Back Slide, Back Pedal, Back in Business with home-based Back rehab

It was just over a week ago that I wrenched my back while heaving a hand-held, overloaded grocery basket onto the cashier counter. (not bending at the knees) Instantly, an internal alarm sounded as I faced the real challenge of making the one block walk home. For two years I held my back spasms in…

The Highs and Lows of a Hydraulic piano bench

I took a short walk to my student's place to check out his new Descattiati model 810 Hydraulic. It's not a sports car by any stretch of the imagination, but a piston-packed piano bench that has a vector design that gently nudges the player forward. Without doubt, it's the best reminder, absent the shadow of…

Playing Musical Chairs with my new Hidrau, hydraulic piano bench

Welcome to a whirlwind round of musical chairs, with a good, healthy workout thrown in. I never expected the Valencia, Spain import to challenge my athletic prowess. But for certain, I'd been primed for this bench press Olympiad having done my daily Gravitron, along with pull-ups and push-ups at the Downtown Berkeley Y. My daily…

The saga of my Stagg Hydraulic Piano Bench (Videos)

I had reluctantly tossed two wooden piano benches into the garage of my apartment complex due to creaks, squeaks, and shaky legs that drove me up the walls during recording sessions. To add insult to injury, my next door neighbor's cleaning lady, dumped a week's worth of wine and beer bottles into the trash as…