balance – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Lunge Form: How to do a lunge properly

Often people are afraid to do lunges or squats. They think those moves hurt their knees—either their experience is that it hurts the knees when they do them or they have been told those moves are bad for knees. The only problem with that is that in order to move throughout our day we need to be able to do a lunge and a squat. It’s not the lunge that is the problem. It is the lunge form.

Lunges enable us to get up and down off the floor. Squats get us on the toilet. A cross between a lunge and a squat enables us to get into the car. These are movements our body is doing whether we fear them or not. How do we resolve the question of whether or not we should be doing lunges? The answer: Learn how to do a lunge properly without hurting the knee.

Proper Lunge Form Tips

The video below will demonstrate and talk you though how to do a lunge safely, but before you start, here are some key factors to consider:

What […]

Lunge Form: How to do a lunge properlyMaggie Downie2019-05-10T14:13:27-04:00

Self Love

Movement can be playful!

We are often our own hardest critic. I know I am. It’s my Type-A, entrepreneurial spirit. But no matter what our nature or our career path, I think we tend to be harsh with ourselves in a way many of us would never treat anyone else we care for. We all need to give ourselves a little more self love.

In the past, I somewhat always thought this harshness was a motivator. Apparently, I respond to drill sergeant mode. Once upon a time that might have worked for me, but I’m attempting to be gentler with myself. Partly, I’m just getting tired with age (did I admit that?). Egging myself on is exhausting. Plus every year it seems to become more and more obvious that life is too short to waste time being curt with myself. I’ve even drastically reduced my road rage because I came to recognize I was the only one hot and bothered. The driver that would not let me merge was long gone.

That does not mean that I’m always successful. It is in my nature to push through without a nap and struggle with […]

Self LoveMaggie Downie2018-06-19T10:06:03-04:00

Must I Work Both Sides of My Body Evenly?

What a piece of work is Maggie. Can you see where I’m unbalanced?

Go to one physical therapist and they will focus on the injured side. Go to another and they pay attention to both sides. Come to my Pilates class and though I’ll attempt to work you out evenly, my lack of counting skills may get in the way. So, does it matter? What you do to the right, must you do to the left? Must we work both sides of the body evenly?

When I first started teaching I thought balance was the key to everything. If anyone told me to only work one side, I’d have thought it was an atrocity. Apparently with my youth came a sense of hyperbole in movement. Now I’ve come to realize we will never be even. No matter what we do in our 1-hour exercise class, what we face in life will strengthen and alter one side more than the other. Striving for absolute balance is an impossible task. Our heart is more to the left. Our liver is on […]

Must I Work Both Sides of My Body Evenly?Maggie Downie2017-12-29T19:42:51-05:00