Stigma around elliptical machines

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  • _BrewingAZ_
    _BrewingAZ_ Posts: 252 Member
    edited October 2016
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    I don't mind ellipticals. I have arthritis in both of my feet and some knee problems. I was told not to run anymore as it'll make my feet worse. I have lost a lot of weight using an elliptical but as far as calorie tracking, I've always found that the "calories burned" on most machines seems way off. I tend to wear a heart rate monitor to track that instead.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    Here's my perspective I have an arthritic knee and I've had a double hip replacement.

    I love the elliptical is a great workout. it takes stress off my knee and it gives me a good cardio workout. The only thing I never factored is exercise calories burned during a workout by a machine. Those are General numbers and depending on your effort and physical level it's going to vary from person to person.
  • BeeerRunner
    BeeerRunner Posts: 728 Member
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    Who cares what others think. If it's you're losing weight, and it allows you to keep exercising because your joints aren't getting achy, then do it. I prefer to run outside as well, but I usually do 1 day of non running cardio, and I alternate between the elliptical and stair climber. When I use the elliptical, I up the resistance and I usually do hills so it works my glutes and hamstrings. Also, I use my heart rate monitor when using the elliptical so I get a more conservative calorie burn. I find all the machines over estimate my calories burned, even when I enter my weight.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    meritage4 wrote: »
    The study I read showed that the treadmill burned more calories but hey burning some-and not injurying your knee-is working for you!

    Some people are not interested in burning calories but merely achieving a low impact cardio vascular workout.
    Elliptical fits that bill.
  • KDar1988
    KDar1988 Posts: 650 Member
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    I love the elliptical. The treadmill bores me to death. I just surgery on my leg 10 days ago to treat some veins and I can't do anything but walk for the next couple weeks and it's killing me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    JoRocka wrote: »
    meritage4 wrote: »
    The study I read showed that the treadmill burned more calories but hey burning some-and not injurying your knee-is working for you!

    Some people are not interested in burning calories but merely achieving a low impact cardio vascular workout.
    Elliptical fits that bill.

    Also, calorie burn is not a bi-product of any one particular machine...so I question this study if there actually is one. Calorie burn is a bi-product of moving mass over distance and intensity.
  • stephenmoralee
    stephenmoralee Posts: 75 Member
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    I use my eppileptical to do HIIT after my strength & Stamina Training.

    I cannot get the intensity i get using any other machine.

    If i had the choice to take one machine when stranded on an Island for a month it would be an eppileptical.

    Small tip,- if you hang back a Little with your body when doing fast & hard Intervalls there is no better HIIT for the upper Body.

    Try it out ,- after warming up.

    Hang back with your upper Body so you have to use your arms more, 20 seconds fast & Hard Intervall.
    Lean Forward and go slow for 40 seconds then go fast agein for 20 after 10 minutes your upper Body will be exploding and your legs will be pretty jiggered too :)

    WARNING You wont enjoy it but it works ;)
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    The elliptical works well for me. I go by results not what somebody wrote.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I'm still not getting the whole "stigma" thing...what is this "stigma?"
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    edited October 2016
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    I use them a lot, yes they work and I don't give a crap what anybody thinks of that or me! :wink:

    No matter what you do there will always be someone to criticize.

    As of a few years ago, even the elliptical manufactures agreed that the calorie count wasn't very reliable because so much depends on your form when you use them. But I just use that as a guideline and try to burn more each time I use one - personal challenge to myself. I'll subtract 10%-20% from the total calorie count it give me. I'm happy with that.
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    edited October 2016
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    stephenmoralee wrote: »
    I use my eppileptical to do HIIT after my strength & Stamina Training.

    What is an eppileptical?

  • Anvil_Head
    Anvil_Head Posts: 251 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm still not getting the whole "stigma" thing...what is this "stigma?"

    It's something more imagined than actual. Like the countless threads about people who walk into a gym for the first time and feel they're being "judged" if anybody so much as casts an eye in their direction.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    JoRocka wrote: »
    meritage4 wrote: »
    The study I read showed that the treadmill burned more calories but hey burning some-and not injurying your knee-is working for you!

    Some people are not interested in burning calories but merely achieving a low impact cardio vascular workout.
    Elliptical fits that bill.

    Also, calorie burn is not a bi-product of any one particular machine...so I question this study if there actually is one. Calorie burn is a bi-product of moving mass over distance and intensity.


    The study looked at calorie burns at different rates of perceived exertion. So the workloads were not the same. The interesting thing was that the top performer wasn't "the treadmill" per se--it was RUNNING on a treadmill. (that information was not included in the study--it had to be deduced from the data included. More evidence of the symbiotic relatationship between researchers and media).

    Basically, it said that working at higher workloads FELT "easier" when running on a treadmill, compared to other modalities. The point was that, if someone was choosing a workload totally on "feel", they would burn more calories running on a treadmill. Obviously, if one chose a workload based on something more quantifiable like METs, calorie burns would be very similar regardless of the machine.

    It stands to reason that something more dynamic like running would feel easier than doing the same workload on a bike or stepper, for example. With cycling or stepping, someone not fully conditioned to those machines would likely be limited by localized muscle fatigue rather than actual VO2 intensity.

    IIRC, the second ranking modality was the cross trainer, followed by a rower. Stairclimbers and exercise bike were last (out of 6 machines). So it was a legitimate study--but like many studies, the results were somewhat misrepresented in the media reports (and, disappointingly, the misperceptions were not corrected by the study authors).

    Note: I believe someone replicated this study a year or so later and this time the Arc Trainer finished #1 (can't remember if it was included in the first study).
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    It's a nice cardio machine that's easy on the joints. So it's all good IMO.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
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    I tend to have vertigo and these things do me no favors. I have known other people who love them and use them daily. I have heard people talking smack about these machines but I have never paid much attention to the reasons why. I am sure there are plenty of reasons. Just try them out if you want and if you don't like it then don't use them again.
  • Rururiri
    Rururiri Posts: 31 Member
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    I never knew there is a stigma around ellipticals. I use them for the purpose of warming up my body. The reason is it engages my lats, legs, arms, obliques, etc,. Basically, my entire body for my next heavy lifting session. You shouldn't rely on the calorie burn you see on it. It doesn't matter if it's an elliptical, bicycle, treadmill, or a rowing machine. Everyone is different. Therefore, calorie burn will vary in each person.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,978 Member
    edited October 2016
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    When I belonged to a gym, I mainly used the elliptical and stairmaster. Both were much less boring and stressful on my knees than the treadmill.

    Set the elliptical at the hugher incline settings and wore a HR monitor to keep my HB at or above 120+ for 15-30 min sessions. Sweat was usually soaking my shirt when I was done.

    Now, I just row and bike at home but I don't get near the same cardio workout doing them that I did on the elliptical and stairmaster.

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