TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR FITNESS

Oprah Winfrey says in her book What I Know for Sure that “the only time we have for sure is now”. That mantra has stuck with me and it guides how I live day-to-day. When the news of lockdown was announced, I knew that staying fit, strong and healthy during the pandemic was going to be on many people’s minds. I knew that LiveFIT Wales Cymru, the fitness company I run with my friend Kath, would be able to continue to help our members and others who lived further afield to either stay fit and healthy or, to start a new journey.

So far, LiveFIT Wales Cymru has hosted over 75 online fitness classes for our local members, as well as welcoming people from Glasgow, Birmingham, London, Caerphilly, Worcestershire, Kent, and even the USA! One unexpected aspect of this crisis is that it’s brought people from different parts of the world to us, giving us a chance to build new relationships and share our passion for your wellbeing.

I mention this because these people realised too, that “the only time we have for sure is now” to focus on our health, fitness, and wellbeing. To put on our own oxygen mask first, before we help others.

If we don’t harness this aspect of our lives, we can all picture what the alternative could look like. Here, we can really see what our futures could be like, which is why there is a feeling of unity, coming together, and like-mindedness. I think people are realising more than ever that without our health, we really have nothing at all.

Looking for inspiration?

During this time, the life transformation TV programme FFIT Cymru, on S4C, went ahead. As the health and fitness expert on the show, it was clear that this series would be very different to the previous two years. Zoom and Skype sessions helped us support the five leaders chosen in February, who wanted to take control of their health, fitness, mindset and nutrition.

The interaction, words of encouragement, and the inspiration seen from the leaders—one of them reversing their type 2 diabetes—trickled through to the audience, and the result blew us away. It proved that we can do extraordinary things when we are determined and supported.

The nation’s new PE teacher seems to be Joe Wicks, and whole families have been tuning in to him on YouTube daily at 9am. For Welshspeakers, you have yours truly. Search YouTube for Teulu FFIT for some great family workouts from your own home.

Ar gyfer siaradwyr Cymraeg, does dim rhaid ichi edrych ymhellach na fi fy hun. Chwiliwch YouTube am Teulu FFIT i gael gweithgareddau teulu gwych o’ch cartref eich hun.

In fact, there’s enough free fitness content for another lifetime on YouTube!

For me, watching communities come together to become even stronger has been inspiring—whether it’s been people in the streets clapping for our incredible keyworkers, or neighbours shopping for the vulnerable with their own hard-earned cash, or walking a dog for someone self-isolating. Many of us reading this will not have experienced the full horror of this pandemic, and will have stayed safe and well in our homes. I hope we all recognise that we’re stronger together, and that the only time we have for sure, is now.

To join our LiveFIT community head to www.livefit.wales or follow @livefitwales on social media

Rae Carpenter

As a Personal Fitness Trainer, with my company LiveFIT Wales Cymru, I work in the community, for the community, and with the community on their health and fitness. Life is short. Without moving our bodies and eating healthily, it’s shorter still. I’m also the health and fitness expert for S4C’s FFIT Cymru and QVC, the UK’s largest shopping and lifestyle network.