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

Plank Form

I always tell people to KEEP MOVING but one of the best exercises you can do involves no movement at all. I’m talking about planking. Planking may seem like a fad when world leaders are doing it (remember Canada’s Prime Minster Trudeau planking on a desk?) and the world record for longest plank is over 9.5 hours. But the research on the benefits of planking is so significant that the US army swapped out sit ups for planks this year!

Benefits of Plank

What they found is young recruits flinging themselves up and down to crank out as many sits ups as possible were injuring their backs, using other muscles besides their abdominals, and basically by-passing the ab muscles. (I should note: sit ups don’t have to be a bad exercise when performed with proper form, but at superspeed it’s hard to do them properly.)

In plank, no other muscle is going to pick up the slack. Your abs are going to do the work, or they are not. According to research, planks activate more ab muscles and engage them more intensely than sit ups. So, you build strength, definition, and endurance. […]

Plank FormMaggie Downie2022-05-21T23:04:36-04:00

Do You Really Need to Exercise?

Please don’t get me wrong. This is not an article about how you shouldn’t exercise.

It has an important role in our health and wellness, but exercise is not the only way to move and stay healthy. What’s really key is physical activity.

All exercise is physical activity but not all physical activity is exercise. Exercise is the traditional, scheduled, planned, intentional movement you think of when you consider running, weight lifting, and of course your favorite Pilates class (join me through Glastonbury Parks Rec Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 to get your virtual fill of that). Physical activity is any movement that activates the muscles and expends energy. That’s pretty much every movement.

Many large, multi year studies show that the more physically active someone is the less likely they are to die of all causes, including cancer and diabetes. In addition the more physical activity we are the happier we are and the less likely we are to develop Alzheimer’s. And it’s a sliding scale. Add a little bit of physical activity and you’ll live longer and grow happier. Adding more only increases the benefit. That’s where exercise can […]

Do You Really Need to Exercise?Maggie Downie2022-05-03T17:01:20-04:00

Exercise After COVID

Note: this post was written April 2022 (info is changing quickly in COVID).

According to a health data scientist at the Indiana University School of Medicine, struggling to return to exercise is one of the biggest complaints of individuals with long covid along with brain fog and fatigue.

Exercising When Sick

As a general rule any time we exercise we need to listen to our body. This is even more true as you return to exercise after a bout of COVID. It’s important to listen to your body because no rule is steadfast or one size fits all. I have friends that, prior to COVID, swore that when they were sick exercise helped them get over illness. I’ve never found that to be true in my body. When I’m sick I need rest or I get worse—even for a minor head cold. So you need to know your body and what you need.

COVID aside, the general rule for exercising when sick has been if you feel illness in your head region, do what you can do. If you feel it in your chest take a break from exercise. Again, […]

Exercise After COVIDMaggie Downie2022-04-19T01:04:09-04:00

Plank Story: Moby Bring Sally Up

Matt will be very active with me. He will hike, kayak, and a can be convinced to run once in a very rare while or if he’s worried I’m running somewhere unsafe. While he likes movement, he loathes exercise. Pilates would be great for him, but he’ll nearly never do it. But I figured out his Achilles heel—the secret that will get Matt down on the mat. The trick involves Moby Bring Sally Up.

Last night I was inspired to sing to him, “Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be, close to you.” Those were the only words I remembered, so I sang them on repeat. His face shifted to this look of angsty compassion. His cringing brow declared, “I love you, but the sound coming out of your voice is causing intense pain,” He wouldln’t admit it, but his face, and the bleeding ears, couldn’t hide the reality. At first I thought he might just not like the Carpenters. But then I realized it was me. I stopped singing and asked if he wanted to try this plank challenge I’d heard […]

Plank Story: Moby Bring Sally UpMaggie Downie2018-05-23T15:48:32-04:00

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