fat loss cardio machines

[utblazer]

I am a 6 foot, 220 pound rugby-playing college student at UT Austin. I am about to quit rugby and want to let a lot leaner look -- so I want to buy a peice of cardio equipment for my apt. so that I can workout without having to go the gym everyday. Does anyoine suggest a row machine for fat loss, or are other machines better? Thanks

[MiloMan]

How much are you looking to spend?

(no, I'm not selling anything)

Are you doing weight training?

Rowing machines can give you a great cardio workout, but the cheap rowing machines that I've tried (just like cheap stationary bikes and cheap treadmills) haven't felt very solid. You know what I mean; they feel like they are going to collapse underneath you.

I mostly do my cardio 5 days a week, by bike-commuting to and from work, but in the midst of winter, after all the snow is packed down on the streets and it too slick to travel over without eating the pavement every once in a while, I park the mountain bike, drive to work, and hook my crummy old road bike up to one of these:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/cboProfile.html?SKU=15711

That's pretty close to what I have. My road bike has aero bars, so I can lean forward , rest my forearms on the pads, and pedal away while I watch my heart rate monitor and listen to music, maybe read a magazine, etc.

[utblazer]

I looked at the website -- good stuff. By the way, I'm looking to spend about $400-$500. Will rowing help with the fat burning like other cardio machines?

[MiloMan]

It sure will. Any exercise, with or without a machine, that gets your heart rate up where it needs to be and keeps it there long enough will do it. A rowing machine will work your back, legs, and arms pretty well too. I mentioned weight training because it will minimize muscle loss while you lose weight on a caloric deficit diet.

[meko13]

I'm a big fan of the Elliptical machine!!

[ctgblue]

A good used Nordick track will do it, I got rid of mine due to space, but it was a great workout and you should be able to find a really nice one for cheap

[rjmacbay]

I agree with the Nordic Trak, it has worked for me in the past, to bad it is in storage while I am out of the states but I really gives you a good cadio w/o and it does not take a lot of room. GoodLuck