WHAT do you think of when you think of handstands? Do you think of them as exercise or a bit of fun? Well, actually they’re good for both.

Handstand Fit is a class which is fairly new to Newport Live and has been ongoing for around eight weeks.

After spotting an advertisement for the class, I wondered what it actually involved and thought it would be worth giving it a try.

I haven’t done a proper handstand since I was around nine or ten-years-old - which was a very long time ago.

Thinking back, handstands were so easy to do when I was a kid. There was many a day spent on the school fields playing a game called ‘who can stay up the longest’ - the game involved a group of people doing handstands and seeing who stayed up for the longest.

Granted, it wasn’t the most exciting game in the world, and all the winner got was an opportunity to be the person who got to announce the next winner - but at the time it was a game I loved.

Now, I’m not exactly the most physically fit person to say the least. My core strength is also absolutely terrible and I have no strength in my arms whatsoever.

However, when I spotted a notice online about Handstand Fit being Newport Live’s class of the month saying handstands are the “unsung hero of core strength, balance and fitness” I thought it might be for me.

Attending the class I was quite meek and worried I would have to attempt to do a handstand with everyone watching me. But to my surprise, a lot of the class was just stretching and building arm strength.

The class is suitable for anyone of any age and fitness level and a lot of time is spent working on your abilities and gradually improving.

It was great to see a variety of people there. Most were women but there were also two men of opposite ages who seemed to be really into the class.

Everyone was very welcoming, which for an anxious first-timer was a relief. Many of the attendees told me that because the class is spent working in groups, it makes it easy to converse and build up friendships.

Not only does the group work build friendships, but it enables others to help you stretch and exercise.

Louise Cawte is the leader of the class - and frequently said that Handstand Fit is not about pushing yourself to the max, its about building up slowly and carefully.

She said: “It’s different. I really feel its one of those classes where your age doesn’t matter. If you want to release your inner child you can. There are lots of people who do handstands and kids still do it now.

“I feel like handstands are one of those skills that works. It has so many attributes around it.”

Louise said the slow build up in the class is what makes it achievable for anyone. And says this is a must so no one gets hurt.

She said: “There’s the stretching of the shoulders and it’s not painful. The beginning stages, elbow stands, half hand stands, we do handstands against the wall... I go around the class making sure everyone is stretching the correct way and that way they won’t injure themselves.

“People think they’re going to be upside down for 50 minutes and that’s all it will be but it is so much more than that.”

In each class there is an average of around 12 to 14 people, but Louise said she is expecting that after summer the numbers will build up and there could be the possibility of two classes.

She said: “I think we will get to a point where we may need a second class because it is so popular. People keep coming back.”

One of the first things we did to warm up in the class were bunny style hops, trying to get our bums and hips as high up as we could and aim to land gently. We also worked at doing the hops sideways to give our arms a workout.

I must admit, at the end of this I was absolutely knackered, but I could really feel the muscles in my arms working.

Next we set up ‘stations’ around the room with mats. Each station was for a different activity.

One was for stretching your arms, the other was for doing handstands against the wall - or attempting to. And the third was for walking your feet backwards up the wall and trying to balance.

Working in groups of threes, we each had a go at one station for ten minutes before switching around.

My group was very supportive and lovely in terms of making me feel less anxious. At first I was quite reluctant to attempt the latter of the stations but with encouragement I didn’t do too badly I guess.

Some of the members who had been attending the group since the first week were already at handstand level and managed to do handstands against the wall and balance themselves upside down for several minutes.

We rounded off the class with attempting to do the crow pose - a yoga pose where you squat and balance your legs and weight on your arms.

“There’s lots of variations and there is still a lot of places we can go with the class,” said Louise.

“I start bringing yoga poses in and I’m crossing across other fitness. If you like pilates, yoga, crossfit or even if you want to achieve something you never have before, why not give it a try?”

Handstand Fit takes place at the Newport International Sports Village every Thursday from 7.45pm to 8.45pm.

For more information, visit newportlive.co.uk/sport-leisure/fitness-classes