The Body & Movement

Prevent Dowager’s Hump

No one wants a dowager’s hump—that lump at the base of your neck that makes you look a little like Quasimodo. Honestly, most people won’t notice it as much as you notice. It isn’t always that obvious, but it is a sign of an unhealthy spine. Joe Pilates wrote, “If your spine is inflexibly stiff and 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” We should all strive to prevent a dowager’s hump before we see on there. Prevention is always easier than resolution.

A dowager’s hump is often associated with osteopenia and osteoporosis with the front of the vertebra fracturing and causing a kyphosis (rounding forward of the spine). While osteopenia and osteoporosis are likely culprits, our general posture tends to weaken and over time exacerbate the degeneration in the area. Having slightly kyphotic spine for most of our lives probably increases the problem.

We are a society of slouchers. Our upper backs are rounded and our heads jut forward. Be mindful and try to be taller.

Here are some tips to ward off a dowager’s hump:

Throughout the day, but especially when sitting, think long and tall out the crown of your head. Try to create […]

Prevent Dowager’s HumpMaggie Downie2018-01-13T16:15:30-05:00

Client Corner: 100 Days of 100 Complete!

Sue doing the 100!

Sue has been taking Pilates in Glastonbury for over 6 years. While some people groan when it’s time for planks, Sue’s personal nemesis is the roll up. Her goal is to one day do it without using a flex band.

With that in mind, when her instructor Maggie mentioned an abdominal challenge in class, Sue was interested to see if it could help her build core strength for the roll up. She thought to herself “this is probably a challenge I should take on.”

The challenge was 100 days of the 100, where participants were asked to do the Pilates exercise the 100, one hundred days in a row. The 100 is an exercise that you’ll find in almost any Pilates class. It consists of lying with your back on the mat, upper body curled up, legs in the air (usually) and completing 100 arm beats while holding the position. It typically comes early in class and gets the entire body warmed up by getting you in tune with your breath and your blood pumping. To read more about why we do this challenge check out […]

Client Corner: 100 Days of 100 Complete!Maggie Downie2017-12-29T20:59:00-05:00

Walking on Fire

The fire ablaze.

Why did I want to do a firewalk? That was the question everyone asked me when I mentioned I was doing one. I still don’t know the answer. Curiosity. An interesting experience. To know what it feels like. Conquer fear. Know that I can do it. To see how my nervous system responds. Those were all a piece of what intrigued me, but when I tested those answers on different people none seemed to satisfy anyone.

I don’t have an answer. What makes anyone want to do anything? I don’t want to bungee jump or cliff jump even though that might help me get over my fear of heights and would be an adventure. I’m not a thrill seeker. Firewalking isn’t like a rollercoaster ride. I don’t want to do an ultra-run, but I can understand why someone would feel compelled to run in an extreme environment for days. I hadn’t thought about the why at first because I naively assumed everyone wanted to firewalk. As it turns out most people don’t. I told

Walking on FireMaggie Downie2018-05-09T18:07:11-04:00

Plank Story: You’ve Got to Feel the Car or Why I’m Incapable of Driving a Lamborghini Fast

Getting Ready to Drive

I raced a Lamborghini. More accurately, I drove a Lamborghini around a small track at a mall parking lot in Pennsylvania, but it was awesome. Some of our great friends wanted to take Matt to drive a fast car for his birthday, and I said if we were going I’d try too. I’m not a car person, but why not?

I hadn’t thought much of it until a week before we were going when I woke up in the middle of the night, bolting upright in bed, realizing that it might actually be hard to drive a fast car through sharp turns. I was right.

On our way to The Motorsport Lab and Experience, temporarily in Harrisburg, PA for our driving pleasure, I asked Matt whether I should choose the Lamborghini or the Ferrari. It’s all the same to me. He suggested the Ferrari—apparently everyone gets that a Ferrari is fast. I’m not sure what most people think of Lamborghinis. If they are like me, they don’t. Then I got there and said, “Oh, which one is the yellow one? I want to drive the […]

Plank Story: You’ve Got to Feel the Car or Why I’m Incapable of Driving a Lamborghini FastMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:20:13-05:00

Why We Do the 100

Last Saturday was day 50 of 100 days of the 100. That means that we’ve come up with over 50 ways to do the 100….and we now have just under 50 more to go (so don’t forget to share your photos and videos!) Maggie doing the 100 at an historic site in Wethersfield.

The 100 is an exercise that you will find in almost any Pilates class. It involves lying with your back on the mat, body curled up, holding the position and completing 100 arm beats. It typically comes early in class and gets the entire body warmed up by getting your breath going and your blood moving. The exercise engages all of your major abdominal muscles, helping you to build strength that will not only assist you in class, but that you will be able to take into everyday life.

In order to hold your body up for an extended period of time, as you do in the 100, you must have endurance, specifically abdominal endurance. The only way to get endurance is to build it, which the […]

Why We Do the 100Maggie Downie2017-12-29T21:21:21-05:00