You know what?  I didn’t do a ton of reading this past week for two reasons.

1. Instead of my normal morning reading I opted to watch Functional Stability Training for the Upper Body, which really meant I watched my shirtless cameo on a repeated loop.  Just kidding.

Kinda.

2. Lisa was away all last weekend up until last night visiting her mom in Florida, which meant I was a bachelor for five days.  Five glorious days of not making the bed, not putting the toilet seat down, or not making any food for myself.  Don’t worry, I didn’t starve or anything.

I understand that correlation doesn’t necessarily translate to causation, but I also know that the frequency of me hitting up Whole Foods for meals while Lisa is away goes up around 783%.

So, basically, it’s science.

I also took that time to CRUSH some movies.  I went to the theater a total of four times in five days…no big deal.

I watched Godzilla (holy s***balls, GODZILLA!!!), Neighbors (hilarious), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (might be my favorite Avengers film yet), and a smaller, independent film called Chef, written by, directed by, and starring Jon Favreau (the guy who wrote and starred in Swingers, and directed the first two Iron Man films).

For any foodies out there reading:  you’ll LOVE this movie.  And even if you’re not a foodie, I’d still recommend it.

So, um, yeah….I didn’t do much reading since the last edition of this series.  But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do any!

Here’s some stuff to check out.  Enjoy!

Breathing Techniques for a Smaller Waist and Tummy – Zach Moore

I know this comes across as a bit ironic given I wrote a post earlier this week on how I feel some trainers and coaches are taking the whole breathing thing a bit too far.

But this is a classic case where “if the shoe fits…..”

Look at the before and after pics above and tell me that it didn’t work!

Nice job, Zach!

Lifting for Two? – Meghan Holohan

FINALLY!!!  I mainstream media source touting the BENEFITS of lifting weights and why it can be BENEFICIAL for pregnant women.

I’ve long championed the notion that pregnant women can still train – and train fairly intensely – during their pregnancy, given they already have experience and understand that it’s important to listen to their body.  There’s little evidence to suggest that women who are already active and continue to stay active during pregnancy pose any more harm to the fetus.

This was great to see a more high-traffic, mainstream site touting the same message.

 A Muscular Career Marriage – Bryan Krahn

I’m a big fan of Bryan’s stuff, and probably more a fan of his writing style.

This was a fantastic “perspective” piece of writing that I feel every fitness professional should read.