Exercise #5

The Grocery Bag   

 

I used to hate carrying in the groceries from the car. It seemed like the kids were either too lazy to help, or no one else was around.  So, I fumed while I had to lug in all the food for the week by myself.

Then, one day, I read that as we get older, we lose a lot of our muscle mass every year, and you should always incorporate some type of strength training into your exercise routine so you will be able to carry a bag of groceries all on your own, even when you’re 99 years old.

Well, that really hit home with me. The last thing I want is to be too old and feeble to carry my own bag of groceries.

 

So now, when I carry in my groceries, I turn it into an exercise.

I usually get the plastic bags at the grocery store; the ones with the cut outs as a handle. If I’m really organized, I take in my own re-usable cloth grocery bags with me to the grocery store because they are so much stronger and I can really load them up.

 

When I’m carrying my groceries into the house, I take the opportunity to do a few bicep curls with the bags in hand.

 

I usually use the bags that have the cans or other heavier objects in them.

I found that the bags with the bread, bananas, or fresh tomatoes don’t lend themselves very well to bicep curls.  I could easily end up with squished bread and bruised produce.

But, those with the milk cartons, or soup cans do just fine.

 

Try to do 10 curls with each arm, and don’t forget to tighten your abs and glutes while you’re doing your curls.

 

If you’re feeling really ambitious, do 3 sets of 10 repetitions.