For all you elliptical users...

nickelmel
nickelmel Posts: 87
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
Check out this link my fiance sent me on the elliptical machine :ohwell:


http://health.msn.com/fitness/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100234891&imageindex=4v
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Replies

  • nickelmel
    nickelmel Posts: 87
    Check out this link my fiance sent me on the elliptical machine :ohwell:


    http://health.msn.com/fitness/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100234891&imageindex=4v
  • thejarviclan
    thejarviclan Posts: 465 Member
    Did you also notice they recommend you run barefoot?

    I think the article sucked and I know plenty of people who lost weight on elliptical machines. Myself included!
  • faylou
    faylou Posts: 89
    I too think that is a silly article.. I have lost weight on my machine.
    Strange:indifferent:
  • ckroys
    ckroys Posts: 219 Member
    I don't know about you guys, but I cannot read or concentrate on the tv when I'm on the eliptical. I'm working my *kitten* off! You can change the resistance, stride, etc and do intervals. I know I've seen results using the eliptical. It's also so much better on my knees than just about anything else I've tried, so I think I'll have to take this article with a grain of salt. And, yeah, where are you going to run barefoot? I don't even think I'd do that on a beach anymore (not that I'm anywhere near one). Some of those other "tips" might be fine, but I think they've gone a little loco with some of them, too.:laugh:
  • faylou
    faylou Posts: 89
    I don't know about you guys, but I cannot read or concentrate on the tv when I'm on the eliptical. I'm working my *kitten* off! You can change the resistance, stride, etc and do intervals. I know I've seen results using the eliptical. It's also so much better on my knees than just about anything else I've tried, so I think I'll have to take this article with a grain of salt. And, yeah, where are you going to run barefoot? I don't even think I'd do that on a beach anymore (not that I'm anywhere near one). Some of those other "tips" might be fine, but I think they've gone a little loco with some of them, too.:laugh:

    I know about concentration, I spend most of my time my eyes shut listening to my ipod, concentrating on the beat to keep my butt moving....

    My husband sits on the couch near me watching t.v thinking im strange :laugh:
  • spicy618
    spicy618 Posts: 2,114 Member
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought... "Don't mess with my Eliptical!" :laugh:

    I love, love, love the elliptical... I'm usually on incline 15 - 20 and at least 7 resistance... after 45 minutes my HRM shows almost 400 calories burned! The author stated, "your heart rate is the best gadge of calories burned" DUHHHH! the eliptical burns calories! Poo to that AUthor :laugh:
  • Shadowpaws
    Shadowpaws Posts: 109
    "According to psychologists, red can increase blood circulation and body temperature, which can boost workout efficiency. Light waves enter the eye and are converted to electrical impulses in the brain, explains environmental psychologist David Alan Kopec, Ph.D., an associate professor at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego. "Red is a long light wave that affects the hypothalamus, which regulates body temperature, appetite, and energy levels." He adds that reds and oranges increase body temperature, which pumps you up for exercise and keeps you energized for a longer workout."

    All I had to do was read this and I lost faith in the entire article. I love the elliptical. I have to FIGHT to get on it at the gym. :laugh:
  • fiddlechic
    fiddlechic Posts: 196
    Yeah I didn't agree. If you're using it properly and not bouncing all around like some people I see then it works great. My trainer told me to pretend there is a board above my head and not to hit it. it's really hard to pretty much move your legs like you're on a bike and keep your head from bopping up and down too much. I see other people on the elliptical just bouncing up and down all over the place. anyway...I used to run and watch tv and it didnt mean I wasnt busting my butt or getting as good of a workout.
  • MTGirl
    MTGirl Posts: 1,490 Member
    Lot of problems with that article!! Drink pickle juice after a workout?? Are they insane?? How do you stand up from a lying position while holding weights over your head? Ummm, I'm not that coordinated myself! And watch for broken glass and rocks while you're running barefoot?? Really?? How 'bout just wearing shoes?? If you're running are you really going to notice that one, clear piece of glass buried in the grass or sand you're running on?? Plus, running with no support under your feet, in my opinion, would do far more damage than they claim shoes cause. Plus, I think they are dead wrong about the elliptical - I've only used one once, only had access to one once, and it kicked butt. So my $.02 :laugh:
  • I have lost 11 pounds so don't tell me it doesn't work!
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    The article didn't totally slam ellipticals, it said most people don't work hard enough on them, that you have to vary intensity and resistance. I'd believe that statement. We've all been at the gym with someone on the machine next to us going 100 mph on their elliptical, because it's on a level 1 with no incline....

    And as for the running barefoot, I remember when I was a kid, there was some guy in the olympics who ran all of his races barefoot. And won! (Of course, I was a kid, ummmmmm....., several several years ago, but I betcha someone else remembers that guy!)

    And I've done that standing up move with the weights... It's harder than heck! It's actually a move on the WII FIT as well.
  • MTGirl
    MTGirl Posts: 1,490 Member
    And I've done that standing up move with the weights... It's harder than heck! It's actually a move on the WII FIT as well.

    Wow - you can do that??? I'm impressed :smokin:
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    And I've done that standing up move with the weights... It's harder than heck! It's actually a move on the WII FIT as well.

    Wow - you can do that??? I'm impressed :smokin:

    Ummm... sort of... It wasn't pretty. The picture on the website listed showed a lady with two weights, I only had one arm held up above my head with a weight... I was ok for the first one or two, but then, I started having to push myself up with the other arm... Then I gave up... lol It is very very hard!
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    I have lost 11 pounds so don't tell me it doesn't work!

    it doesnt work

    (jokin)

    if it works then it works...you can find any article on the web to support any position

    get sweaty any way you can:smile:
  • ivykivy
    ivykivy Posts: 2,970 Member
    I agree with the barefoot thing. I started doing aerobics barefoot and it has greatly improved my foot strength. I no longer have foot pain. But like with anything else you have to take care.

    About the elliptical, I just read it as saying it's not doing you any good if you don't push yourself past your comfort zone. But that is true of anything.:flowerforyou:
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
    I have lost 11 pounds so don't tell me it doesn't work!

    it doesnt work

    (jokin)

    if it works then it works...you can find any article on the web to support any position

    get sweaty any way you can:smile:

    flirtysmile1.gif Let's tango!
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    I have lost 11 pounds so don't tell me it doesn't work!

    it doesnt work

    (jokin)

    if it works then it works...you can find any article on the web to support any position

    get sweaty any way you can:smile:

    flirtysmile1.gif Let's tango!

    it works for me:wink:
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
    Seriously though, I agree with the person about the "bouncing" as with any workout 'controlled' movements is important.

    And of course as others have stated the inclines and intervals.

    My old gym's elliptical had a Mt. Kilaminjaro setting on it....doing that thing at a level 10...I was SWEAT-AY by the time I climbed off of that machine. :laugh:

    I did notice one thing...I thought I had built up great endurance since I had done the elliptical so much. HA! When soccer seasons started and I actually had to run...I realized it is a great calorie burner but does not really build endurance like good ole fashioned running does.
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
    I have lost 11 pounds so don't tell me it doesn't work!

    it doesnt work

    (jokin)

    if it works then it works...you can find any article on the web to support any position

    get sweaty any way you can:smile:

    flirtysmile1.gif Let's tango!

    it works for me:wink:

    And we have to mix it up with the twist. :devil:
  • krissynicole787
    krissynicole787 Posts: 121 Member
    i lost 50 lbs just working out on the elliptical..so that article is BS
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    I have lost 11 pounds so don't tell me it doesn't work!

    it doesnt work

    (jokin)

    if it works then it works...you can find any article on the web to support any position

    get sweaty any way you can:smile:

    flirtysmile1.gif Let's tango!

    it works for me:wink:

    And we have to mix it up with the twist. :devil:

    twist and SHOUT.....I'm with ya....:drinker:
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    i lost 50 lbs just working out on the elliptical..so that article is BS

    you tell em Krissy!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • yellow_pepper
    yellow_pepper Posts: 708 Member
    Yeah I didn't agree. If you're using it properly and not bouncing all around like some people I see then it works great. My trainer told me to pretend there is a board above my head and not to hit it. it's really hard to pretty much move your legs like you're on a bike and keep your head from bopping up and down too much. I see other people on the elliptical just bouncing up and down all over the place. anyway...I used to run and watch tv and it didnt mean I wasnt busting my butt or getting as good of a workout.

    Good comment. It's really supposed to be like cycling, but with an ellipse-shaped foot path instead of a a circular one (as on a bike). And I agree about the TV... Sometimes it can get you going faster!
  • krissynicole787
    krissynicole787 Posts: 121 Member
    oh i will!! :mad: :laugh:
    I love the elliptical because it works out my legs, butt, arms, and stomach. And by the time I get off of it, the tanktop I wear under my shirt is fully soaked with sweat, and my shirt is half soaked back and front.

    The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't get a close to accurate count on the calories I burn. If I work out for an hour it says I burn 1000+ cals. I wish that was true! :sad:
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    yeah I call shenanigans on a number of issues:

    1. elliptical raises your heart rate, and therefore burns calories. Higher intensity, higher burn, just like anything else
    2. the color of your clothes???? Come on!
    3. sauna doesn't burn any calories huh? I disagree. They have done tests with HRM's and saunas burn anywhere from a couple hundred to 1000 cals per hour. ( I can't stay in there an hour, but there are cals being burned!)
    4. sweating means nothing? alrighty then:huh:
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    oh i will!! :mad: :laugh:
    I love the elliptical because it works out my legs, butt, arms, and stomach. And by the time I get off of it, the tanktop I wear under my shirt is fully soaked with sweat, and my shirt is half soaked back and front.

    The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't get a close to accurate count on the calories I burn. If I work out for an hour it says I burn 1000+ cals. I wish that was true! :sad:

    ya..that seems a bit high...prolly about 700 or so :smile:
  • TamTastic
    TamTastic Posts: 19,224 Member
    Down 135 lbs and sweated my butt off on the elliptical!! :laugh: :wink:
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Down 135 lbs and sweated my butt off on the elliptical!! :laugh: :wink:

    and got the pics to prove it,.,,you go girl!!!
  • Panda8Angel8Faith
    Panda8Angel8Faith Posts: 46 Member
    Hey, I am glad that I am not the only person who has lost weight on the eliptical. I have one at the Y. If I am not there, then my stress level increases and I also have to fight to get on one. I am not going to take this article for anything. It is silly. I have lost 10-15 pounds on my eliptical at the gym. I also think that some strength training should be done to increase the muscle, but at the same time, the whole eating right thing is good. That is just my little opinion though.

    Have a great day!
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
    Down 135 lbs and sweated my butt off on the elliptical!! :laugh: :wink:

    Hey, not "off" You have a very nice butt! :love:
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