which cardio machine ?

[bacon90]

i know this has probably been asked countless times but i was wondering what if any is the best cardio equipment for fat loss ?
i heard alot about rowing machines being superior for fat burning , bikes being superior for fitness and treadmills being superior for breathing , im not sure if any off this is true but what i find is i burn alot more kcal on a cross trainer than any other machine yet i dont feel like im working as hard , is this possible ?

[F1eld]

Rowing machine: Maybe
Bike: Glute deactivator and prostate crusher
Treadmill: Endless boredom

[bacon90]

Rowing machine: Maybe
Bike: Glute deactivator and prostate crusher
Treadmill: Endless boredom

exactly what ive found , treadmill bores me to tears , bike really does hurt my butt , rowing machine is pretty uncomfortable i think because of high bf , cross trainer seems too easy :/

[nzbenf]

Because on the cross trainer you are activating more muscles than bike or treadmill, bike can also cause great imbalance between hip flexors and glutes, but also, if you have a desk job where you are in triple flexion all day, the last thing you want to do is go to the gym and maintain that position.
Overall, rower is the best, but also has the highest rate of causing heart attacks in men! But you need to be using the right rowing technique, good thing about x trainer is its pretty hard to do it wrong, but you are also more likely to slack when compared to treadmill, since x trainer is not forcing you to move at a certain speed..
When it comes down to it, whatever can get your heart rate up nice and high and keep you doing it, is the best piece of equipment for you.

[Bmdc88]

Because on the cross trainer you are activating more muscles than bike or treadmill, bike can also cause great imbalance between hip flexors and glutes, but also, if you have a desk job where you are in triple flexion all day, the last thing you want to do is go to the gym and maintain that position.
Overall, rower is the best, but also has the highest rate of causing heart attacks in men! But you need to be using the right rowing technique, good thing about x trainer is its pretty hard to do it wrong, but you are also more likely to slack when compared to treadmill, since x trainer is not forcing you to move at a certain speed..
When it comes down to it, whatever can get your heart rate up nice and high and keep you doing it, is the best piece of equipment for you.

Why does rowing have the highest rate of causing heart attacks, and what would be a proper rowing technique?

[KingOfLimbs]

Stair climber beats the crap out of me every time. I would say that or HIIT on a treadmill.

[nzbenf]

Why does rowing have the highest rate of causing heart attacks, and what would be a proper rowing technique?

Legs then arms, I think because it works your whole body, therefor larger demand on heart. also guys always try to race each other on it

This is in New Zealand anyway, I know a few years ago of the 4 or so deaths in gyms, 3 had been middle aged men on rowers.

[TLe041]

My favorite is HIIT with a treadmill. Watch a TV show you like and the time will fly by. My second fave is spinning/cycling.

I went from over 18% BF down to 10% in around 8 months with a combination of those two (on top of heavy lifting and clean diet).

[Tommy W.]

The best cardio machine is the one that you'll actually use on a consistent basis. The key with cardio is heart rate so it doesn't matter as long as the BPM's are there. Your weight sessions will stimulate the muscles so don't worry too much about that as far as a cardio machine choice.

[HoneyBadger300]

The best fat loss cardio is medium paced, distance walking. Want to burn more fat faster? Put 40 pounds in a backpack with a frame, like a hiking backpack or military rucksack, and walk around. Go for a hike, walk around the neighborhood. It burns pure fat without releasing a lot of cortisol, the stress hormone that makes you fat. You probably won't listen to this because who wants to walk around with a backpack on? When it really works. But good luck with whatever you try!

[jawsmp]

I really don't do much cardio in the gym myself anymore, aside from a quick 20 min workout on an elyptical or maybe a treadmill full incline at a power walk speed. For me what works is running a 5k every other day, been doing that for about 3 months now, after a few more months I will bump it up to 10k every other day. Noticed reduction in my obliques after switching to outside running, my abs were already pretty cut to begin with. My thighs are getting more defined too.

[bacon90]

Stair climber beats the crap out of me every time. I would say that or HIIT on a treadmill.

yeh the stair climber kicks my arse i was thinking about adding 5/10 minutes on it into my routine because thats all i can manage , i might switch between that and treadmill some days

[bacon90]

The best fat loss cardio is medium paced, distance walking. Want to burn more fat faster? Put 40 pounds in a backpack with a frame, like a hiking backpack or military rucksack, and walk around. Go for a hike, walk around the neighborhood. It burns pure fat without releasing a lot of cortisol, the stress hormone that makes you fat. You probably won't listen to this because who wants to walk around with a backpack on? When it really works. But good luck with whatever you try!

i actually used to do this quite alot , i used to walk 8.5 mile to the closest hill/mountain and walk up to the top 1049 ft then rest for 10 minutes on the top walk back down and walk 8.5 mile back home ,,, the problem is i used to do this with a friend once a week but now the friend dosnt want to go no more and its far too boring for me to do alone , when im on my own i like to do something less time consuming , however i do walk everywere i go , i walk to the gym and back each day which is 2 mile from my home walk my dog roughly a mile each day , the problem is this really dosnt effect me any more because iv been walking everywere since the day i could walk

[nzbenf]

yeh the stair climber kicks my arse i was thinking about adding 5/10 minutes on it into my routine because thats all i can manage , i might switch between that and treadmill some days

Try to limit the amount of machines you are jumping between in a single session, every time you get off one piece, that heart rate is going to drop.
Unless of course you are doing some sort of intervals, in which you want that heart rate dropping inbetween sets.

[miamibodybuilder]

i'm sure you're gonna get lots of different opinions here since it's a preference type question. so i'll just add in my two cents. my favorite cardio machine is the stairmaster, aka the gauntlet. this is pretty much the only machine i use for cardio unless it's being used and then my second choice is the cybex strider i think it's called. not too sure but it's a great piece of equipment. but i wouldnt trade the amount of fat loss i get from the stairmaster.

[bacon90]

Try to limit the amount of machines you are jumping between in a single session, every time you get off one piece, that heart rate is going to drop.
Unless of course you are doing some sort of intervals, in which you want that heart rate dropping inbetween sets.

well iv just got back from my cardio session today , i done 10 minutes on a bike at 100 rpm this means i done 6km on that then i got off that and straight on the treadmill done 15 minutes at 9kmh then off that and done 30 minutes cross trainer at 100spm and finished with 5 minutes rowing machine doing 1km

the reason i skip between machines is to reduce boredom and give me more variety , i know my heart rate drops between machines but i use it as almost an interval , i have about 1 minute between machines

[bacon90]

i'm sure you're gonna get lots of different opinions here since it's a preference type question. so i'll just add in my two cents. my favorite cardio machine is the stairmaster, aka the gauntlet. this is pretty much the only machine i use for cardio unless it's being used and then my second choice is the cybex strider i think it's called. not too sure but it's a great piece of equipment. but i wouldnt trade the amount of fat loss i get from the stairmaster.

id love it if my gym had a stairmaster , all it has is a stepper which dosnt give the same effect , its more effort for less burn , iv used a stairmaster before and loved it but the only gyms near me that have them are too expensive for me

[patruick94]

If you want to burn the most calories per unit time, do HIIT (High intensity interval training). Since this is about machines, you can use a treadmill and sprint for 1 min at a high speed and then lower the speed and do a light jog/walk for 30sec. Continue this for about 30min, you can also do other activities like skipping, etc.

[bacon90]

If you want to burn the most calories per unit time, do HIIT (High intensity interval training). Since this is about machines, you can use a treadmill and sprint for 1 min at a high speed and then lower the speed and do a light jog/walk for 30sec. Continue this for about 30min, you can also do other activities like skipping, etc.

thanks for the help but iv tried HIIT and it isnt something i could use , my breathing is really bad i used to suffer asthma and think its coming back so i do 5 minutes consisting of 30 second sprints and 1 minute walks and thats all i can manage

[GymRat636]

The best fat loss cardio is medium paced, distance walking. Want to burn more fat faster? Put 40 pounds in a backpack with a frame, like a hiking backpack or military rucksack, and walk around. Go for a hike, walk around the neighborhood. It burns pure fat without releasing a lot of cortisol, the stress hormone that makes you fat. You probably won't listen to this because who wants to walk around with a backpack on? When it really works. But good luck with whatever you try!

Totally agree with this...but aside from walking around your neighborhood with a backpack on, hop on the treadmill and put the incline up and don't use the handrails on the side to cheat. I do this without a backpack, and it kills me everytime...and you'll find yourself less bored from intense burn due to the uphill battle.

[ironwill2008]

i know this has probably been asked countless times but i was wondering what if any is the best cardio equipment for fat loss ?

Table Pushaways and Fork Putdowns.

[Tommy W.]

Table Pushaways and Fork Putdowns.

^^^^For as many reps as possible

[bacon90]

for the people hinting at diet my diets spot on , im losing weight but i figured it was a good idea to find out some info on the effect of different types of cardio on fat loss

[chickenxnuggets]

elliptical. less impact on knees and ankles

[Retoaded]

for the people hinting at diet my diets spot on , im losing weight but i figured it was a good idea to find out some info on the effect of different types of cardio on fat loss

I know you've asked alot of questions in the losing fat section and are getting that on track....for the original question:

1. do cardio for cardio benefits not for fat loss...its a bonus, but the calories burned are just not that great in comparision to daily metabolism and overall diet.

2. that being said, as long as it elevates your heart rate, do the cardio machine that you can STAND to do...because it sucks and is boring lol, so do whatever you like.

for me I like the elliptical machines.

srs answer, coming from someone who has lost 85 pounds in the past year with minimal cardio. I did enough to improve my cardio health, resting heart rate down in the low 50s...probably on average once a week tops...

[bacon90]

I know you've asked alot of questions in the losing fat section and are getting that on track....for the original question:

1. do cardio for cardio benefits not for fat loss...its a bonus, but the calories burned are just not that great in comparision to daily metabolism and overall diet.

2. that being said, as long as it elevates your heart rate, do the cardio machine that you can STAND to do...because it sucks and is boring lol, so do whatever you like.

for me I like the elliptical machines.

srs answer, coming from someone who has lost 85 pounds in the past year with minimal cardio. I did enough to improve my cardio health, resting heart rate down in the low 50s...probably on average once a week tops...

thanks for the info , yeh i plan on doing 2 hours cardio per week but im on a deload this week so iv cut all lifting out and doing 4 hours of cardio so it was mainly for this week , after this week i plan on changing to a 3 day split with my lifting training biceps with chest , shoulders with triceps and legs on there own day , each week im going to swap legs and back so im training them once every 2 weeks and ill be doing 20 minutes cardio on my lifting days so ill probably just hop on the x trainer after my session and 1 day a week im planning on an hour of pure cardio work , after this week ill have 7 weeks of this then have 2 weeks without diet or training over xmas then right back on track in the new year

[Retoaded]

thanks for the info , yeh i plan on doing 2 hours cardio per week but im on a deload this week so iv cut all lifting out and doing 4 hours of cardio so it was mainly for this week , after this week i plan on changing to a 3 day split with my lifting training biceps with chest , shoulders with triceps and legs on there own day , each week im going to swap legs and back so im training them once every 2 weeks and ill be doing 20 minutes cardio on my lifting days so ill probably just hop on the x trainer after my session and 1 day a week im planning on an hour of pure cardio work , after this week ill have 7 weeks of this then have 2 weeks without diet or training over xmas then right back on track in the new year

I think you should reevaluate your split. You are doing 4 chest and shoulder (putting these together as they involve alot of the same muscles/push days) exercises every 2 weeks and 1 back (pulls) and 1 legs....not a very balanced approach. I'd look at a basic strength program to start with.

again just my opinion.

[iria13]

for me it has to be the stairmaster and crosstrainer

[bacon90]

I think you should reevaluate your split. You are doing 4 chest and shoulder (putting these together as they involve alot of the same muscles/push days) exercises every 2 weeks and 1 back (pulls) and 1 legs....not a very balanced approach. I'd look at a basic strength program to start with.

again just my opinion.

the only reason i chose this split is because iv been strength training for about 5 years now and my back and legs are miles ahead of my other body parts , i figure cardio is a good leg workout in itself also , and i may not stick to this split its just what ive looked at so far , if i can afford to do a 5 day split i may do this by training chest with bi's , shoulders with tri's , back and legs on seperate days and 1 day of cardio , i just dont know yet because i really want to do alot of cardio but i just love lifting weights so getting the balance is going to be something i have to think about