HAVING just qualified as a personal trainer, and had helped friend Andy back to fitness after recovering from cancer, Glenda Edwards too was diagnosed with breast cancer – the same disease her mother died from.

She said “I had a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. I did feel ill and was in and out of hospital and the treatment felt endless while my husband had an incredibly hard time keeping everything going for our three boys.

“Just before my diagnosis I found out about a new dance-based fitness class called Fitsteps, which was being developed by Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite (professional dancers from Strictly).

“I trained with them and qualified as an instructor, but then everything was put on hold while I went through my treatment.

“When I was able to, I got back into my fitness. But last year I had a recurrence of the cancer in the skin of my breast. After it was excised I had radiotherapy, an absolute doddle compared to chemo.”

Fitsteps became a huge part of Glenda’s recovery as learning the steps gave her both physical and mental wellbeing.

“On days I didn’t really feel great, I would go through the dances and feel so much better and happier for it,” she said.

“There is a lot to be said for the endorphins which get released when you exercise and the music is so uplifting from the gentle and beautiful waltz through to energetic and fun dances such as the jive and quickstep. I also used kettlebell to get my strength back.”

Glenda teamed up with Andy and they set up Four Marks Fitness offering bootcamp, kettlebell, running and fitsteps classes in Four Marks and Alton College.

“We have both shown how you can get through really tough times and get back your strength and endurance.

“You can get back to fitness and there is certainly life after cancer and it can be a full, energetic and fun time,” she said.

For more details about the fitness classes, call Glenda on 07768 696906 or Andy on 07858 159687.