Maggie Downie, Author at Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

About Maggie Downie

Thank you for giving your time to stop and read my blog. I hope it encourages you to keep moving. Move and the body will be happier. And when you're moving you can hike, run, swim in Jell-O, race over non-Newtonian fluids, travel the world or build igloos--if that's your thing. If not, you can watch me do it. This is just a spot to try and feel good about life.

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

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

Bunion Pain Relief

Ouch! Looking for some bunion pain relief? A bunion is a deformation of the big toe joint. If you’ve got one, you’ll notice a boney protrusion at the base of your big to and your big toe will point in squishing all your littler toes. Genetics and footwear can lead to or worsen bunions, which are more common in women.

Aside: If you develop a bunion at your pinkie toe, it’s called a bunionette, which sounds SOOO much cuter than a bunion.

Finding Relief

Ditch the Heels Ladies (and men):

Nearly every pair of shoes you purchase (unless they are minimalist shoes) has a slight or drastic heel lift. The higher the heel lift, the more pressure on that bunion. So stick to shoes with a lower heel. Often men’s shoes have a slight heal lift too.

Traction

I have a bunion, and I find relief when I gently pull on my big toe trying to create a little space between the toe and foot. It […]

Bunion Pain ReliefMaggie Downie2019-03-15T17:29:21-04:00

Pain in the Bottom of My Foot

You have a band of fascia that might be causing pain in the bottom of your foot. It’s known as your plantar fascia (usually it is the only type of fascia that anyone has heard about). When it is inflamed and you experience pain that is known as plantar fasciitis (PLANTAR FASCIITIS ). The good news is, at least in my experience, this is not a permanent state of pain.

Though you might have to do some maintenance to keep the pain away, most people with PLANTAR FASCIITIS are able to return to a normal life without pain at every step.

So What Can You Do?

The key to relieving plantar fascia pain is to stretch all the related muscles. This includes both calf muscles and the hamstrings. That’s right, tight hamstrings are strongly linked to plantar fasciitis.
Also, you can do self message on the foot or roll the foot on a soft ball. You don’t have to combat pain with agony, so if a tennis ball hurts, there is no need to use an object that firm.

Stretch What?

There are three muscles to focus on stretching when you have PLANTAR FASCIITIS .

Stretch the Calf

When […]

Pain in the Bottom of My FootMaggie Downie2019-03-15T13:25:03-04:00

Plank Story: Tongue Tied

My dad has a Boston accent that Siri struggles to understand. After he talks a text and clicks send without rereading it, a nonsensical message of gibberish lands in my family’s group text. My siblings and I race to translate what he actually means. When I got a text from him that read, “I appreciate your blood this morning,” I could not figure out the meaning, so I asked. Blood was intended to be blog. He’d read my blog and liked it.

In addition to his misunderstood accent and technical difficulties, sometimes my father stumbles over words. Most recently this has been a problem with his newest grandson, my sister’s son. His name is Quentin, but my father calls him Quintin. Qui vs que. To my dad’s credit, I tend to want to say Quintin over Quentin too. The que doesn’t roll off my tongue and I have to think about it. But since Quentin’s birth, I have witnessed this conversation multiple times:

Dad: How’s Quintin?
Sister: Dad, it’s Quentin.
Dad: Right, what did I say?
Sister: Quintin.
Dad: Yeah, that’s right.
Sister: No, it’s Quentin.
Dad: Isn’t that what I said?

Like Father Like Daughter

My family teases my dad […]

Plank Story: Tongue TiedMaggie Downie2019-03-04T18:39:58-05:00

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