Information taken from HARGRAVE - A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE.
May 2004
 
Back to History page 

On Wednesday evenings residents can hear loud ‘oomphy’ music accompanied by giggles coming from the Village Hall as a group of energetic ladies meet for wiggling, stretching and clenching sessions!

Keep Fit classes were started in the village by Ann Ruston in 1989, and since 1991 they have been run by Sigrid Jozefowski.  The once a week exercise sessions start with a warm-up, swinging arms and legs to music by Billy Joel or Don Henley, followed by low-impact aerobics.  As these faster movements continue  (but not too much hopping !),  participants are continually reminded to-; “Bend ze knees” and “Keep breathing”.  Pieces by Elton John and Tom Petty really get everyone hot under the collar, and sweatshirts usually start flying off at this point.  Did you ever wonder why those bamboo canes were in the hall storeroom?  Well, elastic bands or the canes are frequently used during bending and stretching exercises encouraged by the music of Fleetwood Mac for example.  Then there are various floor exercises such as Rover’s Revenge on all fours, and the dreaded tummy exercises with legs in the air and reminders about-; “Tummies in”, “Hands under your tail bone”.  There are cool down exercises and relaxation when everyone flakes out on the floor to soothing music, and they pretend to follow instructions to tighten and then relax particular muscles.

Apart from giving the participants fitness benefits and exercising the ‘laughter muscles’, most of all, the Keep Fit classes have raised considerable funds over the years, contributing many items to the Village Hall including-: kitchen work tops, refrigerator, tea-urn, water heater, dimmable spotlights and music deck.

The annual ‘Grand Finale’ is the now the legendary Keep-Fit Christmas Party with mulled wine, when members let down their hair, and let out their waist bands, ready to indulge themselves having fun trimming “those wobbly bits” again the following year.