The bariatric population of the United States is growing at a rapid pace and rehab facilities and physical therapists are the busiest they have ever been. Rehabilitation facilities aren’t using the correct step stools for their bariatric patients partly because the therapists are not aware of how dangerous the step stools can be if the step stool is over loaded. The patients should alert their physician or rehab technician if they feel unsafe on any step stool used for rehab.

Some hospitals and rehab facilities aren’t aware of the concerns of bariatric patient’s special needs when it comes to finding quality products for bariatric uses. You still see the little chrome step stool in hospitals because they have always used them not because the step stools work. Why? Because the little chrome step stools are cheaper than the 500 pound load rated step stools that bariatric patients need.

David C. DuPont has been finding solutions to step stool problems for 9 years. He has helped people solve their problems by helping them find kitchen step stools, wooden step stools, kids step stools, plastic step stools and step stools for senior citizens. To see his step stools or to contact him to find a stepstool for you, go to www.Shure-Step.com

The importance of regular exercise in achieving and maintaining your ideal weight cannot be stressed enough. Aside from the weight loss benefits, the overall improvements in one's health and well being from the simple expedient of a regular exercise routine can be enormous. But what kind of exercise is the most effective for weight loss? Most experts agree that cardio-vascular exercise when carried out on a regular and consistent basis is key to an effective weight loss program.

As consumers we are bombarded with advertisements proclaiming the merits of the latest fitness equipment that can be used in order to shed some unwanted fat, but one particular item of fitness equipment continues to dominate the market as the ultimate device for achieving a cardio-vascular workout and thus assisting you with your weight loss goals. This device is the treadmill.

Treadmills have maintained their popularity in the fitness equipment market despite competition from many new and novel types of exercise equipment. Many of these new devices are popular for a short period during which time they are frequently given exposure in magazines and infomercials . But there popularity soon wanes and they become yesterday's fitness fad. This is not the case with the exercise treadmill which has retained it's popularity with both the average family member who wants to lose weight and keep in shape and the professional athlete.

One of the reasons why fitness treadmills have retained their popularity is that they allow users to enjoy one of the most natural forms of exercise (walking and running) and let them carry out this exercise in a controlled environment. Walking exercises the whole body and doesn't require any complicated training. It is "hard wired" into the brain and is one of the first things that we humans learn to do.

As a form of exercise though, walking and running can have some drawbacks. These are nearly all environmental and are taken care of by the controlled environment that the treadmill provides. These drawbacks include weather conditions which can be either too hot, too cold, rain, wind or snow. If you live in the city it may not be practical to run through crowded streets and there is always the issue of your own personal safety with the possibility of an attack from a stranger or stray dog.

Compared to other types of fitness equipment, treadmills are easy to use and don't require you to move your body in an unnatural way, or restrict the natural movements of your limbs. They can also help to mitigate a lot of injuries that can be sustained by running on asphalt by virtue of their cushioned running surface.

Fitness treadmills have the advantage of being suitable for virtually any age group from children (with supervision) to the elderly and are often used in medical centers as a rehabilitation tool to help people in their recovery from injury. They are also suitable for any type of fitness level from beginner to professional athlete.

The cardio-vascular exercise that you engage in when using a treadmill is an excellent way to lose weight and studies have shown that you can burn more calories on the treadmill than any other type of fitness equipment including stair machines, rowing machines, stationary cycles or ski machines. For the many people who are using a treadmill in order to lose weight, however, the secret to success is consistency.

As with all exercise you need to establish a routine so that your treadmill exercise sessions become part of your everyday life. It is important to make your workout session a part of your daily routine until it becomes something that you do automatically without having to give it much thought.

Most people who own a treadmill have it set up in a room in their house or apartment where it is as easy to use for their daily workout as going into the bathroom to take a shower. The very nature of the treadmill with the quite, measured rolling of the walking surface, the comfortable room temperature and the safety provided by your home all contribute to the pleasant feelings you will associate with using a home treadmill.

A further benefit the treadmill offers is the ability to vary different parameters of the workout in order make the workout more novel and interesting. Most modern motorized treadmills offer the ability to vary the speed of the belt and incline of the running surface during the workout. These changes can be done manually during the workout, or be pre-programmed as part of a suite of programs built into the machine. Some treadmills also offer the user the function to design their own programs which can then be re run whenever the user wishes.

Many users look forward to their time on the treadmill, for in addition to the health benefits, they also welcome the special time they have to themselves, when they can ponder and reflect about events in their lives. But for people who are not so introspective many modern treadmills are fitted with music systems and even flat screen TV's in order to keep the user entertained.

When using your treadmill it is a good idea to add some variety by introducing some interval training sessions into your workout. This should comprise of brief periods of intense exercise mixed in with your regular treadmill workouts. You may for example arrange to do a one minute interval of fast walking every for every five minutes of regular walking and repeat this throughout your session.

By varying between a steady, comfortable pace and brief periods of sustained effort you will be able to increase your aerobic fitness level gradually over time. What you are actually doing is pushing your anaerobic threshold, thus forcing your body to accept a greater intensity of exercise. This will in turn help you to achieve the weight loss targets that you have set for your self.

The treadmill continues to be the ideal choice for anyone looking for fitness equipment in order to shed some pounds.

Climb on, Power up, Lose weight!

There is a misconception that games are only meant for kids. This has been proven wrong with the popularity of adult games online. These players are not only playing games meant for the adult age group but also those that they enjoyed playing as kids themselves. Some of the most famous categories of flash games for adults in the online world today include:

Sports

Currently this is the most famous category of online flash games. There are various flash game versions available for football, basketball, cricket, tennis, golf, billiards, chess, car racing, F1, shooting, hockey, beach volleyball, etc. You can play your favorite game and keep breaking your own records. Or you can play multiplayer games with your friends and prove your mettle.

Puzzles

For those who are interested in solving puzzles, online flash games give a never-ending opportunity to test their skills. With thousands of versions of Sudoku, Chinese Checkers and Mahjong, you will never be short of puzzles. Even the most famous puzzle of all times, the Rubik¡¯s Cube is available online in its flash version.

Word Games

People who are interested in improving their vocabulary or those who want to keep testing their vocabulary skills love to play online flash game versions of Scrabble and Cross Word. Also word games like Word Scramble, Book Worm and Super Text Twist are famous since they blend the puzzle concept into otherwise simple word games.

Card & Board Games

Card games have been always famous among adults. There are thousands of versions of Poker, Solitaire, Rummy, Spade, Free Cell and Pairs available online. Even some board games like Monopoly are popular among adults.

Action & Strategy Games

For those who like making strategies and would like to put their strategy skills to test, there are a variety of flash strategy games available online. And there are many flash games available for those who like action and adventure games. Some of these action and strategy games are Sea of fire, Midnight strike, World domination, and Samurai.

As can be seen, there is no dearth of good flash games available for adults. Whatever is the interest and liking of an individual, he/she can find an appropriate online flash game.

Sole treadmills are marketed by Sole Fitness, a fitness equipment company that has been in the business of making treadmills for twenty years.

Sole's overall philosophy seems to be to design treadmills that are simple yet functional in design, and then manucturer them from high quality components. They then then underwrite them with long, comprehensive warranties backed by excellent customer service and then pitch them at an affordable price to the consumer.

In addition to being used in residential locations Sole Treadmills can also be found in commercial setting such as gyms and hotels. In fact Sole tredamills are used exclusively by hotel chains such as Omni, Monaco and Hilton. Sole pionered the idea of "in-room" fitness by placing high end treadmills in individul guest rooms.

Treadmills used in these commercial enviromnments must be able to put up with a lot of punishment and keep working reliably or the hotel companies would not continue to use them.

In fact Sole are so confident in the durability of their products even in commercial environments such as hotels that they offer one of the best warranties available. This includes lifetime cover on the deck and motor and 2yrs labor (in home service) on most models. They also offer a money back guarantee on their treadmills.

Sole's current model range comprises of four folding treadmils and three non-folding treadmills. The four folding treadmills are designated as F63, F80, F83, F85 while the three non-folding treadmills are designated as S73, S77 and TT8. All models are broadly similar in shape with variations in motor size, running area, deck suspension, and programs depending upon specific model.

There are several design features which are present in many models across the range and help to characterize the marque:

Motor - At the heart of all Sole treadmills are high torque motors with precision flywheels.These are industrial quality motors with large diameter flywheels made from steel with zinc coating and balanced to provide a vibration free running experience. The use of heavy flywheels results in the sort of silky, smooth motion that you get from expensive commercial tredamills that you find in gyms.

Frame - Sole uses a double horseshoe folding frame in their folding treadmills. This design of frame is actually more stable than most non-folding frames putting the lie to the notion that all folding treadmills are less stable than non-folding models. This design also permits the treadmill to be moved with ease once the deck is in it's upright locked position.

Folding Mechanism - Sole uses the "easy assist" mechanism on their folding treadmills, helping to make it one of the best folding tredamills on the market. The mechanism comprises a rack and pinion system with an integral safety lock which engages when the deck is in it's upright "stored" position. When in operation the user merely has to release it and the deck will unfold into it's operating position smoothly and gently without any effort required ffrom the user.

Deck - while the majority of treadmill decks have a phenolic coating, Sole have improved upon this and produced their own deck technolgy which they term a "whisper deck". These decks are smooth, quite and durable and as the name suggests permit "whisper" quite operation of the treadmill. Sole are so confident in the durability of their decks that they offer a life time warranty on them.

Rollers - Sole uses high quality rollers that are usually only found on expensive commercial treadmills. The rollers are a sealed bearing design of 2.75" diameter and incorporate grounding in order to reduce static. These large rollers form a larger contact area with the belt and result in a smooth, quiet, running experience.

Belts - the tread belts that Sole use on most of their treadmills consist of double woven 2-ply construction with four layers. This is made up of wo rubber layers formed over a middle PVC layer with a nylon backing layer that moves over the deck and rollers. The rubber layer gives the belt it's durability, whilst the PVC layer stops the belt from over stretching. Finally the nylon layer presents a smooth static free surface which glides over the deck and rollers.

Heart Rate Control - this is a facility that is available on the majority of Sole treadmills across tha range. Pulse measurements are taken from the user's chest strap and transmiited via wireless telemetry to a receiver mounted in the treadmill. The treadmill's computer then uses this information to moderate the speed and incline of the treadmill in sympathy with the user's heart rate. Being able to train within a specific target heart rate zone will enable the user to obtain the greatest benefit from their workout.

Display - the console mounted display on Sole treadmills acts as a message center that provides the user with informational messages to guide them through the inbuilt workouts. To the new user a treadmill can appear to be a bewildering complex device and ploughing through a user manual in order to find out how to run a specific program can lead to frustration. Sole have come to terms with this problem with their message center which guides the user through almost everything that the treadmill is capable of doing. The display will also provide feedback of all your ongoing workout data and will even review your whole workout so that you can check your overall progress.

The Sole range of treadmills extends from their extremely popular entry level F63 folding treadmill which has given many people the opportunity to have a quality home treadmill at an affordable price to the TT8 with it's huge running surface that wil accomodate the demands of the most serious runner or fitness enthusiast. By combining innovative design with quality components and supporting their products with long and comprehensive warranties, Sole continue to be a trusted name in the world of exercise treadmills.

Looking for suitable treadmill quipment can be downright confusing. With the huge variety of makes and models  on the market trying to make a sensible choice can send your head into a spin. But there is no need to give yourself a headache. By asking yourself a few pertinent questions you can narrow your choice down until you have targetted the treadmill that most closely matches your budget and your fitness requirements.

Are you considering buying a treadmill? The enormous variety of models on the market can make the task of choosing one overwhelming. To the first time buyer the bewildering range of models can lead many into information overload and make the task of selecting a suitable treadmill more difficult than it really is. But by asking your self a few simple questions you should be able to make an informed choice regarding your treadmill purchase and end up with a treadmill that most closely matches your requirements. Ask your self the following questions in order to guide yourself through your decision making process:

How much are you prepared to spend?

Treadmill equipment can vary in price from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. A low budget powered treadmill can be purchased from around $500 but it would be naive to assume that this would be capable of performing the same kind off duty as a model costing $5000. As with any other consumer item the price is going to give some measure of it's capability and quality. A treadmill can take a lot of punishment and should be expected to last several years so it is best to spend as much as you can afford taking into account some of the other factors listed below.

What is the treadmill going to be used for ?

This may seem a rather curious question to ask but people have many different reasons for owning and using a treadmill. These could be training to run a marathon, lose weight or just to keep fit. You need to give careful consideration to this question as not all treadmills will be suited to your intended use. If you are a serious runner and looking for a treadmill to use in the winter months when it is too cold or wet to run out doors you need to consider treadmills with large motors, strong decks and long tread belts of 55" or greater length. Most treadmills suitable for running are priced at £1000 and upwards, while the most sub $1000 treadmills are only really suitable for walking and jogging.

How tall are you?

Another apparently strange question but as your height is proportional to your stride length, the taller you are, the longer your stride will be. This is important as a person with a longer than average stride length will require a longer running area than a person with a shorter stride. This is particularly true when someone is running on a treadmill. Most domestic treadmills have a running surface that is around 55" in length, but if you are a taller user - 6' 3" or taller in height then you should really consider purchasing a treadmill with a running surface of at least 60". You will still be able to use a treadmill with a shorter running surface but you will be restricted and when running at full pace there will always be a concern that you may come of the treadmill altogether.

How much do you weigh?

This is an important factor to consider when purchasing a treadmill as one size (or weight) most definitely does not fit all. Most manufacturers will state the maximum user weight recommended for a particular model and the golden rule is not to exceed this weight limit. Exceeding the weight limit will not only alter the way in which the deck absorbs the users foot impact but may also lead the deck to break. Using a treadmill that has not been designed to support a user's weight may also lead to the motor and the motor control circuitry over heating and the possibility of premature failure of one or both. The take away from this is always to choose a treadmill with a user weight that is greater than your actual weight.

How much room do you have?

Give some consideration to where you will store and or use your treadmill. If you have plenty of room in your home or a dedicated room that can be used to both store and use your treadmill then a non-folding treadmill is the obvious choice. But if you are restricted on space or will have to site your treadmill in your main living area then a folding or "space saver" treadmill may be the way to go. These treadmills have decks that pivot and allow the running deck to be raised to an almost vertical position so that the treadmill then occupies a much smaller floor area. There is a common misconception that folding treadmills are somehow weaker or inferior to non-folding treadmills but this is not necessarily the case. This notion has arisen because most non-folding treadmills are expensive commercial treadmills used in gym or health club environments where the ability to fold the treadmill up to save space is not a consideration.

What additional features do you require?

Modern treadmill equipment comes loaded with a confusing array of additional features. The manufacturers tend to compete with one another on the basis of how "feature rich" they can make their machines and it is pretty difficult to purchase just a "plain vanilla" treadmill. A popular feature on many machines is a heart rate monitor that can be used to display your pulse. This can be measured by sensors on the handlebars or via wireless chest strap on some models. Other features center around the programs built into the treadmill's computer. These programs are designed to help you with a specific type of workout and will take control of the machine, changing both the speed and incline and in some cases providing audio prompts to provide encouragement. In addition to the pre-programmed workouts some machines offer the facility to design your own or purchase programs on memory cards such as the iFIT system.

Do you need to be entertained?

Increasingly people are looking to be entertained whilst working out on a treadmill. Pounding away for long periods of time can become boring and many manufacturers now offer some form of entertainment on their treadmill equipment. This can range from an inbuilt speaker system with music port to connect an iPOD or other type of MP3 player to a flat screen TV. Some of the top of the range models even have displays that will display a virtual running environment so that the user is given the impression that they are running through woods or up a hillside.

By giving careful consideration to the questions above you should have a better idea of what to look for when purchasing treadmill equipment and stand a better chance of ending up with a treadmill that meets both your budget and your fitness requirements.

Many people consider that the gym is the only option for regular exercise, but the gym has some disadvantages.

The first disadvantage is financial cost. In order to gain any benefit from exercise it is important that the exercise sessions are repeated at regular intervals so that it becomes a routine. But frequent visits to the gym can mean a significant expenditure over the course of a year.

Some people find it difficult to motivate themselves sufficiently to get ready and then make the car journey to the gym. There is also the frequent aggravation of trying to find a parking place and then having to make the car journey home again.

Another disadvantage is that some people can feel uncomfortable exercising in front of strangers. This feeling can be significant for people who may be shy or embarrassed because they are carrying a little extra weight.

By owning a home treadmill the problems previously mentioned are mitigated and there is a much greater motivation to exercise. Treadmill exercise has been proven to be beneficial for all kinds of people, including high risk groups like old people and pregnant women. Some kinds of aerobic exercise do not suit pregnant women, but walking is always recommended for them and the home treadmill is ideally suited to this purpose.

But, as with most things in life there are some disadvantages to treadmill ownership. Walking on the treadmill, after a while, can become monotonous. Exercising on the treadmill doesn't provide the feel of fresh air and sunshine that can be enjoyed while walking outside. In spite of all these disadvantages, however, it can be said that if you have a strong motivation and desire, then the treadmill will definitely help you to achieve your weight loss and fitness goals.

The cardio-vascular exercise derived from walking or running on a treadmill helps you to lose extra calories and will help you to lose weight rapidly if you exercise on a frequent and consistent basis. A treadmill adds consistency to your walking workout and you can set both the pace and duration of your session and increase this in order to achieve a progressive improvement over time. A treadmill can also help you to achieve your personal fitness goals from the comfort and safety of your own home.

Most treadmills have an incline device that helps you to control the inclination of your walk, exactly like when you are walking up a hill. On some treadmills the incline can be controlled automatically by one of the many built in work out programs that can control both the speed and incline.

Some models have programs that are coupled to heart rate monitor sensors and are then able to regulate the speed and incline of the treadmill in sympathy with the user's heart rate. This feature is referred to as "heart rate control" and can be used to keep the user's heart rate in the optimum "target zone" in order to optimize the amount of benefit derived from the workout.

If you like walking or have been advised to walk regularly, then the weather conditions outside can create problems. When the weather conditions are poor during periods of rain, wind  or snow it makes it unpleasant or impossible to walk outside. With a home treadmill you don't need to worry about the weather and you can continue with your regular exercise regime in comfort and security.

Working out on a treadmill has advantages that are not available to those who run or walk outside. These advantages include the ability to provide useful feedback on such parameters as duration, heart rate, pulse rate, distance traveled, the number of calories burned. You can walk, run or jog on the treadmill-at whatever speed you desire up to the maximum speed of the machine which on most treadmills is up to 10 - 12 MPH.

As you can see the home treadmill offers many benefits and advantages to someone wishing to obtain a great cardio workout in order to meet their weight loss and fitness goals. Many people find that when they eventually take the plunge and buy a home treadmill the benefits they get in terms of fitness and overall well being can be life changing.

Get fit! Get enjoyment! Get the treadmill advantage!