control

The No Pain, No Gain Fallacy

We’ve all heard the phrase, No Pain, No Gain in relation to exercises. It’s a popular expression but it is not true. Actually, it’s potentially harmful.

When we think No Pain, No Gain in terms of exercise we tend to think that either our workout should be grueling, or we should be sore the day or two afterward. If we aren’t then we presume we haven’t done enough. The problem is working out and pushing through pain increases our risk of injury. Once we are injured our whole workout plan can be derailed. Plus the Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) we feel 24-48 hours after a workout isn’t practical or functional. We are more likely to get injured then because we have to alter the way we naturally move to work around how sore we are.

While you can choose to only do an upper body workout every other day, you can’t not use half your body for a whole day. We need our arms to pick up our children, reach for something off the top shelf, and open the refrigerator. We need our legs to go upstairs, get in and out of […]

The No Pain, No Gain FallacyMaggie Downie2021-10-15T16:20:14-04:00

Learning to Feel

Cami and me exploring sensation through our feet!

We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. –Mark Twain

It is a rare day, indeed, that I disagree with my idol Mark Twain. And while I know he is referring to feeling in a different context than what we perceive and sense in the world around us, I’m not sure we stop and feel enough. And it may just be our ability to feel that keeps us thinking.

It may surprise you to learn that one of my favorite birthday presents this year was a box of rocks. My partner-in-movement, Cate Vallone, from Evolution Pilates and her daughter painted a bunch of small rocks for me. They painted bees, strawberries, little hearts, random colors It was utterly unexpected which made it grand.

The goal is to stand, walk across and just exist in different positions on the rocks to enhance proprioception—the art of feeling. Cate knows I’m not a great feeler. It’s been a running joke between us. I’ll happily foam roll or run half marathons. She thinks those activities are painful […]

Learning to FeelMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:39:14-05:00

Black Friday

If you’re going to out shopping and waiting in lines today, don’t feel discouraged. Make good use of your time. Lift your kegel while in line. Engage your core–pull your belly button to your spine. Feel your abdominals engage all the way to your pubic bone. Stand tall with your shoulders back and down.

Black FridayMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:27-04:00

Move & Hold Still

It is one of the many challenges in Pilates: to move and hold still at the same time. Yet that is one of the aspects of Pilates that makes it so unique and provides you with so much control.

Think about moving and holding still the next time you do the following exercises:

The 100: You move your arms, but try not to move the rest of you body, espeically the rest of the upper body.

Leg Circles: You move your leg in the hip socket, but try not to let the opposite side of you pelvis lift.

Spinal Rotation: You twist at the spine without letting your hips move with you.

Can you think of another exercise in Pilates that requires you to move and hold still at the same time?

Move & Hold StillMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:09:05-04:00