My trusty Pacemaster Gold treadmill was getting a little long in the tooth at 13 years old. It still worked fine but the motor was noisy and the belt could skip a bit at high speeds if I didn't clean it often enough. Rather than wait for something bad to happen and be without a treadmill for the winter, I opted to get a new one. Times being what they are, I did my research online rather than in the store, and the one I picked wasn't in the store anyway. My only option was to get it and, if I didn't like it, return it. That treadmill is the Horizon 7.4 AT. All the reviews I read on it looked good, although there wasn't as much info as I'd have liked. It was also significantly less expensive than my Pacemaster. (They're out of business, unfortunately.)

Not long ago, I wrote a post on the importance of using a full range of motion (ROM) in strength exercises. One of the most difficult exercises to do full ROM is the pull-up (or chin-up, which is just a pull-up variation). Just because it's hard doesn't mean we shouldn't do it!

Range of motion, or ROM, is an often overlooked but very important part of lifting weights. It's a key factor in maintaining mobility, especially as we get less young.

The term "muscle-bound" is usually associated with a heavily developed bodybuilder whose own muscular development limits his movement. But big muscles don't automatically lead to poor mobility. Lots of athletes have significant muscular development along with excellent mobility. It's not a muscle's size that limits mobility; it's the ROM. And that applies to any size muscle.

I wasn't planning on writing this post. But I'm doing it anyway.

One of the news feeds I use recognizes that I read a lot of fitness-related articles so it shows me more than most people see. Most are easily dismissed by the titles: they might be "click bait" or something I already know or something I don't care about. This one's headline warned me it was likely to be a train wreck; I was curious to see just how bad it was. My mistake.