exercise

Kids & Movement

Joe Pilates drew a lot of his ideas about movement and exercise by watching animals and infants move. In knowing that, I often watch my friends’ kids to see how they move. What do they do when they are first learning to crawl? How do they hold their head up? Why do they walk on their toes when they first learn to walk? How does their spine move? These are all things I look for to see what kids do naturally.

Kids also have a freedom to movement that I think we lose as we age. It’s mostly societal. An adult can’t get away with throwing their arms up in the air, spinning in circles or just jumping up and down on the middle of a sidewalk the way a kid can. Kids have more freedom to be silly.

And so when we had friends staying with us a few weekends ago and their 3-year old daughter started moving around in ways that made me chuckle (okay, I was laughing hard), I tried to catch it on camera. This was especially something I wanted to catch after I asked her what she was doing and she responded, […]

Kids & MovementMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:42-04:00

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

Varity in Exercise

Varity in exercise is a must. Not only is it good for your body, but if you are anything like me, you get bored fairly easily. Just for my mental state I need to change my workouts. I always do pilates because I love it, and I honestly believe it keeps my body safe so that I can do other things, but, cross training in general helps to keep your body safe.

Everything else outside of pilates and I’m sort of a fair-weather friend.

Here are just some of the things I do to workout (sometimes I do some more than others)

• Run
• Tae Bo (or another kickboxing class)
• Step Aerobics
• Dance
• Swimming
• Dragon Boat
• Interval Training
• Boot Camp
• Weight Lifting
• Walk
• Hike
• Yoga
• Racquet Ball

What’s currently working for you? What is your favorite type of exercise right now?

Varity in ExerciseMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:51-04:00

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

MY FOUR CHALLENGES!!!

I honestly can’t remember if I already announced my four challenges of the year. In case you haven’t seen some earlier posts, I’m challenging myself to get in the best shape of my life this year and part of that challenge it to participate in four (ideally one per season) physical challenges throughout the year that I’ve never done before.

I’ve decided that the year is March 27, 2011-March 26, 2012.

Here is what I’ve decided to do:

1) The Warrior Dash—a 3.5 mile run with an obstacle course.

2) The Ragnar Relay—a relay race done with a 12 person team from New Haven to Boston. Over the course of a 36-hour period I’ll run about 12 miles. (Some people on our team will run 20 miles, and I am grateful that they wanted to take the longer legs.)

3) Hike the Grand Canyon—this is pending a permit that I really hope I can get.

4) Participate in Cross Country Ski Race—I’m thinking of the one held at the Von Trapp […]

MY FOUR CHALLENGES!!!Maggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:56-04:00