When our planned task at Martin Primary School had to be cancelled at the last minute, GoodGym Barnet did what GoodGym does best—we adapted!

Instead of heading to the school, we made the most of a beautiful evening with a run over to Cherry Tree Woods. Before getting stuck into the task, we warmed up with some jogging, dynamic stretches, knee lifts and a few strides to get everyone moving.

With such a lovely park and not too much litter to collect, we took the opportunity to mix fitness with a bit of fun by practising our frisbee skills. We worked on backhand and sidearm throws to improve our catching—always useful skills for a future game in the park!

After that it was time for the serious business of litter picking. Thankfully Cherry Tree Woods was looking in pretty good shape, but we still managed to fill a bag with the usual assortment of discarded rubbish, including a lonely Croc shoe and a child’s rucksack waiting to be reunited with its owner. unfortunately, it was binned!

With the park a little cleaner and everyone having enjoyed an active evening outdoors, we jogged back to the Phoenix to round off another adaptable GoodGym session.

Sometimes the best sessions are the ones you never planned! 🏃🥏

Just a little old me helping out at the Community Grocer this week, but luckily it was a relatively small delivery. Good for me, perhaps not quite so good for the shop, as stocks were a bit lighter than usual!

There were sacks of potatoes, boxes of oranges and a few other essentials to move from the van into storage. The potatoes were definitely the toughest challenge, so I put my backward walking technique into action to pull the loaded trolley up the slope. It certainly worked—and was quite good fun too! Apparently walking backwards has benefits for balance, coordination and strengthening different muscles, so maybe I was getting a mini workout as well as helping the community.

A small delivery, but every bag unpacked helps keep the Community Grocer stocked and ready to support local people.

A few GoodGym members came online to do yoga.

Yoga talk

The more you stay focused on your breathing the more you will benefit particularly if you pay attention until the very end of the out breath and then wait a moment before you inhale again. Think about the oxygen bringing energy to your body feeling alive and engaged.