Needing new variety, but same effectiveness...

rfinger22
rfinger22 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been pretty consistent of going to the gym 5 days a week. Usually when I go, I put myself on the stair climbing treadmill. I've been able to do about 30 minutes of exercise and burn between 650-700 calories. So, I've found it to be pretty effective. Recently, though, I've noticed my hands starting to hurt (like a carpal tunnel type of feeling), and I think a bunch of it is, as I hold onto the rails as I climb, my wrists are getting impacted. I want to back off of it to do something else, but that has been the most effective machine to burn more calories in a smaller amount of time.

My question is what other cardio will be just as effective? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

Replies

  • hearthemelody
    hearthemelody Posts: 1,025 Member
    What about just a pair of wrist braces?
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    If you are using the calorie number from the machine and using the handrails that much for support, then you aren't burning nearly as many cals as you think.

    Regardless, calorie burn depends on the intensity of the exercise, not the exercise modality. If your wrists are not affected, you should be able to reproduce that effort (and calorie burn) doing any number of other cardio exercises.
  • emboslice94
    emboslice94 Posts: 60
    Don't hold the rails.

    Add some sprinting intervals. Yes, sprint up the stairs. 30 seconds sprint, 1 minute walks to start.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Pick any cardio activity and try interval training.
  • slb573
    slb573 Posts: 18 Member
    I'd say loosen your grip and/or try some classes. If your gym offers classes you should give them a try, yes a lot of them are predominantly female but the cardio benefits apply to men just as much as they do women.
    You could also swap out machines maybe try an elliptical one day, a bike the next, then the stair climbing treadmill and repeat. Each one has your hands in different positions and will work different muscles in your legs so you wont plateau as much. You may want to not hold on but if your talking about the machine I think you are I don't blame you for the death grip I hate that thing too.
  • artsycella
    artsycella Posts: 121 Member
    I have all kinds of wrist issues, including carpal tunnel, and I can see how just holding your hands at a certain angle repeatedly might cause a problem. As others have said, though, you can pretty much pick any machine (that has a better grip option for you) and reproduce the same effort. I'm a big fan of elliptical machines because they're low-impact, but a treadmill or any other cardio option will probably work just fine for you. If you find that you're not burning the same number of calories, just up the intensity/speed/intervals/incline/etc. to be where you want.

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