Are ellipticals useless?

cosmo_momo

I have bad knees so running on a treadmill or solid ground is completely out of the question for me. That's what landed me in 8 weeks of physical therapy I keep reading that ellipticals are a waste of time because you can build up momentum, etc. I wore a HRM though and averaged 178 bpm over 45 mins. I had it on the random setting so it wasn't just flat. I don't get very sore from the elliptical and I can go much longer than if I were to run (as long as my knees weren't hurting) for the same amount of time. I enjoy it quite a lot and I do feel like I get a good workout afterwards, but I hate to think I burned calories when I really didn't all that much

jangus9416

As long as the resistance is high enough, it won't be the momentum moving you. I love the elliptical. Try HIIT on it. I do intervals where I increase the resistance to about 12-14, squat down, and pedal as fast as I can for about 20-30 seconds. Then I pedal like normal for another 30 seconds and repeat. You can do this moving forward or backwards. One of the hardest workouts I do.

SergeantSausage

Like everything else: you get out of it what you put into it, right?

Can it be useless? Sure. If you want it to.

bulk_n_cut

cosmo_momo wrote: »

I keep reading that ellipticals are a waste of time

No, in fact I would say theyre even more efficient than treadmills. set the resistance to the highest it goes and i guarantee there wont be any momentum. i can barely rotate the darn thing more than 15 times on highest level

Merkavar

Are you moving your body? Is your heart rate higher than normal? How is any of this useless.

I'm not sure if they are better or worse than treadmills or exercise bikes rowers etc but they can't be useless.

cosmo_momo

Merkavar wrote: »

Are you moving your body? Is your heart rate higher than normal? How is any of this useless.

I'm not sure if they are better or worse than treadmills or exercise bikes rowers etc but they can't be useless.

I think that I feel this way because of an article I read that said "just moving can make your heart rate increase, but that doesn't necessarily = calories burned" which sounds like a load of bs...because is that not exactly what cardio is?

Merkavar

cosmo_momo wrote: »

Merkavar wrote: »

Are you moving your body? Is your heart rate higher than normal? How is any of this useless.

I'm not sure if they are better or worse than treadmills or exercise bikes rowers etc but they can't be useless.

I think that I feel this way because of an article I read that said "just moving can make your heart rate increase, but that doesn't necessarily = calories burned" which sounds like a load of bs...because is that not exactly what cardio is?

It's not like a 1 to 1 relationship but why does your heart rate go up? Cause your moving and how do you move? By burning calories normally.

What is the real difference between an elliptical and a treadmill? Your legs are going back and forwards, one is just more of a circle while the other is more like a speed hump.

azulvioleta6

Anecdotal evidence only, but I notice that the people who spend a lot of time on the elliptical are also the ones who can't even begin to keep up in classes. This seems to be true at every gym I go to.

I wouldn't waste a lot of time using one, though I suppose it is fine for warming up

ldemm77

Merkavar wrote: »

cosmo_momo wrote: »

Merkavar wrote: »

Are you moving your body? Is your heart rate higher than normal? How is any of this useless.

I'm not sure if they are better or worse than treadmills or exercise bikes rowers etc but they can't be useless.

I think that I feel this way because of an article I read that said "just moving can make your heart rate increase, but that doesn't necessarily = calories burned" which sounds like a load of bs...because is that not exactly what cardio is?

It's not like a 1 to 1 relationship but why does your heart rate go up? Cause your moving and how do you move? By burning calories normally.

What is the real difference between an elliptical and a treadmill? Your legs are going back and forwards, one is just more of a circle while the other is more like a speed hump.

Heart rate is how much your heart is pumping to get the blood where it needs to go, i.e the muscles. So rather than thinking about it in a calorie sense (though it is nice to out a number on it) think about what category your heart rate is in - aerobic (which is fat burning) or anaerobic. Most likely if you are breaking a sweat and around 150-170bpm range you're burning fat! Someone mentioned high resistance and squatting while doing the elliptical. These are all great to get your heart pumping even more and working out those muscles!

DopeItUp

jangus9416 wrote: »

As long as the resistance is high enough, it won't be the momentum moving you. I love the elliptical. Try HIIT on it. I do intervals where I increase the resistance to about 12-14, squat down, and pedal as fast as I can for about 20-30 seconds. Then I pedal like normal for another 30 seconds and repeat. You can do this moving forward or backwards. One of the hardest workouts I do and I have put on over 10lbs of muscle doing this.

Nothing wrong with using an elliptical but you have to know that they aren't going to add any muscle to your frame. I would recommend resistance training if you wanted to move in that direction.

ExRelaySprinter

I go on my cross trainer for an hour (moderate pace) at least 3 times a week,...and bwoy do i sweat!
I normally burn around 300-350 (as i'm only 5'4 and 134lbs. Taller/heavier ppl will burn more).
But No, it's not useless at all.

joolsmd

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

Anecdotal evidence only, but I notice that the people who spend a lot of time on the elliptical are also the ones who can't even begin to keep up in classes. This seems to be true at every gym I go to.

I wouldn't waste a lot of time using one, though I suppose it is fine for warming up

Same as the OP, ellipticals are my cardio of choice due to bad knees. I do 2 or 3 30 min sessions of interval training on it, then go sweaty and pink-faced, to a metafit or weights class and manage to keep up just fine.

I assume you follow everyone who goes on an elliptical and check which classes they go to, then watch them in their classes every week to make such a sweeping statement.

callsitlikeiseeit

like with anything, you get out of it what you put into it.

my HR gets up to a pretty steady 160ish on the elliptical, on the arc trainer, and in zumba class (and ummm yeah, i can keep up, thanks). I dont think its the actual activity that matters, its the length of time your HR is up

PeachyCarol

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

Anecdotal evidence only, but I notice that the people who spend a lot of time on the elliptical are also the ones who can't even begin to keep up in classes. This seems to be true at every gym I go to.

I wouldn't waste a lot of time using one, though I suppose it is fine for warming up

Sweeping generalization much?

My husband uses one because of bad knees and he works up a BIG sweat by using progressive resistance and intervals. He loves it.

annavalente

Ive lost 56lbs using my cross trainer with some weights ...so no I don't think it's a waste of time! :-)

Sued0nim

It's my cardio of choice, I set the resistance high and aim for an HRM of 155 to 160

Works for me ..but I'm not much of a cardio bunny

katherine_startrek_fan

I think it also depends on the quality of the elliptical. You can definitely auto pilot on the cheap ones, but the better ones don't do that even on the easiest setings.

The one I have is a harder workout than running outside, even on the mild resistance levels.

shamcd

I can exhaust myself on the elliptical utilizing HIIT in 30 minutes and leave a pool of sweat on the floor. If you feel like it's useless, then up the resistance. As far as soreness, the only time I felt stiff or sore from the elliptical was the first week I used it.

cosmo_momo

Thanks for all the replies. I don't feel that it's useless, I just hear people bashing them all the time. I guess the elliptical gets a bad rap because often times there are people just cruising on them while reading magazines so they're probably not getting a good workout in. One article also bad mouthed spin classes and I've gotten some of my most intense workouts during spin class...

hsmith0930

If i had the room and money I'd buy an elliptical for my house! I think that they are fantastic. It's a great way to get cardio, you can increase resistance and incline to vary your workout to engage different muscle groups in your lower body. It's easy to incorporate upper body work with hand weights (if you're coordinated enough) to pull more muscles into the workout. I definitely do not think they are useless or deserving of any bad reputations!

999tigger

Absolutely not. Cardio depends largely on intensity and duration. Bike, eliptical and rower are weight bearing, so save your knees. The article you are either sounds like rubbish or you have misinterpreted it. Am a big fan of the rower because unlike all the others its an all body workout. As you do more exercise you should know your own body and when you are pitting in enough effort to get a goodworkout or if you are coasting.