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Why You Will Love Using Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

October 15, 2016 · Leave a Comment

This article explains why you will love Exercise Resistance Loop Bands.

Want to look ten pounds thinner, lift your chest two inches higher, get a flatter-looking stomach, look taller, all while making your clothes fit better? Yeah, me too.

But like many of us, I spend way too much time slouching over my cell phone, my tablet and at my computer desk, which wrecks good posture. Poor posture makes you look tired and grumpy. Even worse, it can make one look less confident, weaker and just plain older than your years.

Fortunately, maintaining good posture takes only a few simple at-home exercises with equipment like the Starwood Sports Exercise Resistance Loop Bands set.

WHAT ARE Exercise RESISTANCE Loop BANDS?

An ideal way to improve your posture is by doing simple arm exercises with resistance bands.

You may have seen these long, colorful ribbons of thin, flexible rubber-like material in gyms, exercise, yoga and pilates studios, or maybe even used them yourself under the guidance of a personal trainer.

Resistance loop bands provide weight-like resistance in a portable, adaptable form.

Starwood Sports Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

The degrees of resistance for Resistance Loop Bands generally are:

(Light) 6-16 lbs (0.35 mm thick)
(Medium) 11-27 lbs (0.50 mm thick)
(Heavy) 15-33 lbs (0.70 mm thick)
(X-Heavy) 21-45 lbs (1.00 mm thick)

But some sets are more and less resistance.

WHY USE Exercise RESISTANCE loop BANDS

Resistance bands are stretchy and flexible which makes them easier to manipulate than handheld or machine weights.
Bands can be stretched or pulled from a variety of angles to increase the difficulty level of your standard workout.
Loop Bands can be useful in Crossfit, Pilates, Yoga, stretching and stability exercises.
Of benefit to all fitness levels, these bands help an out of shape person improve as well as help a fit person who is plateauing in their existing exercise program.
If you have difficulty keeping good form while using hand or ankle weights, a resistance band can help.

Who Can Benefit From Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

The great thing about resistance bands is they are useful for all fitness levels.
Ways to use resistance loop bands:

LEVEL UP RESISTANCE ON YOUR EXERCISE SETS

When exercises such as squats, situps, leg lifts, arm raises, or the hip flexor stretch become too easy, using resistance bands adds additional resistance far beyond what just an ankle or hand weight can offer.

That gives better results in fewer reps. Resistance bands come in difference strengths, or levels of resistance, giving more oomph to your exercises.

Resistance loop bands for pre-workout stretching sessions

Regardless of fitness level, everyone must stretch before exercise. Muscles warmed up by a good stretch are less prone to injury.

How to Stack Exercise Resistance Bands For Extra Resistance

Sports Exercise Resistance Loop Bands are “stackable,” so you can use more than one band at a time to increase the overall total resistance.

How to do it: Stack the least resistant band on the outside, and the strongest resistance band on the inside.

To increase the “weight” of the resistance, loop the bands tighter by wrapping them around your hands, reducing the available band length between your hands to stretch during exercise

How to Improve Your Posture with RESISTANCE LOOP BANDS

If you would like to improve your posture at home with easy to use equipment, a good set of resistance bands are the Starwood Sports Exercise Resistance Loop Bands set.

There are other barnds available, a good set comes with various degrees of resistance. This gives a full range of options for beginners, intermediate, advance and plateauing fitness routines.

Starwood Sports Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

Why I Prefer Loop Bands Over Unlooped Bands

A few things I particularly like about Exercise Resistance Loop Bands:

The bands have reinforced “handle” loops on each end. This makes it easy to grip the bands, secure a loop over a doorknob, or to slip over my foot or ankle for leg exercises. It also allows a more relaxed grip on the band so I can focus on the exercise itself. I got competitor brand resistance bands from my personal trainer and had to knot them at the end and grip the knot to use them; I like that I can do even open palm exercises with these bands.

Starwood Sports Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

CONCLUSION

Good posture is attainable in a few weeks by using a quality set of resistance bands. Resistance bands are useful for exercising at home, the gym or during travel. The four Loop Bands offer a full spectrum of weight resistance to improve your posture in a simple home workout and enhance Crossfit, Yoga, Pilates or a regular home workout routine.

The Essential Traveler Bag

October 11, 2016 · 1 Comment

I’ve long admired and envied women who get through their day and their lives needing to carry only a small bag.

Throughout my life, I’ve felt the need to anticipate and pack for every possible daily eventuality. But now a torn rotator cuff and a request to review the Essential Traveler bag has led me to lighten my load, and to my surprise, I’m getting along just fine with what I can fit into my beautiful new little leather purse. Actually, I can fit a lot into this handy purse!

The Essential Traveler

The purse itself is a high-quality gorgeous Wine colored leather with five exterior compartments, four of which have zippers. The central interior part of the purse also has a zippered closure. The bag measures 7″ by 8.5″ by .5″ and has an adjustable shoulder strap. The front zippered pouch compartment comfortably fits my RFID wallet. My ring of fifteen keys neatly stores in the compartment directly above and behind the front pouch without bulging. The top front zippered compartment is a great place for coupons in that it is more than seven inches deep. I keep my checkbook in the back zippered compartment and a pack of tissues plus and a pack of mints in the open compartment.

The Essential Traveler

That leaves the entire interior to hold a comb, compact, lipstick, glasses case, and whatever else a particular trip might require, such as a magnifying glass, which is an essential for weekend excursions.

Why a magnifying glass, you ask?

I’m now enjoying the bag daily, but one day of the week it has become irreplaceable – going to estate sales on Saturdays! Both my hands are now free to examine jewelry with a magnifying glass and to be able to hold the piece securely with the other hand.

The Essential Traveler

One more thing I like about this purse is that it easily fits under a jacket or coat for those occasions when one might like an extra measure of security, such as walking to and from a parking garage. And once you arrive in the office, you can show off your beautiful bag all day long!

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I received this product in exchange for my unbiased review and received compensation for my time and effort. However, my experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

Travel: Mr. Sleek Toiletry Bag

September 19, 2016 · Leave a Comment

The Mr. Sleek Toiletry Bag comes in three different colors; we selected pink, and we use it to hold makeup and beauty supplies while traveling, going to the gym, or for makeup redo jobs if we are leaving for a social event directly after work.

Mr. Sleek Toiletry Bag

SIZE AND APPEARANCE
About the size of a purse, it is suitable for discretely carrying to the ladies room for a mid-day emergency beauty touchup (or total overhaul). It is also suitable for using as a handbag/carryall for the gym to hold my jewelry, phone, wallet, makeup, and toiletries for taking a post-workout shower and styling my hair afterward. There are convenient pockets to hold my gym membership card so I can quickly swipe my card and get to my workout.

Mr. Sleek Toiletry Bag

CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN
There is a black plastic hook to hold it upright in place when used in a locker or bathroom, and a handle for carrying it. There is a fair amount of cushioning within the bag to keep items safe in transit. It is waterproof and leakproof, which is particularly useful when transporting multiple beauty products that could cause a mess in your suitcase.

The bag comes with a black eye mask and earplugs, suitable for use to get some sleep while traveling. This bag would be very helpful if you choose to keep your beauty supplies with you while traveling, which I prefer to do whenever possible to keep them out of my luggage and avoid hot/cold weather extremes when luggage is in the trunk of the car.

There are two internal zippered pockets for holding more fragile makeup powders or perhaps jewelry during a gym workout. I use it to hold more expensive beauty items. For example, my Hourglass powder trio is very delicate so I keep it in the box when using it outside of the house, and having a secure pocket to hold it in is very useful to keep it safe.

The deep middle pocket holds a long thin can of hairspray or dry shampoo, face wash and a ton of makeup and beauty supplies, as seen in the photos.

It has multiple side pockets for various makeup pencils, makeup brushes, toothpaste and toothbrush and makeup palettes. The inner side pocket is useful for holding a wallet and different cards, or a small book or journal. The pockets are deep enough to hold a full 8-ounce size tube of lotion or face wash. I carry hand cream in this pocket.

Mr. Sleek Toiletry Bag

CONCLUSION: Useful for carrying all your toiletries and beauty tools while traveling, post-gym workouts, or to discretely redo your look after work before a night out, the Mr. Sleek bag holds a TON of stuff in an easy-to-find internal design that keeps even delicate items securely in place.

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I received this product for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer it!

Travel: Giovanni Navarre 17″ Italian Stone Design Leather Tote Bag

September 14, 2016 · Leave a Comment

This Giovanni Navarre travel bag is 17″, not as large as a briefcase, and slightly longer than a laptop case or hobo style handbag, yet it holds lots of stuff. Not as cumbersome or heavy as a backpack or a full duffel bag, this can carry all of your gym workout wear with room to spare, especially in the summer months when workout wear is generally lighter. I am also able to carry multiple textbooks in the bag.

Giovanni Navarre 17″ Italian Stone Design Genuine Leather Tote Bag

FEATURES
It comes with a sturdy detachable shoulder strap and handles to carry the bag. The leather has a textured pattern; there is a zipper pull top to provide a full covered closure. There are full around zipper pockets on either end of the bag and a long deep pocket along the length of the bag. The side pockets are suitable for holding shoes, liquid containers, or dirty laundry. The pocket along the front length of the bag is long enough to hold a book, tablet, or water bottle.

QUALITY:
No loose threads scratched leather or subpar workmanship, it looks more expensive than I expected. Handles and strap are sturdy enough to hold the contents of the bag without tearing or pulling on the leather. Zippers are solid. The stone design pattern on the leather emulates the look of a more expensive bag.

FOR TRAVEL OR BEAUTY EMERGENCIES
There is enough room in this bag for a low-maintenance last-minute overnight getaway. It is also roomy enough to hold all of my beauty essentials (makeup, hair styling tools, beauty products) for a trip, or for packing all the makeup and tools needed to prepare for a special occasion, makeover session, wedding, prom or photo shoot. But the reason I use it most often is beauty emergencies due to weather-related mishaps.

New England weather can be tricky: it rains frequently and often unexpectedly, so hair or makeup disasters due to humidity, fog, snow, sleet or rain are almost inevitable. And on special occasion events such as weddings, or important presentation meetings with clients, looking like a drowned rat is unacceptable.

On bad weather days, I bring along this bag with my trusty hair appliances and duck into an out-of-the-way ladies room (or the office building fitness center when necessary) and quickly dry or restyle my hair as needed. The inside of the bag can easily hold my CHI ionic HairDryer with the full diffuser attachment, a set of the T3 Hot Rollers, and a round brush. The long outside pocket can hold an InStyler to quickly straight iron and style damp or even wet hair. The two side pockets can easily hold four full-size styling products such as mousses, sprays, dry shampoos, serums, or other styling aids. I like to keep a hair towel in the other pocket just in case I get drenched, or my makeup bag if a full beauty overhaul is required. If I am leaving directly from work or the gym to go out for the night, this bag is an easy way to keep all my beauty tools in a discrete bag that looks like a large handbag.

Giovanni Navarre 17″ Italian Stone Design Genuine Leather Tote Bag

Find this great bag at Amazon.com

I received this product for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and Iâ€™ll do my best to answer it!

WHAT ARE Exercise RESISTANCE Loop BANDS?

WHY USE Exercise RESISTANCE loop BANDS

Who Can Benefit From Exercise Resistance Loop Bands

LEVEL UP RESISTANCE ON YOUR EXERCISE SETS

Resistance loop bands for pre-workout stretching sessions

How to Stack Exercise Resistance Bands For Extra Resistance

How to Improve Your Posture with RESISTANCE LOOP BANDS

Why I Prefer Loop Bands Over Unlooped Bands

CONCLUSION

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