Comments on Cranky Fitness: No wonder they were popular in prison

I wondered what Orlando did between movies. And t...

2008-04-19T19:42:00.000-04:00

I wondered what Orlando did between movies. And the store is where?

Great Picture! Lots of people power

2008-04-17T23:46:00.000-04:00

Great Picture! Lots of people power

"I'm predicating another surge of traffic to Crank...

2008-04-17T20:39:00.000-04:00

"I'm predicating another surge of traffic to CrankFitness on the strenth of the words "lubricant" and "immoral acts on ducks"."

Oh, I can guarantee that, from my own experience. I get multiple hits from Google every day from people looking for "women killing chickens". (Sick freaks!)

Oh man I didn't realize you were in oregon. I'm do...

2008-04-17T19:32:00.000-04:00

Oh man I didn't realize you were in oregon. I'm doing the marathon there in october. There are a few bloggers there too. We might plan a meet up or something ;)

I'm predicating another surge of traffic to CrankF...

2008-04-17T18:34:00.000-04:00

I'm predicating another surge of traffic to CrankFitness on the strenth of the words "lubricant" and "immoral acts on ducks".

A pay rise is just around the corner for you, Merry!

The Bag Lady knows absolutely nothing about treadm...

2008-04-17T18:12:00.000-04:00

The Bag Lady knows absolutely nothing about treadmills. When she wants to run inside, she chases the dog around the kitchen island. Weird, but the Princess loves it...

I can't believe that the salesperson was all confu...

2008-04-17T15:52:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that the salesperson was all confused when you said you wanted to try it out! You'd think that they would expect it.

Do what I do..put on some kick ass music, move the...

2008-04-17T15:24:00.000-04:00

Do what I do..put on some kick ass music, move the furniture and run back and forth and back and forth like this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pQvt1JFFHxg

Or if u can't move the furniture, jump over it..it's one of the ways I lost 120 pounds in 2 years..

What an ordeal! Frankly, I never worry about groun...

2008-04-17T14:23:00.000-04:00

What an ordeal! Frankly, I never worry about grounded/ungrounded outlets except in the bathroom and kitchen. I lived in a 1911 house with funky wiring for five years and didn't manage to burn it down. OTOH, I do tend to unplug things when I'm not using them.

I might be in your area (I'm in Portland), and I've had good experiences with the Play It Again Sports in Gateway. I usually buy my fitness equipment used so I don't feel like I need to treat it gingerly. Also, I've never bothered buying a treadmill because I can't stand running indoors. I have a collapsible stepper I use in front of the TV when the weather's just too horrible to run in. I figure I'm getting some good cross-training.

I say go talk to Orlando! :-)As for your treadmil...

2008-04-17T13:53:00.000-04:00

I say go talk to Orlando! :-)

As for your treadmill dilemma, a lot of equipment comes with warnings about power. Ideally, you want a dedicated circuit with an isolated ground for each piece of sensitive equipment, but that's obviously not realistic.

There are machines that can track peaks, sags and ground loops over time. If you could get your hands on such a machine, you could find out if your power is dirty enough to worry about. There are also various types of adaptors and surge protectors available.

Surges, sags and ground loops are your big worries with any electronic appliance, so bear that in mind if you decide to go looking for a surge protector of any kind.

As for manual treadmills, I've never tried one but I dimly remember them from the '70s. I'm sure one can learn to use them effectively, but have you thought about buying a used treadmill (the ordinary kind) instead? They're much cheaper and then if your power does make it act weird, you're not out nearly as much money.

Yeah, I tend to be a bit of a maverick where groun...

2008-04-17T13:45:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I tend to be a bit of a maverick where ground plugs are concerned. Home Depot sells 2->3 converters, and I use those quite liberally.

I didn't know anything about this grounding you sp...

2008-04-17T12:29:00.000-04:00

I didn't know anything about this grounding you speak of..I just plugged my Nordic Track treadmill into the wall and used it. I am glad I know though and I will do something to protect it's electrical system henceforth, since my sanity depends on being able to use it regularly.

I am also surprised that asking to try out the tre...

2008-04-17T12:28:00.000-04:00

I am also surprised that asking to try out the treadmill caused such consternation. When I bought mine, there was a whole bank of the set up and we tried turning them on and folding & unfolding them. Seemed to be an expected thing.

Can't help with the rest. I do remember one of my aunts having a manual treadmill which I tried out at least once. From what I remember, once it got moving it was ok, but I definitely prefer the powered kind.

Marijke, that made me laugh out loud. I can just i...

2008-04-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

Marijke, that made me laugh out loud. I can just imagine her reaction!

Thanks for all the feedback!Chickengirl - I can't ...

2008-04-17T11:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all the feedback!

Chickengirl - I can't quite convey the utter disbelief on the salesgirl's face when I asked to try out a treadmill. You'd have thought I'd asked to fly to Mars or something.
I can see why they don't have manual treadmills out on display -- if people tried them first, they probably wouldn't buy one.

Dr. J - I'll have to look at Turturi models. I like the idea of a machine that can be ridden hard and put away wet!

Geosomin - I researched the ground-to-the-outlet approach. Some electricians thought it might work and others thought it was a horrible idea. Still, if you've been using it for awhile, maybe it would be okay. I mean, Crabby's been using a treadmill and she has an older house. I tend to read all the Things That Could Go Wrong and get discouraged.

Mizfit - Sometimes stationary bicycles can be a real pain in the ass. Literally. If you find one with a seat that works for you, they're wonderful!

Nitmos - yyyyyyyep!

Crabby - it's easy enough to test your outlets. You buy a little thingie (technical term) from the electrical store and plug it into the outlet. It lights up to tell you what kind of wiring is in the outlet. I don't know the technical term for the little thingie because my brother brought one for me to test.

Then he went around testing and resetting the GFCI outlets, one of which promptly stopped working. Now I have an extension cord plugging my frig into a living room outlet. Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Also - apparently you shouldn't run a frig on a GFCI outlet either. The random fluctuations of energy can trip the GFCI. I learn something new every day in this place.

Go back to the girl and ask if she has any lubrica...

2008-04-17T11:14:00.000-04:00

Go back to the girl and ask if she has any lubricant - it would be fun just to see her reaction. :-)

Can't help you with the treadmill though. I still have trouble walking on solid ground, as evidenced by my total wipe out at a professional writing conference a couple of weeks ago.

Funny, every fitness equipment store I've been in ...

2008-04-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

Funny, every fitness equipment store I've been in has had all of their machines all set up and capable of being plugged in (presumably) so that customers can "try before they buy".

My boyfriend had a really old manual treadmill that I used a few times while I was visiting, before I moved up here. God, that thing was torture. I doubt if I would ever have been able to manage anything faster than a sloow, plodding walk and still be able to keep the belt moving!

We tossed it when I moved in and brought my electric treadmill with me.

Um...can't you just attach a grounding wire from t...

2008-04-17T10:50:00.000-04:00

Um...can't you just attach a grounding wire from the plug to the metal of the box that holds it and then have a grounded plug? It's what we did for our elliptical, on my Dad's advice, as non of our basement outlets are grounded. It's not perfect, but apparently it should ground it enough for the power bar and machine to be OK...
I say this like I was the one who did it... but I watched out of curiousity and it seemed rather easy to do.
Just a thought.
Unfortunately everymanual treadmill I've ever used was a piece of crap, so other than giggle at the mental image of just what obcene things could be done with a rubber ducky, I cannot be of any help there...sorry.

informative.laughoutloud.AND USED THE WORD LUBRICA...

2008-04-17T10:17:00.000-04:00

informative.
laughoutloud.
AND USED THE WORD LUBRICANT?!

thanks for the great post.

M., an avowed stationary biker

Manual...power...whatever, treadmills are The Hor...

2008-04-17T10:16:00.000-04:00

Manual...power...whatever, treadmills are The Horror...the Horror.

When I was in medical school in an unnamed northea...

2008-04-17T10:14:00.000-04:00

When I was in medical school in an unnamed northeastern city (not lucky enough to be Provincetown), because of the rough winters, I used a manual treadmill made by Tunturi. You could ride it hard and put it away wet! It was a tough mean machine!

Dr. J

Yikes, we've been using a treadmill for years and ...

2008-04-17T10:07:00.000-04:00

Yikes, we've been using a treadmill for years and I have NO IDEA what kind of outlets we have--either in the old house or the new one.

Hmm, should I find out or just pretend I never saw this post?

Hope the manual one behaves itself better soon!