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PaperclipPerfector  17hr ago (text post)   377 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for May 27, 2026

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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Low-level question: I'm looking to pick up just some super-basic weights and maybe a small treadmill for at-home use, specifically during breaks when I'm WFH. Anyone have any recommendations in that regard, or other gear/devices worth picking up? I'm tempted by maybe a cheap rowing machine, but that could be really dumb.

A bench is very useful with weights, especially an adjustable one. If money is not a problem, get these adjustable dumbbells where you just turn a dial to select the weight. Otherwise, get the cheapest steel ones that you screw together. I would recommend something like a 2kg handle, 2x5kg plates, 2x2.5kg plates, 2x1.25kg plates for 19.5kg in total.

Get a pull-up bar if your house can support one.

I'm having a real fun time trying to figure out how the mass of a dumbbell can be adjusted by turning a dial!

Edit: best I can come up with is some kind of onboard air compressor and storage tank.

There are little notches that engage different plates. They are ingenious, but a total nightmare if they break.

So it's like a system where the handle goes down into some kind of arrangement of plates, you dial in what you want, and those ones engage and become attached? So basically just a convenient way to load and unload plates?

Does it use magnets? :3

It vibrates at relativistic speeds.

Love the concept of selling a technology that would make a warp drive viable as workout equipment.

At least it’s not a sex toy?

It could be both. The Shake-Weight was often compared to one, so why not actually go all the way? I'm sure there are advantages to a sex toy that can make 5 seconds feel like 5 minutes, or even longer.

Turning the dial converts some of the mass to energy. Warranty void if attempted. User assumes all personal and planetary existential risk.

small treadmill

Beware if you live in an apartment or condo community with downstairs neighbors. I had to toss a tiny treadmill I bought because of noise complaints.

Sold it, I hope. Exercise equipment drifts in and out of my home for various reasons but I'm usually able to recoup about as much as I paid for it initially.

Wish I sold it, I had it listed on Craigslist, Offerup, and Facebook marketplace. No takers even for basically free, it was a cheap quality but heavy folding treadmill from Amazon ($280). After a week of lowering my list price to ~$25 I had to dump it in the trash. I was living in a very affluent area back then, and I think the pool of potentially interested local buyers for secondhand items was too small.

Yeah, I'm in a much better area for that sort of thing. Quite the mix of rich and poor. California, really.

Mace exercises feel great on you shoulders if you slouch a lot in front of a computer. A kettle bell is also pretty handy.

Neither take up much space if you aren't using them.

I really like kettlebells over dumbbells for allowing a variety of exercises. I have just 2 kettlebells at home, at 20 lbs and 45 lbs, which I think is enough for a very low level amateur hobbyist athlete like myself.

Yes, the fact that they swing allows for endurance training at the same time as resistance training. Lately I've been doing the "Armor Building Complex" with my single kettlebell. "Enter the Kettlebell" recommends adult men start at 35 lbs, or 8 kilograms, or buying 8 kilograms, 12 kilograms, and 16 kilograms kettlebells if buying more than 1. That, a good pair of running shoes, and a pull-up bar are probably enough for a decent level of fitness if you actually use the equipment you're buying. But it depends on what you're going for. A kettlebell that's just 20 lbs would have been helpful for me to do a lot of practice trying cleans without bruising my forearms as much.

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