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

It was this one:

Can i join? Is there a video for beginners? I really need to work on general health but also desperately want to get rid of my baby gut

Thanks Una. I'll give it a try.

Kiki I am beyond thrilled to report that my arms are feeling a little better after ditching Gillian in favour of lovely friendly Jessica, and... I HAVE LOST 5 POUNDS!

Thank you thank you thank you for your advice and pointing me in the right direction. You really are a star

Hello everyone. On holiday with limited wi-fi. I’m so impressed on how wonderful everyone is being - medals to all.

Una how’s it going? Have you found a super strong band that you won’t be able to snap

Tialys Hello. Welcome, Jessica has loads for beginners - if you go to the main page on YouTube there’s a search box, or you can have a scroll up here and there are a few suggestions to where to get started. If you can’t find anything, have a look at the plans she does - she gives a list of videos for you to work through. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Hello Septimus Well done! You must have put the work in to lose that weight Keep going, you’ve clearly got this. (And you’re very welcome. I love doing this and I love helping people sort out pain, but I can’t do the work, so thank you for taking that leap and giving it a go.)

New band has arrived and seems nice and strong, so I will have another go tonight. Meantime I've done a few of the mini workouts which are handy for a few minutes here and there. I'm mostly pretty active but these videos are going to be great on the days when I work from home as I don't get my usual exercise from walking/cycling/toddler wrangling.

Una I think that's one of the things I really like about Jessica - there are lots of videos for people starting from scratch, but if you want to do an hour of cardio, there are videos for that too.

While I'm here, back at the laptop, missing my holiday I'll try and say something useful. Lots of online exercise programmes talk about motivation, but I'd be very wary of putting all my trust in it. Motivation can be very flaky and can easily be overhelmed by, "I'll start tomorow," not being used to exercising regularly or not having your kit to hand.

What has your back is habit - try and do something every day - even if it's just practising carving out the time or getting your exercise clothes on and doing some stretching. Get used to finding the time and creating habits - clothes, tying hair up, indoor Jessica trainers - anything that builds up a way of exercising.

I'm horrified to learn that I've done nothing for a month. That's shocking. Work took over and I put myself last, as always. Sigh.....tomorrow I start against.

Hi United You have to put yourself first. The stronger you are, the better placed you are to sort everything else out. Will you be able to carve out the time? (I know how hard it is in this heat, but anything is better than nothing.)

Aaaargh its nearly 8pm, I've done nothing but work and I'm starving. I'm going to do a video first thing tomorrow before I get sucked in to the day.

Hey United, did you manage to get something done?

Nope. I'm justifying it a little by having spent the weekend decorating. Where do the days go????? I'm now about to cook dinner then put the bathroom back together before I finally get showered.

Hi all! Have just come across this thread. You all seem very keen and inspirational! I see you said that you might get snowed inkiki well where I am it's been very hot for a while so can't really exercise until it gets cooler. Faintings not a good look but when it starts to cool will definitely start exercising. Keep going though everyone!

Been doing a few Jessica videos on YouTube. Really liking them. Usually do medium to high intensity. Any recommendations for videos that are good for burning lots of calories?

Hey United Hope you get some space, it sounds like you've got loads on at the moment (invite us all round, we'll paint, what could go wrong ?)

Hello Philomena It's too hot! It's too hot. It's just too hot. I remember the snow, lovely snow. Shout when you're ready and we'll find something for you.

Hello Twinkle Try this one if you've got plenty of time or this if you need something shorter or this as a package Week Plan

I'd love someone else to paint my house, but the rooms are too small for even me and OH to be in there together (kitchen and bathroom). I've done the bathroom, but the kitchen is all his....mainly cos it's also got a number of very large spiders that he'll need to rehome before painting.

Today I've not done a video but I have done a 10 minute step hiit session followed by a short circuit using my kettlebell. It's a start!

United Anything's better than nothing and I'm massively impressed by any exercise at the moment - I think it's more a survival mode right now.

This heat is a killer, and I'm in the cooler north, so I've no idea how anyone else is coping. I loathe being too hot.

It's pretty unpleasant here. It smells as if London has been wearing the same sweatshirt for a couple of weeks. I've been doing Barre classes in an air-conditioned gym, but that's all I've been able to do, it's just so draining. I'm just trying to consciously store up energy so that I can throw myself back into good daily exercise when the temperature comes down.

I really wish I was still a gym member...air con and a pool would help me. Hubby came home the other day with sunstroke. He's a gardener and this week has been brutal. I think you're very wise to take a break Kiki.

Hello, just coming on board to say thank you for the recommendations. I saw the exercise at home thread which directed me here. I've been looking for some low-impact exercise that I can do at home that will help with general fitness, and have started with some of Jessica's beginner's HIIT and walking exercises. I wouldn't have found her videos with the recommendation, so thank you!

Hello Thursday Lovely to have you here. Let us know how you get on.

Right. Insane hot weather seems to have calmed down. Who wants to get started again?
@EverydayFeelsLikeAMonday
@ChevalierTialys
@SeptimusQuench
@UnaOfStormhold
@PhilomenaFogg
@sociopathsunited

Yes, count me in! I've done a bit this weekend, not as much as I should have though.

Brilliant. Don't worry about 'should', you did something :-)

I've been doing Barre classes and they've definitely made a difference to my shape, so I've put together a playlist of all of Jessica's barre workouts and I'm going to challenge myself to get them all done.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUEuL1azJlQ&list=PLs9ghQ4P1y__s31Vbji4mW8wm3sCdzpI4&index=2&t=1095s
Today's Barre video]]