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.

Pound Away

Every now and then I get tired of my regular workout routine and look for something new to get me reinvigorated. I've been feeling lately that I need something new. I know when I'm watching the clock during a 50 minute workout that I'm bored. That's been happening a lot lately, even in my spin class which I dearly love. A few months ago I discovered Flywheel (a new spin on spin), but they're not in San Diego yet. Now I've discovered Pound, another new exercise routine, not in San Diego yet, but I think it will be soon. Right now they're in LA, Orange County, San Francisco, Miami and New York. Here's what it is. Pound is a 30, 45, or 60 minute workout (they have classes of various lengths), that uses 1/4 pound drum sticks (Ripstix) as the centerfold of the class. If you've ever had a desire to be a drummer, or if you're one of those drivers who drums to the music on your steering wheel, this class might be for you. It's intense. I watched a video, and it's 30 minutes of aerobic, pilates and strength moves, with loud music, that you drum to. Your sticks are in constant motion, and although 1/4 pound drum sticks doesn't sound like much, add your aerobic and isometric moves and you've got one tough workout. You'll realize that the next day. Personally, I have never desired to be a drummer, but after watching a video of a Pound class, I can't wait to try it. I was so excited when the Barre classes began at my local Y last year, and although I do enjoy them and they are a diversion from standard aerobics classes, I don't love them. Each class is different, each teacher does different things, which at least makes it interesting. I'm looking forward to Pound, and hope they will be at my local Y sometime soon.

The New Fitness Sensation: Flywheel

I had an opportunity to experience Flywheel, the new fitness sensation, at a recent fundraiser for Nephrotic Syndrome in LA. I was one of the 46 riders in the stadium seating area at the Flywheel studio on Larchmont in LA. I have to tell you about it, because although it's only in about 20 cities nationwide + Dubai, it will soon be everywhere. It is a 45 or 60 minute workout that will burn fat, test endurance, make you smile and SWEAT. It's a new "spin" on an old favorite, cycling. I am a great lover of indoor spinning. I do it three times a week. I love the rewards and the immediate feedback from my high tech Kaiser bike that tells me my RPM's, Watts, calories and distance I have travelled. At the end of the ride I know whether to have yogurt or pancakes for breakfast. Flywheel has an additional component to typical indoor cycling. The high tech bike also has two 10 pound bars that are used for upper body work towards the end of the ride. After riding insane hills and sprints for 30 minutes, the instructor has you take out one or two weights (in my case one weight) and leads you through a series of upper body exercises while continuing to pedal. It was intense, and I felt it the next day. Otherwise, the bike is similar to the bike I ride in my regular workout, showing you RPM's, Watts, distance and calories. To make it more challenging for the competitive ones, there is is lighted board on the front wall that shows how you are doing compared to everyone else. They have the bikes numbered, so all you do is look for your bike number and see your ranking in the class. It adds a little more competition for those that want that. I was number 27 in a class of 46 during the fundraiser I did. I was also one of the oldest people in the class, so I felt pretty good about being in the middle of the pack. All spin classes have music, but the music in the Flywheel class was blasting. I hope those instructors wear earplugs, because the volume was louder than a rock band. Those young men and women will all have hearing loss by the time they hit 50. However, the music was fantastic, very motivating and inspiring. The instructors too, are outstanding. They are so into the class, the workout and making sure each student performs to his best ability. They are a cut above the typical spin teacher, as the class is a cut above the typical spin class. The only other thing I can say is that all the students in Flywheel seem to be under 50. This is not so in spin classes I take, where there are many spinners in their 60's and 70's. (maybe even a few in their 80's). This is an exercise you can do until you die, even when you can no longer walk. I remember my Dad, weeks before he died at 94, on his home bike. I'm not sure whether the young Flywheelers I saw were typical, or that this craze just attracts a young crowd. (loud music, competition may discourage some older people). In any event, Flywheel is a great workout that I hope will come to San Diego soon. It's always nice to find a new kind of exercise to get your juices going.