exercise

Standing Abs

There are multiple reasons to opt for a standing ab workout.

If you have trouble getting up and down off the floor, you don’t have to. Even if you can get up and down, these moves are convenient because you don’t have to pull out a mat and get on the floor. If you’re prone to neck pain when doing traditional ab exercises, standing abs reduces the chances the neck gets aggravated. Often, lots of other body parts are working with you while you do standing abs. And, as most of the physical challenges we face in life occur when we are standing, standing abs are a real functional type of movement.

Consider trying these moves in the NBC CT LIVE video below:

Side Bends with a Squat

Standing Bicycle –single leg or alternating

Opposing Limbs

Keep Reading

Looking for a more gentle way to Keep Moving? Click here to read about Low Impact Cardio.

Struggling to sleep? Read This Blog for effective exercise tips to improve your sleep quality.

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Standing AbsMaggie Downie2024-08-21T17:01:17-04:00

Low Impact Cardio – Gentle Moves for a Healthy Heart

Cardio exercise is beneficial on many levels. Getting our heart rate up strengthens our heart, enhances our lung capacity, and helps reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. It can also boost our mood and may help with immunity. If cardio exercise came in a pill everyone would want that pill.

Running, HIIT, and swimming are all great forms of cardio, but if you don’t have access to a pool, hate high intensity, or are worried about your joints you still have options.

While cardio does require us to pick up the pace, you don’t need to work at warp speed.

To do cardio workouts you do need to move faster, but it isn’t all or nothing. You can build up incrementally. You want to challenge yourself (heavy breathing), but don’t feel a sense of misery while moving. You’ll want to be winded, but not feeling like you are going to be sick.

And while we should all set a goal of being able to maintain moderate cardio for 30-minutes, you can start with 5-minutes and build up from there.

To be gentler on your joints […]

Low Impact Cardio – Gentle Moves for a Healthy HeartMaggie Downie2024-07-18T09:56:46-04:00

Exercise Tips for Better Sleep!

Sleep is vital to a healthy life. But it can evade us. Hundreds of research studies clearly show exercise can help us sleep. We all know that somewhat intuitively. We see kids playing physically and comment: “They’ll sleep well tonight.”

But research is not definitive for what provides optimal sleep. When should we exercise, how intensely, and what type of movement is best are all up in the air. The research is unclear, in part, because the answer seems to vary based on age, sex, chronic illness, and possibly fitness level.

Not having a definitive answer can feel overwhelming. But it can also be empowering. It means that you have room to experiment and see what works for you.

For years the mainstream advise was to do moderate cardio exercise in the morning because if you worked out late in the day, it would keep you up. Recent studies have contradicted that. Later workouts help some people sleep better. Workouts do raise our body temperature, cortisol levels, and heart rate. None of those help us sleep so you do need 1-2 hours after a workout to wind […]

Exercise Tips for Better Sleep!Maggie Downie2024-05-30T11:48:49-04:00

Limber for Life

It is so easy to skip stretching. I skip it myself after many workouts. What gives? We all know stretching is beneficial. Why do we brush it aside so easily?

To encourage ourselves to stretch more we need to 1) enjoy it and 2) recognize it has value. Even if we don’t love exercise, many people make themselves do it because they know it’s good for them. Why isn’t it the same for stretching?

Why We Stretch:

Range of Motion

We don’t need to be the newest member of Cirque Du Soleil, but it’s beneficial to maintain our mobility. Ultimately that’s what stretching does. It helps you keep your full range of motion (ROM) at every joint.

When we lose range of motion and flexibility, it limits what we can do. Maybe you’ve noticed you can’t get up and down off the floor anymore, it’s hard to get your sock on, or you can’t scratch that itch on your back in a spot you used to be able to reach.

Reduce Pain

Also, limited ROM can lead to pain and discomfort. If joints are clamped down and restricted it can lead to injury or pain. This works at the other extreme too. People who are hypermobile often […]

Limber for LifeMaggie Downie2024-03-08T16:38:15-05:00

Indoor Workouts

It’s winter. That can mean chilly weather, icy sidewalks, and messy precipitation. But that doesn’t have to derail your workout.

There are great moves you can do with items in your own home that will add some variety to your regular workout routine. Variety is essential for a healthy body. So if you are missing outdoor workout routines, know that staying in can help make you even stronger when you head back outside in spring.

Plus a little variety is fun.

Here are some tips for your at-home workout:

Use a full laundry detergent bottle as a kettle bell
Use cans or water bottles as weights
Lately, you can find all sorts of wall workouts online—some of them put your feet on the wall so make sure you pick a place in the house you are okay with that.
Chairs are very versatile. They can help modify a workout or make it harder
Stairs are great for climbing or working on general leg strength.

Here is a sample Chair and Stair workout.

So what fun workouts can you create? There is no limit. Get creative. Play with the items in your house and the structure of your house. Let us know what you come […]

Indoor WorkoutsMaggie Downie2024-01-26T12:04:37-05:00