Working Out Has Become a Family Affair

Summer has been crazy around here.  Much of it has been geared around sports and working out.  I am on my weight-loss journey, trying to lose as much weight as possible and training for a triathlon in September.  My oldest daughter is a college track athlete training for the upcoming year after a particularly devastating freshman year which involved heart surgery and a tumor on the pituitary gland.  My oldest son is an upcoming Sophomore in high school and is training for basketball and track.  And my husband has decided to jump on the bandwagon and get more active as well.

All of this training and working out has enabled us opportunities to try a bevy of new products to report back to you.


Wrist Wraps: We purchased wrist wraps which were primarily designed to help with weight lifting.  However, we quickly discovered (after talking to my oldest daughter) that these are particularly helpful if you are a shot putter.  She informed me that when she used the wraps, it automatically added distance to her throw.  Nathan, quickly grabbed one of the two pairs for himself, and we gave the second set to KC (the husband) to use for weight.  What we truly did NOT expect to discover, was that our youngest son with Down syndrome became obsessed with these wraps as well.

Jacob has always had certain sensory issues where he likes to take objects like string, yarn, or rope and tie them around his arms and neck.  I have no idea what sort of sensory feedback he gets from doing that, but it's an issue in our house, and after a particularly scary incident involving yarn, it means I don't do any knitting around our house.

Anyway, we quickly discovered, that Jake LOVES to have the wristwraps put around his wrists.  Nathan wraps them (they go nearly up to his little elbows) and velcros them, and Jake is happy as a clam!  He has even ransacked Nathan's room to find them and bring them to his big brother to request that they be wrapped around his arms.


Chalk Block:  Normally chalk is found in powder form in buckets.  However, we were able to test blocks of chalk with are particularly helpful when you are travelling.  For us, that meant that we could bring a block of chalk with us to the school when practicing shot put, rather than a zip lock bag, or forgoing the chalk all together due to how messy it is. Nathan said it was really soft, and went on pretty easy, but unlike the powdered stuff, you need to remember to put on lots of it, or crumble it in order to get enough chalk on your hands. Grade: A-

Testosterone Boost Supplement:  We have several supplements each family member is in the process of trying for various reasons.  One of the first supplements my husband tried was a Testosterone Boost Supplement.  He told me that the supplement was pretty good, and gave him energy, but it reacted with some of his gout prescriptions and gave him an upset stomach.  He would liked to have tried it Grade:  B (be careful if you're taking meds for gout - otherwise it's worth a try)
longer to see if he experienced more than just "more energy".

Pulse Massager:  When all the hard work is done, the husband and kids, run for the ElectroTherapy Massager.  It's become a staple in our post-workout activities.  Usually one, or all of them sit down at various times during the evening and place the pads on various muscles that have been hit hard by their trainer and let the massager work it's magic.  Though I would STRONGLY suggest turning the remote down to the lowest possible setting before turning it on.  It huts like a bugger if you turn it on at full blast!  They choose one of eight settings (Nate likes #2.  It reminds him of the massage chair at the chiropractor), then sets the timer, the level of intensity, and let it do it's magic.  We've already had to order new pads because I know the set we have now won't last this high usage much longer.
Grade: A

Scale: Finally, the latest addition to our happy health-conscious home has been a brand new scale! (I used the manufacturer's picture because A - my feet don't look that cute, and B-you can't see the numbers when I take a pic).  I'm very excited about this scale for several reasons.  First off, it connects to my smart phone, so the App will track my progress.  Secondly, it is smaller, thinner, and lighter than my old scale, which is important because space in our bathroom is at a premium.  Third, there are settings for each of our family members - so I can input my info including goal weight, age, gender, activity, etc and the scale will keep it and use it to create an accurate account of weight, fat, etc.  Plus, everyone else can do the same.  And fourth, it tells me I weigh less than my old scale!  Hahahaha!  I noticed the old scale was off when I went into my OBGYN several times over the last couple weeks and their scale kept telling me I weighed as much fully clothed as MY scale says I weigh buck naked.  Talk about an ego boost. Buy a new scale. Automatically weigh less! Yes!!!  Grade:  A+

*I received each of these products for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of each item