Treadmill or rowing machine?

When I had that choice to make, I went for the treadmill!

However, I think it's a very personal choice.
I wanted the treadmill for the times my husband is gone and I cannot run outside, which of course is much nicer than running indoors.

If I had no limitations to running outside, I might have gone for a rowing machine.
Elliptical trainer I have only tried once and ended up with a terrible backache, so they're not for me.

so, should i go to a store and try out the stuff - i mean i've never tried the elliptical trainer before...how will I know if it will suit me or not?

aS A HABITUE OF AUCTIONS AND YARD SALES, Ive found that , besides the ubiquitous old 8 track tapes and cassettes, the most frequent home thingy sold by humans is "EXERCISE EQUIPMENT". Ive seen rowing machines , treadmills, stairclimbers, really lethal looking Bowflex stuff.Ive concluded that, the only thing lacking in most peoples exercise regimen is a "stick-to-it-ivness". All equipmen(t takes effort. Otherwise you will be spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on a laundry drying apparatus.

Im in the backwoods of Maine where there are little towns with white steepled churches. Every weekend, some little burg holds a community yard sale and there are (always) piles of exercise equipment that can be had for ten cents on the dollar.

Check your resolve level before buying thiscrap. I began a weight loss and exercide program last year and intensified it this year.
It included the purchase of

1A pair of lightweight hiking shoes( a pair of Timberlines low sides for about 49 bucks on sale )

2making a walking stick

3getting a dog whistle and training my dogs to obey the guy blowing the whistle.

recently I bought a small back-pack after my hero ,Joe NAtion had so reccomended , ( it carries water, camera, Brunton, topo sheet, maybe a snack or three)(That cost 29.50 on sale at LL Bean. Ive lost over 28 pounds without intervention with any midieval racks, thumb wheels or (my favorite) a STAIR CLIMBER. (We have a three story house which has many sets of stairs already included. I put on sneakers in the winter and actually climb the stairs for 2 20 minute sessions a day.

The results have been astounding, Ive actually felt that I have relesed a grip on two bowling balls that I apparently had been carrying. So outside of the emergency hospital thing and my heart thing that happened a few months ago, I am one fit dude, all without the need to spend much money or hog up my neat old Federalist farm house with crap that only Fr Torquemada would find interesting.

Farmerman, I am with you 100%, but I suppose you don't have a one-year old needing/wanting attention while your other half is off more often than not, saving the world (or so he thinks)!

Then only shop at yard sales for this stuff. It all does the same thing basically. We seem to fail to recognize the high-power marketing that goes in to getting us to buy all these gizmos.

I would think that someone could make a decent business by buying up all this stuff at yard sales, refurbing it and re-selling it as "Reconditioned" equipment . Evrybody would win. Then, when you finally dump it, you dont feel as guilty.

My wife has a friend in Tampa who has a bunch of pieces of this stuff in an "exercise veranda". Weve gone down to visit twice in the last 3 years and she still has the stuff and everytime I see the ecercise room, there is always wsh hung on the machines. Meanwhie, theres a perfectly good beach a few miles away that can be used all year long for "training".

Off road jogging or hiking is the best. Unless you get obsessive , it can be a very nice complement to a life style in which exercise is accompanied by enjoying a changing scenery.
Maybe thats why most training equipment is coming on line with multimedia entertainment centers now. Theres another half a mil for the radio-Tv-mp3 tacked on.

Im thinking of selling these big blocks of oak, each with a handle and a set of instructions as to how to accomplish a total workout by various means of lifting and carrying this block about. Ill have testimopnials from doctors about how the "Lift n Squat" is a natural fatburner and overall cardio workout equipment.
Ill put 3 handles on, two for beginners and one for "advanced training needs"

Everybody wants rock hard abs and buns of steel. Were just talking about how to best deliver(without laughing too hard).

farmerman-Oh, how I agree. My son and his wife set up a den to be an exercise room. They bought a number of pieces of exercise equipment, as well as a TV to watch while they were exercising.

I think that they go up there, when they want to clean the room!

sakhi, here's a link to a thread I started re my experience with rowers.

Chai's Rowing World

Maybe you'll find it useful.

I kept an elliptical trainer I had before I bought the rower, and find myself switching off.

Mostly the rower, but for change of pace, the elliptical.

I prefer the rower, but that's just me. If you can afford some really quality of equipment, don't get anything. It's hard to continue a plan on poorly made or designed equipment.

Actually, I prefer a bicycle over all else. You get a breeze, unless you have a good tailwind (which never happens), and the scenery changes. You'll probably meet more people riding a bike or walking than you will with a rower or treadmill.

If I had to buy one piece of equipment for home, it would definitely be the elliptical. But everything will get old soon if you only have one machine.
But I much prefer to go to the gym itself, luckily mine is around the corner.

as you can see, people do have different preferences (i myself don't care for rowers one bit), so I do suggest you try it out. Best would be in a gym though, I would try it durinig a full workout...not just a few paces for a minute or two.

Farmerman, I agree with you - totally. But then, I live in an overcrowded city called Bangalore where walking actually means dodging the traffic. There are lots of places nearby though, so we do go hiking/trekking/walking to the quieter spots on weekends.

I go for yoga classes near my house three days a week.
I don't need to lose weight at all but I tend to feel very unhealthy and I get all kinds of aches and pains if I don't exercise *everyday*. I don't know why, though.

There's a gym in my apartment complex but then i have to wait to use the treadmill - there's always someone who's already using it:roll: The gym in our apartment does not have an elliptical trainer or rower.

So - the thought of buying exercise equipment . It's expensive and we don't get the same brands as you do except for reebok i think, which is anyway not highly rated.

I read Chai's thread too..so roger and Chai like the rower and Dagmaraka doesnt. Hmmm...I'll take that advice, I'll sign up at another gym and try these things out.

I'll let you all know if I buy something. Thanks!!

They told me treadmill is not good for your knees - if i don't like (or cannot afford) the elliptical or the rower, ill buy a good old treadmill..

Hah! I can't even visualize the new name for the city. It is always going to be Bangalor for me. I'm gratified to see you use it, too.

When I am speaking in English, I say bangalore...

When I speaking in Kannada (my mother tongue and the language of native bangaloreans), i say bengalooru (the new name)...

Anyway,I think all this rechristening is a terrible waste of time and taxpayers' money .

So you have colleagues in Bangalore, roger?

Oy! Don't try walking in Bangalore. That's suicide! Could be a new adrenalin sport though.

I had a stationary bike at home. Used it a few times, then it was collecting dust. The cheapest solution is to have a few weights, a yoga mat, a stepper (just a plastic square really), things like that. Easier to store, too. I also liked workout videos for some time, especially when I had a housemate who was into it, too. It was fun. And there's so many options, you can have a different workout every day.
Then again, a machine of any sort is easiest and you can watch TV while doing it.

No. Sadly, the name sticks in my mind because of the Bangalore torpedo, which is a long metal tube filled with explosives, and threaded at both ends so they can be screwed together. Mostly, they're used for clearing barriers such as concertina wire.

I have no idea how this is related to the city. Probably, in the far distant past, the name was adopted because it has the word "bang" in the name, and in no way connected to the town.

Dag, I couldn't comment on the eliptical because I've never used one. Look up treadmill in the right dictionary, you will find one of the definitions is synonymous with boredom/tedium.


I have no idea what has happened to my spelling in the past half year, but it's really taken a nosedive.

Sorry for the hijack, Sakhi

No problem about that roger.

Yes, dag, the only city in the world where you'll have a board that says "Do not ride on the footpath". Crossing the road is a new adrenalin sport that I now excel in

I don't like weights. Yoga mat, I have and practise but I like to do something more aerobic...

[quote="sakhi"]They told me treadmill is not good for your knees - if i don't like (or cannot afford) the elliptical or the rower, ill buy a good old treadmill..[/quote]

Well, I guess it's no worse than running outside, I guess, which is what I usually do, given the chance.
Also, my sweet husband, who bought me the treadmill to make up for all the time he spends away, which is mainly what keeps me from running outside, bought one with springs, so it's almost like running in the forest on nice soft ground!

I'm not an authority on exercise equipment, but I Googled and found that Wiki knows all about Bangalore torpedos:

sakhi. Ive worked in the Dakhani highlands(Deccans to us) and the Mysore and was doing a lot of prospecting for titanium in the area near the KonKan(?) traps. I have been in Bangalore. Drove me nuts, everybody had a first name of Bangalore. Bangalore Lakshman, Bangalore Manmohan, Bangalore muthya. Its like evrybody in the US is named SMITH.

We stayed at the "Howard House" I may be off on the name but it was a great hotel and super food. Up on the traps it was dry as a bone.

OK, I suppose that, doing exercise at home is good in your case. (Too bad you dont have "Yard sales" as a national custom, Usually the first thing that Americans toss is exercise equipment, then kids clothes, then picture puzzles, then jelly glasses.