Keep your place while reading on a treadmill

Dominic Brown says on March 12th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

A better solution would be a length of elastic cord, such as you see webbed across the outside of backpacks. Fabric and sewing stores carry the stuff in various colours and gauges; it costs about $0.50 a metre here in Vancouver. The thin cord obscures much less of your text, and it easily folds into your pocket. I know this, because I use a similar loop to hold paperbacks flat on a slanted writing board, so I can read while dining alone and still have both hands free.

saussha says on March 12th, 2007 at 4:02 pm

I have an improvement thought…You can buy narrow strips of elastic at any sewing supply place, in any length you want. If you made two loops of this and tied them together at one point, you could just slip that over the top and bottom margins of the book. That way you won’t have to cover up so much of the page.

Brian says on March 12th, 2007 at 4:18 pm

I actually have a multi functional solution. I use a small fan with a flexible neck to blow down on the books pages, keeping them down and keeping me cool while running. It takes a little practice to get the fan speed and angle just right, but if you do it works great.

kamal says on March 12th, 2007 at 4:54 pm

I was going to suggest just having the inner tube down on the footer of the book where there is no text, but like Dominic Brown’s idea better.

You could also use a bungee cord, much thinner than an inner tube and has clasps at the end so it’s easy to take on and off.

M says on March 12th, 2007 at 5:47 pm

I’m sorry, I’ve always been a big fan of the statement if you can read on the treadmill you are NOT working hard enough.

i says on March 12th, 2007 at 7:30 pm

There’s different kinds of workouts. If you want to do a great cardio, go and get your jollies. But don’t make it sound like whoever just walks (to get the blood going) isn’t doing any good for themselves. jerk.

Kevin says on March 12th, 2007 at 8:30 pm

Here’s an idea – listen to an audio book.

Hunchy says on March 12th, 2007 at 10:14 pm

I’m with Kevin. And with I. Audio books are great, and so are DVDs (fortunate to have a treadmill at home, set up with TV and CD/ DVD player).

M, you’re a troll.

Michael Birks says on March 12th, 2007 at 11:39 pm

I’ve always found that having the book on the treadmill panel, as shown in the photo, makes it more difficult to read.

Holding it in my hand appears to keep it better synced with my walking motion, although it is somewhat cumbersome with a hardcover or fat paperback.

Mike says on March 13th, 2007 at 11:37 am

If you keep your heart rate at about 60% of it’s peak (120bpm for me) you are targeting fat as opposed to burning calories. Spinning your wheels as fast as possible for shorter periods of time is not working hard enough. And it’s easy to read a book as long as you keep track of the heart rate.

Julie says on March 13th, 2007 at 2:57 pm

What about a clear, heavy block of plexiglass? You’ll be able to see right through it and won’t need to move the cord.

Melvin says on March 15th, 2007 at 10:33 pm

I agree about Audiobooks.

But if you really have to read text:

TabletPC + eBooks or articles + Increased font size.

or

Print documents (with large fonts) that can be remain flat on the surface (use a clipboard if you have to.

The principles are the same = choose the right things to read in the right situations. Books that are hard to handle can be left for telecommute.

Lindsay says on November 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pm

I use a chip clip– for smaller books you can clip across the top, larger or heavier books that hold themselves down and open you can just clip on one side to hold open your page.