Mums with Tums - Put your Hands up for Justin!

I guess like many homes, Justin Fletcher is a god in our house.  Everything he does is pure gold and Ruby adores him.


We've been lucky enough to have a pre-view copy of his new album Hands Up for a while now.  It's due for release on 5th of March so not long to wait and you can pre-order it now.


A lively and up-tempo mix of children's classics it's perfect for party times, making car journeys fun and for dancing around the living room.


The title song 'Hands Up' is super catchy and one that we dance to a lot. We do get some odd looks at traffic lights when the windows are down and we're all singing along like loons, but who cares!


So high energy are these songs, that Justin can be your friend if you're trying to fight of a bit of flab or improve your fitness levels.


I noticed how pooped I was after doing the whole routine to 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes', but now Steve Teasdale,  a celebrity personal trainer and stay-at-home dad has taken it one step further.  By making the moves more high impact, he's devised a great aerobic workout which you can do at home while having fun with the kids.






Isn't that brilliant??


Here's what Steve has to say and his tips on getting the most benefit from your dancing:

"Having danced to the album with my 3-year-old daughter I would say that participating in the full album is the equivalent of 40 minutes of low-impact aerobic exercise.

This would be similar to going for a brisk walk, or dancing! Based on a 200lb adult, this sort of exercise generally burns around 350 calories per 40 minutes.

This is the equivalent of

40g of kettle chips (Any flavour) and

175ml glass of white or red wine.

However, I've come up with ways to make the Hands Up Album a more HIGH-impact aerobic activity, by incorporating lunges, squats and jumps for the adults (see below) in order to make the songs more cardio vascular. This sort of exercise works the large muscle groups in the legs i.e. the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calf’s and some of the movements would help to work on the core too. This would take the calorie burn for a 200lb person up to around 420 calories.

420 calories is the equivalent to

Pain au chocolate and a Skinny Latte from Starbucks

Calories burned during exercise depends on your weight and, more specifically, your BMI (Body Mass Index) so while it would be correct to say that you can burn up to 420 calories doing the Hands Up Album, this figure is based on a person of 200lbs (14 stone). 

The average woman weighs around 11 stone so the calorie burn would be closer to 283 calories. Which would be the equivalent of

A Mini Milk Chocolate Bar

And a large Cappuccino with skimmed milk!

From the M&S cafe

“As a “stay at home” parent myself I think it would be great for health conscious mums (and dads) to know that while they’re singing along and dancing with their children in doors, they’re “earning” calorie treats to have later. If they spend 40 minutes participating in the CD in the more high impact ways I’ve suggested, they can enjoy a “guilt-free” treat later!”

How to make the Album more high impact:

Here are a few examples.

"Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush"

The key to making this song more high impact aerobically is for adults to keep fit together and "jump" around the Mulberry bush to the beat of the music, rather than just "walking around". This would make the motion during the song, similar to skipping, which if carried out for 3 minutes (the duration of the song), is a GREAT cardio work out.

"The Hokey Cokey"

I suggest holding light weights while doing the actions to give the arms a work out (you can use wrist weights or there are objects all around the house you can use as weights) while making a punching action for the left and right arm "in/out" sequence.  Also, when you do the Hokey Cokey, you should be jumping, legs together, into the middle, rather that just walking forwards and backwards.  The "knees bend, arms stretch, rah rah rah" part can incorporate a squat.  For the part where you put your left leg in and take your left leg out, adults could perform a lunge, which works the Glutes.

"The Laughing Policeman"

Marching on the spot during the verses with high knees is an excellent cardio work out, but the key to this song is holding a plank position for the duration of the policeman's laugh. Four 15 second bursts of laughter, which is a great core, work out and the kids will love seeing you trying not to laugh.

"Heads Shoulders Knees And Toes"

A classic song for bending, stretching and touching your toes but we could make it a bit harder by doing dynamic squats.

Finally, the title song “Hands Up” is such a good dance tune that you can do all kinds of high impact dance moves with jumps etc that will really get the heart and lungs working!

The CD can provide a fun “home work-out” for parents. Because most of these songs have a fast beat and high tempo rhythm, they lend themselves brilliantly to a work-out for adults and a fun time for kids, which is healthy to everyone.

If you can cut out 500 Calories from your daily intake then you will lose 1lb per week which is a really healthy weight loss and because it’s done gradually it’s more likely that you will keep the weight off, so by doing this album with your kids daily you are more likely to hit this target."

Wow!  Well clearly I don't need to do this (*cough*), and anyway, I'd spill my wine and Kettle Chips.  But, the old man who pays a ridiculous amount of money each week to torture himself at circuit training has agreed to give it a go.


So, come on, leave me a comment telling me why you'd like to see my other half making a fool of himself getting fit on my blog and I'll set up my hidden camera!  You can also share your videos on Justin's Facebook page, and tweet him and Steve to let them know how you're getting on.