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Post by Bruce Tackett on Oct 20, 2017 20:00:29 GMT
And if what Bruv says is true, and why wouldn't it, then the stepper might also take care of my left iffy knee. Try to do a little time on it without holding onto something. This will help your balance, m8. Well, alrighty, then.
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Post by mr potatohead on Oct 20, 2017 21:19:25 GMT
And if what Bruv says is true, and why wouldn't it, then the stepper might also take care of my left iffy knee. Try to do a little time on it without holding onto something. This will help your balance, m8. So will walking on top plates of new construction.
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Post by BigBruvOfEnglandUK on Oct 20, 2017 21:25:33 GMT
Indeed but we do brickwork so I have no reason to be walking around on top plates (aka wall plate), m8
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Post by mr potatohead on Oct 20, 2017 21:47:15 GMT
Indeed but we do brickwork so I have no reason to be walking around on top plates (aka wall plate), m8 No top plates on brick walls then, I guess. I used to work with a bricklayer. He was a beast.
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Post by BigBruvOfEnglandUK on Oct 20, 2017 23:50:58 GMT
We work on timber framed houses. The top plate is part of the timber frame. The roof sits on the top plate. After the tiles are put on the roof we go in and build the brick veneer. We are not on the sites before the roof tiles are on. In England we hardly ever worked on timber framed houses though. The internal skin of the cavity walls were blockwork instead of timber framed and we would usually fit the wall plate to our blockwork on the same day we built the blockwork or at the latest it would be the next morning. The top plate would be very dangerous to walk on a this stage because the mortar would still be soft but we had no need to stand on the top plate anyway. Only the roofing carpenters would have any need to stand on the top plate and they don't go on it until the mortar in the blockwork has cured enough to support the weight of the roof trusses, m8
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Post by BigBruvOfEnglandUK on Oct 21, 2017 0:13:00 GMT
I can see what you are saying though. Doing stuff like walking on a top plate would definitely help with balance. Many people would have to work up to doing that though. While I'm working I'll sometimes walk along lengths of timber and other stuff that are strewn around the ground on the sites but I don't set time aside to do it. Same thing if I'm out for a walk in the countryside. I'll walk on a fallen tree or on a timber, path edging, low wall or whatever. There's a guy called Stephen Jepson that has some interesting tips on balance and aging. The basics of what he is saying is challenge yourself. Go search for him on Youtube, m8s.
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Post by mr potatohead on Oct 21, 2017 0:13:22 GMT
That's interesting. Actually, when I posted, I didn't know if you had any top plates available to walk on, but I new you would know the term. I was only suggesting that IF a person walked top plates, their balance would improve (of necessity) and you agreed. Thanks for all of the additional info. Here in the US, probably most average houses are stick built, so top plates everywhere, just waiting to be explored! It may not be frequent, but it does occur when situation calls for it.
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Post by Bruce Tackett on Oct 21, 2017 0:34:46 GMT
OMG! You guys have reawakened a distant memory. First of all, I have a difficult time with heights. I mean, my nose bleeds when I put on high heels. When I was 22 I worked as an apprentice carpenter in Phoenix, AZ. No more than two weeks on the job, a crane lowered a stack of wooden trusses, weighing about fifty pounds each, onto the 2x4 top plates of the framework of a 2-story building.
The foreman told me to get up there and help a laborer lay the trusses, evenly spaced along the top plates. I swear! I had to do a tight-rope walk down the length of this 2x4, 2-stories in the air, holding one end of a truss while the laborer did the same on the other side. We had to synchronize our steps, and this freaking 50 lb, truss was sproinging up and down in the center. When I finally made it to the end, the laborer, this Mexican guy, called over to me asking if I was scared. I said, "Yes!" He told me I was making him scared, to get down and he would get someone else to help.
When I got down I told the foreman that that was a little too much for me to handle at this point. He responded gruffly, "Well, if you're gonna be in the trade, you gotta learn to do it!"
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Post by mr potatohead on Oct 21, 2017 0:56:42 GMT
TROOF!
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Post by leonidas on Oct 21, 2017 19:01:28 GMT
Bruce (and anyone else): after fighting through my ignorance on computers my son in law has guided me through the labyrinth. I'm not a twentieth century guy. So: with my iffy right knee a stepper may really be the answer to my problem, getting a quads/hammies workout. What is a good stepper to get? Dunno anything about them. I'm after something that has a reasonable cost, say maybe 50.00 or 60.00. If that's out of line let me know - I've checked Amazon but I don't know anything about steppers so its hard to know what is a good product for the price. Bruce, I can understand your "love" of heights and elevated construction sites. Had a job climbing a ladder up to the roof of a two story house carrying 50 lb. bags of nails in January. Icy. Cold. Not real fun. What was funnier than hell was the two guys who came equipped with their own plastic sewage pipe. I noticed them now and again walking across the site carrying this long pipe. Paid it no Popeye as a friend of mine used to say. Turns out they walked around with this pipe (their own personal pipe) from one end of the site to the other every hour or two - they somehow had rigged up heaters at each end - resting and swigging out of a bottle of Bacardi rum. One day we got sent home due to an incoming storm (this was January '68) and the superintendent found them wrapped in their blankets, bottles in hand napping away the P.M. Had a good chuckle over that, except for the Super. P.S. Used to go under name of molison05. Had to change to Leonidas to get active here on system. We were better off back in the day of smoke signals and drums but I'm an old guy so ...
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Post by Bruce Tackett on Oct 21, 2017 19:17:00 GMT
leonidas.
I can only speak to the stepper I have which is a Gold's Gym. Frankly, I can't see where it could be any better, so, there ya go.
Strange things happen on construction sites!
When I was in England in '73, I watched the "Hod Championships" on TV. A hod is a sheet metal carriage that is held by hand on one's shoulder and is loaded with bricks. It is the Hod Carrier's job to bring bricks to brick layers, often having to climb a ladder. The guy who won, went up a ladder carrying 300+ lbs. of bricks. This guy had no neck. His shoulders sort of melded into the bottom of his head. When he was interviewed, I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
BTW, O Renaissance Man, I assume you were on Yuku. Did you use the same name?
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Post by leonidas on Oct 21, 2017 21:40:39 GMT
Bruce, No. Leonidas is my new incarnation. Used to be molison05 - remember the hooks you created for me - hooks inside the sleeve so even with bad wrists I could get my bandwork done. See next to last line above. Still using them.
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Post by Bruce Tackett on Oct 21, 2017 21:59:23 GMT
Bruce, No. Leonidas is my new incarnation. Used to be molison05 - remember the hooks you created for me - hooks inside the sleeve so even with bad wrists I could get my bandwork done. See next to last line above. Still using them. I thought that was you! That second to the last line was a clue! What am I to do? I got so used to calling you Molietoes. Anyway, to fully answer your question, yes, the stepper is a bona fide, effective piece of equipment, and the Gold's Gym one that I have is sturdy and well made.
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Post by leonidas on Oct 21, 2017 22:17:11 GMT
During my hockey days I got called a lot worse'n that. Thanks for the lowdown on the GG stepper. Seems to be the way to go.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2017 21:20:42 GMT
Bruce -- are these ok on the knees? I thought of one for my dad as an Xmas present but his knees will sometimes give him a bit of discomfort. He does step ups fine, but walking can irritate them. Does this bother your knees?
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