Smug

Today is a good day. I spent the morning lounging in bed and have spent the majority of the day in my dressing gown. My husband read 'Jonathon Livingstone's The Seagull' to me today and it seemed particularly inspiring after last nights performance at Annabel's. We then got up and I tucked into my favourite breakfast - smoked salmon, soya and linseed toast and poached eggs with lashings of black pepper. Life is not so bad.

It is amazing how my mood can change so quickly. Yesterday I felt nervous, queasy and generally a bit miserable but today I feel inspired, motivated and smug. I should feel good as Jo and I danced our butts off. We had huge support from our students which made the performance even more memorable and neither of us were sick on the spinning pole. I did lose a small area of skin from my left shin but as mentioned before no pain - no gain.

It seems the increased workouts are paying off, our muscles are stronger and our general fitness is improving. As usual I am my own worse critic and have spent some time today analysing my dances and thinking of areas where they could be improved but that is a good thing as there is always room for improvement.

I looked at the possibility that my current age means I could be at my maximum physical fitness and muscle development could now start to deteriorate due to aging but current research suggest that a good strength conditioning programme can practically reverse the effects of aging on the muscles, in other words if you don't use it you lose it. My first dance teacher was a great example of this, she was still teaching t the age of 83 and could still do the flying splits through the air - very impressive. Basically you need to exercise and consider diet. Carbs are great for fuelling the muscles, protein is good but not in large quantities and there is room for a small amount of fat. I found a useful website which gives you some guidelines for recommended daily amounts, click here for more info.

Above all keep reminding yourself that you can be stronger, don't use old excuses, get off your backside and achieve something. As Kenshi points out the mental state is as important as the physical state. Well it is Sunday so I am going to sign off, put my feet up and rest my body before another week of training and challenges - Bring it on!

Thanks to Annabel for a great night and a great venue and Thanks to Jo for doing the art of dance proud.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x