Behold the Sunny Health & Fitness Magnetic Rowing Machine Rower with LCD Monitor.
It only cost me $250, and I mean only. I hadn’t even thought to buy one before because I thought it would cost close to $1000. This is affordable, it will hold my weight, it folds up and can be stuck in a corner.
And, if I end up not using it, it won’t have cost me too much.
Unlike this.
This is Bowflex TC5000 Treadclimber, a combination treadmill and stair climber. I bought one in 2006 or 2007. I bought it on credit; It cost me about $2500.
And I barely used it. The first month or so, I was all about it, coming home and hopping on it even before I ate dinner. I lived on the top floor of my apartment building, and I worried nightly that the people who lived below me could hear me stomping away on the Treadclimber every night, so I walked at a slow speed, and never ran on it.
After a while, maybe a month and a half, I stopped. One thing then another got in the way, diverted my attention. I was tired, cold, busy, lazy. I forgot. Yes. A machine that size and I forgot to use it. I would walk by it and never think about it or why I bought it.
I read a review about the Treadclimber a few years ago and the user described it as an “expensive clothes hangar”. It’s an accurate description. And it’s a great drying rack for winter coats and umbrellas.
That is why I chose the rowing machine this time. It is one-tenth of the price, smaller, and doesn’t need electricity. I should be walking. I know. But I don’t want to. I love being alone indoors and this time I have spent alone in my house – going outside as little as possible – has been like therapy. So, I need some sort of full body exercise I can do in the house. Jumping rope is out. I am 54, not 14, as I discovered. My body won’t cooperate with me. I can’t jump for even one whole minute.
So, this rower will have to do. I hope I stick with it and make it a permanent part of my life. I want to. I really do. If not, it will migrate to my bedroom. I could use a clothing rack in there.
Mark Earnest Johnson 