Elliptical/Anytime Fitness

caitlin70433

I got a 7-day pass to Anytime Fitness and am going to start that this evening. I have used an elliptical at gyms before and love it. Its my favorite machine. I've always just been a guest of somebody (Mom used to teach Tai Chi at a gym) so I haven't been able to do it on a regular bases so my questions are:

1. Is the elliptical fairly safe to do consistently (at least 4x a week)? Bear in mind I'm pretty spastic and careless and concerned about my knees.

2. How many minutes should I start out at? I have been exercising (light/moderate walking and/or moderate stepping on the step platform I have at home) for awhile now. I put in the tracker that I would do 20 on the elliptical but I'm going to try to do 30 minutes.

I am thinking about joining the gym. If I dropped my Netflix DVDs ($7.99) and the Basic-Basic Cable ($9.99) and took all my showers at the gym (heh. savings on electric/.water), it would go aways to paying for the $44 a month membership. I don't do classes (I'd rather watch TV or listen to an audiobook while working a machine) but I would like access to the machines. I'd be afraid to do the weights without close supervision (see comment about my clumsiness), which I doubt they offer, certainly not without extra cost, but I would use those ellipticals and treadmills.

taco_tap

If you are worried about your knees, the elliptical is much better than running. However, I did something to my knee, went to the doctor and he told me that I needed to see a physical therapist. I told the doc that I do alot of working out. Ride my bike a lot, water aerobics, and the elliptical. He told me that I needed to strengthen the muscle are my knee to avoid injury, but said that the elliptical might not be good for me right now bc your legs going down might cause a lot of stress on it. I have an appointment tomorrow and will be asking about it. I will keep you posted as to what they say.

Since you dont have an injury though, just listen to your body, if you have pain, stop doing what is causing it. Sometimes I can use the rowing machine, sometimes I cant. When I started using the elliptical, I could only go 7 minutes, built up some endurance and am up to 30 minutes. Dont over exert yourself. If you feel like you need to stop, then stop. Its much better than having to take a week off (or more) bc you injured yourself.

As for weights, use the strength training machines instead of free weights. And dont be afraid to ask the trainer for a little help. Thats what they are there for.