With bright blue skies and a nice big group of us, we were all set for our monthly trip down to Doddington roof garden last night. We kicked off the night with strides. This exercise is 20 or so seconds of running, growing incrementally faster, and are a great warm-up to help get the blood flowing to your legs and your heart rate elevated. Wee did four sets of these, with some of the group opting to increase the intensity by including a bit of hill - great effort!

We took a nice steady run down to the garden, which is a huge space run entirely by volunteers for the benefit of local people, so there was no time to lose! Malissa met us at the bottom of the stairs, giving us our first job of bringing up some heavy tiles for use in the garden. We then took a whistlestop tour round the space, with tasks being given out as we passed the relevant spot.

There was loads to do, but the main job was getting the raised beds built up with top soil and compost so that vegetables could be grown. There are big plans to increase the produce, which will include carrots, brassica, potatoes, tomatoes and so much more, all to feed the community.

The place was soon a hive of activity, sped along by the discovery of a lightening quick way to crack into compost bags. No more fiddling with trowels and keys trying to break into the sacks!

The beds were filled, cardboard laid, compost shifted, and we even learned about a new planting process called the Milwaukee method. Every time we come we learn more and our fingers get just that little greener!

There was just time to shift that infamous marble table a few inches before we waved goodbye and headed downstairs for a fitness session that focused on glutes. That's right, it was all about that bass last night! We did sets of exercises focused on the major muscle group, which will not only help our form when running but prevent injury. Mixing it up between time based drills and reps, we gave those glutes and good work out.

It was also the monthly quiz last night - well done to our elite quizzing team!

Next week we have an earlier task at lunchtime helping a community association to empty and restock a storage cupboard. Hope to see you there.

We also have a really impactful mission coming up on 11th May to create a therapy garden at a nearby hospital for patients in rehab.You can find all the details and sign up here] (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/support-a-therapeutic-gardening-initiative-for-the-rehab-ward-courtyard-at-springfield-hospital).

Have a happy week, GoodGym!

Area Activator Ana took a very well deserved holiday this week, but not before setting up with a Monday night community mission, so the Wandsworth crew didn't miss out on their good deed fix!

This week Age UK Wandsworth needed our help and we got to work straight away, cleaning their fleet of 3 mobility buses and the windows near the building entrance. It was a little challenging in the dark (perhaps we could go back when it's light and a bit warmer!) but in true GG style we gave it our best and had fun in the process. Rather impressively we all managed to stay warm and dry too, with the exception of Jason and his soggy shoes - but he did a fab job as hose manager. Sophie, with her head torch, did a great job as quality controller took, checking everyone's handy work before we left.

After the task those who could stick around headed to the Latchmere for their pub quiz and an early social. Though we didn't maintain our winning streak, we did have a great time and came a respectable 3rd place.

I think there may have been some gremlins at play yesterday, as the session didn't go quite as expected right from the get go. However, we still managed to achieve what looked at first like an impossible challenge during the course of the night!

It all started off with a badly behaving website which didn't want us to be able to sign up for the task ahead, which was (meant) to be transporting bags and bags of compost up to Doddington roof garden. Nevertheless we persevered, and a group of 12 of us met ready to face a big upper body workout. As we did our evening's warm up we took turns in naming capital cities that ended in vowels. Oslo, Rome, Nairobi, Bogota and Quito all got a mention, but it became harder and harder to list them as we went round the group!

We took a speedy run down to the garden, arm muscles flexed, only to find....no compost. Despite the council having told Malissa it had been delivered, there was nothing to be found. It looked like our task and upper body workout was fading into the distance, but Malissa had another plan. This one involved much less soil, but a much (much) heavier weight.

The challenge was to shift an enormous workbench cupboard with the weightiest marble top from one side of the garden to the other so it could be used by the communal table and the prime sunny area it occupied currently could be used for growing plants.

And so it began. We overcame obstacles in the way, no lip to grip the top, two small pallets on wheels, not to mention the sheer weight of the thing. The first step was to transport the marble, so being super careful of fingers and toes, we perfected a tipping and edging technique that finally did the trick. All that was left was to move the cupboard itself, manouevre that into place, then pick up the marble before placing it back into position. It took the whole session to achieve this but achieve it we did, proving that impossible is nothing when it comes to GoodGym! Check out the video on X to watch the moment it all fell into place. We even managed to fit in a core blast in the nice warm meeting room below.

Next week we're back to Omnibus to spread mulch at or GG garden and wash the windows for this arts charity. There will be a lot less lifting involved, promise!

It was one of our favourite Mondays of the entire month last night - our regular visit to Doddington roof garden followed by our monthly pub quiz. And this one certainly lived up to expectations!

We kicked off the night as usual at the BAC where we welcomed Laudy to her very first session - great to meet you.

We then did some reps which got our heart rates up, before going round the group to discuss who we would invite to our fantasy pub quiz team. With Stephen Fry, Thomas Edison, Barack Obama, Boris Johnson and, er, Eddie Redmayne joining our super team, I think we'd clear up!

We set off for Doddington community roof garden to meet Malissa who quickly divided us up into two teams. While half of the group got started lifting grass, shaking off the mud, and saving it for replanting, the second lot began tackling the task of emptying and transporting the water butt. It sounded easier than it was. However hard they tried it would just not budge. Emptying the water with cans, trying to prise out the grate, and even attempting to leverage it with spades all sadly proved fruitless, so it was a case of abandoning this particular challenge (for now) and moving on.

There was plenty more to do, from weeding, to replanting grass and shifting turf and before we knew it our time was up. But not before we had done our weekly fitness session.This time it was EMOM - every minute on the minute. The idea is that we all do a certain number of exercises at any pace during a minute before moving on to the next set. With loads of squats, tricep dips, lunges and jacks, we worked every major muscle group and kept warm in the growing drizzle.

The pub was just a short jog away, so without wasting any time we set off for the warm inviting interior and found our places. It was another glorious week for GG quizzers as we managed to sweep third and FIRST place, with the winning team bagging another lot of funds for our garden. It's going to look blooming marvelous come the summer.

Next week I'm just waiting for confirmation that we'll have a change of task and will be heading back to Doddington to help shift a delivery of compost, so watch this space! We also have our weekly hot food delivery on Sunday, and plenty of other ways to help out too.