Maggie Downie, Author at Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

About Maggie Downie

Thank you for giving your time to stop and read my blog. I hope it encourages you to keep moving. Move and the body will be happier. And when you're moving you can hike, run, swim in Jell-O, race over non-Newtonian fluids, travel the world or build igloos--if that's your thing. If not, you can watch me do it. This is just a spot to try and feel good about life.

Should i exhale on exertion?

You hear so often that you should exhale on exertion when lifting or exercising, but is it true? Ultimately, the answer is yes, but it may depend on what your goal is in a particular movement. And other breath patterns can be helpful, too.

Holding your Breath is the Worst

When exercising you definitely don’t want to hold your breath. Easier said than done, I know, but breathing really makes a difference. When you hold your breath, you reduce the amount of oxygen that flows to your muscles. Your muscles need oxygen for strength or endurance movements. Also, holding your breath while exercising can increase blood pressure, sometimes to dangerous levels, and it can lead to light headedness.

In addition after holding your breath, when it is finally time to breathe, it’s more vital that you expel carbon dioxide than that you take in oxygen. That means you will blow out before you inhale, which just delays your ability to get oxygen to the muscles even further.

Holding your breath can easily become the Valsalva Maneuver. You may never have heard of that, but you’ve probably done it. If you’ve ever held your nose while […]

Should i exhale on exertion?Maggie Downie2020-07-23T16:21:11-04:00

IMSAFE

IMSAFE is a mnemonic device for pilots to check in with their own well being before they fly. It stands for Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotion. As passengers when we fly, most of us are aware there is a flight check to determine whether the plane is safe. I’d never realized there is a protocol (at least for private pilots) to check in with themselves.

IMSAFE Meaning

The breakdown might seem obvious, but illness looks to see if you feel sick, medication ensures you have taken any prescription meds you need and that you haven’t taken any pills you shouldn’t before flying, stress asks pilots to assess whether they are overwhelmed by life let alone flying, alcohol is a reminder to make sure you’ve had none in at least 8 hours, fatigue makes you review your sleep, and emotion requires the pilot to once again (like stress) check in with her mental state. (In the navy E stands for Eat—whether or not you’ve eaten recently).

Food matters. Amelia Earhart mentioned a pilot needed to be fed enough to “prevent fatigue but not enough to induce drowsiness”—a difficult balance to achieve because you […]

IMSAFEMaggie Downie2020-07-23T16:00:36-04:00

Feeling on edge?

Have you been feeling on edge since mid-March? Hmmm, I wonder why? Perhaps you are human. We’ve been dealing with a lot in the world lately between COVID, loss of work, black lives matter, and a general sense that we don’t know what the future holds or how to bring about changes we may desire. And, we’ve been going through a lot of it in some degree of isolation—never a good thing for humans. We are social animals. Even if you are one of those people that say you prefer cats and dogs to your fellow humans, you need people and support.

Does Rest Still Work?

I’m a big believer in a rest day from exercise, but I’ve found that it hasn’t been an option. Prior to COVID I could take a rest day. If I took three or four in a row, I’d start to get antsy. (Matt might use the word grumpy.) But now, if I don’t exercise one day, by midafternoon I’m not in a good place. Movement is such a useful tool for me. It makes me feel better. It helps my sanity. Moving boost my spirits. But perhaps […]

Feeling on edge?Maggie Downie2020-06-19T14:16:27-04:00

How to feel better

If you have been feeling a tad tense, you are not alone. It’s a strange world we are living in. It’s helpful to find ways to boost your spirits and give yourself a pick me up. When you aren’t at your best, how do you turn that frown upside down? Here are some tips that work for the team at Personal Euphoria for how to feel better when life keeps throwing curve balls.

I hope they make you smile. Simply reading them brought a smile to my face. I’d made my list first and found myself reading our instructors’ lists afterward and thinking, “yes, that’s a good one too!”

How to Feel Better (Maggie’s Version)

For me I turn to movement, showtunes, walks with friends, and a gratitude journal. I’ve always kept a gratitude journal on and off for enjoyment, but for the first time in my life I found myself needing to make a ritual out of it. I needed to list the good parts of my day and end with positive thoughts.

How to Feel Better (the PE Team’s Version)

Other members of our team, take different tactics. When Angie needs a pick me up she drinks carrot juice, takes a nap, or […]

How to feel betterMaggie Downie2020-06-19T12:19:45-04:00

Beautiful Walks

Another perk of the pandemic is that I’ve found new and beautiful places to walk locally. It’s amazing how many places are available to us that we usually don’t take advantage of in the hustle and bustle of daily life. The Governor recently mentioned that everyone in Connecticut lives 15 minutes from a state park. That’s pretty spectacular. We sure do have a beautiful state filled with beautiful walks.

Here are some of the locations I would recommend for beautiful walks. Please feel free to add to them in the comments.

List of Beautiful Walks

My New FAVORITE: Dividend Park, Rocky Hill

This place has a little bit of everything: scenic views, unique landscapes, and history. You’ll find a waterfall, a couple nice ponds, some historic ruins, and in the center of it all are these random sand dunes. Most of the trail is pretty easy, to get to the sand dunes is a bit up, but you can also skip that part. There are also a number of trees beavers have felled and that is just cool to see.

My Old Favorite: Old Wethersfield, Wethersfield

I’ll never tire of walking around my neighborhood. I know I […]

Beautiful WalksMaggie Downie2020-06-08T18:06:59-04:00

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