Today is all about…September 2025

Talking Points

The Bar Muscle Up

Just last month, I was celebrating my CrossFit anniversary. There are still a few skills I’ve never managed to master… including the bar muscle-up.

Upper body strength has always felt like my weakest area, but it’s definitely improved over the past few years, and that’s made a real difference to my gymnastic skills.

For four weeks, I attended one of Rush242‘s skills workshops, which focused on getting you ready for bar muscle-ups. I felt close to cracking it, but I didn’t yet have the technique or confidence to fling myself over the bar.

Then, while waiting for class to start, I was messing around on the rings and I did a ring muscle-up. It wasn’t pretty, but I got one. And I think that gave me the boost I needed because in the final session, I finally got the elusive bar muscle-up.

Again, it wasn’t pretty. The chicken wings (one arm over, then the other) were on full display. But it was a huge achievement for me.

Turns out, a few weeks of practice and a sprinkle of delusion were all I needed. Bar muscle-ups? Obsessed.

Helicopter Ride

Something else I have wanted to do is take a helicopter ride. For my mum’s birthday, I got her one, and I thought I would get one for myself too. Why not?

Now, a word of warning for anyone tempted by those shiny ‘buyagift’ vouchers: use them immediately! Yes, the voucher’s valid for a year, but helicopter rides only run for six months. And only on two days a week. It’s like trying to book a unicorn on a bank holiday!

We tried to redeem ours well within the year, only to discover the helicopter season had passed. So, I had to pay for a voucher extension to book from the next batch of helicopter rides!

Then came the registration. Picture the glamour. We checked in from the boot of a car. Not a sleek Range Rover, mind. I won’t lie, it looked a bit dodgy. I half expected someone to offer me knock-off sunglasses and a crate of prawns.

But despite the setup resembling an episode of Only Fools and Horses, the flight itself was superb. Short, yes. Blink and you’re back on the ground. There’s something magical about lifting off, like gravity briefly forgot you existed.

The ‘professional’ photo was generous in its interpretation of the word. Think early 00s, captured on a 2MP Canon camera with a vaseline-smudged lens. Luckily, we took loads of our own, and they’re far more flattering.

While I jest about the day, I had an absolute blast with the husby and the parents.

Wales

We went away with our best mates Bill and Carl, plus their dog Charlie. The original plan was for the husby and me to join them for a long weekend. Somewhere in the group chat chaos, that quietly turned into a full week. I wasn’t involved in the decision, but I wasn’t complaining either.

We stayed in a gorgeous converted barn in Newport. No, not that one. The other one. The one tucked away in Pembrokeshire, where the sheep have more social presence than the Wi-Fi.

The whole week was about switching off. We played games, watched films, went on long walks and did a few day trips. The National Botanical Gardens were stunning, even for a non-plant person like me. Tenby was all pastel houses and seagulls with attitude. Castell Henllys was unexpectedly brilliant, an Iron Age village where you can pretend you are in a historical drama, minus the corsets and emotional trauma.

It was one of those holidays where nothing dramatic happened, but everything felt just right. Good food, good laughs, good company.

‘Today is all about…’ photos