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

The No Pain, No Gain Fallacy

We’ve all heard the phrase, No Pain, No Gain in relation to exercises. It’s a popular expression but it is not true. Actually, it’s potentially harmful.

When we think No Pain, No Gain in terms of exercise we tend to think that either our workout should be grueling, or we should be sore the day or two afterward. If we aren’t then we presume we haven’t done enough. The problem is working out and pushing through pain increases our risk of injury. Once we are injured our whole workout plan can be derailed. Plus the Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) we feel 24-48 hours after a workout isn’t practical or functional. We are more likely to get injured then because we have to alter the way we naturally move to work around how sore we are.

While you can choose to only do an upper body workout every other day, you can’t not use half your body for a whole day. We need our arms to pick up our children, reach for something off the top shelf, and open the refrigerator. We need our legs to go upstairs, get in and out of […]

The No Pain, No Gain FallacyMaggie Downie2021-10-15T16:20:14-04:00

Family Fitness – Fun for the Whole Family!

This is a great time of year to start a family fitness routine because with kids heading back to school we all tend to get back into a schedule after summer vacation. If you are looking for a family fitness routine your whole family will enjoy consider keeping it simple, incorporating variety, and looking for fun ways to move.

Simple

Probably the most basic way to incorporate movement with the whole family is to plan a walk after dinner. You could do this three, five, or seven nights a week if you are feeling ambitious. It would help instill great habits.

In case you’re not sure you could convince your whole family to walk every day, here are some other ideas. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty more and you can come up with anything and try new things daily or weekly, depending on how often you want to move with your family.

Play a Game

You could always use the technology kids love and play a game. The Nintendo Switch has boxing, bowling, and dance games you can play that will keep you moving. Or go old school and pull out a game like twister.

Bike Ride

You can take a […]

Family Fitness – Fun for the Whole Family!Maggie Downie2021-09-14T23:03:26-04:00

Motivation to Move!

Do you get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day? Most adults don’t. Thirty minutes is important because it’s the minimum amount of exercise our bodies require to be healthy. Still ¾’s of adults aren’t getting that. So how do we find our motivation to move?

What Doesn’t Work?

First, we need to realize what doesn’t seem to work for us. We seem to think we SHOULD (always a tough word) be motivated to move because we know it’s good for our health. We think we SHOULD be motivated to lose weight. Research indicates those are both useful tools for helping start a workout, but not stick with it.

What Does Give us Motivation to Move?

There are multiple motivational tools that do provide motivation to move. Next time you want to stick to a workout plan, consider whether it meets the following:

Visible

To make a workout visible consider using social media as a tool. Post about your new workout goals. Write what you did each day. Ask friends to encourage and boost you up on days you don’t feel like moving. Or partner with co-workers and have different departments compete for the most steps. […]

Motivation to Move!Maggie Downie2021-08-23T16:07:42-04:00

Exercise for the Vaccine

Eccentric Contraction –Muscle getting longer

Staying active is one of the best things you can do for your immune system. That doesn’t mean that you never need a break. Sleep and rest play a role in keeping us healthy too. Once you are run down, rest can be vital. But generally speaking exercise boosts the immune system. After taking a walk you have more immune cells flowing through your body checking to ensure all is well and keeping bad bugs at bay.
This is not new information. We’ve known for years that people who stay active are less likely to develop head colds and come down with other viruses less frequently. For our health, we need to KEEP MOVING.

But how does this tie in with the vaccine? Small studies on the flu vaccine indicated that pairing movement with a vaccination seems to boost the immune response (meaning you might get more out of the actual vaccine). Currently, the types of COVID vaccines available are different than the flu vaccine. That means it’s possible movement only works with the flu vaccine and not others, but what do you have to lose? The moves […]

Exercise for the VaccineMaggie Downie2021-04-28T16:38:19-04:00

Feeling on edge?

Have you been feeling on edge since mid-March? Hmmm, I wonder why? Perhaps you are human. We’ve been dealing with a lot in the world lately between COVID, loss of work, black lives matter, and a general sense that we don’t know what the future holds or how to bring about changes we may desire. And, we’ve been going through a lot of it in some degree of isolation—never a good thing for humans. We are social animals. Even if you are one of those people that say you prefer cats and dogs to your fellow humans, you need people and support.

Does Rest Still Work?

I’m a big believer in a rest day from exercise, but I’ve found that it hasn’t been an option. Prior to COVID I could take a rest day. If I took three or four in a row, I’d start to get antsy. (Matt might use the word grumpy.) But now, if I don’t exercise one day, by midafternoon I’m not in a good place. Movement is such a useful tool for me. It makes me feel better. It helps my sanity. Moving boost my spirits. But perhaps […]

Feeling on edge?Maggie Downie2020-06-19T14:16:27-04:00

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