Want lasting and abrupt weight loss, then skip the gym and hit the great outdoors. As a Personal trainer here in San Diego and Orange County California, I have worked with literally hundreds of clients over th span of my career. Many come to me because they struggle to nail down the proper fitness program and lose unwanted body fat. I have composed a list of cardio gym equipment that you typically see in a gym. Some work and others don’t.
1. Treadmills –
2. Stepmills –
3. Elliptical Trainers
4. Stationary Bikes
5. Recumbent Bikes –
6. Rowers –
The common denominator is all these cardio apparatus are boring to do, so gyms have attached TV sets, or integrated a Blue Tooth to a big TV set for everyone to view. This causes the masses to lolligag and drape themselves over the cardio machine as if they are quadriplegic! People focus more on the visual stimuli than the actual cardio workout. Crazy but true!
All these cardio machines run on caloric burn algorithms which embellish caloric expenditure. Compared to may expensive and accurate Polar Heart Rate monitor. I have found a 27-40% margin of error with these machines. Your living the lie if you record the true values in your training diary.
Conversely, doing high intensity cardio training like Spinning, Kettlebells, Jump Roping, and Boxing will amp up your cardio thresholds. If being in the gym is where you need to be, then implement these tried and true cardio movements. Forlorn the other crap!
In my opinion, getting outdoors and running, cycling and swimming is what is all about. This is real life sports related cardio that will put you up against the wall with aerobic threshold training. From a personal perspective, I have gently transitioned from doing an average of 9 hours of gym cardio per week, to road biking 4-7 hours per week. The results are a whopping 25 pound of weight loss over a 3 month period, and far less boredom than being in the gym. Now it is a given that everyone is different and results could vary from person to person. However it is important to look at this contrast in training regimen.
I still do my 5 day per week of strength training, but the only difference is the quality of cardio. My hypothesis is greater attention to the actual cardio and better results. Plus its easier to gauge improvements in running, biking or cycling performance, through time improvements and decrease in exertion as fitness builds.
Moreover, I have seen many clients that integrate outdoor running and cycling programs lose a ton of weight compared to other clients who simply glue themselves to elliptical trainers for an hour or so per workout!
Something to think about. Besides, isn’t it nice to get out doors when the weather is nice? Here in So Cal we have no excuse because we pretty much have perfect weather year round.
For more information on training strategies contact Rivak at 760-271-3064 or go to www.rxfitnesspros.com
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