By friendly lurker on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 09:04 pm:

Hi again.

When I did physical therapy for my back a few months ago, I spent some time on the Stairmaster, facing the other way. You wind up standing straighter and the workout is much easier on the back. The Stairmaster had bars on the sides that you could touch or hold to help with your balance. Because my joints wobble, I usually kept a hand resting on one rail.

Now that I'm back in the gym, I've realized that ordinary Stairmasters don't have these bars. They have these handlebars like a racing bike and that's all she wrote. I can't concentrate on a workout when I'm trying so hard just to keep my balance. What a joke.

Does anyone know a way to deal with this? I've thought of looping resistance bands around the handlebars but the bands are, y' know, elastic. Not much support there.

Darn it all. I'm doing this partly to avoid swimming, of which I am not fond. Sigh.

By Sharon on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 11:50 pm:

What about placing a chair or something to the side of the stairmaster so that you can use it as a blance point instead of the hanle bars which you can't reach with out doing your shoulders etc damage ???

By Gitte Gonzalez on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 07:05 pm:

If you don't have any issues with balance try swinging youre arms as if you are walking (This is how the stairmaster should be used when facing any direction). By balancing on youre own you will streingthen youre abs and back muscles as well.
Good luck