BodyWorks

Our Weekend

It’s never too late to feel great!

Join us for a fantastic weekend of work and play!

I have, like many women, struggled with my weight and fitness, especially since I hit the big 50. But it is also in the mind. If you don’t feel confident about how you look, or your brain feels sluggish, it is very easy to give up.

3 years ago I finally found the strength from somewhere to try to change this. And it has been amazing! The longer I stuck to it, the better I felt.

Here at GreenAcres we have been running various events as you can see from the website, but this is something completely new and so exciting!

I am 57 and had just finished boot camp the other day. I said to one of the girls how much I’d love to do boot camps for women of a certain age!  “Well, why don’t you” was her reply.

I couldn’t think of a single reason why not.

For some women going through or about to start menopause, it can be a very challenging time. We can lose confidence, self esteem, get depressed, lose our libido. The only thing we can’t lose is weight !

But it didn’t stop there.  We decided to make a weekend of it.  A means for women struggling to get going – to find inspiration with others in the same boat.

We’ve designed a weekend which is definitely fun, but which will also help you if you are stuck, like I was 3 years ago.  Half the battle is finding the motivation and keeping that going.  We will help you with that on our weekend packed with fitness, nutritional advice and personal support. 

And we won’t stop there. When you leave you will be part of an ongoing support network. Keep in touch, encourage each other.

But, of course, we will also find time to relax, eat delicious, healthy food, have some quiet time to enjoy the amazing countryside around us, and while away the evenings sitting with new friends around the campfire.

Instructors

Gemma Robertson has vast experience working in gyms and 1 on 1 training. She teaches regular classes and has trained young gymnasts for over ten years. And in her spare time, she’s a fire fighter!

She is passionate about her work and supporting people to reach their health and fitness goals. There is nothing that gives her more pleasure than seeing her clients grow in confidence and fitness.

Qualifications include: Level 3 Personal Trainer, Level 2 Exercise to music/class instructor, Level 2 gymnastics coach, Level 2 kettlebell instructor, Strength and conditioning coach, resistance and sports specific training.

Helen Tailyour has always enjoyed keeping fit and active. She runs trail races from half marathons to ultra marathons and has been involved in the planning and management of a number of races, including the Great West Run and the Cheltenham Half.

Leadership in running fitness, Hatha yoga teacher

I wrote the article below nearly 3 years ago and reading it through again, I realise just how far I’ve come. I may not be the size 10 or 12 I’d fantasized about! But I feel amazing! Not only am I so much fitter, but I feel more positive, more confident, I have loads more energy and generally I just feel better about the world.

Wishful Shrinking

I don’t know about you, but having reached the great and dignified age of 50 something, I have noticed some changes!  I may be more confident, less worried about what boys think of me (just as well!), and more patient with my shortcomings…… but

Sitting on the edge of my bed one morning 2 years ago, I realised with horror that I had custard running through my veins rather than blood!  I was tired and stiff.  My head felt foggy and everything was becoming an effort.  Gloopy would be the perfect word to describe my condition.  Surely I was too young to be shutting down like a first generation computer.  Whirring and groaning until finally the light went out with a small beep!

Yes I was !  Google must be able to help.  “Help me get fit near Honiton Devon”  was my plaintive cry.  And there she was, my saviour.  Gemma Robertson – and she lived in Awliscombe!!  I contacted her without hesitation.  Amazingly, just that was enough to make me feel better.  I was taking control.

We arranged to meet and everything changed.  I began with one personal training session a week (my first purchase was a sports bra after nearly knocking myself out during our first session!).  Eventually this became two.  Friends were now noticing a difference and we started a mobility class one evening a week at my home.  Stretch and Fart as it is affectionately named. 

Gemma has made such a difference to my life, and to quite a few of my friends, boys and girls.  She’s got just the right combination of cheerfulness, positiveness and bossiness needed to get an old girl like me moving!!  Two years on, I can’t recognise that overwhelmed girl sitting on the side of her bed.  I can’t promise that my blood is like skimmed milk yet, but the custard is long gone.  More like buttermilk now.  Semi skimmed here we come!