Fitness equipment is a multi billion industry, and one of the reasons for this is that new equipment is constantly being developed that is supposed to be better. If you have an old model of something, the fitness gurus will tell you to get the new model. It's better! I don't know if that's really true, but the public seems to buy it. As I walk around my neighborhood I see lots of garages filled with fitness equipment that is not being used. Fitness equipment is similar to a gym membership, in that the majority of people buy it, use it for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, then let it just sit.
I remember our treadmill. We bought it after we had finished the Pritikin Program in Santa Monica one year, in hopes of keeping up our walking routine. Pritikin would sell their old (maybe only a year old) treadmills from time to time to make room for the new ones. This treadmill was top of the line, with interval training programs, heart rate monitor and calorie indicator. I used it regularly for several months. After that it sat next to our bed as a clothes butler valet (clothes rack) for several years. When we moved from LA to Del Mar, we gave the treadmill to my parents. It has been used over the past 12 years by them pretty regularly. The treadmill is now at least 20 years old. It's in perfect condition. Sure, newer models have come along, but this top quality treadmill from the 1990's gets you the same results.
The stairmaster, since it's release 30 years ago, has been a favorite of gym rats. I must be the only person that didn't like them. I remember back in the 1980's watching 100 pound women sweat off the pounds on the stairmaster. It was new and supposed to be THE gym favorite. Today, it is just one of many cardio training machines, including eleptical, recumbent bikes, Nordic Track, hi tech spin bikes and treadmills. They all get you to the same place (burn calories and raise your heart rate), it's just a matter of what activity you like. As I said before, the fitness industry has tried to tell the consumer that they need to upgrade their equipment regularly, which is just not true. The other piece of gym equipment that I bought after our journey through the Pritikin Program, was a bike. That bike is also at my mom's house, and she still uses it regularly. No, it's not high tech, but you can still get the same intense workout as you can on the Keiser bike that I spin on at the gym three times a week.
QVC and other shopping networks are always selling some new fitness equipment. A few are unique and offer something new, but most are just a new spin on an old machine. Most of us have a house or garage filled with fitness equipment that is perfectly good, but no one is using. When it comes to fitness, for the most part, the old equipment will do it's job just fine. New machines you've got to have are mostly impulse buying. Many of us helped make Suzanne Sommers a multi millionaire buy buying her thigh machine.
The stairmaster is a great machine, but let's face it, it's nothing more than walking hills. Take a walk in the hilly section of Encinitas (or anywhere there are hills), and you'll get the same results, yet you get to be outside and enjoy our beautiful weather. For me, simpler is better. If I wasn't so afraid of getting hit by a car, I would ride my bike outdoors. I feel safer inside so I stick to the spin classes, and probably work a little bit harder than I would outside. Most people that I see using the Stairmaster today, do so as part of a complete workout. The Stairmaster may be used for just 10 minutes, then other machines are used. It's still a great piece of equipment, but the days of women doing the Stairmaster for 45 minutes at a time are over. Most people recognize that climbing stairs is just one part of a complete workout. Fitness trends do change, but the Stairmaster, on it's 30th birthday, is still trending.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Happy Birthday, Stairmaster
Fitness equipment is a multi billion industry, and one of the reasons for this is that new equipment is constantly being developed that is supposed to be better. If you have an old model of something, the fitness gurus will tell you to get the new model. It's better! I don't know if that's really true, but the public seems to buy it. As I walk around my neighborhood I see lots of garages filled with fitness equipment that is not being used. Fitness equipment is similar to a gym membership, in that the majority of people buy it, use it for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, then let it just sit.
I remember our treadmill. We bought it after we had finished the Pritikin Program in Santa Monica one year, in hopes of keeping up our walking routine. Pritikin would sell their old (maybe only a year old) treadmills from time to time to make room for the new ones. This treadmill was top of the line, with interval training programs, heart rate monitor and calorie indicator. I used it regularly for several months. After that it sat next to our bed as a clothes butler valet (clothes rack) for several years. When we moved from LA to Del Mar, we gave the treadmill to my parents. It has been used over the past 12 years by them pretty regularly. The treadmill is now at least 20 years old. It's in perfect condition. Sure, newer models have come along, but this top quality treadmill from the 1990's gets you the same results.
The stairmaster, since it's release 30 years ago, has been a favorite of gym rats. I must be the only person that didn't like them. I remember back in the 1980's watching 100 pound women sweat off the pounds on the stairmaster. It was new and supposed to be THE gym favorite. Today, it is just one of many cardio training machines, including eleptical, recumbent bikes, Nordic Track, hi tech spin bikes and treadmills. They all get you to the same place (burn calories and raise your heart rate), it's just a matter of what activity you like. As I said before, the fitness industry has tried to tell the consumer that they need to upgrade their equipment regularly, which is just not true. The other piece of gym equipment that I bought after our journey through the Pritikin Program, was a bike. That bike is also at my mom's house, and she still uses it regularly. No, it's not high tech, but you can still get the same intense workout as you can on the Keiser bike that I spin on at the gym three times a week.
QVC and other shopping networks are always selling some new fitness equipment. A few are unique and offer something new, but most are just a new spin on an old machine. Most of us have a house or garage filled with fitness equipment that is perfectly good, but no one is using. When it comes to fitness, for the most part, the old equipment will do it's job just fine. New machines you've got to have are mostly impulse buying. Many of us helped make Suzanne Sommers a multi millionaire buy buying her thigh machine.
The stairmaster is a great machine, but let's face it, it's nothing more than walking hills. Take a walk in the hilly section of Encinitas (or anywhere there are hills), and you'll get the same results, yet you get to be outside and enjoy our beautiful weather. For me, simpler is better. If I wasn't so afraid of getting hit by a car, I would ride my bike outdoors. I feel safer inside so I stick to the spin classes, and probably work a little bit harder than I would outside. Most people that I see using the Stairmaster today, do so as part of a complete workout. The Stairmaster may be used for just 10 minutes, then other machines are used. It's still a great piece of equipment, but the days of women doing the Stairmaster for 45 minutes at a time are over. Most people recognize that climbing stairs is just one part of a complete workout. Fitness trends do change, but the Stairmaster, on it's 30th birthday, is still trending.
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