. Doing the same exercise while wearing a weighted backpack would increase the resistance intensity.
Exercise can also be carried out more frequently (more sessions per week) and at a higher volume (more repetitions per session). It is not known what intensity, frequency and volume of exercise is best for people with tendinopathy.
Researchers therefore analysed existing evidence.
What’s new?
The analysis included 110 studies (both randomised and non-randomised trials) from Europe, Australia and the US. Studies involved almost 4,000 people in all. They evaluated exercise regimens for tendinopathy in the Achilles, shoulder, elbow, knee and hip. Most interventions were delivered or prescribed by physiotherapists.
Researchers assessed how much exercise was needed to improve disability, function, pain, movement, and quality of life.
The team found that people with tendinopathy in the Achilles, shoulder, elbow, knee and hip improved more if they:
- used weights (dumbbells, loaded backpacks or resistance bands, for example) rather than bodyweight-only in resistance exercises
- took rest days between sessions (lower frequency).
The analysis found no consistent trends for exercise volume (the number of repetitions of each exercise per session). The findings were the same for Achilles, shoulder, elbow, knee and hip tendons.
Why is this important?
The findings inform physiotherapists about the frequency of exercise that is most effective for people with tendinopathy. The authors suggest that exercising less frequently than once a day might allow the tendons time to recover. This could explain why people who took rest days improved more than those who exercised every day.
The studies confirmed that higher intensity resistance exercise was more effective than bodyweight-only exercise. The most effective number of repetitions per session remains unclear.
https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/weights-resistance-bands-rest-days-best-tendinopathy/
3 Golfers Elbow Exercises – https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dDZhNzKV7tA
How to Stay Happy
A recent study on happiness has shown that in general quadriplegics are happier than lottery winners, how can this be? What does that tell us about the relationship between the external world and inner state. – notably content and happiness. Only 5% of your happiness comes from what you are doing right now i.e. Pilates to your overall total happiness
Extreme variations in external circumstances do not correlate to happiness i.e. losing your limbs compared to having access to limitless funds you would be happy?
Principles – internal and external – you cannot make yourself happy through external needs. Once you earn up to £75,000 any excess over that has no meaningful impact on your overall happiness.
Volunteering – 2 hours per week
Writing down 3 things a day that you are grateful for, being of service to other people and living a life where you are connected to a community, all increase your sense of purpose and meaning – pursuing meaning and purpose of which happiness is a by-product
Trying to be useful
Follow meaning and purpose instead of personal pleasure – change is inevitable
Focus instead on how can I be useful to other people, what am I grateful for, how I am being of service, what is the meaning and purpose of my life right now, rather than how am I going to be happy.
This study demonstrates that you can be in extreme discomfort or disability you can still be happy compared to someone who has had a massive lottery windfall
You can’t make yourself happy through getting stuff you can only make yourself happy through purpose.
I have attached a Chair Based Pilates workout this month. This is something I deliver on a regular basis to the carers that I teach at Bradwell/St Peters and on Zoom regularly during each month. It’s a great little workout. All the standing exercises can be done, with modification, in the chair. Great for people who have difficulty standing for long periods of time.
If you have any questions regarding the content of the newsletter or anything else, then please do get in touch.
Before I sign off, remember that ‘greatness starts with being grateful. You can’t feel joy without being thankful. Being thankful is a vital component of happiness’.
The more you count your blessings, the more blessing you’ll have to count
Wishing you a great month!
Love Marisa x
Fitness Pilates Health Coach
Mob 07811441810
https://marisaswain-fitnesspilates.co.uk
www.facebook/PTSfitnesspilatesclassesBraintree
VIP Marisa Swain Health & Fitness Online
https://www.facebook.com/groups/533434484245389/
You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube
JOY
Joy does not arrive with a fanfare, on a red carpet strewn with the flowers of a perfect life.
Joy sneaks in, as you pour a cup of coffee, watching the sun hit your favourite tree, just right.
And you usher joy away, because you are not ready for it. Your house is not as it must be, for such a distinguished guest, but joy cares nothing for your messy home or your bank balance or your waistline, you see.
Joy is supposed to slither through the cracks of your imperfect life, that’s how joy works
You cannot invite, her, you can only be ready when she appears. And hug her with meaning, because in this very moment,
joy chose you
Donna Ashworth