Beyond The Blue

[#1]

Feeling The Burn

As I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, physical health is very important to me. I’d hope it’s important to you, too! I’m not saying you should spend hours of your day at the gym, but it’s healthy to get your heart rate up throughout the week and put your muscles to work.

While I’m deployed overseas, I should have access to some kind of fitness center most of the time. I’m not planning on this being guaranteed or having the latest and greatest workout equipment available, but I’m determined to reach my fitness goals during my time away. This might mean I’ll have to work out without a gym available, and it’s not a bad idea to bring my own equipment to a not-so-five-star facility.

Now, when I say “equipment,” I’m not saying I’ll be packing 25 pound dumbbells and a portable elliptical with me on my flight out of America. I’m talking about strength training equipment that barely weighs anything and costs less than $15.

Exercise bands!

These small yet effective pieces of equipment can be incorporated with normal weight training, and can be used on their own to strengthen muscles without needing extra equipment. There are countless exercises you can perform with bands of different sizes for upper and lower body training, and they’re great for stretching as well.

If you have a set of resistance bands, there’s no excuse to miss a workout. And that’s a big phrase the military likes to throw around and live by… “NO EXCUSES!”