Elliptical, Biking, Walking.... help!

sammy084
sammy084 Posts: 27 Member
edited October 1 in Fitness and Exercise
I am having trouble trying to figure out if I should switch it up from just cycling for cardio, and maybe incorporate the elliptical. I am afraid I will not get the fat loss I am looking for. I have the same fear with walking. I don't think I am educated enough on the burn, so if anyone has any useful advice, I'd love to hear it. :) Thanks!

Replies

  • gettingthin03
    gettingthin03 Posts: 149
    I love the ellipical. For me personal, I burn more calories on the ellipical than I do walking. Either way, you are burning calories!
  • Kinda79
    Kinda79 Posts: 239 Member
    Hello Sammy girl!

    I totally love my elliptical and I think it really provides a great cardio workout. I just burned 657 calories in 33 mins hows that for a calorie burn girl! Walking is good to but doesn't provide the burn your probably wanting, also with cycling I think you work your legs more while with the elliptical I work my arms, core and legs.

    Just my take though. :) How ya doin girl? We miss ya!
  • foremaar012
    foremaar012 Posts: 60
    Hello Sammy girl!

    I totally love my elliptical and I think it really provides a great cardio workout. I just burned 657 calories in 33 mins hows that for a calorie burn girl! Walking is good to but doesn't provide the burn your probably wanting, also with cycling I think you work your legs more while with the elliptical I work my arms, core and legs.

    Just my take though. :) How ya doin girl? We miss ya!

    please tell me how you burn 657 calories in 33 minutes!!! I can barely get to 535 in 50 : (
    ( Although I only started doing it 3 weeks ago.)
  • bearsfan2334
    bearsfan2334 Posts: 137
    My old trainer always said to walk at an incline if you want to walk on the treadmill. It is less stress on the knees and really gets your heart rate pumping to burn more calories. If you are getting bored of cycling, try something new. If I have a hard time concentrating, I just hop on a new machine. I'm still burning calories atleast.
  • Kinda79
    Kinda79 Posts: 239 Member
    Hello Sammy girl!

    I totally love my elliptical and I think it really provides a great cardio workout. I just burned 657 calories in 33 mins hows that for a calorie burn girl! Walking is good to but doesn't provide the burn your probably wanting, also with cycling I think you work your legs more while with the elliptical I work my arms, core and legs.

    Just my take though. :) How ya doin girl? We miss ya!

    I use a program 2 resistance level on my Welso elliptical for 30 mins. It bounces back and forth between resistance levels of 4, 6 and 8 with 4 different intervals. The last 3 mins I just kept going because I was enjoying the burn and wanted to push myself just a little bit more. :)

    please tell me how you burn 657 calories in 33 minutes!!! I can barely get to 535 in 50 : (
    ( Although I only started doing it 3 weeks ago.)
  • laurenpence
    laurenpence Posts: 147
    I mix it up depending on my mood that day.......cardio is cardio. It all depends on how hard you push yourself on each machine and how long you go for. Don't be afraid of trying new things, if anything it will just build strength and lean muscle in different places. keep your body guessing so you keep losing the weight. Good luck and whatever you do just make sure its fun for you so you stick with it!
  • sammy084
    sammy084 Posts: 27 Member
    Thanks you guys!! Those were all great words of advice!
  • Jenner22
    Jenner22 Posts: 94 Member
    I love the elliptical. I go to the gym as often as I can just to use it! It's a great burn in little amount of time. There are some options on there for you as well. I switch it up and do fat burn one day which is a lower heart rate and then I do the cardio button the next day where I can pretty much run on it until it tells me to slow down. It's a wonderful machine and it's helped me lose a lot of the weight that I have lost in the past!
  • dmoses
    dmoses Posts: 786 Member
    please tell me how you burn 657 calories in 33 minutes!!! I can barely get to 535 in 50 : (
    ( Although I only started doing it 3 weeks ago.)

    If you have less weight to lose, you will burn fewer calories than someone with more weight to lose. I too can only get about 550 burned in 60 minutes. Sucks...
  • breyn2004
    breyn2004 Posts: 162 Member
    Hello Sammy girl!

    I totally love my elliptical and I think it really provides a great cardio workout. I just burned 657 calories in 33 mins hows that for a calorie burn girl! Walking is good to but doesn't provide the burn your probably wanting, also with cycling I think you work your legs more while with the elliptical I work my arms, core and legs.

    Just my take though. :) How ya doin girl? We miss ya!

    please tell me how you burn 657 calories in 33 minutes!!! I can barely get to 535 in 50 : (
    ( Although I only started doing it 3 weeks ago.)

    Seriously! Do share! I burn about 650 in 60 minutes on my elliptical!
  • aimeeturner
    aimeeturner Posts: 225 Member
    Calories burned will vary based on the person's weight. As I lost weight, I noticed that it took much more effort to burn the same number of calories that I did when I started. So, try not to compare what one person burns to what you burn unless you weigh the same, are the same height, age, etc.
  • sammy084
    sammy084 Posts: 27 Member
    I just want want to make sure I am getting enough burn in the week. I feel if I don't do JUST cardio I won't burn enough. Maybe I am going about this all wrong.... being a beginner really sucks. I feel in the dark.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Calories burned will vary based on the person's weight. As I lost weight, I noticed that it took much more effort to burn the same number of calories that I did when I started. So, try not to compare what one person burns to what you burn unless you weigh the same, are the same height, age, etc.

    Yeah, that!

    Seriously..get on the elliptical..its the best for burning the most calories when you're short on time. Try one that engages your arms too...it gives you more of a full body workout than some of the others.
  • B_L_A_Z_I_A_N
    B_L_A_Z_I_A_N Posts: 151
    Hello Sammy girl!

    I totally love my elliptical and I think it really provides a great cardio workout. I just burned 657 calories in 33 mins hows that for a calorie burn girl! Walking is good to but doesn't provide the burn your probably wanting, also with cycling I think you work your legs more while with the elliptical I work my arms, core and legs.

    Just my take though. :) How ya doin girl? We miss ya!

    oh em gee....

    i get excited when i burn 350 calories in 30 min lol
    600+ is amazing~!
  • aimeeturner
    aimeeturner Posts: 225 Member
    I just want want to make sure I am getting enough burn in the week. I feel if I don't do JUST cardio I won't burn enough. Maybe I am going about this all wrong.... being a beginner really sucks. I feel in the dark.

    The best thing I can advise is to try to change up your routine so you won't get bored doing the same thing. I also recommend adding in strength training because it will help build muscle which will burn fat. Maybe you could do 3 days of cardio (various types including elliptical, bike, treadmill) and 2-3 days of strength training. Basically, anything that gets your heart rate up and gets you to sweat will do the trick :)
  • julesgill
    julesgill Posts: 29
    Hmmm, maybe you should join my for spin circuit??? Just sayin' ;)

    I switch it up everyday. Today I only did the bike, yesterday I did half bike half elliptical, the day before that I did spin circuit (I promise Sam, you'll love it) The day before, elliptical and bike. Just change it up. Maybe we should go swimming! Do some laps, that's an incredible workout!

    Also, you cn do the treadmill and set it for the hill workout, that's a good one too, I think I'll do that tomorrow =)
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
    650 calories in 33 minutes seems crazy high. We're talking almost elite athlete kind of speed in order to do so.

    Is this from an HRM or the machine itself?
  • sammy084
    sammy084 Posts: 27 Member
    I just want want to make sure I am getting enough burn in the week. I feel if I don't do JUST cardio I won't burn enough. Maybe I am going about this all wrong.... being a beginner really sucks. I feel in the dark.

    The best thing I can advise is to try to change up your routine so you won't get bored doing the same thing. I also recommend adding in strength training because it will help build muscle which will burn fat. Maybe you could do 3 days of cardio (various types including elliptical, bike, treadmill) and 2-3 days of strength training. Basically, anything that gets your heart rate up and gets you to sweat will do the trick :)


    I think that might work for me. I am definitely going to try that. Switching it up might be the key, and I'll start doing some strength training. I am so close to my first goal, I just need to stay focused, and get a little helping advice from some fellow hard workers. :)
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    I just want want to make sure I am getting enough burn in the week. I feel if I don't do JUST cardio I won't burn enough. Maybe I am going about this all wrong.... being a beginner really sucks. I feel in the dark.

    I you can afford it (or if your gym offers a free trial), you might want to look into a session or two with a personal trainer. As a beginner, it might be a good idea to get some direction on what would work best for you and ensure you don't end up with any injuries when it comes to using the weight machines, etc...
  • Kinda79
    Kinda79 Posts: 239 Member
    650 calories in 33 minutes seems crazy high. We're talking almost elite athlete kind of speed in order to do so.

    Is this from an HRM or the machine itself?

    Okay it's from the machine but it has a built in heart rate monitor. Also the program that I do has 4 different tension levels that starts out at 4, then up to 6 then up to 8 which is pretty hard to move. So doing that for 30 mins with 4 different so it varies. basically I go for 6 misn then the tension goes up to level 4 for a min then level 6 for 2 mins then level 8 for 4 mins then back down to level 6 for so many minutes then back up to level 8 for so many mintues then down to level 4 for so many mins. It's a constant back and forth of tension levels and yes during this I yelling and groaning and sometimes want to just quit but I don't cause yes it sucks. It reminds me alot of walking up hill during the higher tension levels as they are really hard to move the pedals. Also my machine tells me if i'm moving to slow, to fast or just right, today I did focus on going a bit to fast to burn some extra cals. but usually I'm hitting about 602 calories burned in 30 mins staying in the speed just right.

    Plus I'm 5'2" and weigh 213 lbs right now, so yes I'm overweight and yes I will probably burn more calories then someone who is closer to their goal weight.

    I hope this helps as to why I burn so many calories in 30 mins. although today I went an extra 3 mins to push myself a little bit more today.
  • mowu
    mowu Posts: 245 Member
    I think that might work for me. I am definitely going to try that. Switching it up might be the key, and I'll start doing some strength training. I am so close to my first goal, I just need to stay focused, and get a little helping advice from some fellow hard workers. :)

    And keep in mind that properly done, the strength training will keep your metabolism in high gear for longer than cardio, so while cardio will often burn more calories while exercising than strength training - strength training will often keep "after-burning" longer than cardio.

    Also strength training will help tone up some of the areas cardio often reach directly on the muscular level (in my own case the upper body and arms).

    Edit: And as some have already mentioned it's nice to switch up things so as not to get bored. And also the human body excels at doing what it's trained to do very efficiently (efficiently = doing as much as possible while spending as little energy as possible). So by switching the cardio styles up you will probably get a better over all training in the long run as your body will have to adapt to many different movements rather than specializing in becoming efficient in a single type of movement.
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