Hello,

The first week that Angela Rippon stepped onto the dancefloor in Strictly Come Dancing, the many millions of viewers were astonished – not because she was an amazingly accomplished dancer but because she was 79 years young and could do the splits!

As the weeks progressed, her energy, flexibility and dancing skills continued to astound us and it was very obvious that she was having the time of her life.

Of course, most of us can recall Angela reading the Nine O’clock News but it was her memorable appearance on The Morcombe & Wise Show that totally astonished the viewers. As she stepped out from behind her familiar News desk and kicked up her fabulous long legs she surprised the nation with her remarkable talent as a dancer! Today we are more likely to see her presenting Rip Off Britain with other veteran broadcasters Gloria Honeyford and Julia Summerville, bringing rogue traders to account.

So, how does someone in her 80th year still manage to do the splits? Anyone who is professionally trained to be a dancer when they are young – Angela studied classical ballet until she was 17 – is taught for hours about flexibility, posture, leg extensions (very, very straight legs to you and me), and core strength. We only need to watch the professional dancers on Strictly to see how they hold themselves and how strong and flexible they are and, as dancers, doing the splits is part of that flexibility training.

Whilst Angela left ballet school at 17, it is obvious that she has maintained her suppleness throughout her life by continuing to include flexibility within her exercise regime and has clearly maintained her flexibility sufficiently to be able to still do the splits! Remarkable!

My own dancing training was less impressive as I had ballet lessons for just a year when I was five. Despite that, I loved moving to music and would spend hours ‘dancing’ at home after school until I was about 10. But when I met my professional ice dance partner after I successfully auditioned for Dancing on Ice in 2012, I was introduced to a very different level of skill required to be able to attempt to dance on ice – and in a competition!

My partner Mark Hanretty started skating at the age of 9 after watching Torvill and Dean win gold performing their memorable Bolero ice dance at the 1984 Winter Olympics. He learned to skate like a ballet dancer and Mark can also do the splits. Thankfully, he didn’t expect me to!

Often, whilst we were practising each week, a coach from the programme would come along to assist in the training of the contestants, to add their expertise as well as for safety reasons. Whenever we had a break, it was not uncommon for the professionals to launch their legs onto the top of the barrier on the edge of the rink while standing chatting, to stretch their muscles and ligaments enabling them to keep their flexibility. If we don’t keep working on flexibility we will tighten up, whether we are Angela Rippon, a professional dancer or skater, or a normal person like us. The key is to keep stretching, keep flexible and keep mobile, particularly as we age, even if we have no desire to do the splits.

Having enough energy to train for Dancing on Ice wasn’t too much of an issue as ice rinks are few are far between and are heavily booked up with others needing to use them – whether for sport, coaching or for the public to have fun. As a result, Dancing on Ice competitors only practise on the ice for two hours a day. Conversely, Strictly competitors can practise all day long in any suitable location or dance hall of which, of course, there are many. After so many hours of rehearsals, they must be utterly exhausted!

Which takes me back to Angela. Whilst we are all so impressed that she can still demonstrate such flexibility, it is her stamina that impresses me most. To be able to practise for the hours that she obviously does, and then perform at the level she achieves on a Saturday night, Angela’s fitness, flexibility, and stamina is nothing short of astonishing.

And I am so delighted she has reached so far in this year’s series of Strictly that she will be able to dance in the iconic Tower Ballroom in Blackpool this weekend. What an incredible achievement! Congratulations Angela!

Whole Body Stretch Programme

Mary Morris demonstrates a relaxing stretch programme for the whole body to maximise mobility and relax our muscles.

Recipe of the Week

Serves 2
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 40 - 60 mins

2 pieces frozen haddock
400g can tomatoes (chopped or plum)
1 bay leaf
1 large eating apple, cored but not peeled, chopped small
2 heaped teaspoons Branston Pickle
1 heaped teaspoon tomato purée
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
55g (dry weight) (one blue Portion Pot®) per person basmati rice
1 vegetable stock cube

Place all the ingredients except the fish in a saucepan, slowly bring to the boil. Place a lid on the pan and reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Add the frozen fish pieces to the saucepan and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes on a low heat.
If the mixture is too thin, remove the lid and increase the heat slightly and the sauce will thicken toward the end of cooking. Remove the bay leaf.
Serve with boiled basmati rice cooked in a vegetable stock cube.

Click here for more recipes

Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.

As I write this copy of our Newsletter we are over halfway through this year’s Strictly Come Dancing and, as happens every year, I come to know the competitors and enjoy watching them massively increase their skills over such a short period of time. For me that is what the competition is all about, particularly watching the non-dancers progress to such an incredible level of competency.

This year has been particularly watchable for me as I am pretty senior in years and Angela Rippon is the oldest person to ever compete and I have just seen her go through to week 9! Now it would be a bit much to expect her to go all the way to the final, but you have to admire what she can manage physically at the age of 79. It is evident that she is in great condition for her age so it was no surprise to discover what her daily regime includes:

A 10-minute stretch as soon as she gets up. She says this ‘untangles’ everything after a night's sleep, and gets those joints moving and the muscles working.
A daily 45-minute walk into which she incorporates what she calls 'yomping' which is a mix of slow jogging and walking – exactly what we promote too!
Pilates and Ballet sessions every week – and you've also heard us suggest those before!

So, it was a pleasure to discover that we are singing from the same song sheet as Angela!

Of course, all this reminds us that our Rosemary competed in Dancing on Ice when she was 65 years old and did a truly magnificent job by reaching week 6. I find this even more amazing than Angela's efforts, as Rosemary was dancing with only thin slithers of metal under her feet! I tried it once with a group of mates from college and not one of us let go of the sides the whole time we were on the ice!

Dancing on Ice

In 2012 Rosemary appeared on the ITV ice-dancing competition and went on to be the oldest competitor to get to week 6 of the competition.
Click here to find out more.

Dancing v Gym sessions

I appreciate the value of doing my strength training in the gym using weights and pushing my heart rate higher with the rower or the treadmill, but my 'go-to' favourite activity has always been dancing to music. When a great piece of music comes on the radio, I immediately feel the need to move! It is a great way of adding extra steps to my day and burning those extra calories. The BBC programme 'How to Stay Young' presented by Dr Chris van Tulleken in 2016, researched dance exercises compared with gym sessions and proved that dancing provided the ultimate full ‘mind and body’ exercise. The benefit to the mind is because of the concentration needed to follow a routine and to keep with the beat of the music.

Gym work is largely done in what is called the ‘sagittal plane’, which is where the body remains predominantly in a ‘linear’ position and means that the body is often 'fixed' in one place, for example when we are doing repetitions with weights, walking on a treadmill, sitting on a rower or an exercise bike. But dance moves work our body through many different planes of movement such as lateral (sideways movements) and rotational (plenty of turning), which obviously is conditioning the muscles all over our body – so no muscle is ignored! The consequential benefit to our overall fitness from working so many muscles throughout our body is immense.

Dancing Delays the Ageing Process

This wonderful mix of moves helps with all those aspects of health that become so important as we age. The list is quite extensive:

It improves your cardiovascular fitness, keeping our heart and lungs functioning well.
Our ability to balance is challenged due to making directional changes frequently where our weight is constantly being transferred through our feet.
It challenges the brain as we tackle constant changes of movement and recall different moves and patterns within the choreography. Scientists have found that those areas of the brain that control memory and skills improve with dance.
It boosts our mental health as dancing can maintain, and even improve, our ability to think quickly.
It is very social so ideal for making new friends.
It offers a variety of pace so we can select a level that suits our ability from energetic to very gentle, which can be suitable for even those with limited mobility or chronic health issues.

A recent study was conducted to determine the effects of a dance-based aerobic exercise session and the risk of falling for older women. Remember that having a fall in older age is the biggest factor for morbidity in the world! Although a relatively small study, with only 38 participants with an age range of 72 – 87 years, they all entered the study at a similar level of movement capability. Whilst 20 of the group were assigned to a dance class of 1-hour duration 3 times a week for 12 weeks, the rest of the group carried on life as normal. At the end of the 12 weeks there was a significant improvement in the dance group in all those physical factors that can prevent falls – their ability to stand on one leg, their flexibility, improving what is called 'functional reach' and their agility (getting up quickly and moving around cones).

The Power of Music!

Back in the day when Rosemary and I were planning the next exercise programme that would be published commercially - originally as a VHS video cassette and later as a DVD - we put a huge amount of importance on our choice of music. We spent a long time listening to many different tracks, finally selecting pieces we were both happy with. Music has an enormous impact on us and can reduce us to tears or lift us up when we are feeling down, but when we exercise to music, it is very motivating and energises us to put in more effort. It is frustrating for us now that we are unable to use mainstream music on our website but copyright restrictions and the enormous costs prevent us from doing so.

I continue to select music for my classes that I know my class members will enjoy, as many of them bring back memories of when we were all younger and going full tilt in the disco! The success of Zumba classes for example is largely due to the type of music played and it motivates people to move – and that is our ultimate aim – to keep moving and having fun!

So, to finish with a quote from Angela from one of her Strictly interviews "Your body is a machine, full of thousands of working parts, and like any machine, if you don't use it then the moving parts will seize up and stop working."

I couldn't have put it better myself!

This Week's Fitness Challenge

Let's do some 'yomping' on our daily 30+ minute walks this week. Mix the intensity with either bouts of slow jogging or a decent incline.
Practise your Balance skills by standing on one leg a lot this week. Try it anytime and anyplace... and see if you can improve the length of time you can hold it.
A professional dancer has been quoted as saying that ballet is the most fundamental dance class. It teaches you good alignment and how to use your core, so that no matter what movement you do you will be able to find your balance! Go to Rosemary's Ballet sessions on the website and give it a go this week, at a level that you can manage.

Did you know...

Blackpool Tower opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened the Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it is 518 feet (158 metres) tall. Although known as "Blackpool Tower" the complete construction is actually Tower Buildings, an entertainment complex in a red-brick three-story block that comprises the Tower itself, Tower Circus, the Tower Ballroom, and the Roof Gardens. The complex was designated a Grade I listed building in 1973.

The Tower Ballroom was built between 1897 and 1898 to the designs of Frank Matcham, who also designed the Blackpool Grand Theatre, and it opened in 1899. The ballroom floor is 120 ft × 102 ft (37 m × 31 m) and is made up of 30,602 blocks of mahogany, oak and walnut. The ballroom was damaged by fire in December 1956 with the dance floor destroyed. The restoration took two years and cost £500,000, with many of the former designers and builders coming out of retirement to assist.

The BBC series Come Dancing, an amateur dance competition, was broadcast from 1949 to 1995 from ballrooms spread around the country with the Blackpool Tower Ballroom featuring regularly. It had a variety of well-known presenters over the years including Terry Wogan, Brian Johnston, Frank Bough, Michael Aspel, David Jacobs, Judith Chalmers, Pete Murray, Rosemarie Ford - and Angela Rippon!

And finally...

I hope you have been inspired to learn more about the amazing discipline shown by Angela Rippon and also by her dedication to staying as fit as she can for as long as she can. That is what I believe everyone who reads this Newsletter each week aspires to so it is utterly brilliant to see Angela ‘walking the talk’ with bells on!

‘I take my hat off to you Angela! You are an outstanding example of why we should stay active as we grow older. Well done you!’

Have a great week.

With love and best wishes,