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Old Sun, Dec-26-04, 12:29
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Sona Sona is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,566
 
Plan: low- to medium-carb
Stats: 114/105/105 Female 5 feet 2 inches
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: New York City
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Hi, Bawdy! Merry Christmas, and congratulations on getting the gifts of your dreams (and I'm not talking just about the treadmill! )!

I envy you having the space for an entire home gym. I'm fairly lucky, in that my no-frills gym is only 2 blocks away from my apartment, but even so it takes more time to get prepared, etc. So you're probably at least one step ahead of the rest of us slobs!

Now, over the summer I take up residence in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, and there I have a treadmill, a pretty good Sears model. So I can tell you that depending on how hard you want to push yourself, you can watch TV, listen to your favorite workout CDs, or even read a mag on it. Does it have an automatic (or manual) incline option? If you're using it to walk, the incline is terrific to raise your heart rate. If you keep a water bottle on it, make sure the cap is closed at all times! For me, the major difference between treadmill and outdoors is the boredome factor. I love watching the countryside (or city park) pass by as I jog, and doing the same cardio on a treadmill just isn't the same. But now and then there's something really interested on TV, or some really inspiring music, and I can get rolling. The trade-off, of course, is that I can use the treadmill when the weather would otherwise prevent a cardio WO.

I guess you've already figured that you'll need some sort of rubber mat underneath the length of the unit--that's always a good idea, for the floor as well as security.

Quote:
I find I really enjoy the upper-body workouts, but have to force myself to do the lower body.


I'm the same way, although I suspect for a different reason: Until I lose the excess fat around butt and thighs, any lower-body workout I do builds muscle underneath the fat--and the result is an even bigger-looking "fat" me! I'm more muscular underneath, but it can't be seen! So I guess I focus on upper-body WOs too--and do my cardio and hope that once I get off the last ten pounds, I can start building myself up in glutes and quads (if I decide to).

Anyway, congratulations again--and have a lovely New Year!

Best, sona
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