Arc vs. Elliptical... WOW

8ritt55

My legs are on fire, I'm not sure I've burned more calories but I feel different than after working out on the standard elliptical. Anyone else notice this?

Azdak

You did something different, not necessarily something better.

Adding to this because I didn’t want the original comment to sound overly snarky: The feeling you get from an exercise movement will be very specific to that type of movement. Doing a different movement (or machine) will recruit different muscle fibers in different patterns. In some ways, it will feel like starting up a new exercise program. It will almost certainly feel harder, and often results in some muscle soreness afterwards.

It doesn’t mean that you worked harder, burned more calories, or that one machine/exercise is better than the other—it’s just different. Example: I have been suffering from a horrible Achilles’ tendon problem for a year now. I have just started being able to pedal a stationary bike. Because I haven’t spent much time on a bike for a few years, it’s a struggle. My legs are burning, my butt is aching—even to do 15-20 min. However, my heart rate and calorie burn are only 55% compared to the other exercises I used to do.

If you like the movement, the Arc Trainer is a good exercise—it scores well in both training stimulus and calorie burn.

tulips_and_tea

That's the reason I mix up my cardio using different machines. At one of my gyms there are three different types of ellipticals and they all feel different. Variety is good.