I’ve seen my husband walking on the treadmill while holding on to the side bars for balance. I was always told not to do that and I told him that he shouldn’t do it either. I didn’t really have a good reason except that it would decrease the efforts of his workout. But now I have a better answer.

eDiets.com published this article this morning in their newletter: Getting the Most Out of the Treadmill

So, stop holding on to the treadmill side bars and and just let go!

Had I been running this morning, I would have gotten hurt.  About thirty minutes into my 3.3 mph walk, the power flickered off and on.  With no warning, my treadmill stopped.  Apply the laws of motion and I’m sure you can visualize what happened to me.  I call that a rapid reminder that I should have a surge protector for my treadmill.

Having a treadmill surge protector may have prevented my treadmill from stopping. (I called ProForm and they said that a surge protector will prevent some surges from stopping your machine, but not all.) 

Another very important point: A treadmill can be seriously damaged by electrical power surges.  Not only would that put me without my most loved piece of exercise equipment while it was being fixed, it would cost a lot too have it repaired.  (A lot more than a surge protector would have cost.)

I consider what happened this morning as a warning.  Learn from my warning and get a surge protector for your treadmill if you don’t already have one.  (One is included in this
Treadmill Accessory Kit.)  Always plug your treadmill power cord into a surge protector and plug the surge protector into a grounded outlet.

Better safe than sorry!

I got this comic in my email and thought it was very fitting.  When you look at exercise from this perspective, it doesn’t look quite so terrible after all.  LOL! 

Yes, I know I’m a little late.  Sorry!  I’m still trying to get back into my routine after the holidays. 

I’ve been trying to find a way to address the whole concept of New Year’s resolutions and how this blog can help motivate you with your fitness goals for 2007.  However, I really want to avoid sounding like all of the other ads out there at this time of year. 

So, I guess for now, I’d like to welcome you to 2007 and invite you to visit the Tread This shopping page.  Perhaps one of the links there will inspire you.  I sincerely hope that you will utilize this blog as a method of motivation and knowledge in the year to come.  And, of course, anytime you want to shop for something fitness related, I’ll be here. 

I jogged 3/4 of a mile today.  How?  One piece at a time!  LOL!  I believe the technical term for that is interval training. 

I warmed up for five minutes and then started alternating a 1 minute jog at 5 MPH with a 1 minute walk at 3 MPH.   I could only do this six times before I got a cramp in my side and my lower back pain kicked in.  So, I walked until I felt better, then did two 1/8 mile intervals. 

I found a cool beginner’s running schedule at CoolRunning.com.  Perhaps I’ll give that a try.  (Adjusted for my short legs of course… lol)