You Should Have Bought A Boxing Bag!
Consider the elliptical. What does it do for me exactly? Does it increase my heart rate? Yes, but not by much. I’ve checked my heart rate multiple times on an elliptical and it rarely goes over 60%. In fact, it never gets into that cardio / fat burn range unless I’m going flat out, 100% effort, and that’s impossible to sustain. Does it work my muscles? I suppose. There’s certainly some pushing and pulling involved and it does add in arms as opposed to being all legs like running and biking. However, it doesn’t do a very good job with muscles and it’s hard to really quantify which muscles it works. So what does it really do for me?
The more I consider the elliptical, the more I realize that it’s a compromise between a variety of other exercises. It’s cardio, but not quite as good as running. It’s low impact, but not quite as good as swimming. It’s resistance training but not really as good as weights. It’s great for your calves but not quite as good as the stationary bike or the stair climber. It’s a compromise, and I hate compromises like these.
This isn’t a good compromise where you get the best of all worlds, this is a bad one where you get the worst of all worlds. You get a mediocre cardio workout with a crappy weight workout that admittedly has low impact but so what? What’s the point of low impact if you don’t get a good workout? I’d rather run for 15 minutes and then lift weights for another 15 than be on the elliptical for 30. I’d end up with a higher heart rate and more muscle movement with the 15/15 solution.
So Why The Elliptical?
I’m ranting about this because I’ve been trying out the elliptical a bit more lately and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I think I saw it as a good way to get some cardio without breaking a sweat like I do on the treadmill but then what’s the point? Not breaking a sweat is a dead giveaway that this isn’t really a good workout. It’s not quite as bad as the woman I saw reading a magazine while peddling a recumbent bike but it’s pretty damn close. I think the elliptical is one of those machines that people like because they can feel like they’re working out without really working out and that’s not what I’m looking for.
So no more elliptical for me. I’ll stick to more effective forms of exercise!
I love the elliptical and it works for me!
Each to their own!
Gal, I’ve been looking through your site. Have you heard of Fitocracy? Seems like it could at least prove to be blog material.
I’ve heard of them and I’m actually trying them out right now. Still undecided about the site and how useful it is but will blog about it when I reach some kind of conclusion.
I’ve been using it about two weeks now. I find that it helps to keep me motivated to do some sort of exercise.
My issue with the site is that exercise is not my problem. I’m motivated to exercise just fine. It’s eating that’s my issue and Fitocracy doesn’t really help with that. Still, it’s a nice tool for those trying to get more active and I probably will review it soon.
I use something called the “Arc Trainer” at my gym and it has a cardio setting on it that is great, I am sweating from head to toe and the heart monitor tells me that it works, too! My rate goes up past 190 and I do this for 25 mins twice a day. It has been great for me, much harder than a treadmill or that joke of a workout stair stepper. The bike is also a joke in comparison. Maybe the arc trainer is different from the ellipticals because that picture you posted looks like a modified stair stepper with little range of motion.
Hello Jai,
The arc trainer is a little bit different from the elliptical. I’ve never used one but, based on what you’re saying, I’ll go find a gym that has one and give it a try. Sadly, I usually work out at 24 hour fitness due to their multiple locations and convenient hours, and they don’t have much a of a selection when it comes to newer machines.
Gal