Just a quick note

ninerbuff

Ramping up the incline on a treadmill to 15 at a speed of 3.5 mph and walking on it for an hour WHILE holding on for dear life ISN'T burning the 500 calories one hopes for. The holding on reduces the resistance by up to 30% and the treadmill has no way of calculating less work.
So here's a tip: if you can't sustain an incline by just walking hands free....................it's to hard for you. Lower it down and quit fooling yourself into thinking that you're busting out a great workout.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

candiceh3

Ramping up the incline on a treadmill to 15 at a speed of 3.5 mph and walking on it for an hour WHILE holding on for dear life ISN'T burning the 500 calories one hopes for. The holding on reduces the resistance by up to 30% and the treadmill has no way of calculating less work.
So here's a tip: if you can't sustain an incline by just walking hands free....................it's to hard for you. Lower it down and quit fooling yourself into thinking that you're busting out a great workout.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Makes me wonder what you saw in the gym today .

The only time I hang on is when a sprint interval is over...

ninerbuff

Ramping up the incline on a treadmill to 15 at a speed of 3.5 mph and walking on it for an hour WHILE holding on for dear life ISN'T burning the 500 calories one hopes for. The holding on reduces the resistance by up to 30% and the treadmill has no way of calculating less work.
So here's a tip: if you can't sustain an incline by just walking hands free....................it's to hard for you. Lower it down and quit fooling yourself into thinking that you're busting out a great workout.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Makes me wonder what you saw in the gym today .

The only time I hang on is when a sprint interval is over...

Not what I saw, but a question from a member about calorie intake to lose weight. He wasn't losing even though he was burning "1000" calories an hour a day on the treadmill. When I asked him if he ran the whole time, he mentioned to me that he just walked on the highest incline. When I asked him if he held on the whole time, he stated yes. So I told him he's consuming more than he needs because he's not burning that 1000 calories he thinks.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

2RobD

good advice...thanks

julialdr

HAHA I see this all the time in my gym ( I actually think one of the trainers tells people to do this). It's so silly.

Mokey41

I watch Biggest Loser and love Jillian Michaels. If I ever think about touching the handles on the treadmill I hear her voice in my head yelling "Don't you dare touch my machine"!

Also made me think of our neighbour. I don't really know her but she waddles her dog every day for about 15 minutes. I met her one day as I was coming back from a run and she mentioned that she walks everyday and just can't seem to lose any weight. She thought since she had seen me running I might have some tips. Like I said I don't know her at all really so I refrained from suggesting that possibly if she walked at more than a snails pace for more than 15 minutes it would help a bit.

Ready2Rock206

People who are holding on for dear life scare the crap out of me. I'm always afraid they will go shooting off the back.

JessHealthKick

I watch Biggest Loser and love Jillian Michaels. If I ever think about touching the handles on the treadmill I hear her voice in my head yelling "Don't you dare touch my machine"!

Also made me think of our neighbour. I don't really know her but she waddles her dog every day for about 15 minutes. I met her one day as I was coming back from a run and she mentioned that she walks everyday and just can't seem to lose any weight. She thought since she had seen me running I might have some tips. Like I said I don't know her at all really so I refrained from suggesting that possibly if she walked at more than a snails pace for more than 15 minutes it would help a bit.

haha oh dear.. I can't stop seeing this overweight woman waddling with a chubby dog, and then having a cake after because 'what you eat for 30mins after exercising doesn't count... I just don't see why I'm not losing weight!'

yeah, now I feel like a *kitten*.

ninerbuff

I watch Biggest Loser and love Jillian Michaels. If I ever think about touching the handles on the treadmill I hear her voice in my head yelling "Don't you dare touch my machine"!

Also made me think of our neighbour. I don't really know her but she waddles her dog every day for about 15 minutes. I met her one day as I was coming back from a run and she mentioned that she walks everyday and just can't seem to lose any weight. She thought since she had seen me running I might have some tips. Like I said I don't know her at all really so I refrained from suggesting that possibly if she walked at more than a snails pace for more than 15 minutes it would help a bit.

Maybe the dog is actually walking her? What's great about my profession is that I can be flat out honest with people if they want advice. Had that been my neighbor, I would have told her that she ain't burning what she thinks and needs to walk a minimum of an hour. Of course not what they want to hear, but then again truth sometimes hurts people's feelings.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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MelodyandBarbells

I thought if weight loss was her goal, she needs to eat less than she burns. She could maintain the 15 minute walk and educate herself on nutrition, or amp the intensity and duration and ensure she's not still eating too much. In short, she needs to join MFP

astronomicals

I could see it being okay for simulated hiking... I always have hiking poles when I'm trying to do a ~3000+ elevation change. That's not what you're talking about, though.

DeeDoy

Yeah, I see the same at the gym all the time and mentally debate whether saying anything but always don't cuz I don't want to offend if the person (I call them Klingons) are doing this to lose weight - don't want to inadvertently insult them. I figure them hanging on still beats them sitting on the sofa watching tv lol

ninerbuff

I thought if weight loss was her goal, she needs to eat less than she burns. She could maintain the 15 minute walk and educate herself on nutrition, or amp the intensity and duration and ensure she's not still eating too much. In short, she needs to join MFP

You're absolutely correct, it's going to come down more to what's consumed than exercise. Though a 15 minute stroll is better than nothing, it's not going be that relevant in calories burned nor increase fitness noticeably.

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ninerbuff

Yeah, I see the same at the gym all the time and mentally debate whether saying anything but always don't cuz I don't want to offend if the person (I call them Klingons) are doing this to lose weight - don't want to inadvertently insult them. I figure them hanging on still beats them sitting on the sofa watching tv lol

No doubt it does. It's just the unrealistic expectation that they are totally "killin' it" at the gym. It's like the guy that states they can leg press 800lbs....................and does a 3 inch knee bend on the leg press.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

DeeDoy

Yeah, I see the same at the gym all the time and mentally debate whether saying anything but always don't cuz I don't want to offend if the person (I call them Klingons) are doing this to lose weight - don't want to inadvertently insult them. I figure them hanging on still beats them sitting on the sofa watching tv lol

No doubt it does. It's just the unrealistic expectation that they are totally "killin' it" at the gym. It's like the guy that states they can leg press 800lbs....................and does a 3 inch knee bend on the leg press.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

That's why my debate - also, I have been one of those who sadly hung on *shame* but no one told me, I just clicked that if I couldn't stay on under my own steam, I couldn't possibley be burning off what the treadmill said lol. Upside tho, that got me into running and I can now do a 15 incline without holding on, though only for 20 minutes but its all legs no clinging lol

sabified

I watch Biggest Loser and love Jillian Michaels. If I ever think about touching the handles on the treadmill I hear her voice in my head yelling "Don't you dare touch my machine"!

Also made me think of our neighbour. I don't really know her but she waddles her dog every day for about 15 minutes. I met her one day as I was coming back from a run and she mentioned that she walks everyday and just can't seem to lose any weight. She thought since she had seen me running I might have some tips. Like I said I don't know her at all really so I refrained from suggesting that possibly if she walked at more than a snails pace for more than 15 minutes it would help a bit.

A nice way to say it tactfully is that speed is the way to burn calories... and start talking abt keeping track of how fast she's walking and trying to improve on that to get a better burn. That way you're not saying "you waddle like a pregnant duck" but you're still giving some advice that's useful, lol.

Edit to bring it back to the original topic... honestly, I can't see how people can be on the treadmill while holding on anyway. I get frustrated holding the bar long enough to get my heartrate, I can't imagine trying to do it for an entire run... that'd be so annoying! Then again though I don't put the incline on too high anyway, so maybe that's why I've never felt the need to...

roxylola

Every day I see people on the stair climber who appear to be pressing down so hard that they are suspending more weight than their legs are holding. Drives me a bit nuts to watch, but I guess their arms are getting a bit of work too ...