Well it’s been a bit of a week I don’t mind telling you. Tennis and top notch mingling on Monday and then two days at good old aunty with very early starts and late finishes. To add insult to injury, I really have had an injury. I strained a calf muscle at my Zumba class last week and have developed a slight and dramatic limp. I am a little ashamed to admit it came from a latin-dance inspired fitness class.... but there you are. Clearly my enthusiasm got the better of my ageing bones. So as a result I have been a little restricted to say the least in my fitness regime this week. I have though compensated by eating lots of cake and biscuits........

So I am looking forward to climbing back on the running machine (tomorrow hopefully) and promptly flying back off it. However my enthusiasm for all things dance and fitness was re-ignited by a chat with the lovely Chris Hollins yesterday. He tells me that he and Ola are doing the Charleston this week.....I did try not to laugh at that point and failed. As has become our normal routine now, he offered a fairly detailed demonstration. I must say it did look mighty complicated and I think it’s fair to say, it will be worth watching on Saturday night.

When Chris had left, with the office applause still ringing in his ears, several of my colleagues commented on how inspirational it has been to watch someone we all know so well, tackle something that they might not ordinarily have chosen to do. It got me thinking about other famous people who have perhaps offered some kind of unusual inspiration to get us off our backsides and into our PE kit.

Then Vladimir Putin suddenly sprang to mind. Now the Russian Prime Minister is a fine figure of a man and likes to remind us all of that.... errr constantly. However what you might not know, is that apart from looking a little like Nasser Hussain (or is that just me?), he has also starred in a promotional video to get us interested in judo.

Yes really. Apparently he's a black belt, so he’ll get no argument from me. And even though I did attend judo classes when I was 10, I can’t remember a thing about them, other than the suit did me no favours whatsoever....... But if you feel you have been inspired by Mr Putin, then I have popped the appropriate website address below for you. I would of course be happy to join you in your martial arts adventure, but I’ve got this poorly calf and I don’t think I’d actually fit in the suit.......

British Judo Association

Tags: Chris Hollins, Vladimir Putin, Judo, Zumba, Strictly Come Dancing

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