Love, Sweat, and Beers

Today’s post is all over the place.  Luckily, at least I won’t be all over the place this weekend.  I was gone at least three weekends in a row and hosted company last weekend.  I was about to go out of town again this weekend, but I’ve managed to talk Kev into just staying home.  Woohoo!  I have too much work to do around the house for a pajama day, but hopefully I’ll indulge in at least a little good ole’ fashion laziness.

First, I want to talk about resistance bands.  I mentioned them in my most recent workout post, and I want to share why I like to incorporate them from time to time.  They’re not better than free weights, but they have noteworthy benefits.  One of these benefits is great for travel season – they fit in your carry-on!

This BodyBuilding.com article brings up another resistance-band bonus:

With your resistance band training, every part of both the concentric and eccentric part of the exercise has resistance, resulting in better range of motion strength and more complete stimulation.

The article also says that many people who strength train give the eccentric part of the exercise significantly less attention than they should.  It also offers some exercises that incorporate the bands (some good, some not so good, but that’s just my opinion).

FitSugar.com mentions another added benefit:

You’ll find that when using resistance bands, it’s easier to target smaller muscles and also mimic real-life sports scenarios. Because the bands offer tension in all directions, you can use them to mirror the movements you make in your sport and strengthen those muscle groups.

FitSugar doesn’t go into any further detail about this type of training, but I’ll fill you in briefly.  Exercises that strengthen your muscles in ways that make you stronger and better prepared for real-life activities are called functional exercises/movements.  Who really bench presses their bags of groceries?  Resistance bands help you practice functional movements, and they often help strengthen your stabilizer muscles at the same time.

On a side note, here’s a video to a few of my favorite functional movements. I really like the last exercise.

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Next topic: Packing your lunch gets annoying.  Seriously.  After a long day of work, an hour+ commute, unpacking and re-packing the gym bag, cooking dinner, and assisting with some of the dishes, the last thing I want to do is prep more meals.  However, here’s my secret.

Too Bad It Can't Go In My Lunchbox

Okay – I actually only have a beer when packing my lunch on rare occasions.  Nevertheless, it helps!  I hear wine helps too – gotta try that next time.

Also, I made my first batch of overnight oats in a jar last night.  Milk, oats, cinnamon in an empty peanut butter jar, and I have sliced strawberries ready for topping in the morning.  I can’t wait to try this after my workout when I get to the office!

I didn’t like my first and only other experience with overnight oats, but I’m willing to give it one more shot.

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Finally, I want to discuss something that’s surprisingly cool.  If you shamelessly leave the gym like this:

Will one thumbs-up be enough?

You arrive at work like this:

Nope - I give this two thumbs-up for sure!

Happy Friday!

What are your plans for the weekend?  Will you be out having fun or getting in extra pajama time?