FISCHER: Tools for working out

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

If you’ve been following my adventures in home exercise, you may know that I’m a big fan of my elliptical machine. You may also know that I’ve had nothing but problems with it since lugging the several hundred pound box up the stairs to my apartment last January.

From the first step of assembly, I’ve had to push the warranty to its limits with replacement parts and service calls to get the darn thing working without feeling like it’s going to fall apart.

I’ve disassembled and re-assembled the thing so many times that I’ve had to purchase my own replacement nuts and bolts after stripping the originals down to nothing. In one case I even had to borrow a power drill to practically carve out a particularly stubborn screw holding a plastic cover in place.

Generally speaking, I’ve never considered myself as a particularly “handy” man. Sure, I grew up around my grandpa’s woodshed, had my own tools to play with as a kid, and took the required industrial arts class in high school. I know which end of a hammer to swing and have “righty tighty, lefty loosey” memorized, but that’s about it.

But necessity makes a great teacher and living within a short walk or drive to multiple hardware stores means I’m rarely too far from the tool or part I need. I may not be a handyman, but I do enjoy science and I will say it’s been fun troubleshooting problems and solutions with the scientific method.

What’s making that clicking sound? Construct a hypothesis, test with an experiment. Did it work?

I can’t say that that every idea I’ve had has worked out the way I hoped. I’ve discovered several ways to stabilize a bar or remove a stripped screw that don’t work, but that’s part of the fun.

Finally though, knock on wood, I think I’ve got everything sorted out. The handles no longer jiggle. The foot pedals no longer squeak. I can run a full hour in smooth silence.

And I have. It is astounding how much difference it makes on your workout mindset to not have to think about why your machine is making that noise. I didn’t even realize it how much the lingering question of “what’s going to start clicking today” was affecting my mentality until the question was gone.

I’ve used my machine more in the last couple of weeks than I have in the last few months of tinkering with it.

Moreover, the experience has gotten me into the habit of fixing other things. Nintendo controller not working right? I know where to get screwdrivers to take it apart now. Desk getting a little wobbly? I know where to get metal screws and braces to give it extra support.

I may be amassing a small collection of tools I only use once for a specific purpose and then bury in my toolbox, but things are getting done.

— Travis Fischer is a news writer for the Charles City Press and isn’t a handyman yet, but is getting there.