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The Benefits of Strengthening Your Core (Even in Just 5 Minutes!)

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a group of women holding weights in a community hall

When we think of core workouts, many of us picture intense ab sessions or advanced Pilates moves. But the truth is, a strong core doesn’t require hours of crunches – even 5 minutes a day can make a difference.

If you’re just starting out or returning to exercise after a break, gentle core work is the perfect place to begin. Here’s why it’s worth your time:

Why Core Strength Matters

1. Supports Your Posture
Your core muscles wrap around your midsection like a corset. When strong, they help keep your spine in alignment, which means less back pain and better posture – especially important if you sit for long periods.

2. Improves Everyday Movement
Whether you’re picking up shopping bags, climbing stairs, or reaching into cupboards, your core is working. A stronger core makes these movements easier and reduces your risk of injury.

3. Boosts Balance and Stability
Balance isn’t just for athletes – it’s essential for everyone, especially as we age. A strong core helps you stay steady, preventing falls and boosting confidence in your body.

4. Prepares You for Other Workouts
Think of your core as your body’s powerhouse. Building core strength makes it easier (and safer!) to do strength training, cardio, or even yoga.

Start Small, Stay Consistent

This mini core workout is designed to help you get started without feeling overwhelmed. Just two exercises, five minutes, no equipment – and you’re on your way to a stronger, more confident you.

✨ Ready to give it a go? Click play on the video below!

15 Minute Mini Kettlebell Workout – Strength & Tone for Busy Women

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Short on time but want to feel strong, energised and toned? This mini kettlebell workout is just what you need – no gym, no fancy equipment, just you and one kettlebell.

In under 15 minutes (including your warm-up and cool-down), this routine targets multiple muscle groups, combining strength and stability in a time-saving session. It’s perfect for beginners or anyone looking to squeeze in a quick and effective workout.

What’s in the workout?

We’ll be completing 2 sets of 10 reps of each of the following kettlebell exercises:

  1. Deadlift & Upright Row Combo – works the legs, glutes, upper back and shoulders. A great move for posture and total-body strength.

  2. Calf Raise & Knee Lift – challenges balance while strengthening the calves and engaging the core.

  3. Bicep Curl & Frontal Raise – tones the arms and shoulders while supporting joint mobility.

These movements are functional, low-impact, and perfect for boosting your metabolism while improving coordination.

Who’s it for?

  • Women 30+ who want to build strength and tone up

  • Anyone new to kettlebell training

  • Busy professionals looking for quick, effective workouts

  • Those working out at home with limited space

Benefits of Kettlebell Training

Kettlebell training is one of the most effective ways to build strength, improve fitness and boost overall wellbeing – especially if you’re short on time or working out from home.

Here’s why incorporating kettlebells into your weekly routine is a game-changer:

1. Full-Body Strength and Toning

Kettlebell exercises often use multiple muscle groups at once, which means you get more out of each movement. You’ll strengthen your legs, glutes, core, back, shoulders and arms – all in one session.

2. Improved Functional Fitness

Because kettlebell movements mimic real-life actions like lifting, pulling and balancing, they improve everyday strength and mobility. This is especially helpful as we get older and want to stay active and injury-free.

3. Time-Efficient Workouts

You don’t need hours in the gym to see results. Just 10–20 minutes with a kettlebell can deliver a powerful, effective workout – perfect for busy women juggling work, family and everything in between.

4. Boosts Core Stability and Balance

Many kettlebell exercises challenge your core and require control, which improves posture and balance over time. This is brilliant for strengthening your pelvic floor and supporting your lower back.

5. Supports Fat Loss and Muscle Tone

Combining resistance and movement, kettlebell training helps to raise your heart rate while building lean muscle – ideal for boosting your metabolism and supporting fat loss.

6. Versatile and Low-Impact

Kettlebells are easy to store, suitable for home use, and adaptable to any fitness level. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to push yourself further, there’s always a way to progress safely.

Ready to start your Kettlebell Journey?

Check out my free mini kettlebell video above, or join my online membership to access full workouts, recipes and support to help you feel your strongest self.

Cardio Central Online Membership

Introduction to Weights

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Ready to Feel Stronger? 💪 Our New Intro to Weights Course is Here!

If you’ve been feeling unsure about where to start with weights, or maybe you’ve avoided them because you thought they weren’t for you – this course is 100% for you.

We created the Introduction to Weights course for women just like you – busy, brilliant, and ready to build strength and confidence, without feeling overwhelmed.

What’s it all about?

This isn’t about spending hours in the gym or lifting hefty weights. It’s about learning how to move well, feel strong, and get to know your body in a new way – with simple, effective dumbbell workouts that you can also do at home.

Each session is effective, fun, and focused. We’ll work on:

  • 🔹 Lower body

  • 🔹 Upper body

  • 🔹 Core 

Every workout is broken into sections, so it’s easy to follow – even if you’re just getting started. And don’t worry, we will guide you through everything with loads of support and encouragement.

Who’s it for?

Women over 30 who:

  • Want to get stronger (without scary gym vibes)

  • Are ready to move more and feel better

  • Prefer real talk over fitness fluff

  • Want a fun and doable routine

Let’s make this your time

Strength training is one of the BEST things we can do for our bodies as we get older – especially for our bones, joints, energy and mood. And you don’t have to do it alone.

Come and join us! Let’s lift, move, and feel fab – one workout at a time.

💥 #StayStrong
💖 #WomenWhoLift

🎥 Book now or message us for more information!

Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year, Everybody! 

This blog post is a little bit different, I recorded a voice note and translated it into text so what you are reading, is absolutely the way that i would say this to you! If you want to listen to this blog instead of reading it, click on the video link below.

 

I’m cutting it a bit fine posting this today – I think I should have really done this at the beginning of the year! But anyway, I think I’ve still got time. So I wanted to talk a bit about resolutions and why I don’t like them.

Resolutions can quite often set us up for failure. We have this big idea in our heads that we need to get resolutions done by midnight on December 31. And we carry that into January. And what basically tends to happen is, we have these big resolutions that are completely unachievable, and then we beat ourselves up when we fail.

I combat that by setting goals, instead of resolutions, and goals can be set at any time of the year. It’s a popular time of year to set them. So I’m going to give you a few tips.

GETTING STARTED

First of all, you need to make goals manageable. If it’s something that you can’t see yourself achieving, you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead of saying, “I’m going to lose three stone by the summer,” break it down into smaller chunks and say, “I’m going to lose one to two pounds each week.”

So, how do I lose that one to two pounds? Well, I’m going to eat healthier and I am going to exercise. How do I eat healthier and how do I exercise? I’m going to attend a fitness class, I’m going to make sure that I include more fruit and vegetables in my diet and drink plenty of water at the same time.

So we’ve taken that big goal of losing a significant amount over six months, breaking it down into a weekly goal and then we’ve broken it down again. So we understand exactly how we’re going to manage that. And that, in itself, is a simple, straightforward way of setting goals. It’s simple. But it’s not easy because we have to have motivation and discipline. And when we don’t have motivation, we quite often have to rely on discipline to help get us through.

SCHEDULE EVERYTHING

Making routines for ourselves and scheduling time for ourselves is important. So one of the things that you can do is sit down and break down your weekly schedule. And this may take some time. I’d say set aside maybe 30 minutes just to get everything jotted down. Use something like Google Calendar, Outlook, or whatever it is that you’ve got on your phone, and actually block out time. So I block out time for work, block out time for kids. My two children have an abundance of things that they do after school. So I have to make sure that I schedule that in and also block out self-care time as well. So you know exactly what it is that you can do with your time.

Once you know how much time you’ve got to play with, then you can start to slot in the things that you need to do to be able to achieve those goals.

So forget resolutions. Resolutions are not what you’re aiming for. You want to get goals set, and if you have structure and you know exactly what you’re doing with your goals, it’s going to be so much easier for you to achieve them!

I hope that helps. Please comment below wherever you see, hear, or read this, and I will see you next time for some more information around health and fitness!

 

Why Women Should Lift Weights

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I have been lifting weights consistently for about 8 years and as a perimenopausal women, I have definitely found strength training to be beneficial. I am aware that my body is changing and that Cardio alone just won’t cut it, here are some of the benefits that I have personally experienced.

The list of benefits that I have provided are also very closely related to the menopause so if you are peri/menopausal or post menopausal, these symptoms will definitely feel familiar!

Disclaimer: This list is by no means exhaustive and your experience may be different to mine.

Increase Bone Density

Improve Mood

Increase Strength

Improve Sleep

Help with period pains

Increase Bone Density

Our bone density starts to decrease once we reach the age of 30 and weight bearing exercise such as walking, running, cycling but especially lifting weights, can help to increase bone density. This significantly reduces the risk of developing osteoporosis and improve our overall quality of life.

Improve Mood

When we exercise, our body releases chemicals called endorphins, also known as happy hormones. This is a natural mood lifter, which can also help with anxiety and depression, and who doesn’t like being in a good mood?!

Increase Strength

Lifting weights consistently will improve your strength, which in turn will improve muscle definition, reduce risk of injury and aid fat/weight loss. It will also improve your quality of life as it will enable you to do more at home e.g. lift heavier items.

Improve Sleep

If you lift weights regularly, you are using a fair bit of energy so if you struggle to sleep, this kind of exhaustion will be beneficial for you when it comes to bed time! You will be able to fall asleep more easily and your overall quality of sleep will be much better.

Help with Period Pains

Believe it or not, but exercising during your period can actually help to relieve pain, such as back pain, cramps and headaches. It can even help to regulate your periods when done consistently.

There are many more benefits but these are some of my favourite ones!

Here is a video that I did about this topic and i include some equipment recommendations in it too.

Can you think of any more reasons to lift weights?

Comment below and let me know!