Treadmill

Two months after the controversial treadmill-style emissions test became mandatory, state officials yesterday tuned up the testing process, promising motorists a smoother ride -- and continuing the $150 limit on emission-related repairs.Among the Motor Vehicle Administration's changes, slated to be in place after Oct. 1, are a lift bar to allow cars a nearly bump-free entrance to the treadmill, a television monitor illustrating the test and a personal "greeter" to explain the exam.Also, those age 70 and over who drive no more than 5,000 miles a year will be exempt from the $12 emissions test -- treadmill or tailpipe -- that must be performed on 2.1 million vehicles every two years.

After surviving its own treadmill of political debate and performance problems for nearly three years, a stricter vehicle emissions test is about to become mandatory in Maryland.Drivers, here's fair warning: Beginning Wednesday, the first 25,000 notices will start showing up in the mail summoning cars and light trucks to one of 19 state-owned centers for required dynamometer testing.Unlike the traditional tailpipe test, which has been standard in Maryland since 1984, cars will be driven on a treadmill by an attendant.

If you ask Serge England Arbona's wife, she'll tell you he's a little bit nuts. He has to be to do what he did over the weekend: run 152.27 miles on a treadmill in 24 hours - staking claim to four world records and tormenting every major muscle group in his body. "These runners, especially ultra runners, have a crazy obsession with running," Jeanne England-Arbona, said yesterday. Her French-born, 38-year-old, handyman husband - who has a penchant for 100-mile races through the mountains - started his run at noon Saturday in a Towson YMCA, dead set on breaking the 24-hour treadmill distance record, which he did yesterday by more than three miles.

Sometimes, managing a business is like running on a treadmill. You work hard to grow the business, only to find that for all your effort, you keep winding up at the starting point. For every step forward, there seems to be another step taking you back.In spite of this dismal performance, most entrepreneurs remain on the treadmill, hoping something will change their fate and get the company moving again. Although optimism has its place in every company, the time comes when you must step off the treadmill and take positive steps to deal with the problems at hand.

For Mary Bontempo, O'Dette McDonald and Sister Katherine Nueslein, clean air is a cause worth fighting for.They hardly seem the combative type. One is a nun, one an employee of a home health care company and one a community outreach worker for a church.Yet the Baltimore women are behind a federal lawsuit that could require owners of all motor vehicles in Maryland to submit them to a controversial treadmill-like device, called a dynamometer. The intention is to improve air quality by reducing auto emissions.

Although doctors often advise Parkinson's disease patients to exercise — and the more intense the exercise, the better — new research from the University of Maryland Medical Center shows that long walks at a more comfortable pace may be the best medicine. Dr. Lisa M. Shulman, co-director of the University of Maryland Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center, made the surprise discovery recently that low-intensity workouts make the most difference in mobility and gait, which become a problem for most of those who sufferer from the disease.

Nearly half of all Americans own home exercise equipment, according to a recent survey by Opinion Research Corp. And the most popular piece of equipment is the treadmill.

The U.S. surgeon general recommends sedentary people try to burn at least 150 calories a day to stay healthy. The amount of exercise it would take for a 150-pound person to meet that requirement would include:Walk on a treadmill: 4 mph, 32 minutesJog slowly on a treadmill: 5 mph, 18 minutesRide a stationary bike with moderate resistance: 10 mph, 22 minutesWork on a stair-climbing machine: moderate pace, 21 minutesWash and wax your car: 45-60 minutesRake leaves:...

Her Asics laced up and her water bottle at her side, Meredith Dobrosielski stepped onto the treadmill for a robust half-hour walk. For the Towson runner, this wasn't just any trip to the gym. The session took place in a lab at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. And each step offered information on the impact of exercise on her fetus. Dobrosielski is about 8 months pregnant. Doctors expect the information collected to fill in some gaps in the data on how much pounding is OK for a developing baby.

There's a new piece of exercise equipment in our house that's getting a great deal of use, and when I say "a great deal of use," I am, of course, lying. It's my wife's new treadmill, the one she had me drag out of her car, up the driveway, into the house and down a flight of steps to the family room. Oh, you should see this baby. It has a calorie counter, heart monitor and pulse sensor. It has a "Power Incline" button and a "Speed Control" dial you can set for any of four "Speed Training Zones" you wish to experience.