body – Page 7 – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Try Not to Compare

I know it’s hard not to compare yourself to others in a group class. We see someone else doing something and we want to be able to do it too. I get that. I’m pretty competitive. But the problem is there is more than just our level of strength that may make us need to do an exercise at a different level.

Think of the roll up. If you have short legs and a long torso, you have a lot of weight to lift and not much to help counter balance you. No matter how strong you are, this exercise will always be harder for you that someone with longer legs or someone who is similar in size on the top and the bottom.

When I went to the psoas workshop last week I learned that depending on where the psoas connects to the spine it get affect how you move. The psoas can connect to your vertebra at T12 or L5 (which I knew), but what I didn’t know is that if it is lower […]

Try Not to CompareMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:47-04:00

Who’s Excited About Their Psoas?

The Psoas Vs. Mark Twain

When I worked at The Mark Twain House & Museum people were fascinated with my job. They were interested in what I did; they were interested in Twain; and they were happy to listen to stories of the different people I’d gotten to meet there.

Now that I teach pilates, people are noticeably less interested. In fairness, I think it’s less about pilates and more about Mark Twain. When I taught high school people weren’t overly interested in the day-to-day details about what was going on in the classroom.

Working at the Twain House was a great experience, but I’m happier running my own company and teaching pilates. Now I get to read books about the body instead of books on Twain—both […]

Who’s Excited About Their Psoas?Maggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:48-04:00

Pilates is Easy

Think Pilates is easy? You probably aren’t doing it right. Every time I take a pilates class I’m surprised at how difficult it is, and I like a tough, challenging workout. There are exercises that I didn’t find difficult at first, but once I understood them better (from years of practice) I found them to be my most challenging. Many of the beginner exercises are actually the most difficult. And when I’m not doing an advanced exercise as well as I should, it’s usually going back to one of the beginner exercises that will make me realize how I should be moving my body in order to do the more challenging exercise properly.

Even an exercise like ab prep–it seems easy, but it’s not at all. You are basically lifting your head and shoulders off the floor. Many people mistake it for an abdominal crunch, but the exercise is so much more, and once you discover all the intricacies, you can find what may seem like the simplest exercise extremely rewarding.

It may not happen right […]

Pilates is EasyMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:55-04:00

Best Shape of My Life Challenge: Warrior Dash

So, I’m on this healthy lifestyle, right? I have a goal to get in the best shape of my life this year. The challenge started March 27th, and so far I’ve been sick about half the time. So what’s the lesson here? It’s a lesson, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear. It’s a lesson that created a debate in my house all last week.

This was the debate:

Matt: I don’t think we should go the Pennsylvania to do the Warrior Dash. You’ve been really run down and I don’t want to see you get sick again, especially two weeks before we leave for Switzerland.

Maggie’s Mind: Damn, he’s right, but it totally sucks.

Maggie Aloud: What do you want me to do, never work out again? I am feeling better. And, I really want to do the Warrior Dash. And I really want to see the friends we were going to see down there.

Matt: Me too, but is it worth it?

Maggie’s Mind: No, I don’t want to get pharyngitis again, but come on…this totally sucks!

Maggie Aloud: Let’s think on it and decide Friday.

(Note: this […]

Best Shape of My Life Challenge: Warrior DashMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:53-04:00

Swimming

Swimming isn’t really up my alley, but since I’ve been running again (even though only two or three times a week), and since I’ve been doing a lot of sprints and jumping in the interval class I’ve been taking, I think the pool is where my body needs to be.

I’ve been meaning to get there for weeks, but just didn’t get up and go until last week. And man, I should have gotten there sooner. It felt so good. I swam 15 laps (there and back—I’m such a bad swimmer I don’t even know swim lingo and whether or not if you swam a lap people will assume you went there and back). I kicked on a paddle board for 10 laps and then I ran back and forth and did some jumping jacks.

When I was playing field hockey in college, our coach made us have pool sessions. We hated them because the other teams got a break when we had to swim, but our team had the fewest injuries all season. It’s a small anecdotal study, but I have believed in the benefits of swimming and water on joints ever since. You really don’t have […]

SwimmingMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:47-04:00