If it is good enough for Chuck Norris….

I recently began a new therapy move, the simulated jump. This involves “jumping” while lying down in a leg press machine. It is good because it forces my leg / knee / quads to catch my body weight, thereby building strength, and just as importantly, confidence. If I try to jump while standing I invariably land on my good leg first b/c psychologically I won’t let myself land on the bad leg. When I am horizontal it is easier to let go and allow my bad leg to catch my weight. While using the jumping machine at my therapist I expressed dismay that the school gym does not have a machine to simulate jumping. This is when my therapist told me I should get a Total Gym. Even though I have not watched the infomercials for this machine, somehow my subconscious knows that this is the gym approved and marketed by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley. I guess that tells you how successful their advertising has been – I already know what it is even though I don’t recall ever looking for one. Where can I find the Total Gym? Online it sells for hundreds or thousands of dollars, with different versions having higher or lower quality materials and a different variety of possible exercises. Obviously I don’t want to pay retail, and given that these sell on late night television I figure that there must be hundreds of them collecting dust in basements all over America. Craigslist to the rescue! Within 24 hours I buy one locally for much less than the retail price, and it comes with the expected dust from lack of use. I cleaned it up and started jumping. It seems like it will do the trick. I don’t know if I will bother with the other exercises if offers, I do most of those in the gym on better equipment…