treadmill

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determined-girl

New member
hi,

i have been using treadmill , stationary bike and elliptical for my cardio workout.i am not sure if i have been using these equipment correctly.
in a typical day i do about 45 mins of either brisk walk or elliptical then do stationar biking for 15 to 30 mins.
i walk on the treadmill at the speed of3.5 t0 3.8 at minimal inclination. while using elliptical i adjust the resistance to 16 and move it at about 45 reps/mins.on stationary bike, i set the resistance to 2-3 , speed toabout 70 to 80 cycles/day.
i am now wondering if i am exercising as intensely as i should be.i neither have stamina nor any interest to run. i just loathe runing.
any suggestions are highly welcome, thanks.
 
Well, do you feel you could hold a casual conversation easily while keeping up the pace you're doing? The intensity is going to be related to your fitness, so what might be an easy workout for some would be brutal for others. If you feel like you're not pushing yourself enough - you're probably not. On the other hand, if you feel like you can barely keep up you're probably fine.
 
unless your sole purpose is cardio training then you don't really need to run
what you are doing now is good enough to burn a fair amount of calories, and IF (very big "if") your diet is in order you will lose weight..and by in order I mean in a day your body is using more calories than it takes in.
that being said there are many benefits to doing cardio and getting your heart pumping
 
I would digress a bit from the general responses you have gotten. I feel you should always try to build in some progression into any program either by extending your time and /or increasing the incline or level on the machines each week; maybe 5 or 10 %. That way you are always increasing your fitness. The human body is wonderfully adaptive thing and it will get used to the same-same thing on a treadmill, bike or elliptical unless you challenge it a bit more each week.
A once a week Hard/easy interval session would be another thing to consider incorporating into your program to keep you workouts fresh and challenging.
 
People tend to focus on the numbers too much ... 3.5 at 1 incline, a resistance of 15, whatever. But the fact is that those numbers are totally meaningless.

When I first started exercising, I could barely do 10 mins on the elliptical machine at 0 resistance. My heart pounded, I sweated, I was out of breath, and my legs were sore when I quit.

A month later I could go all day at that same setting, barely breathing hard.

What the settings are only have meaning in relation to HOW YOU FEEL. :)

The best indicator of how effective your cardio is, is YOU. How do you feel? There is a rating called the perceived exertion scale - how much do YOU feel you're exerting yourself. Is your heart rate up? Can you talk? Can you breathe? Are you going so hard you feel like you can't keep it up? Are you just strolling along?

You want to be putting out effort when you work out. You want your heart rate to be elevated, you want to be pushing yourself. You don't have to run if you don't want to - you can increase exertion by raising the incline on the treadmill or by moving to another piece of equipment and increasing the resistance.

But .. I'll add another piece of advice. :)

You shouldn't rely on cardio for all of your exercise. If you really want to burn fat and maintain muscle, and if you want to get that lean, toned look, you should lift weights and do body resistance exercises. And I'm not talking "girly" lift a 5lb weight a zillion times type of weight lifting. I'm talking REAL weight lifting, using heavy weights and compound exercises. Things like squats, lunges, bench presses, dips, pushups, and so forth. Those things will give you a GREAT workout and help you get that lean look that people dream of when they're losing weight. :)
 
i started working out pretty recently so i feel like i am doing my best.so that means i am doing something right.thank you for all your wonderful responses.

hi kara, i have started weight training as well.i need to learn more about it though. i am dying to have a lean body!
 
hello i was 40 pounds overweight and i lost 40 pounds in 10 weeks i am 110 pounds check this site and by the way walking is efective than exrcise or runing easy and safe for your knees
 
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