exercise

Swimming is more than just a great way to beat the heat. Swimming is a great form of exercise that hits so many health and wellness bases:

Cardio

Swimming is cardiovascular exercises. It gets your heart pumping.

Respiratory

Swimming enhances our lung capacity. In research comparing amateur but regular swimmers with amateur but regular runners, the swimmers had better lung capacity on all counts. Running is certainly good for lung capacity, but researchers think perhaps the pressure and resistance of the of the water helps build lung capacity even more in swimmers.

Resistance Training

The water itself creates resistance and not just for the muscles around our lungs and ribs, but every part of the body, so it helps build muscle tone and increase overall strength.

Full Body Workout

Pick pretty much any swim stroke and you are going to get a full body workout. Your core, glutes (part of your core), arms, and legs all get involved in the workout.

Calorie Burn

If you are into the workout to burn calories, there isn’t much you can do that burns more than swimming (maybe running). Of course, your intensity and choice of stroke matter.

Low Impact

The ability to be buoyant in the […]

Maggie Downie2021-06-28T21:51:33-04:00

Feel Sluggish, Hot, & Tired?

Movement can be fun, playful, & silly

Feeling sluggish, hot, & tired? Let’s blame it on the previous year we all survived living with and in COVID-19. And now, as we step out of the tunnel into the light, let’s find tools to help ourselves. Here are some tips from Maggie at Personal Euphoria:

Have you been feeling sluggish?

You aren’t alone. It’s guesstimated that we put on 2lbs a month (on average) this year. I know I put on 8 and my doctor told me that was less than half what she’d seen this year. It can feel disheartening and putting on weight that quickly can slow you down. But you can make a change at any time. You can say, “Enough is enough. I’m getting back on track.” And this time of year is the easiest and best time of year to do so.

Get outside. Take walks. Exercise doesn’t have to be grueling. If you feel like you’ve fallen behind where you were a year ago, give yourself time to get back to where you want to be. These changes didn’t happen overnight (though it may have felt that way a […]

Feel Sluggish, Hot, & Tired?Maggie Downie2021-06-07T16:24:09-04:00

Get Motivated to Move

Fun Workout: Axe Throwing

If you exercise more than 30-minutes a day, five days a week, you are meeting the government recommendation. Let’s acknowledge two points: that is not nearly enough movement to be healthy (though it’s a great start) and if you meet that you do deserve credit. You are in the minority. Only 24% of Connecticut residents meet the standard (and we are one of the better states). So how do we get motivated to move?

Not Motivated

Reading between the lines it becomes very clear that most adults are not motivated to exercise. Why is that? And how can we motivate ourselves and our loved ones to get up and get moving?

The simple answer is: Movement has to be FUN! We need to be excited to move. We call it a WORKout. That’s not an enticing activity. It doesn’t bring the connotation of Happy Hour, playtime from when we were kids, or snack time. We need to reconsider what we think a workout entails and figure out what would make it fun.

It’s not surprising people who do workout often go with a friend (which means some social time), enjoy their […]

Get Motivated to MoveMaggie Downie2019-10-11T15:34:35-04:00

Travel Workout: Moving in Small Spaces

Plank in Bryce Canyon

Traveling is one of my favorite ways to spend time. But with the adventure of seeing the world comes a lot of small, confining spaces that force you into a seated position for hours on end. When you need to fly, drive, hop on a train, or find yourselves in a dirigible, how can you keep moving in tiny spaces?

Tips for Moving in Small Spaces

· Stop Caring:

I think a key factor in moving is not to worry about what other people think. When you travel whether you pull over at a gas station, find a corner of a busy airport, or head to the back of the plane to stretch, people are going to see you doing something most people don’t do. I always tell myself that I’m going to feel better than all the folks just sitting there. That’s how I get over it.

· […]

Travel Workout: Moving in Small SpacesMaggie Downie2019-04-25T17:45:26-04:00

Glute activation exercises.

We take our butts for granted, but they help us stand up all day. The largest muscle of our body, the glute max, should push us upstairs and propel us forward when we walk or run. When it gets lackadaisical our lower back sometimes takes over some of the glutes workload. Then our back gets achy, sore, overworked, and under appreciated. This is when we need glute activation exercises.

So we need to fire those glutes. It’s not always as easy as it seems. It’s actually fairly common for the low back to do the work of the butt. So we need our abs to help us out. The abs can help us keep the back stabile while we try to get our butt muscles to fire.

Experiment with this exercise to help make sure you can feel the butt. Remember, the movement will be small because the glutes are already working simply to get the foot off the floor. They are doing a lot already.

Generally in life, start to notice when you feel your butt. Do you feel it working when you go […]

Glute activation exercises.Maggie Downie2018-02-14T16:08:18-05:00