Thursday – Plateaus
Happy Thursday everyone!!!
Ok, so one very loyal follower is pushing my buttons again!!
Just joking, healthy debate is fun!
But anyway, dear Kelly has kindly pointed me at one stair stepping machine that actually DOES mimic a real stairwell, and I have to concede that YES, this particular machine comes about as close as you can get to a REAL stairwell.
I would even go so far as to say this machine is probably HARDER than a real stairwell, mostly because you’ll never get to the top if you don’t want to, the ROM is exactly the same as a real stairwell, and if you set the speed high enough you have to keep going at that speed or be swept away … on a real stairwell you can slow down any darn time you want to (aka: cheat!).
Just don’t be hanging on to those side bars or front part and I’m a fan of this one! Good on ya, girl!
However, further to my comment about how some machines let you rest too much of your body and do alot of the balancing for you, here’s another pic of me we took during my photo session; this one is on a stationary bike.
I mean, c’mon, there’s even a place to rest your forearms so you can ‘relax’ upper body while you work your legs.
Geez. Dumb. Just plain dumb.
Anyhoo, here I go yakking on about my current program again, as well as a few more tidbits about getting off plateaus!
Enjoy!
December 4th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Hey Jackie
Sorry, I’ve been falling behind on my commenting duties here!
Great point about the plateaus, even a good thing gets old after a while, it sounds like you have a well rounded, balanced approach.
I’ve heard that enthusiasm can kick up your metabolism, you ever notice that? Work out on a “up” day and you seem to have more energy, try to work out on a down day and it just drags. OF course, if you can get rolling, then everything comes together.
Glad our paths have crossed. :)
Carlin
twitter.com/carlincomm
December 5th, 2008 at 12:58 am
thanks Carlin, glad to see you back. Yes, I’ve definitely noticed that enthusiasm and just general overall mood can affect the workout. I’ve tried working out feeling deflated about something else only to have the workout reflect that mood. On the other hand, sometimes good ol’ fashioned anger or frustration can FEED the workout. So, get rockin’ it and find out how its gonna go, cuz ultimately, there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to be like Nike and ‘just do it’!!!
thanks for your comment.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Awesome vlog thanks! I think I’m hitting a plateu and your tips will probably help.
December 6th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Ummm … stairs are free. That’d make them slightly better value than a stair machine, yes?
And stairs give you WAY more options than stair machines …
Not sure gym owners would let you bound up the stair machine skipping every second or third step. And I don’t think their insurance would cover accidents that occurred whilst attempting single leg hops or bear crawls up the stair machine.
You can take your training toys and play with them on real stairs (eg. kettlebell lunges up stairs = good times).
You can take a training partner and play with them on real stairs (eg. wheelbarrows up stairs = good times.)
Real stairs eat pretend stairs for breakfast ;P
December 6th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Hey Mr.FightGeek!! Here’s a big ol’ hug for you! If you’ve been watching over the last couple of days there’s been quite a debate going on about free weights/real life moves vs. machines. And while I stick to my guns about free weights and real stairwells, I was pointed at that particular stair machine by one of my very good friends, and had to concede that this is about as close as you can get to real ROM on a stair stepping machine. HOWEVER, your points are well taken and something I never even thought about! so THANKS!!! LOVE IT, and agree with it (and still agree with my friend too). Great input. Here’s another hug for points I think none of us would have clued in on, on our own! :-)
J