‘It changes everything’: the one simple move Sheridan Smith used to transform her fitness at 45
Ready to get fighting fit? Let Sheridan Smith be your inspiration. The 45-year-old actor has been using combat training to prep for her upcoming TV show, Two Birds, and while the priority has been to act out specific fight sequences, the impact on Sheridan’s body has been a great bonus. And that’s a benefit we can all nab, even if, unlike Sheridan, we don’t need to perform a car chase or convincingly fire a gun.
Sheridan has been working with Maisie Carter, the fight director, coordinator and founder behind MC Combat, for the last few months. And while the training has involved a whole load of different moves and routines, there’s one in particular that Sheridan has found particularly transformative: kicks.
‘Sheridan wasn’t a massive fan of kicks in the beginning,’ Maisie tells Good Housekeeping. ‘Because they’re really hard. They’re tricky to begin with, and you have to start by having really good balance – and she was like, I can’t do that. But Sheridan is a powerhouse. Once she’s decided she’s going to be good at something, she’s off. She’ll do everything she possibly can.’
To boost Sheridan’s balance, Maisie recommended a move that we can all do: standing on one foot.
‘Do that while you’re brushing your teeth in the morning, or you’re waiting for the kettle to boil,’ she advises. ‘Standing on one foot, just raise up on your toes and come back down again. Or stand on one leg the entire time you’re brushing your teeth.’
Once that’s doable, you can take things up a notch. With one foot on the floor, lift your other leg up and down. Maisie says: ‘This is really good for you. For good kicks, you start with balance, then you need flexibility, then you need power.’
As you get better at the balance part of the equation, you can start to bring in flexibility – stretching out your hamstrings and glutes to move your raised leg higher. Then add in a kick to build power. With your kicking leg in the air, keep it bent at the knee with the flat of your shoe facing forwards. Hinge your shoulders back as you extend the leg in front of you, then quickly snap it back to place it down.
Gareth Cattermole
Maisie explains that there are three foundational kicks: the front kick, the turning kick and the side kick. ‘They’re each putting your hips in a different rotation, so you have to learn how to balance your body slightly differently each way,’ she says.
The benefits of doing kicking motions – and other forms of combat training – are far-reaching. Maisie says: ‘It’s your strength, your cardio, your coordination. Combat training will enhance your brain activity because you’re learning new things. It’s going to help with overall fitness and toning muscles. The good thing about hand-to-hand combat training is you literally have to use your whole body.’
You might assume that combat training is all about the arms for punching and the legs for kicking, but Maisie says this isn’t the case. ‘Everyone goes: “I’m aching in areas I didn’t expect”.’ The main area boosted by these movements is actually your core. ‘You have to rotate and engage through your core for everything. We work the deep core.’
In short: kicking is great for us. But so are the moves that get us ready for kicking. Committing to standing on one leg for a short period of time every day is an easy action that everyone can take. Along with the benefits Maisie mentions – increased balance and flexibility – it can serve as a test to check how well you’re ageing, and help you to age better. Research even suggests that standing on one leg can help our brain function and improve our cognitive skills.
So let’s make like Sheridan Smith and go flamingo mode more often. We’ll see you by the kettle, balancing on one foot.
