Archive for the ‘Treadmills’ Category

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.