Zealver Clubs: what to expect at your first session

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Nobody is watching you, because nobody can

   The commonest reason women do not come is the fear of being the one who cannot keep up. In a circle everybody is facing everybody and doing the same thing at their own depth, and honestly nobody can tell who is finding it harder. Most people in the room felt exactly as you do on their first day.

   Learn more: Chair dance fitness: what it actually does for you
2. 2

   Step 2: You can sit down for all of it

   Sessions are chair-based, so seated is the normal way to take part rather than the concession. Stand if and when you want to, hold the chair whenever you like, and sit out anything at all without explaining yourself. Nobody will ask why.

   Learn more: Activities at Zealver Clubs
3. 3

   Step 3: You need no experience, no kit and no fitness

   There is nothing to learn beforehand. Wear something comfortable and shoes with a back and a non-slip sole rather than slippers. Bring water. That is the whole of the preparation.

   Learn more: Footwear & mobility
4. 4

   Step 4: Tell the instructor what they should know

   Anything that affects you: a sore knee, poor balance, a recent operation, a heart condition, diabetes medication, hearing difficulty. Not so you can be excluded, but so the session can be adjusted around you and somebody knows.

   Learn more: Eating before and after a class
5. 5

   Step 5: Come twice before deciding

   A first session is mostly nerves and unfamiliar faces, and it is a poor sample. By the second or third it is a room you know, and that is when people usually discover they were coming for the company as much as the movement.

   Learn more: Meaning and belonging in healthy ageing

All topics in this guide

• Chair dance fitness: what it actually does for you
• Activities at Zealver Clubs
• Footwear & mobility
• Eating before and after a class
• Meaning and belonging in healthy ageing

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