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Ellipticals and Treadmills are a Waste of Your Exercise Time

Published in May 20th, 2008
Posted in Aerobics

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I’m sure I just upset some of those out there that think ellipticals and treadmills are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I’m going to assert to you in this article, that they are both a big fat waste of your time!

First though, let me state that if you really truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on an elliptical or treadmill (or an exercise bike too), then by all means, you’ve got to keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise program is one of the most important keys to actually sticking with any exercise routine for the long haul.

However, don’t say that I didn’t warn you that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardiovascular machine boredom. Also, you might find ideas in this article that you enjoy a lot more than ellipticals and treadmills and will get you better weight loss results too!

If I have not mentioned it before, I don’t believe in cardio machines, and personally, I haven’t even touched an elliptical, treadmill, or exercise bike in at least 6 or 7 years (if not more).

Actually, I never even use cardiovascular machines anymore for warm-ups before a workout (I used to on occasion)… These days, I prefer to do kettle bell or dumbbell swings or snatches mixed with body weight exercises as a great full body warm-up at the beginning of my workouts.

So why in the world do I have such a deep dislike for cardio machines? Here are my 5 main reasons:

1) Mindless steady state exercise while watching tv or reading creates a mind/body disconnect resulting in poor results.

2) Ellipticals and treadmills are just plain boring!

3) Ellipticals and treadmills are also a very inefficient method of working out in comparison to other options you have available. Why would you do elliptical or treadmill work outs if you can get much better results by doing more fun and interesting forms of exercise that actually stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent and increase your fat-burning hormonal response to the workout.

4) Ellipticals and treadmills are ridiculously expensive and a waste of money for people that work out at home… there are so many better options for home work outs you could spend your money on rather than throwing it away on an elliptical, treadmill, exercise bike (which are most likely just going to gather dust anyway).

I prefer a much cheaper home gym setup… You really don’t need a whole lot more than a good jump rope, body weight exercises, a stability ball, some dumbells (adjustable work great), possibly a couple kettle bells, and perhaps resistance bands for some extra variety.

5) I have also seen studies that showed evidence that treadmill jogging may be less effective than outdoor jogging for many reasons such as slightly less calorie expenditure compared to outdoor jogging, stride abnormalities on treadmills vs natural jogging, etc.

(although I would never advise just “jogging” anyway… varied intensity walks or runs and/or sprint intervals are a much more effective training routine, which exercises your heart in a much wider heart-rate range instead of just the same heart rate the whole time).

So what are some good alternatives to ellipticals and treadmills? Here are a few of the best:

Kettle bell training – nothing will get your heart thumping like high rep KB snatches and swings or clean

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