Home Gym

It's really cold outside. The puddle on our deck is frozen over, but as long as the sky is clear I"ll wait awhile, put on several layers, and go for a run.

Several months ago I decided to turn a small storage room in our basement into a home gym, and after much procrastination I got to work. I lined a larger laundry area with rows of shelves and transfered everything over except for my old textbooks and journals, from many years gone by. They were put out to the curb to be forever carted away. It's amazing how many books and journals can be stored on a small e-device or accessed in seconds on the internet.

Next, I dusted off an old Schwinn exercise bike and switched the seat with a leather one from a old touring bike and upgraded the pedals. This was an easy project that worked out really well. Remember the good old Schwinns with banana seats, high handle bars, and baseball cards in the spokes?

Unfortunately, rebuilding my treadmill didn't go quite as smoothly. I knew that the electronics worked, but that the walking belt was shot. I was able to order a replacement belt and proceed to dismantle everything as per the directions, but soon found out that there were several small nuts and bolts in rather hard to reach places. When I finally had everything back together I realized two very important things: there was still one internal part on the floor and another important piece was in backwards. I started all over, cursing all the way, but I finally had it put together. It took a lot of patients to adjust the tension, a slight turn here and a slight turn there. I plugged the treadmill in and went for a slow test walk. Well, I found out what caused the walking belt to fail in the first place. It was a plastic sleeve on the front roller that was no longer centered and also needed to be replaced. I really don't want to deal with the small nuts and bolts again.

When the treadmill is finished I will focus on installing a padded floor, some other exercise equipment for strength training and a small TV.  I plan to take my time and create a nice space so that the other members of my family will also want to use my little gym.

When I started I promised that I would be finished by Christmas. My wife wanted the exercise bike and treadmill out of the family room so that she could decorate for the holidays. My son's school soccer season is over and he wants to start lifting, and there will also be days that I need to come in from the cold.  I promised that the gym would be ready for Christmas, but I think that 2013 is more likely.

Let's share another cup of coffee, Don T