No ripping, tearing or shreding, it's Jessica Smith!

[KikiMadeMeDoIt]

Welcome to the Jessica Smith fitness thread, which came about after conversations about a more gentle way to get fit.

Jessica is a fitness instructor who has had her own problems with starting exercise, but thankfully she did get started and kept going. I found her videos when I was desperate to exercise but didn't have a clue how to start, so I feel a special affection for her.

Jessica has videos on her YouTube channel for everyone - she has sections for beginners, pre-natal mothers and those who want to sweat like crazy for 50 minutes, it's all there.

I thought we could share favourite videos here, encourage each other, or join in with our own Peanuts (well, you'll just have to watch!).

To get us started, here's one of my favourites

Feet thank you for that! I'll set it up later on. So much easier than finding them in my favourites.

I ended up not walking yesterday as I had a work crisis to sort out (I'm self employed and some clients seem to think I work exclusively for them....grrr) so I'll do it this evening. I assume I can do a walking workout after a meal?

Thanks BetterFeet I’m almost used to it and the relief when it goes back in is almost worth it.

Socio Oh yes, remember those days myself, “What do you mean, you have a life?” I’d give it a good 60 to 90 minutes, just in case you feel uncomfortable, but pop it in if you can. (Or less, try it and see what happens, I just have a rule of one hour for Pilates, two for weights or three for running - this might just be that I’m too much of a delicate flower.)

Thanks to you all I tried the one with her Mum, Latin Spice. Wow, it certainly got me breathing heavily and sweating a bit and had to lie on couch for half an hour after lol.

I am 67 and "skinny fat" weigh 143lb and 5' 6" but a size 12/14 and really need to work on arms and legs and bum. Waist and tummy not too bad, in fact I look OK with clothes on but naked, that is a different story.

I also have bad knees and am going to try the knee strengthening one this afternoon and hope to do something most days.

Thank you all again for inspiring me, in fact I did about 10 minutes and the ipad froze and then started again so I actually did more than necessary!!

Well I did the knee strength 15 min one wgish was not too bad. Can that be done every day or should it be every other day on a "leg"day?

I now need to find an arm/upper body one to do today, any suggestions? I do have weights but only 3lb or 10 lb.

Thanks

Hello BestName Really happy you felt inspired to join in. I think at the very beginning it's a good idea to swap muscle groups, so do legs one day and arms the next. Have a look at these,

The first one adds in abs and I'm always going to suggest getting lots done in the least time - it's just more efficient that way The second one is my favourite arms workout and I keep going back to it. I'd just use the 3lb to start and if that's too heavy, then do it without weights at first so that you're happy you're getting the movements right.

Well done for getting started. The Latin Spice dance is a brilliant place to start because it's so much fun - in case anyone else fancies a bit of a dance-y workout.

@Whyarethebestnamestaken. Could you confirm your age - just want to check that I’m giving you the right advice.

Hello there. I really like the look of this, and thank you for the warm positive thread.

I’ve been Davina-ing and Jillian-ing for the past few months after years of being completely unfit and doing virtually nothing but walking and the odd bit of cycling. My problem is arthritic knees and bi-lateral tennis elbow, both of which are being exacerbated by the workouts. I’m loving being more toned, particularly seeing

Oh no! Posted too soon.

Loving seeing the back of my dinner lady arms and discovering muscles I didn’t know existed, but OMG my elbows hurt!

Can you recommend a Jessica workout that won’t hurt my elbows?

I’m now off to get started on the Flat Abs Walk 😀 Thanks again!

Hi Septimus Welcome I'm really happy you find it positive here - I think exercise should be, it shouldn't be about pain or pushing yourself or getting hurt, it should be about the pleasure of moving. And for people that have suffered pain, pain-free movement is a really big deal.

Right, the knees. I have arthritic knees, but if I keep my hips and ankles strong, they don't bother me or hurt at all. I'm going to try and find some videos that deal with hip strengthening to try and explain what I mean. But basically, if the hips and ankles are strong, then the hinge joint in the middle (the knee) doesn't wobble around and get damaged. Also, you can reverse mild or early osteoarthritis with exercise (and it's the most effective treatment).

If your elbows are sore, then don't do too much with dumbbells until you've spent some time working on your core, chest and back, so that when you pick up the dumbbells your arms are supported. Do you know where the tennis elbow came from?

Hi Kiki thank you - that sounds like sage advice, and I will try the workouts you've linked to. What a fab public service you're providing here

I acquired my tennis elbow in a thoroughly ridiculous manner I was presenting a radio programme from a live outside broadcast last Bonfire Night, and was out in the freezing cold talking into a mic (which I must've had a in a death grip) for 5 hours. Woke up the next morning with my left arm in agony, and have been having problems ever since, despite doing the prescribed exercises Around March this year I got it in my right arm too, which I think was down to working out. Doing rows with weights seems to be the most aggravating move. But oh how I want to have nice toned arms...

Septimus You're welcome - getting my PT Diploma was hard work, so every time I use it, it makes it more worthwhile.

What exercises are you doing? I'm trying to think of a way to bridge the gap between physio and Jessica weights - maybe we could build on the physio exercises? If there's a way to getting toned arms, we'll find it

Oh bless you

The exercises are here and I use a 1kg dumbbell

How does this sound? Your arm has healed, but your brain has remembered that using your elbow made it hurt. Your brain wants to protect your elbow, so it tries to stop you using it, which it thinks will stop the pain. Your brain is really trying to help, but an instant reaction can't take into account that underuse will cause more pain in the future.

So, do the exercises, with the weight, but this time, take a minute or two beforehand to rationalise what's happening. Your arm is strong, look how it's playing with that 1kg weight without any effort. The exercise will make you feel better, they won't hurt as they're very small movements with very low weights.

Or, you could have a look at this - - there are some similar exercises. They're designed to help you do harder and longer workouts, they aren't designed to cause any pain, just easy happy movement.

Thanks Kiki I like the mind over matter approach, and those exercises look really good. Will go and find a resistance band tomorrow.

I've just done that latin dancey one where she has her mum with her, and its made me realise how desperately uncoordinated I am Fun though!

Septimus It’s a quite frustrating side effect of having a brain that remembers old injuries and tries to protect you from more injury. A forearm sprain would be nicely healed by now (probably would have been six weeks post injury) but your brain doesn’t want to take the risk. Then, when you don’t exercise, your brain is all, “yep, got that one right, no injury here, I’ll make sure I keep stopping the exercise.” It doesn’t mean that the pain you feel isn’t real, it just isn’t down to injury.

I learnt how to triage pain. I have an algorithm that goes - ‘have you injured yourself - yes/no?’ If yes, I sort the injury, if no, I carry on. Or, ‘Is this a problem now or is this an old, healed injury?’ You can build up a bespoke algorithm/flowchart to triage pain.

Let me know how you get on 🙂

I found Jessica's workouts through this thread, I've been doing them for a week so far and I love them! I'd been doing other workouts on YouTube, Joe Wicks, Jillian etc but they were too hard on my knees (could be because I need to lose 4 stone )
I have costochondritis that flares up if I do something stupid but have had no flare ups so far with Jessica.
Her walk and talk videos are fantastic too, I'm 11lbs down this month, no stopping now!

Hello Monday Well done on being so brilliant! You’re not alone in getting knee pain from other videos - I think that exercising the same muscle group for ten days in a row is madness and I’d only do it if I really wanted a new injury. Eleven pounds in a month is perfect - not too fast, just spot on.

Everything has gone quiet here, it’s too hot. I think it’s worth using the super hot days to stretch, practice your form and get some Pilates under your belt. We can get back to crazy long workouts when the heat has calmed down.

Inspired by this thread I have just tried my first workout of hers (it was the 40min resistance band one). I liked the fact that the moves used so much of the body and that she never really stopped but kept up a steady but manageable level of intensity. Unfortunately I snapped the resistance band - it was an old one and a bit perished - so I'll have to go back to that workout when I have got a new one! Anyway, thanks for the tip.

Hello Una Or maybe you're stronger than you think You can always use small weights (but I love the resistance band workouts as they really can get your muscles working hard).

Thank you for posting. I have been searching for something to. spur me on.

Hi Perch Do you need any help - types of videos, encouragement, anything else?

Haven't read the full thread but popping in here after Kiki found me searching for gentler exercise inspiration!

Did I see on page 2 or something, someone saying if I searched for apartment it would give me lower impact cardio so I wouldn't have to feel like I'm about to stamp through the ceiling? That would be awesome. I prefer to exercise upstairs otherwise the dog gives me judgemental looks 😂😂

Hello Yes to the searches - she lists them as apartment friendly, or hotel room friendly. Basically, just search for what you fancy, quiet cardio, strength, abs, whatever you feel like. Or, if you want to be inspired, she has some playlists that last a week or a month so that you always have a plan. I’m afraid you’re on your own with your dog (can you train it look away?)

Kiki, if I snap my new one I'll know it's working

Una do you remember which resistance band video you did? I'd like to try one. I've enjoyed all the ones with weights so far but fancy a change.