The Body & Movement

Adult Swim Lessons

I had to take adult swim lessons because my swim lessons were a total failure the first time. When I was a little girl, my parents signed me up for swimming lessons. They were a nightmare. I was most afraid of jumping off the edge of the deep end or even worse the diving board a mere foot higher. The instructors claimed they would catch me, but they lied. When I came back up for air alive, I had to swim to the edge of the pool like my life depended on it. This may have been a useful learning tactic for some kids, but it wasn’t helpful to me. Luckily, the water provided chronic ear infections so I had to miss more lessons than I attended.

For a time my mom would bring me to watch the lessons and see what I could learn from the bleachers of the pool. Not much. After years of lessons, I never actually learned to swim. I could doggie paddle, but much beyond that was beyond me.

Mini-Tri

When I signed up for a mini triathlon I knew I’d be doing the breast stroke with my head […]

Adult Swim LessonsMaggie Downie2021-08-23T16:03:33-04:00

Feel Sluggish, Hot, & Tired?

Movement can be fun, playful, & silly

Feeling sluggish, hot, & tired? Let’s blame it on the previous year we all survived living with and in COVID-19. And now, as we step out of the tunnel into the light, let’s find tools to help ourselves. Here are some tips from Maggie at Personal Euphoria:

Have you been feeling sluggish?

You aren’t alone. It’s guesstimated that we put on 2lbs a month (on average) this year. I know I put on 8 and my doctor told me that was less than half what she’d seen this year. It can feel disheartening and putting on weight that quickly can slow you down. But you can make a change at any time. You can say, “Enough is enough. I’m getting back on track.” And this time of year is the easiest and best time of year to do so.

Get outside. Take walks. Exercise doesn’t have to be grueling. If you feel like you’ve fallen behind where you were a year ago, give yourself time to get back to where you want to be. These changes didn’t happen overnight (though it may have felt that way a […]

Feel Sluggish, Hot, & Tired?Maggie Downie2021-06-07T16:24:09-04:00

Walking Outside

Walking outside is so good for us it seems too good to be true. It turns out walking isn’t just incredibly beneficial for our health, we were made to walk. Walking improves every single system in our body. Name a system of the body or a body part and walking improves how it works.

Systems of the Body

Consider your heart. It’s a lot of work for your heart to pump blood all the way down to your feet and back. When we walk our muscles act as a pump and help move fluid through the body. This helps our circulatory system and other systems like our lymph system (which basically pumps waste among other jobs).

When we walk every part of the body has to work less hard to do it’s job. This reduces our rick of cardiovascular disease of all kinds, reduces stress, reduces our chance of developing type 2 Diabetes or becoming obese, and reduces erectile dysfunction (since that ties in with heart health). On the flip side walking boosts brain health, immunity, and mood. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. But if that’s not enough to convince you to […]

Walking OutsideMaggie Downie2021-06-07T16:27:12-04:00

Exercise for the Vaccine

Eccentric Contraction –Muscle getting longer

Staying active is one of the best things you can do for your immune system. That doesn’t mean that you never need a break. Sleep and rest play a role in keeping us healthy too. Once you are run down, rest can be vital. But generally speaking exercise boosts the immune system. After taking a walk you have more immune cells flowing through your body checking to ensure all is well and keeping bad bugs at bay.
This is not new information. We’ve known for years that people who stay active are less likely to develop head colds and come down with other viruses less frequently. For our health, we need to KEEP MOVING.

But how does this tie in with the vaccine? Small studies on the flu vaccine indicated that pairing movement with a vaccination seems to boost the immune response (meaning you might get more out of the actual vaccine). Currently, the types of COVID vaccines available are different than the flu vaccine. That means it’s possible movement only works with the flu vaccine and not others, but what do you have to lose? The moves […]

Exercise for the VaccineMaggie Downie2021-04-28T16:38:19-04:00

Why the 100?!?!

Why do we do the 100 in Pilates? It’s a fair question. In fact, it’s always fair to ask, “why do I have to do this exercise.” I tell my clients that if I don’t have the answer for them they don’t have to do it. It’s important for all of us to know and understand why we do any move in a class. Understanding helps us get more out of it. So why the 100? Here’s why:

Abdominal Endurance:

The 100 is hard to do well (like most Pilates exercises). One hundred seconds is a LONG time to have your head up off the ground. Really, it’s a big ask. Keeping the head in the air and the legs lifted means your abs are working doubly hard throughout the whole exercise.

Breathing While Doing the 100:

You may find you hold your breath while doing the 100. It’s common to hold our breath on any movement, especially challenging moves, but while all Pilates exercises work to sync breath and movement, the 100 breaks the breath down pretty simply. You inhale for 5, exhale for 5 while not doing too much else. Sure, you’re working […]

Why the 100?!?!Maggie Downie2021-04-22T16:55:15-04:00

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