The World's Biggest Clothes Hanger

Here's a picture of our Deluxe Home Fitness Center (a.k.a. our garage):

Know what's missing? (Besides the dirty laundry and Star Wars actions figures that are usually strewn across the floor?)

Answer: The elliptical trainer that's been hogging up space in the middle of our garage for the past few years. After discovering CrossFit, I went from being the proud buyer of a club-quality mechanical wonder to the disgruntled owner of a dust-gathering behemoth. Read all about it over at SICFIT.

Or, if you'd rather just watch this video of people falling off treadmills, I'm cool with that, too.

More Dangerous Than a Stepladder

Remember the ROM Four-Minute Cross-Trainer? The machine may be a spectacular waste of fifteen thousand dollars, but at least it comes with a tongue-in-cheek warning:

Click on the image to embiggen it. Still too small to read? Here's what it says:

This exercise machine is extremely dangerous. Any form of exercise can cause injury or death. Before doing anything in life, including exercise, consult your lawyer first, then your doctor and after that use normal human intelligence. Or for better results reverse this order. Keep small children and incompetent adults at least 6 feet away from the machine at all times. When not in use, keep the machine inaccessible and under lock and key. In addition, use a bicycle lock to lock the flywheel when the machine is not in use. Normal stepladders cause injury and even death; the ROM machine is more dangerous than a stepladder...

Are you getting the feeling that the manufacturers have seen one too many treadmill-fail videos on YouTube?

Mobile Treadmill

Quite possibly the most pointless invention ever:



Oh, wait -- scratch that. I totally forgot about the toilet-paper-dispensing hat.

My bad.

Treadmills Are Just Humongous Clothes Hangers

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times' "Bucks" blog offered tips on how to get in shape without breaking the bank. Suggestions included:

• Running/walking outside,
• Joining a "local no-frills gym,"
• Working out with fitness DVDs and/or shows on the Exercise TV channel,
• Taking advantage of free passes to local gyms, and
• Setting up a home gym with used equipment.

In response, Matthew Thibeault of Urbana, Illinois proudly shared with the Times how he used Craigslist to assemble a dirt-cheap gym in his house. His online purchases included:

• A $75 stair machine,
• A $145 weight bench with “great hex dumbbells,”
• A $450 treadmill "outfitted with a laptop stand for Web browsing," and
• A $15 exercise bike.

Okay. So the guy saved a bunch of money by not joining a big globo-gym (which folks are abandoning en masse anyway).

But given that the "Bucks" blog is supposed to help readers "Mak[e] the Most of [Their] Money," shouldn't it have pointed out that Thibeault wasted his $685?

After all, cardio equipment is unnecessary; in fact, chronic cardio is ineffective and counterproductive. And if you're on a budget, why bother with dumbbells when you can just lift your bodyweight? (Oh, right: So you can do endless bicep curls and triceps extensions in front of a mirror.)

A tip for Mr. Thibeault: If you really want to maximize your fitness while minimizing costs, sell off the stuff in your "Craigslist gym" (fine -- you can keep the dumbbells), and reallocate a small fraction of the proceeds to the purchase of a good jump rope ($10 - $40) and a pull-up bar ($20 - $35). Then, print out this list of bodyweight workouts. And do 'em.

Don't like that option? Here's another: Get yourself a kettlebell and use it.

Either way, you'll save another $600, free up valuable space in your house, and whip yourself into shape more efficiently and effectively than you ever will by TRUDGING ALONG ON A TREADMILL WHILE SURFING THE WEB.

Uh, Not Quite.

Author A.J. Jacobs has written books about self-experimentation before (notably, he lived in strict accordance with Biblical rules for a year), but he's now tackling a project to become "The Healthiest Person Alive." He's consulting with numerous health "experts" and is trying all sorts of different diets and fitness plans.

But from the video below, it looks like he's following a lot of wrong-headed advice. I have a feeling that "The Healthiest Person Alive" isn't someone who's using a treadmill desk and endlessly chewing on a a plate of raw food. And while Jacobs talks about having a single meal (of one blueberry and one walnut) with a bunch of extreme caloric restriction dieters, let's not confuse "healthiest" and "longest-lived." In my book, being miserable and on the verge of starvation doesn't make for good health.



Still, Jacobs is trying out barefoot running. Add some kettlebells and a Paleo-esque diet, and he's good to go. (And I'd actually buy that book.)

(Source: CNN)

Treadmill + Pool = Awesome

Someone finally put a treadmill to good use.



(Source: Kottke)

You Should Just SMILE and Bah-LOW Me

(Source: Buzzfeed, Technorati)

Treadmills Are For Dancing

Someone's been playing a little too much Dance Dance Revolution.