HoopFit Teacher Interview - Gemma Smailes

Our interview with HoopFit teacher Gemma Smailes

Where do you live in?
I currently live in the beautiful seaside village of Middleton-on-Sea, West Sussex

What do you do for a living?
I'm an Accountant by day and HoopFit addict by night!

How long have you been Hooping for?
I started Hooping in 2013 and joined a Happy Healthy Hoops class in February 2014, where the fun really got started!

 

What inspired you to start Hooping? 
I stumbled across an article online one day which was talking about the health benefits of hula hooping, and when I read that it is a great way to strengthen your core muscles I was intrigued, as two years earlier I had slipped a disc in my back and had been so nervous of doing it again that I was put of off exercise, but this article explained that Hooping was low impact, so you could build the strength without having to put yourself through an agonising body breaking procedure, it also looked way more fun then pounding a treadmill or lifting weights in a gym!

What keeps you hooping? 
I keep on Hooping because the possibilities are endless, everyday I think of a new trick or a different move you can do with the hoop. It's an unbelievable amount of fun and it's keeps you super fit without even realising you are doing anything!

What’s your favourite trick? 
My favourite trick, gosh this is a hard one, there are so many! I think my favourite is the double weave, it looks super pretty and is a great work out for your arms (and bingo wings!). I haven't quite mastered it yet but half the fun is working hard and practicing a move to make it perfect!

Who are your hoop buddies?
My Mum! Bless her heart she had no intention to start hooping in her 60's but every time I go home with a pile of hoops we spend all afternoon playing around in the back garden and now she is showing signs of being a little pro! I would also have to say Bree and Heather, my fellow HoopFit instructors, I have learnt so much from them both and they are always super positive and heaps of fun to be around!

Who are your hoop inspirations? 
When I saw this video on You Tube I got goose bumps, I was mesmerised, hooked, I couldn't believe how beautiful hoop dance could look and one day I will learn how to do this!!

What has changed for you since you started hooping?
Wow so much in my life has changed since I started hooping! I thought I would just hoop as a casual way of keeping fit but before I knew it I was hooping every night and pushing myself to learn more and more, and as a result I have lost weight, I am fitter and far more toned than I have ever been before! I have also become a HoopFit Instructor which I could never have imagined when I first started hooping last year! Being a HoopFit Instructor has had opened up some brilliant opportunities for me and I now get to attend all sorts of events and classes to help others learn to hoop and there is nothing more rewarding that seeing someone hoop for the first time!

What did you have for breakfast?
This morning I had a bowl of cereal - boring isn't it?! Must try harder to make tomorrow's breakfast more interesting!

Is there anything else you would like to tell the world about your hooping experience?
There is. Please don't read the above and think I am a naturally sporty and athletic sort, that picks these things up really quickly. I'm not that person at all! When I first started hooping it took me a month to keep the hoop spinning on my waist and most of the tricks I know today have not been mastered first time, it has taken hard work and patience but it is so worth it! If you are thinking of having a go please, please just do it! You will have so much fun and the rewards are huge whether its fitness or stress levels you will feel great after hooping and that's a promise!

If you want to know more about Gemma's classes in West Sussex please join the mailing list!!

I'm in The Guinness World Record Book!!!

So I still can't believe it! I hold a Guinness World Record. It's down on paper and everything. 

On Wednesday after my hoop class I went to the book shop to see if I could get a copy. Not only was the record in it but there is a big colour photo on page 107 right next to a girl shooting a bow and arrow using her feet. 

Bare in mind that when we made the record in November 2013 I had only been hula hooping for 18 months. I was so incredibly nervous. Having trained for months beforehand I was confident I could spin 30 hoops for the required time, but on the day my nerves really got to me and I ended up dropping down to 25. My legs were literally trembling when we spun those hoops. 

On Wednesday when I saw the book I was just over whelmed. I very nearly cried in the book shop, showed a couple of complete strangers as they passed by and spent the rest of the day with the BIGGEST GRIN ON MY FACE!!!

xX me

Inspired by My Students

It's a real worry that some of my students are going to get better than me. Today I had a class with two students who have been coming to HoopFit for 4 months. They are both very dedicated and often come to class with new tricks that they want to learn.

Most recently it's been the three beat weave. 

So today before class I gave it a try, I couldn't quite get it so we decided to spend a bit of time working through it together in class. Just talking it through and watching each other we slowly worked it out and by the end of class Hélène, Claire and I had all managed it!!!

Big thank you to all my students that push me! Even the ones who make me teach isolations, my least favourite move... I'm almost starting to like them. 

x Bree

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

My first year of Uni I met Luke, we got along like a house on fire and with in months I was counting him as one of my closest friends. In our second year of Uni Luke's Mum was diagnosed with ALS. 

I remember so clearly going to his house where his family were gathered after her diagnosis. I'd taken my Dad's copy of 'Tuesdays with Morrie', an inspirational book about an ALS sufferer. Luke's Mum had been given 2 years to live and unfortunately that estimate turned out to be far to generous. 

I only saw her a couple more times over the next few months, her deterioration was very quick. When a friend called me to say she had only two weeks to live I went and got flowers and a card. The next step was to head to the hospital but I completely flipped out about what to write on the card. I couldn't turn up at the hospital already crying so stopping at my best friends house to get some advice on what to write and to compose myself. 

I was at my friends house writing in that stupid card when I got the call to say she she had passed away. At the time I was devastated that I didn't get to see her but in hindsight I'm not sure it really mattered. She was with her family when she passed and the most important thing to her would have been that I was a good friend to Luke which I was. 

The ALS ice bucket challenge has received a lot of criticism. I've seen posts from friends saying that they don't agree with it for various reasons and I agree with some of their points. What I really like though is the ones that say 'I'm not doing the ice bucket challenge but I am going to give blood, donate to X charity or volunteer with X.'

I have had a personal experience with ALS so I am happy to donate to them but I think that we should all be giving to charities that are personal too us. Arguments about which charities are more worthy than others are never going to be resolved because who can honestly be objective about something so personal... I really hope thought that these conversatiosn actually causes you to make a donation rather than argue for arguments sake. Put your money where your mouth is people!!!! So I nominate all of you, not to dump ice water on your head but take the time out to help someone less fortunate than yourself.

xX Bree Kirk-Burnnand 

P.S. I'm sorry if this post has made anyone teary eyed but just watch the video a couple more times and I'm sure you'll be smiling again. 

Before and After

At some point I'll get talked into doing the before and after photos but you are not getting one yet!! I follow loads of fitness professionals and bloggers on social media so I see before and after photos everyday. Lately though I've found myself squinting at my phone trying to workout which is the before and which is the after photo. 

And when I finally work out which one is the 'after' sometimes I like the before better. 

We all have such different preferences. I tell you what if I could have anyones body it would be Kim Kardashian!! Now half of you are thinking 'hell yeah!!!' and the other half have lost all respect for me (Yes, I watch the programme too. Judge away). I like curves, I know every word to 'I like big butts' and that hour glass shape, I just love it. 

I've gone down a few dress sizes hula hooping and I love my tummy and my arms. 99% of the time I am so happy and confident in my body but I miss my boobs... they shrunk. I'm not kidding you, sometimes I put on my old cloths and think I've become a coat hanger and I just want some womanly curves back. 

And yes I am healthier and happier than ever in my body but it doesn't stop me from having those moments. And there is nothing in this world that will make me look like Kim, butt implants maybe??!! A million squats? Maybe....but I realise now that what ever goal you set, a dress size, X many inches or so many kilos, there is no perfect body! If you don't have a great body image, if you can't appreciate that you are sexy and beautiful as you are, curves or no curves, then there is no perfect body.

Forget the before and afters because they are in your head. 

x