fitness blog – Shameem.fit

July 8, 2021July 13, 2021

Moky at home – Success!

Luckily for me I did have foresight that home workouts would become more popular as I had already set up Shameem.fit before Covid hit. I had no idea at the time Covid would bring an abrupt end to my community classes but I’m pleased I adapted to online so easily. For years people had been asking me to do it so they could access Moky workouts wherever they were and at times to suit them and I’m relieved I listened and finally got round to doing it.

The transition from community classes to delivering them from my home ‘Moky room” in front of a camera was surprisingly easy. I’m fortunate Mat is such a “techie” guy and has created a brilliant platform for us. What was unexpected for me is that I got the same buzz and enjoyment at home as I did from the community classes, and over a year later I still do. Of course I miss the faces, the chat, the whoops, the laughs. There’s so much fun in being together, but online I have found that with the regular contact through the website and Facebook we can still have the laughs and chat, just in a different way. With Mat joining me at the sessions as well there’s never a shortage of banter 😂. We’re even introducing guests in our Moky room now and hopefully will have more public events when the time is right.

It wasn’t long into Lockdown 1 I became aware a lot of people loved this new way of working out with many telling me they would now stick to it over community as it’s so much more convenient. They can fit it around the kids, work, home life and don’t have to stick to a rigid time like with the community classes. I know how tough it is balancing work and kids then add in fitness/ ‘me time’ well it just feels impossible. I’m pleased busy mums are getting the full benefit of shameem.fit now. No babysitters needed , in fact the kids can join in too! We can also dip in and out when needed. Life can get in the way but it’s so easy to come back to when you’re online as you can pick up where you left off or even go back and try the beginner playlists if it’s been that long!

We’ve welcomed subscribers from all over the UK , as well as abroad which is fantastic. I love it when I see our subscribers from outside the UK joining a Live session, it’s incredible to think how many more people we are reaching! Then there has been the increase in subscribers from those who were too nervous to come to a class. Although I can do my Moky thing and do it confidently, it doesn’t mean that I don’t know that anxiety fuelled feeling of stepping into a fitness class for the first time. You know where it feels that everyone else knows each other and what they are doing and you feel like the odd one out. There’s those with insecurities about their weight and fitness levels who wouldn’t want to attend a class with others. Since my Autism blog post I have received many messages from people who can relate, particularly around the social anxiety of fitness classes so I’m thrilled Shameem.fit is providing workouts without the social anxieties.

Shameem.fit started before Covid and it will continue. I have come to realise everyone has a unique home environment and many of those have changed with home working so it’s impossible to time classes to suit everyone. Online I now choose times for my Lives that suits my family life and pop them straight on the website afterwards for people to do at times to suit them. For some that might be 6am, for others mid morning or late evening. Thats the beauty of it, whatever time, night and day it’s there ready to go.

The hardest part of fitness at home for people is motivating themselves to do it. I’ll be honest I didn’t expect to see so many people doing it as regularly as they are but it’s been amazing to see how many people are logging on everyday and just getting on with it. It always inspires me. Moky is my creation and my baby but without the participants it wouldn’t be the wonderful thing is has become.

I remember when I had my boys and with it being a full term twin pregnancy and add in my addiction to chocolate biscuits I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of confidence. I began working out at home when the boys napped and over time built up my fitness and strength and lost the weight (I did have to give up the biscuits too). Ultimately if we want it enough we can make it happen. We can enjoy it too and although I was so scared at first it’s amazing how every day I had some progression and it spurred me on to keep going. I didn’t need a class to do it, just my living room and some determination and discipline.

For many, Shameem.fit has become a sanity saver, it’s created consistency when it was needed most and it’s given participants an opportunity to focus on their own fitness and progression rather than just ticking a box that they attended a class this week. They are achieving levels of fitness they never really thought about before, there’s more opportunity to challenge themselves and make the workouts more personalised for them and there’s more time to workout without the travel so people are working out more than before.

For me, with less time travelling to classes I’m now able to spend time continuing my fitness education and my favourite thing of all- creating! I’m loving coming up with new things to add to the workouts. Our latest addition we’re introducing is resistance bands and foam rollers. Foam rollers and resistance bands can be bought cheap and easily stored at home so it’s nice and convenient without the need of bulky equipment.

Fitness has to be enjoyable for us to keep with it and I know that’s where I excel, there is no such thing as a boring workout at Moky. It’s the only exercise I do because I am one of those people who dislike the gym and ‘no pain no gain’ attitudes, it puts me off. Although I do love to push myself it only works for me with my ‘Moky formula’ and I know there’s plenty more like me who prefer to exercise in this way. Of course we also have subscribers who keep themselves fit in other ways but also join us regularly. We’re a great mix of people taking care of our physical fitness and the mental benefits that come with it and I’d like to thank everyone who takes part.

I love getting the emails and contact from clients about how Moky at home is working out for them so if you’re reading this and have been taking part at Shameem.fit feel free to leave a comment so I know how you’re getting on.

For anyone who doesn’t subscribe please do try our one week free trial and try all the sessions if you can fit them all in. It’s about making it work for you and your life. Whether you do it alongside other fitness activities or you’re a complete beginner wanting to build confidence, we’ve got something to suit everyone.

December 11, 2020December 11, 2020

Back Care in Winter

It was easy to choose this weeks blog topic as so many people at the moment are suffering with injuries/pains resulting from the cooler weather. You may have noticed that you tend to get more aches and pains in winter. Now as a fitness instructor I always ensure we get a good safe warm up before we exercise. I also remind people that on the ‘cool down’ it’s important to not get cold. Why? well because our muscles don’t like it, it makes them tight. The tightness increases the chance of injury as well as causing pain and discomfort.

I am more likely to injure myself in my sleep than I am doing my toughest workout MokyX. Sounds ridiculous but very true and will likely apply to you too. When we exercise we increase our blood flow to the muscles, tendons and ligaments which warms them and prevents them being stiff and therefore less predisposed to injury.

Now compare that, to when we sleep. We don’t move, so our muscles get tight. Then add in winter temperatures, it’s much cooler and don’t our muscles know it? All it takes is for us to turn over in bed and the already stiff back muscles can really tighten up and cause pain. Same when we get out of bed or any other sudden movement in the morning before we are fully warmed up (Putting on socks, shoes, picking something up from the floor).

So what precautions can we take to avoid injury and pain?

If you have a heating system that kicks in below a certain temp, use it! Yes it costs money to heat while you sleep but when you’re in agonising back pain for days or even weeks you’ll wish you did. Wear PJ’s and tuck your top into your pants so the warm air can stay trapped, protecting your back muscles. Use a heated blanket/hot water bottle/wheat pack if you can. Keep an eye on the weather forecast for night time temperatures so you can be prepared. It can easily catch us out, especially with our British climate

Adapting Daily activities for good Back Care

Putting on socks and shoes is a common way to hurt our back in winter. Try putting your shoes on without leaning forwards. Sit down and bring your knee up to your chest and rest your foot on the seat. For socks use your bed. Lie back on your bed and bring your legs up towards your chest and put your socks on without lifting your back up from the bed. It’s so much less strain on the back and can prevent so much pain.

Don’t bend over to reach the floor for things. Instead of bending imagine just dropping your tailbone to the floor in a straight line down, bend both knees and don’t lean forwards.

Set your heating on a timer so it’s warm in any rooms you are in first thing in the morning.

Generally try to be more conscious of the temperature so you are well prepared and dressed for it. Wear layers when going out in the cold. Keep your back extra snug (tuck in your tops, wear a vest or bodysuit)

And if you do find yourself in the unfortunate situation of considerable pain from a tight/stiff back look after it. Take pain relief right away, don’t be a martyr, the pain relief will mean you aren’t making the problem worse by holding yourself more stiffly. Try to keep warm and use heat on your back to help the blood flow and reduce tightness. Avoid bending and lifting but do keep mobile. Sitting or lying will not help a stiff back. Gentle walks will help loosen it. I even did my morning Zest today after waking up in agony from turning over in bed last night. It sorted me out! The stiffness has eased up considerably, I’m not bending though, the kids and Mat will have to do all the housework this weekend! 😂

I will be doing a back care session for shameem.fit so subscribers please look out for that.

Thanks for reading and please leave some feedback, I’d like my blog to be interactive so I can be as helpful as possible 😊

December 4, 2020December 4, 2020

5 Steps to keep up your Workouts

Hi, Shameem here, Creator of Moky and Shameem.fit my home workout website. Welcome to my first blog post – Shameem Shares. Here I want to share with you my thoughts and advice on fitness, well-being and health. Today for my first post I’ll start with steps to keep up your workouts.

Thinking about getting fit and knowing where to start can be overwhelming. But if you’re reading this you may already be a member of Shameem.fit and have access to all my workouts. But having access isn’t enough. It’s going to take some planning and discipline on your part. So here’s where to start.

Step 1

Have a goal in mind first. For most people this may start with the aim of getting fitter or stronger (or both). Now to truly achieve this goal we need to make it S.M.A.R.T.

For it to be Specific, it needs to be more than “I want to get Fitter”. The 8 Week Moky Challenge is a great way to help with that. Commit to doing 3 or more classes a week for 8 weeks and there you have your SMART goal. It’s specific, measurable and achievable. With our range of workouts to choose from and available any time day or night, it can fit around you. You should be able to squeeze in 3 x 30 minute sessions even on your busiest weeks. It’s realistic and it has a timescale. After 8 weeks we expect you to notice considerable strength and fitness improvements. We recommend taking photos and measurements at the start, then you can see the progress in pictures and numbers (measurable).

Step 2

Now you’ve got your SMART goal, make it easy to do. Make sure your workout space is always ready for you so it doesn’t delay you getting started. Get the best stream you can of the workouts, if you can get it on the TV even better. Stream using a Firestick or Chromecast or your TV browser. Put your workout gear on early (making sure you keep a washed, dried supply ready for your next workout). My washing machine never stops! All these things really help to get that workout done.

Step 3

Schedule in your workouts at the start of each week. Pick the days you know it will be easiest for you with least possible distractions. If you keep an electronic diary put it on there with reminders on it. Then stick to the times you schedule. So even if you don’t feel like it you do it anyway. This is the biggest mistake people can make. They don’t feel like it so they skip it and before you know it they never feel like it. I often don’t ‘feel like it’. Most days I’m exhausted by the evening after a long day in the office then I have the kids to look after, prepare meals, clean, laundry etc. So by 6.30pm I’m ready for a lie down. But I put on my workout gear and I get on with it and the truth is the minute I start I completely forget I felt tired and I love it.

Step 4

Mix up your workouts and use your time wisely. There’s so many to choose from and we want you to be the fittest, strongest version of yourself you can so we offer lots of variety so you’ll never get bored. If you’re short on time do 20 minutes HIIT, even a 15 minute HIIT workout can give you great fitness benefits so start a MokyHIIT or X session to get maximum return on your time.

Step 5

This is the biggie. Don’t give up! Failures will happen, this is life, it never runs smooth. There will always be something that pops up unexpectedly and when that happens, workouts might not take priority. However, if it’s one bad day, it need not turn into a bad week and one bad week need not turn into 8 bad weeks. If things don’t go to plan, don’t beat yourself up, it doesn’t achieve anything. Bounce back! And keep bouncing back because ultimately the comeback is always stronger than the setback!