eliptical: to use or not to use...

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StephLop
StephLop Posts: 20
in Fitness and Exercise
I always burn more calories on this machine then running, but I feel more of a "high" after running. Is the eliptical machine lying to me? I enter my weight/age and so it should be semi-accurate. I also heard this machine does nothing but make your butt bigger (haha). I just don't want to waste my 40 minutes on the wrong equipment.

Thx!

Replies

  • misschoy
    misschoy Posts: 125 Member
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    I'd say go for it, but don't forget to switch it up. Any exercise is better than no exercise
  • AmyW4225
    AmyW4225 Posts: 302 Member
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    Use it! I lost all of my weight(38 pounds) on the elliptical! Take a look at my before and after pics. It didn't make my butt bigger LOL. I think it's good to mix it up so you don't get bored, though.
  • Kiwi_09
    Kiwi_09 Posts: 65
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    I love my elliptical. I'd say do both! I have a big butt, but it hasn't made it bigger.
  • JenniferDelmed
    JenniferDelmed Posts: 1
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    Use it :)! Its hard at first but it wrks..
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Switch it up!
    Run one day, use the elliptical the next.
    Or even 20 minutes on each.
  • slieber
    slieber Posts: 765 Member
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    I use a heart rate monitor. The elliptical's monitor gives me 100 more exercise calories than is recorded on my HRM. So for 30 minutes, I burn 200 cals (or thereabouts) for interval work acccording to my HRM, but 300ish on the actual elliptical machine.

    If you use a HRM, then you'll have reasonable accuracy no matter the cardio type you choose. That's the first thing to check.

    Another thought: if the elliptical is one that has the handles that move, that would also account for more calories burned than running.
  • lcoulter23
    lcoulter23 Posts: 568 Member
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    I use the elliptical and my butt has shrunk a LOT since I started using it. My butt is huge so I notice immediately when it shrinks. My thighs and tummy pouch have also shrunk quite a bit.
  • gdr1976
    gdr1976 Posts: 460 Member
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    I like the eliptical, because I think I get a better work out. I find myself sweating more after 30 min than I do walking or on a tread mill. I don't have an *kitten* to begin with so...lol
  • sweat4me
    sweat4me Posts: 6
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    Elliptical cannot compete w/ running, however it is a good calorie burner. i have serious back problems now, and elliptical upright and elliptical octane are what I use. I depend on heart rate level to gauge my euphoria level.
  • Missevanston
    Missevanston Posts: 361 Member
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    This is the supreme machine...no one will compare it to actually running...but if you have knee issues, which I do, then this is the machine that will kill the most calories...next best would be the Precor AMT which I also use...but I LOVE THE ELLIPTICAL and it loves me back! :heart:
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    The elliptical cross trainer is a great machine and you can get good results using it (like you can with just about any cardio modality). The "elliptical vs running" question is a false debate--there is no reason to assert that one is "superior" to the other.

    When it comes to calorie readouts, ellipticals are notorious for overestimating calories. The reason is simple: there is no standard movement for ellipticals (compared to walking or running); each manufacturer has their own exclusive design. Therefore there is no standard formula for estimating calories. The only way a manufacturer can program an accurate calorie estimate is to do validation testing on each new model of equipment. Very few manufacturers have the resources or the interest in doing so. The only company I know that has the lab and commitment to doing such testing is Life Fitness and only for their later model 95X cross trainers--the new Elevation Cross Trainers and the silver 95X models manufactured after 2006-7 or thereabouts.

    Everyone else is a crapshoot--they often use equations designed for running which is why they overestimate. And why shouldn't they? They know that a high "calorie burn" will draw more interest, it's not illegal to distort these numbers, and who is going to call them on it anyway?
  • slieber
    slieber Posts: 765 Member
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    I was wondering what was going on, because when I use a bike at the gym, the numbers come extremely close to my HRM, but the elliptical is always so way off. Thanks for that information!!
  • ElizabethSami
    ElizabethSami Posts: 67
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    I actually like the Elliptical better then the treadmill even though i use both.....I burn more on the eliptical. Anyways i have a HRM and it actually pretty accurate to the machine...it may be over/under by maybe 10C but thats really nothing.

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