sorta. I’ve read for YEARS that the best “cardio” machine for fitness is the treadmill followed by the stationary bike. I’ve also switched my weight routine to a bodyweight routine. Here’s an excerpt of an email I received from Craig Ballantyne of TurbulenceTraining.com He has some great exercise videos up on YouTube, as well.
Brought to you by Craig Ballantyne & http://www.BodyweightCardio.com
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…On page 52 of the December issue, Men’s Health warns…
“Never trust elliptical machines”
They quote a study that found elliptical machines over-estimated the number of calories burned in a workout by 31%!…So if your “elliptical cardio workout” burned 400 calories, the truth is you really burned closer to only 300 calories.
But as shocking as that is, there’s something even better…and fits what I’ve been saying about elliptical machines for years - that they are a joke for fat burning.
Reason #2 to Avoid Elliptical Machines: Biggest Loser Knows the Elliptical Machine is a Joke. Later in the Dec. issue, Men’s Health magazine interviewed Biggest Loser contestant Ed Brantley. Ed lost 73 pounds on the show, but had this to say about elliptical machines…”I hated the elliptical. It was too easy, I didn’t feel like I was doing anything.”…
But that’s EXACTLY why elliptical machines are so popular…
Reason #3 to Avoid Elliptical Machines: The third reason elliptical machines are inferior for fat loss is
because they fail my “human nature” test. Put it this way…Take 100 people and put them in a gym with 100 treadmills and 100 elliptical machines. Tell them they have to exercise for 30 minutes at a hard pace, and they have the choice to use either the treadmill or the elliptical.
Guess where 90% of folks are going? The elliptical!
Why? Because it is human nature to take the EASY WAY out. And that is why elliptical machines are so busy at the gym and you rarely see anyone doing intervals on a treadmill or bodyweight circuits in the
corner of the gym. Using the elliptical machine allows us to say we “worked out”, but without getting any REAL work done.
So if you are stuck at a fat loss plateau, and you’ve been counting on the elliptical machine to help you out, then forget it.
Dump the elliptical and try bodyweight cardio instead:
=> http://www.BodyweightCardio.com
That’s the hard truth,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS “
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In some instances, people are doing these machines because their trainers (of varying degrees of education and certification. And of neither sometimes…) told them it was the best. I’ve seen trainers tell their clients that certain machines like the versaclimber or the ellipitical were better IF those particular machines were empty (vs. the treadmill) just so their clients wouldn’t be standing around. Jump rope, people! Jump rope.
Secondly, the December mags are out already?!?!?!?!?!
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