reading while at the gym, really?

peleroja

Here's an idea, take the hour you spend at the gym plodding away on the ellitical/treadmill and reading and cut it in half. Spend half an hour reading intently and half an hour exercising intensely just as an experiment to see how it feels. You'll probably get more out of both. Multi-tasking is actually a myth, you may think you're doing two things at one but what is actually happening is that you are flicking back and forth between the two and doing both poorly.

Especially to those people who say that they read to distract themselves, why not opt for a shorter more intense workout (obviously tailored to your fitness level). Just give it a go - you might even enjoy it. If you need a distraction music is proven to enhance your workout.

I run the same speed and distance and time whether I read or not. I just enjoy it more if I'm reading. I don't really understand how it would be "more intense" without. The great thing about treadmills is you can set the speed and incline and just go, and you don't have to think about it or focus on your pace.

MyaPapaya75

meanwhile OP concentrates on the guy with book.......

FireMama_24

I have been doing it since I am pregnant and not running just a brisk walk and I can still concentrate on that. Now weight machines are different.

dmanson2

I set my Nexus 7 up on the treadmil every time I work out. I put the treadmil on a 15 degree incline, a 4.5 MPH pace. I start my TV show or movie, put my bluetooth ear phones in & tear it up for an hour.

1200-1400 calories later, my show is over, my workout is done & im out the door.

to say people cant get a good workout while watching tv/reading or what ever is just plain stupid.

gmallan

Here's an idea, take the hour you spend at the gym plodding away on the ellitical/treadmill and reading and cut it in half. Spend half an hour reading intently and half an hour exercising intensely just as an experiment to see how it feels. You'll probably get more out of both. Multi-tasking is actually a myth, you may think you're doing two things at one but what is actually happening is that you are flicking back and forth between the two and doing both poorly.

Especially to those people who say that they read to distract themselves, why not opt for a shorter more intense workout (obviously tailored to your fitness level). Just give it a go - you might even enjoy it. If you need a distraction music is proven to enhance your workout.

I run the same speed and distance and time whether I read or not. I just enjoy it more if I'm reading. I don't really understand how it would be "more intense" without. The great thing about treadmills is you can set the speed and incline and just go, and you don't have to think about it or focus on your pace.

I still think that if you CAN read while you're on there you could be pushing yourself a bit harder. Maybe you need to step up the intensity a little. I guess it all comes down to your reasons and motivation for going to the gym. I assume that people go to the gym to improve their fitness, which is measured by increases in ability (distance, pace, speed...). I'm also assuming that people want to get in and out as quick as possible (i.e. if you can get the same or better results from a 30min vs a 1hr workout you'd do the shorter one). I suppose for some people these assumptions are incorrect.

Exercise for fitness, diet for weight loss.

gmallan

I set my Nexus 7 up on the treadmil every time I work out. I put the treadmil on a 15 degree incline, a 4.5 MPH pace. I start my TV show or movie, put my bluetooth ear phones in & tear it up for an hour.

1200-1400 calories later, my show is over, my workout is done & im out the door.

to say people cant get a good workout while watching tv/reading or what ever is just plain stupid.

I think watching tv is different to reading. It requires much less concentration.

HeadsPoppingOutOfCups

You know the best way to motivate my butt at the gym? Find a new book, get really into that book, and then tell myself I can only read it when I'm at the gym. I read on the less...unsteady equipment but yes, it's too difficult to read while on that treadmill. As a result 20 minutes on the treadmill feels 4 times as long as 20 minutes on a bike to me. I set goal prizes for myself at certain weights and one of them is a subscription to audiobooks.com but for now I have to do it the old fashioned way. And it doesn't distract me. I read at work while talking on the phone, I've been able to read and walk while not bumping into anything since I was a preteen. True bookworms let nothing get in the eay.

Gidzmo

Personally, I totally couldn't do it! I can barely read a text message as a passenger in a vehicle without feeling motion sickness! lol
If it takes their mind of what they are doing, good for them I guess. For me, I'm a music person -- that keeps me motivated and, of course, the eye candy doesn't hurt! :laugh:

I walk to work most of the time, as well as walking to other places--good exercise (a fact that seems to be lost on my oldest niece, who was surprised that I did not drive to work). The MP3 player or one of the radio apps on the cellphone provide entertainment.

likearadiowave

I saw someone on a treadmill reading a book today, and it kind of got me to thinking. If you are on a treadmill running/walking whatever, how can you concentrate on reading a book? Another person brings in a tablet and sets it on ground in front of them when working with some of the machines...weird..

In my humble opinion, if you are reading book or watching a tablet while at gym then said person is not working out hard enough and/or are not concentrating on routine.

I mean we can't go to the gym for an hour without brining a book or tablet, really?

curious what the rest of you think ....read/tablet = yes, no, or epic fail ....

They have magazines at my gym to look at while using the treadmill or stairstepper. Don't see a problem with it.

Now reading while taking a Zumba class ... that would be difficult.

__Di__

I saw someone on a treadmill reading a book today, and it kind of got me to thinking. If you are on a treadmill running/walking whatever, how can you concentrate on reading a book? Another person brings in a tablet and sets it on ground in front of them when working with some of the machines...weird..

In my humble opinion, if you are reading book or watching a tablet while at gym then said person is not working out hard enough and/or are not concentrating on routine.

I mean we can't go to the gym for an hour without brining a book or tablet, really?

curious what the rest of you think ....read/tablet = yes, no, or epic fail ....

I would not be capable of reading a book or Kindle or anything like that whilst bouncing up and down on the treadmill. The Elliptical would be slightly easier but I would end up missing words and such stuff out, the exercise bike would be okay, but I have tried that before and there were too many distractions, I just couldn't concentrate on the book lol.

As for reading whilst doing weights, I only stop for a minute or two between sets, I would end up reading the same paragraph over and over, sod that :laugh:

ernila13

I'm in the final few weeks of my PhD and I'll often take a print-out of a chapter to the gym and sit on the bike/treadmill and read. I spend around 16 hours a day at my computer at the moment (wish I was joking), so I appreciate the break and the opportunity to get my blood flowing! **However** I also do my hard workout on alternating days. This isn't my only exercise. People probably judge me and assume I'm not working hard, but what they don't see is the bonkers heavy lifting sessions & other exercise I do, or the fact that I work all day, every day, and consider this a break.

Lyadeia

It depends on the person and their goals.

I lose a great deal of body fat when I do mostly weight training with a couple of cardio days in between...and oftentimes those cardio days are just for walking.

If I am currently around 20% body fat and losing at a steady pace wearing size 4 US clothes...why do you, or anyone else, give a flying f*** if I am walking on a treadmill with a pace steady enough to allow me to enjoy a book?

On the other hand, if my goals were to increase endurance...then reading would be a no-no since I would have to be doing more intense cardio workouts to reach my goals.

People have often scoffed at me for having my Android with me in the weight room...but they fail to realize that I am tracking my workouts with the Jefit app and not just reading crap on the internet, texting, or whatever.

Personally, I would have to believe that if someone takes the time to notice and point out what other people are doing in the gym, whether it is reading while on the treadmill or typing something on their Android or whatever, then it is that person who is not working hard enough since they are so engrossed with what other people are doing rather than themselves. Worry about your own workout, and I will worry about mine...and that other person over there can worry about themselves. Other people's approval is not needed or wanted.

JUDDDing

If you believe in the "fat loss zone" then it is totally easy to watch a tablet or read while doing cardio. 60-70% max heart rate is not that hard to maintain.

If you're doing HIIT? Probably not.

Every gym I've been inside in the last 20 years has had a row of TV's in front of the cardio equipment - so I'm not sure why this concept is foreign.

ash190489

Forget what every one else is doing. If it doesn't have anything to do with you and your workout. Who cares what they do.

chelcdub

I was going to say fail...BUT, we are not all trying to get fit. Loosing weight or gaining muscles. Some folks are just wanting to be more active, and just happen to want to do that at the gym. I prefer walking around at a bookstore myself haha

JUDDDing

For the people who don't think that they could read on the treadmill - with ebooks, you can make your font bigger.

With a big font, reading is much easier and it's possible while jogging.

jenilla1

Whatever works. Who cares if someone else is reading on the treadmill? And who cares if some stranger is putting in MAX EFFORT or just taking a casual stroll? Just worry about your own fitness goals.

When I had an injury several years ago I was not allowed to run. I had to take it easy on the bike or walk on the treadmill. I read during that time so I didn't go crazy with boredom. You can't necessarily tell by looking at someone what their fitness level is or whether or not they are recuperating from an illness or injury.

Sometimes I wonder if the gym busybodies are really putting in as much effort as they could be if they'd just focus on their own workouts...:laugh:

Ocarina

I play candy crush in between sets while weight lifting. TAKE THAT!

Emmabulliemum

lol for me it would be epic fail I'd fly off the end of the treadmill. There's a guy at our gym who is the same but he has a book which he holds whilst running or on the bike and another lady who must have it set to read to her as she has headphones on very odd if you ask me I like my hour of techno free time, don't even take the phone

Faery_Dust

I set my Nexus 7 up on the treadmil every time I work out. I put the treadmil on a 15 degree incline, a 4.5 MPH pace. I start my TV show or movie, put my bluetooth ear phones in & tear it up for an hour.

1200-1400 calories later, my show is over, my workout is done & im out the door.

to say people cant get a good workout while watching tv/reading or what ever is just plain stupid.

I just bought a Nexus 7, I am so trying this next time I am in the gym!!

I personally try to just mind my own business while in the gym. Everyone there is making some effort to burn calories, get fit, build muscle, lose weight.... whatever their reasons are. Who cares if they could have a more intense work out by not reading? It's their business and if they are happy at that intensity level then it's no one elses business but theirs.