Working Out Working Out Equipment and Accessories Edition

Well here we are again, discussing workouts. In my last post regarding working out, I started off with the apps that I find useful for keeping me on track. I had originally intended for that post to also include the equipment and accessories as well, but once I got down to the bottom of the post I realized that it was already long enough. I didn't want to bombard everyone with a really long post. So I broke it up into two.

Welcome to the second half of the workout post.

The first items up are running belts. A lot of workout clothing lack what I consider a major feature: POCKETS. Running belts help to remedy that situation.


On A Hop has a nice running belt.



It has a two pocket design. Both pockets are water resistant to keep your stuff somewhat dry if you get caught out in the rain. The main pocket is large enough for a phone with a 5.5in screen and it has a port in the back to pass through your headphones. The running belt is adjustable with on clip in the back. The straps are thick and durable. The pockets and side panels are reflective to aid in visibility. My only complaint with this belt is with the "water bottle holders". When you have water bottles in there they bounce around awkwardly when you run.



Outdoor Fitness Workout Runners Belt is great for those who want to look great when running.





This running belt has a low profile, is light weight, and is extremely comfortable (thank you Spandex). It is a hollow belt creating a wrap-around pocket that is accessible through horizontal slits. It can accommodate  a large phone with a screen size of 5.5in. I was able to fit a half liter water bottle in it, but it makes for an awkward looking bulge in the belt.




As far as exercise equipment goes I would feel lost without my Forever Flex Exercise Ball.

I was pleasantly surprised with Live Infinitely's Forever Flex exercise ball.

The ball itself had really thick rubber walls. When inflated as per the included instructions it is true to size. The instructions were really easy to follow. The kit has everything that you would need for the ball including a hand pump.

Now for the detriments of the product. Using the hand pump is tedious. It will take a while to get it fully inflated. I wish the stroke on the hand pump were just a little longer to move more air with each stroke. I did notice that the pump is dual action. It blows air with both movements of the pump.

Now here is why I LOVE this ball. About 4 days before I received the ball my youngest child knocked over a glass and broke it. I swept everything I could up, but like always I managed to miss some. I found a shard of glass that I had missed lodged in the ball I had just finished inflating and my heart sunk. I carefully pried out the shard and felt over where it was and was shocked that I could not detect any air leakage. That was more than 24 hours ago. The ball is still measuring the same size, indicating that there has not been any air loss. Please note that the shard of glass was really small and was lodged in the side of the ball less than 2mm. Even so, with my experience with other exercise balls that would have been enough for them to start leaking.



Ever since I injured myself 10+ years ago, injury reduction has been the name of the game. I have found a great product through the company Rip Toned.

I had injured the tendon in my right elbow resulting in the tendon being stretched to where it now can pop out of its little groove and pinch nerves. Not a fun time nor a pretty sight.

Ever since then, I have had to give up a lot of activities I used to enjoy, and even then occasionally the tendon would slip out of place during everyday activities. I have not been able to go bowling or to even rough house with my kids for fear of re-hurting myself.

I have tried a few elbow supports in the past but they never really gave me a sense of security that they were stabilizing my elbow.

This compression sleeve is perfect. It is soft with a little bit of give that makes it easy to slide on. It is still tight enough to provide secure compression without feeling like it is cutting off circulation. The neoprene material is breathable and allows some of the sweat underneath to evaporate. (if you sweat while wearing it, you will still be damp where the sleeve was but it won't be swamped underneath it.)

I have tentatively started easing back into the activities I used to enjoy. I haven't tried to bowl yet, but I have rough housed with my son and I haven't gotten hurt like I used to.

After a workout I end up with some kinks and knots in my muscles. What I have learned is that muscle fibers run in all different directions in our body and muscles are layered on top of each other from our heads to our toes. This is a good thing and the reason why we can bend, twist, dance, and play sports. Our muscles are meant to be pliable, strong, and challenged. However, when we sit at a computer all day in the same position and if we injure ourselves, or if we are chronically dehydrated, we can lose our mobility and flexibility. The various muscle fibers start to stick to each other and become adhered. This new hard and lumpy feeling is a muscle ‘knot’.

Muscle ‘knots’ are incredibly common but common doesn’t mean they are normal or harmless. Chronic stress on our muscles creates micro-tearing of muscle tissue, which creates scar tissue. Unfortunately, if left untreated, the muscle tissue will continue to lose elasticity and cause postural stress that is hard to reverse.

I used to visit a massage therapist a few times a month with issues of knots developing in my left shoulder. She told me to find a ball that was fairly hard and use it to apply pressure and roll it back and forth over the knot to help work it out. After that I began my Goldilocks adventure to find the right tool to help work out those shoulder knots. I tried tennis balls and found them to be a little too soft. I tried hard bouncy balls and found them to be too small. To date the only thing that I have found to be perfect for me was lacross balls.

These lacross balls by Azatrum Health are just the right size and the right amount of hardness to apply pressure to the knot without hurting too bad. So far they are the only that I have found that really helps to work out those pesky knots.



That wraps up my list of must have items for working out. Please remember that any items mentioned in my blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed above are my own regardless of how the item was acquired.

As always, feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow my blog and register your email address at the top of the page to receive updates in your inbox and never miss a post!

Working Out Working Out Apps Edition

We all know why we need to work out. Working out, in addition to helping with weight loss, exercising releases endorphins  which help regulate sleep as well as help manage stress along with a bevy of other benefits.

As you can see from the image above there are so many reasons to exercise, and yet I still often times, lack the motivation to get moving. Or if I do start an exercising regiment, the lack of commitment to stick to it. I have often wondered why. I used to go running. I almost had myself down to an 11 minute mile, and I remember enjoying it. But as I have expanded my brood, my ability to reverse my inertia has dwindled.

Reine, a blogger and mother of two, I think explains me better than I ever could. In her article from 2013 she hits the nail on the head of why trying to fit a workout in when you have multiple children is so very hard. She points out and emphasizes the huge energy and time sink children can be. I love my minions but they are exhausting both physically and mentally. So even when I do have 'time' I usually just don't have the energy.

You can read Reine's full article here.

Looking into when to find time for a workout, the general consensus is for working moms to just schedule set workout times.

For me, my schedule (outside of work because that part is non-negotiable) is very fluid. It is constantly changing so scheduling specific times for working out just doesn't work for me.

Probably the best advice that I have found so far is to do short workouts (approximately 10 minutes). Keeping the kids distracted for 10 minutes at a time is much easier than trying to get a full hour work out at once.

Now down to business. For working out I have three main applications that I use on my phone to help keep me in line with staying fit. The first one is MyFitnessPal.

I was introduced to this app by my mother-in-law. I like using this app for calculating net calories on each day. It is compatible with FitBit, so if you have one MyFitnessPal will import your exercise data and keep track of it as well. MyFitnessPal will also share your food intake log with the FitBit app. This app is the best for tracking your food. Out of all the ones I have tried in the past, MyFitnessPal has the largest food library. That means 99% of the time, all I have to do to log my food is to just scan the bar code.

MyFitnessPal can also be accessed online by going to their website. It is also available on both the Apple App store as well as the Google Play store. This is a free app.














Another mobile app that I like for working out is the 30 day fitness challenge app by Jozic Productions.

This app breaks down the challenges muscle muscle groups and expertise level (mine is always beginner 1). After selecting your muscle group and expertise level it pulls up a calendar of 30 days.

Tap on the day you are on and your exercise list comes up. As you progress through the days of the challenge the number of reps and/or durations increase. The only thing I don't like about it is you can't skip a head to see what is scheduled on an advanced day. All days have to be done in order before the next is unlocked. Another reason I like this app, is because each set of exercise doesn't take too long to do and if they take longer than the 10 minutes I can get away with, I can always come back to finish the day's scheduled exercises when I can find another lull.

The full 30 day challenge app is available for download (for free) from the Google Play Store. For Apple users, you have to download each muscle group challenge individually. No worries they are also free.



My last app for exercising is a pedometer app. For me just about any pedometer app will do as long as it is fairly accurate with counting your steps. I had mentioned FitBit's app earlier in this post, and that is great for tracking steps and sleep cycles if you don't mind shelling out for the wrist bands. I have also tried the preloaded pedometer app on Samsung and it works really well also.

Right now, I am using a free app called Accupedo.

It is a simple app that records your height, weight, age, gender and steps to help calculate how many calories you have burned. It also calculates your speed and total distance.













There are a lot of neat features with this app, and since it is free, it is work checking out. Please note: I am not hyping this app up. I really like it, although there are many who report that the app will drain your battery. I have not experienced this as I have adjusted the setting for battery conservation, even though doing this can lower the accuracy of the step count.

This app is available for both Apple and Android devices on their respective app stores.

Wow, this post is getting a little lengthier than I first expected it to be. I will hold off on physical equipment and accessories I use for working out until later. Writing about exercising definitely has me feeling a little more motivated. Lets keep this up! I want to one day be able to successfully juggle everything in my life.

To Be Continued!

As always feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome.
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