Which is better?

silver12176

I have a couple different question ?
Which is better slow and higher resistance or fast and low resistance? I am trying to lose a lot of weight.
And why can I do 2 miles on an elliptical in less than 19 min, but can not jog for 60 sec?

Beezil

Fast and low resistance. Less likelihood of injury that way. I'm pretty sure faster anything burns more calories too. >.> Could be wrong though, so don't attack me. ;x

NoAdditives

There is little to no resistance on an elliptical so your body doesn't have to work as hard as it does when you're actually running on a treadmill.

As far as speed and resistance go, I'd do intervals of low resistance at a higher speed and higher resistance at a lower speed. That way you can maximize your calorie burn while increasing strength and endurance.

Beezil

There is little to no resistance on an elliptical so your body doesn't have to work as hard as it does when you're actually running on a treadmill.

As far as speed and resistance go, I'd do intervals of low resistance at a higher speed and higher resistance at a lower speed. That way you can maximize your calorie burn while increasing strength and endurance.

Yeah, plus it is good to switch up your exercise routine every day. Muscle confusion = more calories burned + better results overall.

wolfchild59

Whichever will keep you doing it and for decent amounts of time. There are reasons for both, but work on getting set on a schedule and comfortable with what you're doing. Then start to play with varying things from day to day to keep from hitting a rut.

And the elliptical is extremely low impact. The body has to do less work and in a different way on it so it's easier to do. I was the same way. Could barely jog for 30 seconds but did 45-65 on the elliptical each day. Once my endurance was up and I was able to push myself even harder than before on the elliptical, then I went back to the treadmill to try again. I then spent a couple months doing sort of a similar thing to C25K, but has never heard of that before and just sorta did it at my own pace. That was around Feb of this year. I just ran a 10K this morning at a 9:26/mi pace without stopping. So it can be done.

sunnyzephyr

It all depends on what you are going for. Slow with high resistance will build more muscle. Fast with low resistance improves things like speed which will most likely cause you to lose more weight. Adding muscle is good for your body, but it may discourage you when you look at the scale because muscle weighs more than fat. As far as the elliptical vs. jogging question... I don't know exactly why you can do the elliptical longer, but its not a bad thing necessarily. Jogging is good cardio, but it isn't great for your body. It can cause shin splints and only works a few regions of your body. The elliptical may be easier for you because you are not putting stress on one part of your body the whole time. It is a great exercise for cardio and for working more of your body at one time. If you use the arm bars, you work your arms and core as well as your legs. I'm not an expert or anything, this is just what I have learned in my personal experience.

Rain_Howard

Whatever keeps your heart rate in the target zone for the longest. Aerobic exercise burns fat. Anaerobic builds muscle. That's way over simplified, but a quick answer.

WifeMomDVM

I'm going to be in the slow with more resistance camp. Especially if we are talking about WEIGHTS. You have to lift heavy weights to build muscle (which will make you a lean, fat-burnin' machine!)

Lift the heaviest weights you can!

Click this link to see why:

http://i.imgur.com/nj1UJ.jpg

Johnny_Castle

its much easier to lose weight if you have a lot to lose so little details don't matter as much. Just focus on burning a lot of calories and watch your diet. I would say low resistance is better because there is less pressure on your joints and less chance of injury.

sunnyzephyr

Something helpful I just thought of: As far as gaining muscle mass.... the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns on its own.

NoAdditives

When you're eating at a calorie deficit you can't build new muscle tissue. All you'll do is gain strength and burn fat.