I haven’t been to the gym in two weeks and my knees are killing me.  I cannot be completely certain which of those things is the cause and which is the effect, but one thing I know for certain is that I am in no mood to go to the gym, but I’m also exhausted, and NEED to get back to it.

I am fairly certain that if I try to do my regular elliptical routine I will end up hurting myself further — resulting in an absence from the gym for several more weeks.  So, to prevent further injury, I’m calling on my old friend, the recumbent elliptical.

There’s nothing sexy about this thing. There are only two of them in the whole gym because most people wouldn’t need such a thing. But, when I was at my heaviest, these things were a life saver. For reasons I don’t completely understand, I can get my heart rate up much more efficiently (and work up much more of a sweat) on this thing than I ever could on a recumbent bike. Once my knees could handle it, I “graduated” myself to the standard ellipticals, but I will forever be grateful to these strange looking hybrid machines.