pilates

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

Pilates Style Lessons

I’m behind in reading my magazines. I just read Pilates Style January/Febuary 2010, but it listed what they thought were some of the best, new (now semi-new) health research for the year. And I figured I’d share:

1) Interval Training is more effective than long periods of aerobic exercise.

I for one am not going to stop running long distances. It’s too good for my mind, but this is why our new Interval Cardio class is so important. Intervals are all the range right now for increase calorie burn and heart health.

2) Low Fat Diets Aren’t Good

Research is showing that low fat diets are less healthy than moderate fat diets. Experts even claimed that opting for carbs over saturated fats might increase your risk of heart disease.

3) Cholesterol May Not Matter

I actually read about this research study while on the vegan diet and became very discouraged, but it turns out half the people with elevated cholesterol have normal hearts and half the people with heart disease have normal cholesterol. Our good cholesterol and bad cholesterol may not matter as much as the type of bad cholesterol we have. Turns […]

Pilates Style LessonsMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:42-04:00

Stability Chair at Work

I often try to convince people that their bodies would be happier if that sat on a stability ball at work. When I worked in an office I sat on a stability ball and it was, if nothing else, a great conversation piece. Very few people take me up on the offer, however.

But my Dad did. And then the next day his office banned them because of a potential work hazard. I was annoyed because that is actually really short sighted (unless everyone at work has very expensive ergonomic chair that is actually ergonomic). Sure, anyone can fall off a stability ball, and I understand that we work in a litigious society, but all the research on sitting on a stability in schools or offices only shows the benefits. Kids do better in school. People remain more attentive (you’re less likely to fall asleep when you are sitting on a ball). Balls are more ergonomic than most office chairs so they are better for your back and hips.

A couple weeks later my dad received […]

Stability Chair at WorkMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:48-04:00

Instructor’s Personal Journey: Jeannine

Like many little girls, dancing and all the pageantry associated with it fascinated me. Love of the arts and dance in particular always remained with me although I was sidetracked many times throughout life. Eventually, when I began modern dance training and continued with ballet, I realized a personal commitment to ceaseless practice created the illusion of effortless movement. Pilates was incorporated into that training. My goal was and still remains to attain freedom expressed through elegant motion achieved only through a self-imposed physical, mental and spiritual discipline acquired by practice.

Personal Euphoria

Instructor’s Personal Journey: JeannineMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:51-04:00

Obliques vs. Rectus

I’d like to have a boxing match between our oblique muscles and our rectus muscle. Your rectus is the six pack muscle that everyone in the world wants. It allows you to flex forward like when we curl the upper body off the mat for our ab exercises. Your obliques are larger muscles on the side and front of you body that enable you to bend from side to side and twist, but they also help you curl forward with the rectus. Nobody seems to care about obliques and it’s a bit sad.

I’m pretty sure the obliques would win in a boxing match—if nothing else there are four of them. Pilates is all about obliques, but I don’t think most people care a lick about them.

The six-pack muscle is important, don’t get me wrong, and I want a six-pack too, but since it is one of the muscles furthest from the center of the body, it offers the least amount of structural support. In pilates we are all about structural […]

Obliques vs. RectusMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:51-04:00