Pilates and the 2 minute tooth brushing

The electric toothbrush I’ve been using last couple of years comes with a two-minute buzzer – meant as an indicator for how long to brush your teeth (at a minimum).

As would be expected, I’ve rarely ever got to the buzzer – finishing my brushing in a minute or so, well below the suggested time. Of course my teeth are in a crap state.

A few months ago I started going to a pilates class once a week. However, it was clear to me that once a week wasn’t enough, and I couldn’t afford to go more (both financially and time-wise).

As a compromise, the instructor offered a few suggestions on how to get a few exercises in a usual day. One of those suggestions was to do single leg stands while brushing teeth – stand on left leg when brushing the right side, and vice versa. This one stuck.

A couple of months in, and the other side effect of this pilates exercise is becoming clearer. As I’ve become better at single leg balancing, I try to stay longer on each leg, and thus spend longer cleaning my teeth.

The result: In over a month, I’ve never stopped short of the buzzer :)

The other side effect: I now need to charge my toothbrush weekly, after running out of power twice, against the once in 2-3 weeks I use to do earlier.

So, stronger legs, better balance, and healthier teeth. It’s a win-win :)

Try it out..

The cows are back

Cows

Cows on the mount are back. A different herd this year, and fewer too – 6-7 against 18 last year.

Don’t mind the cows themselves, but their presence means that there’ll be cowdung mounds all over the place soon, and that we (Chewie & Me) won’t be able to play at our favourite much longer.

On the other hand, we’ve recently discovered a load of beautiful routes around our area, and this might just be incentive to insert more variety into our daily walks.


Pilates

Didn’t think that I’d get to chat and be friend(ly) with more people in a 4-7 person pilates class, than in a 300+ park run that I’ve volunteered at 7 times in last few months. But it is so. Funny world :)