Cardio Fitness Equipment
Blast Fat with Exercise Machines
Exercise machines weren’t created to punish guys who eat too much. That’s what diets are for. But men spend hours, day after day, churning their arms and legs and waiting for the StairMaster or treadmill to make their bellies vanish. The result: They make it about as far as the average rat.
But your machine workout doesn’t have to be a road—or row—to nowhere. “By decreasing the duration and varying the intensity of your exercise sessions, you’ll get better results in less time,” says Chris Carmichael, founder of Carmichael Training Systems and coach to Lance Armstrong.
Try our guide to the five most popular exercise machines, with a high-intensity 20-minute workout geared for each. Your goals: Bust your exercise rut, and your gut, in record time.
Elliptical Trainer: The Knee Saver
Burn rate: 13 calories per minute
The benefit: Researchers at the University of Mississippi found that elliptical trainers provide the same cardiovascular benefits as treadmill running, without the impact on your joints. So they’re a perfect solution if you’re a runner who wants to stay in race shape without excessive pounding to your ankles, knees and hips.
Do it right: “Instead of holding on to handles, pump your arms as if you were running,” says Kerri O’Brien, C.S.C.S., a trainer in Phoenix. It improves your balance, which will help you whether you’re running 2.6 miles or 26.2.
The 20-minute fat-burner: Try this “alternating interval” fat burning exercise workout from Lance Watson, a coach of Canada’s Olympic triathlon team. By alternating between levels of high resistance and those of high speed, you’ll be able to work at a higher relative intensity for a longer time. Warm up, then increase the machine’s resistance level until you’re striding at 80 percent of your full effort. After 2 minutes, lower the resistance to the level you used during your warmup, but increase your stride rate so that you’re still exercising at 80 percent of your full effort. Continue alternating between a high resistance and a fast stride every 2 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.
Rowing Machine: The Total-Body Builder
Burn rate: 11 calories per minute
The benefit: “Rowing machines provide the best total-body workout of any cardio machine,” says U.S. Olympic rowing coach Mike Teti. This is because they require equal effort from both your lower and your upper body, which could lead to greater gains in overall cardiovascular fitness.
Do it right: On the back stroke, your knees should be almost completely straight before you squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull the handle to your sternum. Your back should stay in its naturally arched position during the entire movement. Got it? Record your distance online after every rowing session and see how you rank against more than 3,700 other club members. (Stay motivated by finishing your second million in less time.)
The 20-minute fat-burner: Try Teti’s routine. It’s designed to max out your muscles during each interval, while the recovery periods help increase the efficiency of this fat burning exercise routine. Set the rowing machine at a resistance of four. Then perform sets of 10, 15, and 20 power strokes—pulling the handle to your torso as fast and as hard as you can. Separate the power strokes with 60 seconds of easy rowing at about 50 percent of your full effort. Repeat the cycle until you’ve rowed for 20 minutes.
Stairclimber: The Health Master
Burn rate: 12 calories per minute
The benefit: Yale researchers found that men with insulin resistance—a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease—who exercised on a stairclimber for 15 minutes 4 days a week improved their sensitivity to insulin by 43 percent in just 6 weeks.
Do it right: The obvious: “Leaning on the handles can cut your caloric expenditure by 20 percent or more,” warns Mike Merk, C.S.C.S., director of the YMCA of Greater Cleveland. So, for a better calorie burn, pump your arms as if you were walking or running briskly. Or you can just turn around. A study in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that the retrograde version—facing away from the console—burned more calories than the traditional method.
The 20-minute fat-burner: Try this “escalating intensity” workout from Edmund Burke, Ph.D., author of The Complete Home Fitness Handbook. After you warm up, increase the resistance level by one unit while maintaining a pace of 60 to 80 steps per minute for 2 minutes. Then increase the resistance by one unit every 2 minutes until you reach your 20-minute goal. You’ll gradually work harder as your workout progresses, so you’ll be maxed out at the end of the session—which trains your body to finish hard.
Stationary Bike: The Mood Lifter
Burn rate: 14 calories per minute
The benefit: Researchers at the University of Northern Arizona found that cycling on a stationary bike for as little as 10 minutes reduced fatigue and negative moods, while improving energy levels. The stationary bike is also the perfect vehicle to prevent chunky guys from hurting themselves as they lose the chunks. That’s because cycling is not a load-bearing exercise, says Kate Heelan, Ph.D., an exercise researcher at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Do it right: Many cyclists develop lower-back pain because of their semifetal posture. “Stand up every 5 minutes and pedal as if you were climbing a hill for 60 seconds,” says Robert Morea, C.S.C.S., a trainer in New York City. “It’ll take the pressure off your lower back, force you to use different muscles and break up the monotony of your workout.”
The 20-minute fat-burner: Try this workout from Carmichael. It varies your sprints to challenge your cardiovascular system and muscles in different ways. Following your warmup, start cycling at an intensity that’s about 95 percent of your full effort for 90 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery interval at about 40 percent of your full effort. Then, using the same intensities, perform 60-second and 30-second intervals. After the final 30-second recovery period, cycle at 70 percent of your full effort for 4 minutes, then repeat the entire set of intervals.
Treadmill: The Energy Guzzler
Burn rate: 17 calories per minute
The benefit: A 2001 study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise determined that the treadmill burns calories at the highest rate of any exercise machine.
Do it right: If you want to mimic road running, raise the incline of the treadmill to 1 percent before starting your run. Researchers in England found that that’s the degree of treadmill elevation that most closely approximates outdoor running. Read more
Sports Fitness Equipment
Tips on Finding the Right and Cheap Sports Fitness Equipment
fitness & sports equipment
Make a decision to exercise is a very excellent choice. Everyone knows how important it is to work out and stay in good shape. Working out will help you become fit, strong and build muscle. Doing exercise regularly is also good for your body as well as the mind. Whatever fitness program you choose, there are many things that you can do to help your exercise routine. There are many factors to consider, from your eating habit down to your sleeping patterns. One of the factors that you should know is sport fitness equipment. Some people like to exercise by jogging or swimming but there are quite a number of people who choose to work out with exercise equipment. Here are some tips on finding the right and also cheap fitness equipment for you.
1. You can browse through the internet for the best deal, save time, as well as save on money since no middle men are involved in the transaction. You can even approach individuals and non-commercial sellers directly through the Internet and get really good deals.
2. Not everything you hear and see is true. There are a lot of companies selling different kinds of machines and each one claims to be more effective than the other. Others assure people that in a very short amount of time, they will see results that are sweeping. You have to realize that such claims are not true. These machines do indeed help you trim down but it will take time. That is, unless you are starving yourself to death.
3. There are many companies that provide refurbished or reconditioned fitness equipment at a relatively low price. You can browse for such companies on the Internet. Many of these companies also offer free shipping.
4. You can find reasonably good health and fitness equipment at garage sales. So, it is advisable to find out which garage sales are happening in your neighborhood. This can be done through the local newspaper or pamphlet advertisements. You should visit the garage sale because you never know when you can find some superior quality fitness equipment worth buying at a very cheap rate.
5. Machines that burn fat are duds. The market is full of machines that claim to burn fat just by simply strapping them on and pressing a switch. Do not believe this claim. The only scientifically proven method of slimming down is a good and healthy diet and constant exercise.
6. You can visit Walmart and have a look at the various health and fitness equipment on display, which are available at really low prices at Walmart. You can even visit a secondhand store such as Play It Again Sports store which specialize in buying and selling used as well as new exercise equipments.
7. Listen to your own testimonial. The advertisements of these machines also show people who claim that they have lost a lot of weight by using those machines in a short period of time. Be skeptical. Even if their testimonies are true, their experiences are personal and cannot be applied to all. Each one of us is different so it is not assurance enough that what works for one will work for the others.
8. Read the instructions. Always read the fine print. The machine that you purchased may be good, but it may also say that you need to change your diet for it to be effective. Thus, always read the instructions.
9. Regularly check the classified ads in your local newspaper and look for advertisements regarding sale of used health and fitness equipments and you may end up striking a very great deal.
