The Body & Movement

Butt Massage

Years ago a friend mentioned to me that she had gone for a rather awkward massage. The therapist told my friend that she had tight hips and then proceeded to straddling her on the table, digging her knees into my friend’s glutes and hips to work out the kinks. My friend was understandably uncomfortable. This is not a normal occurrence in a massage. In fact, more often than not, massage therapists pass right over our glutes, bypassing a butt massage altogether.

Last year, Matt and I went away for my birthday. We signed up for massages. At one point the therapist said to me, “You have really tight hips.” Then she straddled me and dug her knees into my butt. All I could think of was my friend’s story. The massage felt great, but I would have been uncomfortable if I hadn’t heard about this happening. The second my massage was complete, I texted my friend: where did you get that massage? Sure enough we were at the same place, and I have no doubt we had the same massage therapist.

Believe it or not, this was not the most awkward massage I’ve had. In China a massage therapist once rubbed my […]

Butt MassageMaggie Downie2018-03-26T20:50:23-04:00

Are You Engaging Your Abs or Your Butt?

In almost every exercise it is easy for another part of the body to take over and do the work of the muscles we are targeting. This is particularly true when we do a pelvic tilt or rock from imprint (basically a flat lower back) to neutral (the natural curve in your low back). Often instead of initiating imprint using the abdominals, people will squeeze the butt. It gets the job done, but you then you miss all that wonderful ab work. The glutes are a major mover and a big muscle. They can create an imprinted position when called upon to engage that way. But if you want to strengthen and improve control of your abdominals, particularly to counteract back pain and help protect the back when moving, you need to make the glutes quiet down and learn to fire the abs. So how can you tell if you are engaging your abs or your butt?

What Do You Feel?

Start by just stopping to notice what you feel. Is your butt squeezing when you imprint? Do you feel like your legs are involved by sort of pushing into the floor? Do you even feel the abs doing the work? If […]

Are You Engaging Your Abs or Your Butt?Maggie Downie2018-03-07T16:19:39-05:00

Why You Really Want a Toned Butt

This is not a picture of my butt, but it is a picture of me hiking. And without my butt, I wouldn’t go hiking!

No doubt many of us would like a lifted and toned butt. The look is appealing, but strong glutes (those are our butt muscles) are important for more than aesthetics.

Standing & Posture

Our glutes have an important role in keep us upright all day. We often take that for granted. The back and butt work together to hold us up straight. Our tendency to sit and slump makes their job even harder. Daily glute exercises would be a great habit to get into. They are large muscles. They can take daily workouts.

Strength

The glute max is the largest muscle in the body. It’s the back of the butt. When you think of the butt, you are thinking of the glute max. The muscle is a major mover in propelling us forward with every step. If you are an athlete you need your butt to propel you forward and up in nearly every movement you do. Athlete or not, if you walk or jog your butt is required so that […]

Why You Really Want a Toned ButtMaggie Downie2018-02-09T14:42:25-05:00

Instructor Highlight Elaine

Elaine joined the Personal Euphoria team in fall of 2017. She teaches barre and yoga. You can currently find her teaching in Glastonbury and Wethersfield. Here’s her instructor highlight!

Get to know Elaine:

When you aren’t teaching what are some of your favorite ways to move?

I love hiking and skiing and try to personally practice yoga whenever I can. I ran my first half marathon this year so I guess I will cautiously call myself a runner too!

What song motivates or picks you up the most?

This is a tough one! It changes depending on my mood and the decade!

Favorite Food?

Avocados!

Time you normally crawl into bed?

11:00pm but I am working on getting to bed earlier!

What skill would you like to master?

Physically… pull ups. In life… patience!

What would be the most amazing adventure to go on?

A back packing trip through Europe! I should have done it in my 20’s but now it’s my goal is to do it in 40’s!

Favorite season? Why?

Summer, everything about it! The sun, the heat, the ocean, swimming, boating, kayaking, camping. The list goes on.

Best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Everything you need you already have!

Did you see […]

Instructor Highlight ElaineMaggie Downie2018-02-02T10:17:58-05:00

Mindful Eating Challenge

Years ago I started doing the No-Sugar February Challenge. It has evolved into the Mindful Eating Challenge. That means if giving up sugar isn’t really beneficial for you—maybe you aren’t the addict I am—you can choose a challenge that fits your needs for the shortest month of the year.

Challenge Suggestions (pick one or all):

Give up sugar (or whatever your vice is).

Make sure you aren’t distracted while eating. Take time to stop and eat. That means no eating in front of the television, Facebook, or while doing the crossword.

Try not to overeat at meals.

Try to include more veggies (perhaps even a veggie at every meal).

Use an app or excel spreadsheet to record everything you eat and watch calories in vs. out.

Try to drink more water, reduce caffeine or cut out beverages with calories.

Select a program like the Whole30, Paleo, vegan or some other food related lifestyle you’ve been interested in experimenting with.

Take a picture of all your food and text it to a friend.

Details:

We started a Facebook group if knowing you aren’t alone is helpful. It’s the Mindful Eating Challenge group with lettuce leaves as its profile picture. The challenge starts […]

Mindful Eating ChallengeMaggie Downie2018-02-14T15:56:37-05:00