Hello again, dear friends and fellow lockdown sufferers – how are you coping, how’s your health and your fitness? I must confess mine has really gone down the hill lately; I had a lot of exercise, of course, with our move and all our flatpacks late last year, but ever since then I’ve just been loafing around on our sofa in our lovely new flat in Wales, playing computer games and watching TV…
Many of you probably are fitness fans, doing your exercise regularly both indoors and outdoors – but then there are also a lot of us who tend to avoid sports at all costs, innit…? Ever since school, I’ve hated PE and almost every other sort of physical activity except for swimming and cycling; and for me, like for many others according to the statistics, this year of lockdowns has made it worse because we’re supposed to stay at home as much as possible. At the same time, we’ve all been cooking and baking and drinking a lot – I can’t deny I like my lamb chops and my pizza and my pasta, and I also like my cider and my whisky – so, the inevitable result was quite a substantial weight gain…
So, at some point we’ve GOT to do something about it, haven’t we – but what? What’s the, let’s say, least painful way of exercising, getting back into shape, losing weight and getting healthier?? Well, to me the answer to that has always been: music! The only thing that brightened up our PE lessons back at school was the music we were allowed to play for the warming up exercises; and now I went back to just that – and to a lot of the great music we used to play back then as well.
I’ve put together a list of songs on YouTube that are simply ideal for exercise – they won’t let you sit still, anyway, so you might as well get up and do your daily workout! I’ve chosen simple, cheerful songs with an irresistible rhythm, many of them oldies because, in my humble opinion, they’re simply the best… Just listen to the first one, the wonderful Harry Belafonte doing “Jump in the Line” – who can resist jumping up from the sofa and starting to move??
If you remember the old exercise routines from your school days, dear friends, you can do all sorts of things like jumping jacks, jump squats, high knees or even situps to the rhythm of this lovely music – or, if you prefer, you can just dance, no matter whether you’re doing the classic moves (and I’ve included all sorts of rhythms from Charleston to rock n roll to twist to disco!) or simply whatever moves you feel like. One thing’s for sure: losing weight and getting into shape is going to be fun!
Get going, friends, get up and jump in the line! Don’t overdo it in the beginning if you’re not used to it; two or three songs a day at a time are quite enough. But most of all: have fun!
Roberta Franklin 