The ‘Wonder’ Bench
So I was getting somewhat pudgy and feeling every minute of my existence when I decided to pop into my local thrift store for a little retail therapy. As I browsed the new and old, trying to find the best way to waste money, a light from heaven opened up before me! (True story – no exaggeration….really!) and there before me, bathed in ethereal warmth stood …….. ‘The exercise bench.‘
Before I knew what had happened I had ripped my credit card out, bought it and found myself catching the bus – bench in hand.
Now I know that there are many variations of this bench, most of them bulky and horribly expensive. This baby is neither. It is light enough to carry with ease, stable enough to feel safe when sweating off the bulk and affordable enough for even a ‘two job mommy’ to afford.
Now I have tried endlessly to attempt sit ups on the floor, but at my age, it’s really not a pleasant experience. Getting down on the floor is bad enough – getting up is worse, to say nothing of how painful it is to excercise on the ground in the first place.
Now my middle is the one area I have boldly neglected for decades and I was almost sure it would rebel vigorously when roused – but it didn’t. Only the smallest of movements is required. I discovered by trial and error and a little web surfing that it isn’t necessary to go all the way down and back again – unless of course you’re feeling particularly suicidal! Small movements are all that’s necessary.
It allows you to do long and short sit – ups (attached by ankles or bar over the knees) and can be adjusted for maximum comfort.
and now for the really fun stuff….
Not only did this baby pull my stomach in quickly, but it enabled me to burn calories too ……aaaand, wait for it……as I did the movements it also pulled my leg muscles, firming the whole damn lot from gut to ankles!!!!
Now the heading of this post has the word ‘wonder’ in inverted commas, quite simply because it works like a bomb, but it does take effort.
That said, it is a gentle and fun effort that can be done in front of a TV!
You don’t have to go crazy to see results, you don’t have to coddle your ‘don’t wanna’ inner brat to get going – it really is as easy as pie. I have had mine for about 2 months and have dropped about 8-10 kilo’s and have dropped a good few pants sizes.
I don’t set aside exercise time. When there’s something good on telly, I hop onto the bench and do about 4 sets. How many you do depends on your energy and fitness levels. When I started, I did 20 reps and had a break. Now I can comfortably manage 50. So start slow and build.
I don’t do all the sets at once either and it still worked. I do one, then go off and do whatever needs doing around the house, return and do another and so on. If that idea freaks your brain, then do it within a time period, but either way – it will still work.
The funny side of this is that in my last blog I wrote about the jelly belly, well I still have one – thanks middle age, but it’s tiny now, and lies delicately on top of damn hard muscle.
My neighbour has now also rushed off to get one after seeing my new gut. She’s had hers for 2 weeks and worships me as a Goddess! She’s fitting into dresses that haven’t been out of her cupboard for years. The interesting thing to note with her is that she is actually an excercise freak – but this machine has her flumoxed. Years of training haven’t had the same effect as this lil’ bench.
Once the stomach started to dissappeared I began to look at the rest of me, and noticed to my horror that my arms had sprouted wings…but that’s another story for another day.
For now, if you are interested not in becoming the next Miss Muscles, but simply wanting to be ‘gut light’ – get the bench, and enjoy.
