Which Cardio Machine is Best?

When you finally make the decision to exercise, you want to get the most mileage out of your time invested.

After all why not get the most out of the time you are spending in the gym right?

The menu of aerobic choices to pick from is vast and equipment manufacturers are constantly coming up with new ways for us to get fit.

So, the questions begs to be asked, “Which cardio machine is best?”.

Well, there is no reason to break a sweat trying to decide which piece of equipment will whip you into shape.

Some of the major categories include treadmills, bikes, climbers, ellipticals, rowers, and skiers.

Each of these comes in several variations.

Some include upper body and most all have a variety of programs and levels to choose from.

The definition of cardiovascular fitness is the ability to perform large muscle movement over a sustained period.

It’s related to the capacity of the heart-lung system to deliver oxygen for sustained energy.

It’s also called cardiorespiratory endurance or aerobic endurance.

Cardiovascular condition has many benefits including fat burning, heart and lung efficiency, boosted immunity, lowered blood pressure and cholesterol as well as increasing longevity.

With so many reasons to participate and so many machines to choose from, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each category.

Treadmills:

Pros – These are still the most popular, by far. Walking is a relatively easy activity that you’re already used to doing, so there isn’t much of a learning curve although you should always start the belt out slow if you are a beginner. Walking is a lower impact activity, so it’s gentler to the body. Treadmills help you keep pace and most have a variety of programs that can keep you challenged. You can monitor your progress and see improvements in time, distance and speed. Treadmills allow you to be challenged by increasing the elevation rather than the speed which is great for those who prefer to keep the impact lower.

Cons – Walking can cause shin splints if done excessively, and it’s not the best calorie burner. Many people find indoor walking boring. Running is a great calorie burner, but at a higher cost to your joints. If you do progress to running, take several months to safely evolve to it. To compensate for the belt propelling your stride, add a 2 percent incline to the treadmill which more closely simulates outdoor walking. To make this challenging, try different pre-set programs which vary your speed and incline, then strive to beat your own record. Replace your walking shoes every 3 month to protect your joints. Many people hold onto the rails creating improper form and promoting poor posture.

Stationary Bikes:

Pros — There are both upright and recumbent bikes to choose from, as well as bikes with upper body levers. Bikes are less stressful on the joints and once you get accustomed to spending time in the saddle, they are relatively comfortable. Recumbent bikes are a good place to start for beginners, those with back pain and anyone very over weight.

Cons — It’s more challenging to get your heart rate up on a bike since the weight of your legs helps to propel the pedals, therefore needing less effort. To make this challenging, deliberately focus on keeping your cadence up or add resistance. Otherwise this can be a low calorie burner. Think Lance Armstrong as you ride. Bike set up is also going to be important. When your foot is at the bottom of the pedal stroke, there should be a slight bend in the knee. Hips should not rock side to side as you pedal. If you are unsure about a bike set up, ask a pro for help.

Stair Climbers:

Pros – It’s a great calorie burner when done properly. Even though you may be accustomed to going up and down stairs, this machine takes stair stepping and your body to a whole new level. You are completely supporting your body weight on the pedals; therefore, it takes a lot of energy (calories) to sustain this exercise.

Cons — It’s easy to cheat by locking your arms out on the equipment. Stair climbers may not be comfortable for anyone with knee pain. It takes some time to build up the endurance to sustain this exercise for 20+ minutes. To make this more challenging, focus on posture, lightly place your hands on the rails and eventually try to swing your arms by your side naturally as you climb. It may take you a while to build up speed. On the Step Mill, the tendency is to want to look down because you feel as if you’re going to trip. You feel like you’re moving slowly, but your heart rate is really racing.

Ellipticals:

Pros – This family of equipment is relatively low impact and therefore is less stressful to the joints. They are excellent for rehabilitating injuries or for beginners. They are also a challenge to avid exercises when using higher levels (resistance) or quick speeds. Arm work will help to elevate the heart rate and increase the work (calories burned). This simulates running without the impact and is a way for walkers to build up their speed without stress to their joints.

Cons — Again, unless you are choosing a high level of intensity, it’s just easy to stride along without breaking a sweat. To make this more challenging, attempt to increase your levels, pump your arms and change programs often.

Rowers:

Pros – It’s a great total body cardio exercise. Rowing helps to improve the endurance of the postural muscles (abs and upper and lower back). This exercise is low impact and is easy to reach your target heart rate due to the arm and leg involvement.

Cons – It may not be comfortable for anyone with knee, back or hip problems. If you don’t keep good form, you can encourage poor posture and overstretch the muscles of the upper back and shoulders (which may already be over stretched due to activities of daily living. To make this more challenging, focus on your posture and perfecting your stroke. Try to beat your personal score of strokes per minute or meters traveled over time. Both upper body and lower body must be done at the same time so participants tire quicker.

Skiers:

Pros–Skiers are a wonderful total body exercise. They quickly elevate the heart rate, are a great calorie burner, are low impact and are usually adjustable for different heights. Skiers are low impact and therefore kinder to the joints. A new line of skiers encourages lateral motion as well as extending the legs to the back. There are few machines that perform that movement (almost simulating speed skating) and target a muscle group we would all like to improve (the hips).

Cons– Some find coordinating the skiers challenging. People tend to flex forward at the hips, encouraging poor posture and possibly straining the lower back. Using both the arms and legs at the same time can lead to rapid increases in heart too rapidly for some people.

So What is Really Important When it Comes to Cardio Exercise:

When it comes to cardio, several factors go into the answer of “which is best.” As you can see, there are pros and cons to any exercise you may choose. Whatever choice you make, you must do it consistently, correctly and intensely.

Consistency — Here’s your key. When you find a piece of equipment that you enjoy, you need to engage in it often in order to see results. “Often” means three times a week to improve your health and up to five times a week to improve your fitness, optimize calorie burn and improve your cardiovascular efficiency.

Correct form — Never sacrifice form for speed or performance. If exercise is to be a lifetime commitment, you want to keep your body healthy, injury free and feeling as good as possible at all times. Think about keeping your entire body relaxed when you do cardio and you will find that you can become more efficient on whichever equipment you choose.

Intensity — Your heart rate is usually a good indicator of your intensity. Healthy adults should strive for 60-85 percent of their maximal heart rate during exercise. If you aren’t working hard enough, you aren’t going to see the benefits. If you’re working too hard, you’re setting yourself up for injury. It’s important you become in tuned to your body’s signs and signals.

Variety – This is not only the spice of life, but also a good rule of thumb when choosing cardio equipment. Mix it up throughout the week. That will help to reduce boredom and maximize your outcomes.

Fun – Its easy to pass the time on any equipment by watching TV. Research shows that people tend to workout at lower intensities when reading or watching, TV, but they do exercise longer. Exercising with a friend also increases your chances of sticking to it!

The bottom line is to choose something that you will do often, is convenient and feels good. The best suggestion I can give is to use a variety of equipment.. Your body may need different things on different days.
If you had a tough workout, you may want to do an easy walk or bike ride the next day. If you are rested and feeling energized, you may want to tackle the stair climber. What’s important is that you do it. The benefits are priceless.

A history about “The Biggest Loser Show” and why almost all of the people in the show never seem to keep the weight off after the show.

The Biggest Loser is a very popular television show in America.

This show awards contestants who loose maximum weight during a stipulated period.

This show has been a mainstay program in the NBC channel schedule.

The Biggest Loser show started in October 2004.

We all witnessed the contestants lost their weight very quickly under the guidance of their trainer.

This was enough to hook the attention of the viewers.

The incredible results amazed people and the popularity of the show spread like jungle fire.

The show, in its run over the years, has set some benchmarks.

Some such bench mark includes most weight lost in a week and fastest 100-pound weight lost.

However, the show has elicited adverse remarks from nutritionists and physicians.

They believe such methods of weight loss can be counter productive and at times maybe even fatal.

The question everyone wants to know is “is the weight loss permanent.

Some contestants from the first few seasons have a lot of interesting statistics to share with us.

Let’s study the case of Ryan, the season one winner.

When he came to the show he weighed 330 pounds. After competing in the show he lost 122 pounds, which was about 36.97% of his body weight. But soon after the show Ryan gained back all the weight he lost on the show. This is because the show taught him nothing about exercise and nutrition. He regained weight at an alarming rate – 32 pounds within 5 days of leaving the show.

Benson is actually considered a success for still keeping 30 pounds off for over a year. According to the National Weight Control Registry, “only a fifth of dieters with a history of obesity sustain a loss of 10% of their body weight for a year or more.”

He claims that as soon as the show was over, he regained “32 pounds in 5 days simply by drinking water.” This is incredible and points to the fact that when any person loses weight rapidly, (faster than 1-2 pounds a week) normally the weight loss is mostly due to water loss.
Where is Kelly Minner Now?

One former participant who is still losing weight after losing the show is Kelly Minner.

The first-season runner-up went from “242 lbs. to 163 lbs. by the finale and now weighs 140 lbs.”

How does she maintain her weight loss?

She exercises 6 days a week for 1 to 4 hours a day. I agree that exercise is definitely paramount to maintaining weight loss, but for the average person, exercising for 4 hours a day is just unrealistic.

With this kind of high exercise volume, I would also worry about the high risk for injuries that could end up stopping exercise altogether.

Kelly Mac, another participant, gained 9 pounds since the Season 1 finale. And now weighs 160 pounds.

Comedian Kelly Macfarland

Likewise Season 2 winner Matt Hoover who lost 160 pounds gained back 30 pounds when he appeared in the special.

Matt Hoover

In season 3 the winner, Brian’s weight came down from 308 pounds to 156 pounds.  Brian soon regained 47 of the 156 pounds he lost.

bryan

Read more about Bryan Hear…

Other participants of that season who regained weight were Pam and Wylie. They regained 8 and 32 pounds respectively.

Mark Wylie

Pam Smith

Jim who lost 186 pounds in season 4 regained 40 pounds.

Twins on the Show

Sam Rouen

Sam Rouen, lost just over 157 pounds last year on the hit NBCshow.  He regained 11 of those pounds when as soon as he returned home but with a regimed diet & exercise is back on track.  He has enrolled back int University and is right on track!  To read more on Sam and his Success Click here

Why do most contestants of the show regain weight?

The main reason is that such programs adopt unrealistic and unhealthy ways of losing weight.

Most of the participants are made to undergo inappropriate exercises.

The technique of losing weight requires a natural environment.

Instead of losing weight in gradual progression the TV show encourages participants to adopt an aggressive approach – as if their world would come to an abrupt end. Not making ones body fit enough to progress to the next level of exercises, encourages the condition of over-weight to relapse. Most importantly, money cannot be a motivation to lose weight. Those who lose weight because of greed will gain it back sooner than later.

On the other hand though it can be a kick start & kick in the @#&!  To Jump start a new and healthy Life Style which is my Ultimate wish for each of the Biggest Loser Contestants as well as for all my  6 Week TBT People.  My( Total Body Transformation) Contestants.  Most all my contestants have continued on with me as I guide them thru their nutrition and exercise for a total lifestyle change.  Remember I am all about mindset!!  Check out My 1st 3 Contests

1st Total Body Transformation Challenge

2nd Total Body Transformation Challenge

3rd Total Body Transformation Challenge

Dr. Saman Bakhtiar is weight loss and fitness expert.

Check out the great results here!

Claremont Personal Training

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Watch this video of me and my awesome client/friend Suzi and learn one method I use to get my clients fired up to reach their goal. Remember it’s all in the mindset. As a matter of fact 1/3 of my soon to be released book “Body Transformation Secrets” is dedicated to mindset. We all know we have to exercise and eat better but why only 5% of people succeed while 95% fail. Yep you guessed it “mindset”. This is a powerful way to make sure you reach your goals. TRUST ME.

I also use the same exact method to motivate myself as well (I practice what I preach) as a  matter of fact I didn’t reach a goal that I set for myself last month so I am running a 5K this Saturday. OK I am giving it away…….WATCH THE VIDEO

Rancho Cucamonga Personal Trainer likes to set up goals with his clients. from shahla salamat on Vimeo.

Rancho Cucamonga Personal Trainer likes to set up goals with his clients

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Dr. Saman Bakhtiar is a Rancho Cucamonga Personal Trainer and Boot Camp Instructor. If you know anyone looking for personal training in the Inland Empire, send them to Fitness Concepts. We will take good care of them. Sam is ‘thee’ Fitness Expert and Body Transformation Specialist this side of Los Angeles and Inland Empire. Here at our amazing Health Club we are the gym of all gyms….or also referred to as the Gem of all Gyms. Each Fitness Trainer here takes their Fitness Training very seriously yet we hope that this training is fun and stays with you for a lifetime! We offer Boot Camps, Fitness Training, Nutritional Consultations and a friendly awesome staff ready to take on all weight loss and fat loss challenges