Mile times

ceredonia
ceredonia Posts: 61
edited September 22 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone!

I've been using the elliptical at my gym a lot lately, but I seem to only be averaging nearly a 30-minute mile. I'm wondering, though I probably don't have to ask, isn't that a long time to do a mile? I feel like I see posts all the time that say people are doing a mile in 10 minutes or less on various machines, or walks/runs, or whatever. I usually have my resistance set to level 6 (out of 25, good god, it's a tough machine) which works me pretty well, and I usually average over 100rpm, so I'm not just phoning it in, I'm really sweating by the end.

Is this normal or do I *really* need to step it up?! If so, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to do so?

Replies

  • arinwinter
    arinwinter Posts: 7
    The distance calibration might be off on the machine. The elliptical at my old gym was the same way. Ones I used to go on would say I did 3 miles in the 30 min, and started at that gym and I was lucky if it gave me a mile.
  • ceredonia
    ceredonia Posts: 61
    The distance calibration might be off on the machine. The elliptical at my old gym was the same way. Ones I used to go on would say I did 3 miles in the 30 min, and started at that gym and I was lucky if it gave me a mile.

    Interesting, that never occurred to me. However, I've used quite a few of the machines, and a couple different brands, and it seems I'm still averaging anywhere from 25-30 minutes/mile. So I think it might be me. :ohwell:
  • Amarillo_NDN
    Amarillo_NDN Posts: 1,018 Member
    don't count on the machine being totally accurate, but that is 2 miles an hour and that machine is much harder for most than just walking.
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    I dont think en eliptical is an accurate measurement of a mile, especially with resistance, it would probably be better measured on a treadmill
  • randilea
    randilea Posts: 140
    I would agree that using an elliptical is not the same as running or walking outside or on a treadmill. It is a completely different type of workout (although most people think of it as low impact walking/running).
  • coronalime
    coronalime Posts: 583 Member
    Umm yeah..I think you could crawl a mile in 30 mins.
    A 10 min mile you would be running/jogging. I would say a slow jog would put you in 12/14 min mile. Some could probably even walk a 12/14 min mile.
    I wouldnt really rely on distance on a elliptical machine. I would go for time and effort. Distance I wouldnt think would really matter on an elliptical.
  • ceredonia
    ceredonia Posts: 61
    Haha, that's what I thought, that I could walk a faster mile! LOL.

    So maybe I should just go until I hit a certain number of calories that I want to burn, or just go for a certain time. Usually I just enter 1 mile for distance for my goal, and go from there, which is about 30minutes with moderate to hard effort. I should probably start upping the resistance too. I try to get in a mile on the treadmill too, but running hurts my ankles so I don't like to run much...
  • stevendavis
    stevendavis Posts: 2 Member
    Heart rate during exercise is probably a better measure of effort than distance, especially on something like an elliptical trainer. Picking a target training zone (there are lots of target zone calculators, normally based on age) and trying to stay in it for the full 30 minutes is a pretty reliable way to make sure you're working hard enough, but not too hard.
  • DaveyGravy
    DaveyGravy Posts: 283 Member
    I like to do 15 minutes on levels 6 - 10 and then 5 minutes on level 25 (trying to keep the RPM over 100 on this setting is brutal!) and then finish with 15-20 minutes on level 6. I try not to slip below 140 RPM in the final section of the workout. Elliptical used to be my least favourite of all the cardio machines but i've grown to love it now!
  • DJH510
    DJH510 Posts: 114 Member
    Put simply, either the machine is wrong or you are going VERY slowly. A 30 minute mile is an absolute crawl.
  • theresnoeggs
    theresnoeggs Posts: 188 Member
    On the elliptical, it takes me close to 20 min to do a mile, the treadmill w/o running, talks me 27 minutes. Crawl, or just short legs because my 27 minute miles nearly take my breath away.
  • kealoha19
    kealoha19 Posts: 2
    i ran a 3:34seconds mile averaged btween 16-20 mph on elliptical how good is that
  • kealoha19
    kealoha19 Posts: 2
    level 6 of 25 at the ymca
  • DietinginGluckstadt
    DietinginGluckstadt Posts: 3 Member
    Kealoha19...you are full of it. The fastest men in the world are lucky to break under 4 minutes at a dead sprint. Claiming to do a sub-4 mile for an hour on the elliptical is laughable. Come out of your mom's basement.
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