health

Fitness Gift Giving

Stuck on any last-minute gifts for people you love? Encouraging people to move is a wonderful gift. Of course you never want to try to twist someone’s arm if movement isn’t their thing. This year for CT LIVE we put together a few fitness ideas that are playful and practical. Click here to watch. I hope these ideas help with someone you are stuck on. And we aren’t paid by anyone to plug these gift ideas…

Trekking Poles: Can’t speak highly of these enough. I started hiking with them in my 20’s. I was embarrassed because no one my age used them, but my knees felt so good when I used them. People resist them but they are a game changer for anyone you know who likes hiking (and wants to continue lifelong) or anyone you know who is getting a bit older and a little unsteady.

For hikers they give you a more full-body workout, help you move faster, burn more calories, help with balance, and reduce how sore you’ll be after you hike.

A Stretch Strap: this gift can be for the person you know who LOVES stretching or the person […]

Fitness Gift GivingMaggie Downie2024-12-20T10:46:01-05:00

Monster Moves

As children, movement is often playful and fun. Then, as adults, we tend to see it as repetitive and grueling. But it is important to remember movement can be playful and productive. As long as moves are safe, it is okay to be light-hearted with them, especially if that makes you more likely to move.

These are all movements named after monsters. That is silly to begin with.

Try them if the Halloween season is bringing out your playful side. Or encourage your kids to Keep Moving by doing their best impression of these monsters. Have a family monster impression challenge and see who can pull it off best. Hopefully you’ll wind up laughing and movement will feel fun!

Check out all these fun moves in the video below from NBC CT Live.

Frankensteins – This is a great warm-up move. It stretches the hamstring. You are trying to move with a stable pelvis. And if you want you can add some arm circles or twist.

Mummy – This works your shoulders and upper back muscles. It’s actually beneficial at counteracting that forward slump […]

Monster MovesMaggie Downie2024-10-23T17:52:46-04:00

Exercise on Vacation

Maggie hiking Mt Kilimanjaro

A few people have asked me what I do for exercise on vacation. The answer: it depends.

Sometimes I don’t. And that’s okay for anyone. It is necessary to allow your body a break from its typical routine for a week or two. In fact, it’s probably good. My regular routine has a lot of physical activity in it. And breaks are vital. As someone who LOVES to be in motion, I probably don’t take breaks as often as I should.

Also, sometimes our personal trips are so physically active whatever we are doing is my exercise. When we hiked Kilimanjaro or the Inca Trail, I wasn’t adding exercise. When I did the El Camino with my mom, I didn’t add more exercise to the 15 miles we were walking each day. However, if we had access to a pool, I tried to swim for 30 minutes. But moving in a pool is a wonderful addition to any workout routine, especially if your body is sore.

Maggie finishing the El Camino with her Mom

Exercise on VacationMaggie Downie2024-09-19T16:44:12-04:00

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