Archive for August, 2008

I bought a treadmill about a year and a half ago.  I love it.  It’s very quiet, it folds up and I see the company I bought it from still has that model, so it must be a big seller.  It’s been a never ending source of, well, anything but exercise.  It was delivered on a 6′ long wooden pallet.  How do you get rid of something like that?  I dragged it out into the back yard and chainsawed it up into fireplace sized chunks.  I burned some of the wood last winter.  I still have some left for this year. 

Now about the box it came in.  My little grandsons love to play in boxes.  So I saved that box and every time they came over, they took it out and played RT bus.  After my daughter moved out, the box then became a bed in the now empty bedroom.  I stuffed it with a lawn chair foam pad and a bunch of blankets and that’s where the grand kids sleep when they come over.

Then there is the treadmill, itself.  It’s HEAVY.  It’s not something you can drag into the house, decide it doesn’t look right in there and then move it back out into the garage.  It’s THAT heavy.  So it sits in the garage.  I hang my favorite jacket on it.

I enjoy walking in my neighborhood, but there always seems to be some excuse not to do it.  Too hot, too cold, too windy, etc.  That’s why I bought the treadmill.  I could jump on it anytime I wanted to and not worry about the weather outside.  Problem is, it gets hot and cold in that garage, too.  It’s also boring.

Boredom is a huge deterrent that will kill any exercise program dead.  I had a TV out in the garage, but reception wasn’t that great.  It got even worse when the treadmill was turned on.  Electrical interference.  I later moved that TV to the spare bedroom for the grand kids.  At that point I had no reason to get on the treadmill.  Until the other day…

I buy a lot of ebooks, print them out and read them while I’m eating or relaxing when nothing good is on TV.  I love reading them and learning new things, but I always feel guilty because I’m either stuffing my face or sitting on my butt when I read them.  Hmmm, maybe I could figure out a way to read and treadmill at the same time.  That would alleviate the boredom factor.

I can use the treadmill in the morning before it gets too hot out.  Problem is, those Z-shaped acrylic reading racks that fit over the top of the control panel can be expensive.  They are $50 at the place I bought my treadmill.  Ouch!  I decided to use the control panel itself to lay my reading material on and to keep the book from sliding off, duct tape a piece of cardboard to the edge to create a lip.  Cheesy, but it worked great.

UPDATE:  I have since bought an acrylic treadmill reading rack.  I found one on Amazon for under $15.  It can also be used with portable DVD players. 

No more excuses for not using the treadmill.  I also use resistance bands while in front of the TV.

…If You Have To Dance With The Devil To Do It

The world is into instant gratification.  If we don’t get what we want out of day to day tasks, we lose interest and move onto the next thing.  Gym memberships are no exception.

So you sign up at your local gym.  You’re psyched about strength training on wall-to-wall weights and machines, but then reality sets in.

• You really can’t afford the membership.
• You already can’t afford to set aside the time to be in the gym.
• The place is crowded and you find yourself waiting for equipment.
• The person in front of you sweated all over the weight bench and didn’t wipe it off.
• Then you realize that wiping it off won’t kill his germs and bacteria.
• You get tired when you’re working out, but you realize that time is critical…
• …so you pump and pump and overwork yourself without knowing it until…
• …tomorrow, when you can’t move.
• Next day you can’t possibly go to the gym because you’re in so much pain.
• The day after you force yourself to go back because you already paid for it.
• The cycle starts over again, provided you still have interest in it.

Point being, why put yourself through it?  A set of resistance bands will “break the resistance” you’re getting from external factors at the gym. 

• Save money.  No expensive gym membership. 
• Save time.  Strength train when you want to on your own schedule.
• No waiting for sweaty, germy equipment.
• Resistance bands rival the results achieved from expensive gym equipment.
• Bands have a greater range of motion over up & down gravity bound machines.
• Bands are compact and can be taken with you.

I could go on, but you see the point.  I’d like to give you a challenge.  Try our bands for six weeks.  If for any reason you’re not delighted, send them back and you’ll get your money back.  Try doing that with a gym membership. 

You’re out of shape.  You want to get into shape.  So what’s the problem? 

Let me take a stab at this.

• There is no gym in your area.
• There is a gym but…
• You can’t afford gym membership.
• You don’t know how to work the equipment.
• You don’t know what exercises to do.
• You’re embarrassed because everyone there is fit and you’re not.
• You feel intimidated by the regulars.
• The place is hot, stuffy, and it stinks.
• The equipment feels nasty from all the sweaty hands and bodies.
• The machines you want to use are always busy.
• You have to get up too early in the morning to go there.
• You’re dead tired when you get home from work in the evening.
• You have family responsibilities and really don’t have the time.
• You’re always out of town because your job has you on the road.
• Going to the gym takes up too much of your precious time.

You can’t…

You won’t…

You don’t…

If you could workout…

In the privacy of your own home, dorm, or hotel room. It doesn’t matter if you’re out vacationing, have an 10:00 a.m. meeting with a client in Timbuktu, you’re cramming for mid-terms and can’t leave the books, or you’ve got a hot date tonight and you only have 20 minutes to spare.

And the only fitness equipment you need is about the size of a pair of shoes. In fact, that compact home gym could completely tone, tighten, and strengthen your shoulders, arms, chest, abs, back and legs with up to 247 pounds of resistance.

You could pack that entire home gym system in your briefcase, suitcase, backpack, gym bag, or purse.

You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you that you can do over 140 exercises with this innovative fitness system. It has it’s own manual organized by muscle groups so there will be no guessing what body part to workout or how to do it.

Bottom line, there are no more excuses.

Click here to get the same home gym strength training fitness equipment NFL Pro Terrell Owens uses to build his rock hard body. It’s that good.  

Resistance bands = freedom.  They are light weight, compact, and portable, thereby allowing you to take them virtually anywhere and workout at any time.  No more wasting your gas driving to a smelly gym only to wait in line to workout on dirty equipment.  You’ll no longer have to pay expensive fees only to share used equipment.

Sets of bands/tubes are extremely affordable with complete sets, including exercise manual, starting at under $50.

Unlike bulky equipment sitting in the middle of your living room, family room, bedroom, or dark, damp and dreary basement, or under a dusty bed, you can stow away resistance bands in a dresser door, foot locker, closet or other small space.

Their small footprint isn’t the only benefit.  The convenience to workout nearly anywhere is a timesaver.  With bands, you’ll be able to hop out of bed and right into your exercise routine in the privacy of your own home, dorm or hotel room without having to travel to a gym.

You can expect phenomenal results with strength band training.  No other system – some priced as much as a car – offers the ability to train your muscles from virtually any angle with perfect smooth tension.  The angles that are possible with the bands are unmatched by gravity bound equipment.  You’ll no longer be locked into a range of motion using the laws of gravity. 

You can move them quickly and replicate athletic movements like punching or swinging a baseball bat.  That means you can transfer strength built with bands directly to “real world” athletic movements like throwing a ball or kicking in martial arts.  Bands move the way you do.  

Bands give you the results that expensive machines and free weights do without expensive equipment or gym membership fees.

NFL Pro star Terrell Owens and Bodylastics have developed the Super Strong Man edition of the finest, most durable elastic tubing home gym system.  This one of a kind workout system can create up to 254 lbs of resistance and over 140 exercises with the smoothest resistance available for under $100.  Smaller Bodylastics sets are also available.