Studying all things health related for the last three years has made me appreciate good health.
I "try" and eat well.
I "try" and get a good nights sleep.
I don't smoke and I rarely drink, may be twice a year.


The one thing I do, do that's good for my health is exercise, ever since I was a teenager when all of a sudden my body wanted to become rounder I began playing sports. I now go to the gym regularly but I must admit I do have quite a few of those exercise machines that are advertised at all hours of the night flaming they can turn me in to a rippling model in no time at all. One of the first things I purchased off the TV at four in the morning around eight years ago was a step machine, it got used for around five days, sat out in my bedroom for the remainder of the month and was then imprisoned in it's tomb alone with all its TV related exercise fad equipment up in to the attic where it has remained for nearly a decade.


I'm not proud of this but it's the truth. The problem I had with the stepper was that it was boring. Most steppers are the same, just two large peddles that work in a seesaw fashion to mimic waking up an endless staircase. The resistance can be adjusted on most models but what I found during the short period of time I gave this a go, was that if the resistance is too loose the peddles just bang down on to the pads sending shock waves up your ankle, this is increased if the padding (which normally consists of a flimsy square of foam) isn't of the best quality or thickness. In the case of the model I had the padding was ridiculous, if I had sellotaped a marshmallow to it it would have been of more use. On the other end of the scale, if I then tightened the resistance knob too much, it became like trying to treed through trickle (try saying that three times). The fact also that these in the most part only work out your legs is a bit of a downer. Plus once you have finished on it at full pace for fifteen minutes your legs will feel like jelly (well at the beginning anyway, the jelly leg syndrome will soon pass the more you use it).


You can lift hand weights while using the stepper but if you lose your balance you can end up going for a hop quite easily and this is made all the more dangerous if you are holding a dumb bell in each hand. There are modles available that come with resistance bands and their are also ones that have a weight high frame like a Zimmer Frame attached to the front. These blend the look of a treadmill and a stepper together but just like on a treadmill if you use the support rails you will be burning less calories that you would without. There are little tricks to making you burn fat and work muscles that the stepper otherwise wouldn't target, squeezing in and tightening your ab muscles will help target that area, also doing the same with your Gluteus Maximus (your bum cheeks pardon my French) will help tighten and lift that area too. You really can feel it begin to burn almost instantly once you squeeze you chosen area. The ironic thing is my stepper that I sent good money on is sleeping soundly up in the attic while I have an affair with it's fancy, flash, all lights and whistles, sexy twin at the gym. But the thing is, I find I WILL exercise when I'm at the gym, at home it doesn't take much to distract me, sweet wrapper blowing by, one of the cats walking into the room, my nose being itchy, absolutely anything will make me stop exercising and of course I then don't continue where I left off and return to my routine, while at the gym this won't happen. If I was given a chicken every time I started exercising then stopped because the wind changed I would have chickens cling out the chimney.


Seeing I still use the gym's version of a stepper means I do think they do some good, but for the basic home versions, safety can be a problem as it is very easy to loose your balance.


Thanks for reading :0) 2night


Depending on the make and style these can cost anything from £20 for the basic model up into the hundreds for the fancy ones.