Cardio Query!!!

**falconfootball** · June 7th, 2006, 07:07 PM

Having more of an interest in weights, cardio knowledge isn't up my "alley".

I'm trying to drop a few lbs for the summer. I recently had knee surgery, which sidelined me for a month. For my cardio the past few weeks I have been doing 30 mins on the ellipitcal machine every day. Today I decided to try out jogging. I hit the track and went for about a mile, then needed a break. A minute later a got another 3/4 mile in. Running is WAY DIFFERENT than ellipitical. My question: Would it be better for me cardio wise to stay on the ellipitcal for 30 at my target heart rate, or run an the track until I can eventually get at least 20 mins non stop?

**forbodybuilders** · June 8th, 2006, 02:36 AM

i sugest no more then 20 min at time..all more is waist of time and not fat burn..its for sure!!!! do 20 minuts 2 x aday! you need to play with hb non stop..every minut in cardio!

**falconfootball** · June 14th, 2006, 02:42 PM

Hit the track yesterday after running on the treadmill.. Holy shit it seems twice as hard to push off and run outside as opposed to just keeping up with the treadmill

**Mean Machine** · June 15th, 2006, 04:15 AM

Cross Trainer

Hey man if your looking at dropping a few pounds then ive gotta recommend this baby. The weight has fell of us this summer. The cardio program on these are superb and its works your whole body especially the legs. I usually only ever swap between this the static bike and the tread mill depending how i feel on the day, but i generally stay on this as it burns an awful lot of calories. Recommended.

**falconfootball** · June 15th, 2006, 04:30 AM

I usually stick to elliptical, but as i get in better shape, I find it takes FOREVER to get up to my target heart rate on these. So, I started pounding the pavement as that is much harder an I can go for almost as long as I would on the ellipitcal

patsmith · June 15th, 2006, 04:30 AM

Agree with MM. The "cross-trainer" style machines are great, and being no impact would be good for your knee as well if you're still having trouble with it. Burn a lot of calories too.

**Mean Machine** · June 15th, 2006, 04:50 AM

Yeah these machines are great i hit my target heart rate in a minute and a half from cold on these, some nice points about the low impact on the knees there Patsmith.

patsmith · June 15th, 2006, 09:02 AM

This thread inspired me to get back on the cross-trainer again today. Bloody hell, they are a great machine. I might start my cutting phase a little earlier than I thought!

**Dial_tone** · June 15th, 2006, 11:35 AM

Alternate running and walking and gradually change the ratio. Start off walking 7 minutes/running 3 minutes and repeating that 3 times. next week do a 6/4 minute ratio; then 5/5, 4/6/, 7/3, 8/2, 9/1 til you can run 30 minutes straight. make every 4th week an easy one.

**falconfootball** · June 15th, 2006, 12:45 PM

sounds like a nice way to progress dial tone.

With the knee bein in recovery mode stiil, the ellipitical is very appealing. I just can't see burning more calorie on that then on the road, being that the ellipitcal is so easy

**MissytroN** · June 19th, 2006, 05:05 PM

Yeah I experience the same thing...I can work out on the elyptical on high impact/resistance for a long time as well and I don't feel the same as treadmill...but I can see how it works though...and I actually do love the machine. Just don't want to build too much muscle myself on them because I don't want bulky legs. But aaaanyways, good machine.

patsmith · June 20th, 2006, 07:08 AM

I could be wrong in saying this, but perhaps the reason you can do it longer is because of the low impact?

I prefer it because after I've done it for a long period of time, I can feel the effects on my muscles and not my joints!

**Gedeon** · June 20th, 2006, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falconfootball

Hit the track yesterday after running on the treadmill.. Holy shit it seems twice as hard to push off and run outside as opposed to just keeping up with the treadmill

Is this normal?? Both me and a mate started running about the same time. All things being equal he can run for bout 1/2 hour on the treadmill. I run along the beach but so far can only manage bout 15-20 minutes. Is it actually harder to run outside because Im positive I should be able to run faster, longer and harder than my friend??

**JoeBAR** · June 20th, 2006, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gedeon

Is this normal?? Both me and a mate started running about the same time. All things being equal he can run for bout 1/2 hour on the treadmill. I run along the beach but so far can only manage bout 15-20 minutes. Is it actually harder to run outside because Im positive I should be able to run faster, longer and harder than my friend??

Maybe your assumption of being able to run longer and faster ain't that positive after all

I run outside a lot, and all it takes is a bit of pushing yourself a bit harder. I ran up to 5 miles all last year. Since december I started stepping up, and by March I was running 16.5, that's 3 hours jogging. Of course, I've f***ed my knees, but prolly coz I'm getting on the years a bit or my shoes are crap. Anyway, as for running, it's all about pushing a bit. I'm not even warmed up in 20 min. But I still do feel like I can't go on forever the first 20~30 min, then it gets better till about 2h30min, when I start really feeling tiredness in my legs and eventually ... well, the knees. I couldn't stand on a crosstrainer for that long tho, I'd need a moving scenary!