The best gym cardio?

lmdh2o

Is it better to park at one cardio machine for an hour and work at a constant slower level or to vary the cardio machine and speed and intensity ?

I Lost 65 pounds last year and the past several months have been working on general fitness.. Gardening, walking, exercise classes. With weather bad I started doing the gym.. . A little bit of weights, 20 minutes on an elliptical, 20 min on a machine that is like a cross country skiing routine and 10 minutes on a stationary bike. I vary the speed and intensity to maintain the cardio heart rate. But I notice i seem to be the only one at my little gym working out like that. Most come in and park at one machine (many reading a book). And they do a consistent pace for an hour. I really don't think I could do that... Looks really boring. But maybe I am wrong. It's been many years since I did the gym thing. I am a 72 year old woman. Opinions?

AnnPT77

Mixing up modalities is probably a plus for general fitness - slightly different stresses on the body so slightly different adaptations. Varying speed and intensity can be useful in a similar way, i.e., stresses different physiological subsystems. Super short sessions wouldn't accomplish much, but 20 minutes is probably enough to get benefits from each.

I think the real story, though, is that the best choice is to do something you personally find fun and engaging, or at least tolerable and practical. The more boring or annoying a thing is, the more likely we are to procrastinate, lowball effort level, or even skip the workout with the slightest excuse.

It seems like a good side benefit that the thing you find more fun (mixing it up) probably also has some extra fitness/health benefits from varying the challenges. Other people maybe enjoy their workout more if they can read a book while they do it. At least they're there doing something, right?

There really isn't a "cardio heart rate", at least not as I'd think of it. Different exercise intensities have different physiological benefits. Sure, there's a pace that's too slow to have much benefit unless done long duration (for endurance), but varied paces upward of that can be useful and have different training effects. The so-called aerobic range isn't specially magical, and the "fat burning zone" is irrelevant except to endurance athletes (for fueling strategy).

FWIW, I'm 68, but have been quite active for a couple of decades, have coaching education in my sport (rowing).

I think it sounds like you're doing great, honestly.

robertw486

The best cardio is the one you do consistently, and hopefully with at least some level of enjoyment. If that means switching it up for you, then by all means switch it up.

If you are doing so well at weight loss, having some fun, and mixing it up, I wouldn't care what the other people do. Many people your age consider a quick walk to the kitchen to grab a snack as their cardio for the day. Keep doing what works for you.