walking – Page 2 – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

My Grandma inside the igloo!

My grandma contracted polio when she was nine. She was so sick her mother had to push her in a baby carriage to walk her to the hospital. She was embarrassed and mad at her mom because she was nine and didn’t belong in a baby carriage. No one else in the Waterbury area had been diagnosed with polio so at first the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. Before long there was an entire ward of children with polio.

For six month, my grandma was strapped to a wooden plank to immobilize her. It was the early thirties. The hospitals didn’t have air conditioning and she talks about how hot it could get in the room she shared with a group of polio-infected children. Those that died were wheeled out. One of her best memories from her time in the hospital was on summer Saturday nights when the nurses would wheel patients who were well enough out onto a patio for fresh air. The nurses would turn on music and dance.

When it was time to go home the doctor told her mother […]

Six Reasons to Slow Down Your Workout

We tend to think bigger is better. We have to work harder and faster or we aren’t getting a good enough workout. Sometimes we even use this as an excuse not to exercise. But research is showing we can chill out. You don’t have to go hard or go home. You can just move. Here are some research points in favor of a gentler workout:

Run Slow (10-min mile)

Running ten-minute miles and under 15-miles a week is more beneficial to your heart health than running faster for longer, which actually diminishes the gain for your heart. So slow down and enjoy the run. And stop calling yourself a jogger at a 10-minute mile. It’s not 1970. You’re out there running with everyone else. You’re a runner.

Pilates Good For Your Mind

A small study showed that 10-weeks of Pilates increases memory, cognitive function and neural network activity. You won’t be surprised if you’ve done Pilates. It’s basically the exercise for multi-taskers. There’s a lot going on at the same time.

Aerobic Exercises Creates New Neurons

That’s right. Exercise is one of the few things, if not the only thing, in life that creates and builds new neurons in the brain. This should be reason enough […]

Movement Beats Polio

Six Reasons to Slow Down Your Workout