Head Over Heels Gymnastics – Books & DVD Review

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Fiona Martin

Head over Heels Gymnastics is a fantastic new way to learn, practice and perfect your gymnastics skills in your own home. Whether you are a beginner, a bit more advanced, have lessons already or just want to learn alone from home, then these guides for children are incredibly user friendly, simple to follow and progress at a good rate to see your child learn, improve and be challenged!

We received Head over Heels Gymnastics Volume 1: Boys & Girls Floor Skills book which really does incorporate all the moves a young gymnast will encounter in there first few years. My daughter has been attending weekly gymnastics lessons for the last couple of years and loves it so much that she practices at home (notably with headstands on her bed, and feet up against the painted wall) when she is able. The book is extremely well thought out and has been designed perfectly for someone to follow step by step to ensure they get the move/position correct.

The first major bonus of this book is the spiral binding of the book along with the fact that it has a 3D element that allows it to stand up so you can view it as you perform the moves – this is a fantastic feature and really enables the book to be used as you practice.

The book is very clearly laid out with a contents page so you can go directly to the skill you wish to practice or if you start from the beginning it takes you through a warm up then gradually guides you from simple moves to those more challenging and even helps you with mini routines at the end. What I like about this book is that it comes with full colour photographic pictures guiding you through each move so you can see exactly how to perform and accomplish them to your best ability. The step by step guides are brilliant and I can’t fault them, you can see every move, there are arrows to guide you and in some cases crosses to show you if you are doing the wrong thing. I also love the ‘post it’ style notes that give you all the hints and tips you need to perfect the move.

As much as my daughter is ultra sporty and partakes in all sports be it rugby, football, swimming, athletics etc. her elegance has never been her strongest point but I love the fact that she enjoys gymnastics as it gains her a lot of strength and flexibility skills. So here is her interpretation of some of the gymnastic skills from the Head over Heels Gymnastics book.

She loved doing this in the garden as she had more room and could run around doing things like cartwheels as well which I usually dread when she does indoors as I fear her feet hitting the light fittings! She was able to see the book and flip over the page as she wished.

We also received a dvd Volume 3: The Floor Beam which is equally as fanatastic as the book. Even if you don’t have any sort of floor beam at home, you can simply use your floor. We just put two gym mats down leaving a gap in between which represented the beam and my daughter tried to stay in the gap. What I liked about the dvd are that there are various age children showing you the moves and you can literally just copy and follow them as they do things. It’s really broken down step by step and moves at a slow pace guiding you as you go. Miss M has had a few tries at this and enjoys following it. I was surprised by how much content is on it and think for anyone child who really wants to gain experience then this is a great dvd to have to practice at home with.

Overall I have to say I’m impressed with the Head over heels about… Gymnastics! set of books and dvds. There’s very little in the way of books to guide you in this sport so this really a unique range and across the set there really is something for every little budding gymnast out there – so go check them out!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Women’s Health Magazine – Review

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Women’s Health magazine from Unique Magazines, is a lifestyle magazine for females covering all aspects of life from diet, nutrition, exercise, beauty, fashion, relationships and more.

This months edition features Britney Spears on the front cover who is interviewed and talks about her current fitness regime. There is also a page of exercises you can follow at home that Britney currently does in the ‘Totally Drenched’ fitness class she regularly attends.

The magazine as a whole is well thought out and does contain lots of reading material. There are loads of food, nutrition, skincare and relationship tips in a series of pages entitled The Brief which gives you snippets of facts and information across each topic.

There are various other exercise pages you can follow at home which is great for me as I’m currently on a mission to feel fit and fab at 40! One useful article explores high street food chains and shows you a healthy option to choose against and unhealthy meal choice. Some of the differences in calories can be quite surprising!

The article on breakfast pots gives you ten ideas on super healthy and filling breakfast ideas, some not what you’d conventionally expect to see on a breakfast menu, but definitely a great way to start the day and see you through to lunchtime!

I’m quite surprised by both the quantity and variety of articles in this magazine and it has lots of great ideas I can incorporate into my new healthy lifestyle. There are even some pages on fashion – just what I need to look fit and fab at 40!

Why not check the magazine out yourself, whether you are looking to start a new healthy lifestyle or just want to find out about simple everyday things to look good, feel fit and boost your daily nutritional intake, then this magazine would be perfect for you!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the magazine in order to write the review.

Yoga for Weightloss with Roxy Shahidi DVD – Review

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Yoga for Weightloss with Roxy Shahidi DVD is perfect for working out to at home. With not much spare time and little time to get away from the children to reach a gym, this dvd is something I can do in my own time, as and when I get an opportunity.

The DVD is broken down into sections and consists of a warm up along with three different programmes and some winding down stretches at the end.

WARM UP: (10 mins) This fluid warm up is designed to gently wake up the body and get your energy system flowing so you may start your practice feeling invigorated and awake.

SEQUENCE 1: Cardio & Standing Series (20 mins) This flowing sequence consists of the classical sun salutations all constructed to raise your heart beat and build strength. As we build heat in the body we begin to detoxify and purify ourselves allowing us to work off that extra weight and tone up our muscles.

SEQUENCE 2: Core strengthening (20 mins) This core sequence focuses on the mid-section of the body with focus on your abs and lower back. We all tend to store most of our extra weight in this area so this firming sequence is targeted to build up your muscles to provide you with a solid core. The lower back movements help improve your posture to prevent slumping, as good posture promotes correct organ function and aids in elimination of excess calories.

SEQUENCE 3: Seated Flow (20 mins) This gentle flow is designed to help you unwind and relax. Stress is one of the main causes for over-eating or over-indulging but there are better ways to calm you and release tension. Stretching the body will help you let go of any mental, physical and emotional blockages that are keeping you from being the best you can be.

BREATH: (10 mins) The breath is the quickest way to invigorate and open the body. This breathing practice can be done anywhere and has been formulated to energise you to start your day or re-charge yourself periodically when you need a lift.

SAVASANA: (5 mins) The savasana is a full relaxation practice to help you let go and completely unwind and put you in a meditative state. We all need to rest and this time allows all the work you have done in the previous flows to integrate into your system allowing change to take place. Roxy uses these practices to keep her in shape and looking and feeling her best! So come join Roxy in this yoga practice to rev up your metabolism and firm your core so you can look and feel great!

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I found Roxy Shahidi very easy to watch and follow. The DVD was very clear and she guides you with ease through the workout. Yoga is normally thought of to be relaxing, rather than for weightloss, but this DVD really does get you moving, in particular I loved the stretching and how flexible it’s making me feel. Although I know I should be exercising more than I do, I would rather do something like this than a fast paced cardio workout that I wouldn’t stick to and keep doing. Knowing this yoga routine is gentle yet effective, I try to fit it in a couple of times a week and I’m certainly feeling better for it.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the dvd in order to write the review.

Ozeri 3D Pedometer – Review

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Fiona Martin

Ozeri produce a wide range of household products from kitchenware to fitness gadgets so when I was sent a Ozeri Pedometer to try I knew it’d fit in perfectly with the healthy lifestyle that I’m currently trying to attain.

The Ozeri pedometer records steps, distance, calories and time and works using your own stride, something you have to programme in at the start along with current date/time/your weight etc. This helps it to give accurate feedback on your progress throughout your day.

Having only used basic pedometer’s in the past, I could immediately see the benefits of the Ozeri. One of the biggest bonuses for me was the 3D Tri-Axis motion sensor, meaning that no matter where you have the pedometer or what way up it is, it still manages to accurately record your steps. It makes it so easy to slip into your pocket and go about day to day life. Also I love the way that it waits until you have done 13 steps before adding them on, unlike the basic ones that increased steps everytime you jiggle about in your chair.

A feature I like is that it resets itself back to zero at midnight so you can get up the next morning knowing that you are starting a new day, although the great thing is your previous days are stored to give you a 7 day total.

I was a bit shocked the first few days I tried the Ozeri pedometer, in that I was only achieving just over 6000 steps, although to be fair I wasn’t doing any particular walking or exercise on those days. It has made me more conscious to make an effort to try and achieve over 10,000 steps each day. I still find this a little hard on the days I work, but it gives me an excuse to get up and take a walk around the office!

The Ozeri pedometer comes in a nice slim design with easy to press buttons, and being bright yellow means it’s easy to find when you put it down. Once set up, you can just use it to track your steps each day and a simple press of a button shows you your calories and distance. Having the time and date on the front was an added bonus and a feature I found useful.

The pedometer comes with an optional attachment to allow you to wear around your neck and also a very handy little screwdriver to open the battery compartment. There is also a backlight for night viewing which can be useful.

Overall I think the Ozeri is an excellent pedometer, perfect for anyone wanted to keep track of their steps throughout the day. It works well, gives accurate results, is a compact design and is packed with features allowing you to track your daily movements.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.