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The Leonardo workout

5th February 2008 by Helena 2 Comments  

One of the most common complaints I hear from harassed housewifes and mothers is that they don’t have the time to do any exercise because they are with the children all day. I have great news. A young child is the perfect exercise tool. I present you with, at absolutely no charge or membership fee, my exclusive Leonardo workout.

Leo

It began like this. His teacher was ill so he had to come home from school. First he got into his Spiderman pyjamas and then he was ready for action. For forty-five minutes we jumped up and down on the trampoline (great leg and buttock workout). Then he wanted me to push him on the swings (great arm work-out). This was followed by a game where I was his horse (perfect opportunity to do some press-ups with him on my back, my arms ached after two). Then we had the ‘throw me on the sofa four hundred times while I pretend to fly’ game, another amazing arm and shoulder workout. After this you might think he’d be ready for a DVD (I know I was) but no – it was time for a bike ride.

As he has only just mastered riding a bike this entails me running alongside him just in case I have to catch him (great cardio, who needs a treadmill?) The only thing we didn’t cover was abs but I have since developed a technique whereby Leonardo sits on my legs counting to one hundred as I heave myself up from the floor to be greeted by his smiling face.

So there you have it. Those of you with more than one child at home will be able to enjoy the workout even more as you repeat it with each child. It might get a tad dull, but just think how toned you will be. And in plenty of time for the beach.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008


Filed Under: Children, Sport, blog --> Tagged With: leonardo, workout

2 thoughts on The Leonardo workout

  • Sharyn G says:
    6th February 2008 at 3:15 pm

    Don’t you wish you could bottle that excess energy and sell it?

  • Jennifer says:
    11th February 2008 at 1:09 am

    Two minutes ago my son had a spoonful of cherries from a dessert that he was running around the house with, and of course making a mess. My husband took it away which made Toddler Man very upset. I showed him your picture of Leo, and he giggled and was happy again.

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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