Let me start by saying that if you truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on a treadmill or elliptical or exercise bike, then by all means, keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise is one of the most important aspects to sticking with any exercise program...
However, I would say that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardio machine boredom.
If I haven't mentioned it before, I don't believe in cardio machines, and to be quite honest, I don't think I've personally used an elliptical, or exercise bike for at least the last 4-5 yrs to say the least.
As a matter of fact, I don't even use cardio machines anymore for warmups before a workout (I did before occasionally)... Nowadays, I prefer to do bodyweight exercises as the perfect full body warmup at the beginning of my workouts. (even before my swims, cycling or running)
So why do I have such hatred for cardio machines? Well, here are 5 reasons:
1) Treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes are mind-blowingly BOOOORING! Personally, I can think of a million things I'd rather be doing than pedaling my way to nowhere or running on the spot and having my legs pulled out under me.
2) Mindless steady state cardio exercise while watching TV or reading creates a mind-body disconnect resulting in poor results from your exercise routine. Instead of reading a gossip magazine or watching a cheesy reality TV show on the TV screen in front of that certain cardio machine, a REAL workout consists of actually having your mind engaged strongly in what your body is doing!
3) I've seen studies that indicated that treadmill running may be less effective than outdoor running for various reasons such as stride abnormalities, muscle imbalances, wrong running form, slightly less caloric burn compared to outdoor running, etc on treadmills vs natural running.
4) Treadmills and ellipticals and exercise bikes are ridiculously expensive and a waste of money for people that workout at home... there's so many better options for home workouts you could have spent your money on rather than wasting it on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.
5) Treadmills, Excercise bike and Elliptical machines are just a very ineffective way to workout compared to other options. The metabolic response is much lower compared to the types of workouts ideas that I describe below. Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts or exercise bike when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a fat-burning hormonal response and stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent...
Instead, variable intensity walks,runs or sprints, lifts, etc, are so much more effective, training your heart rate in a much wider range instead of just the same pace during the entire workout. After all, its meant to be a "cardio-vascular" excercise, meaning to 'workout and/or strengthen your 'cardiac' muscle (that lob of flesh that makes that beats in your chest) and 'vascular' system (your body's fuel lines and plumbing).
The perfect home gym setup is MUCH cheaper... there's no reason you need anything other than a jump rope and a mat for bodyweight exercises and if you want to get fancy; a few dumbbells, stability ball, maybe a few kettlebells, and perhaps high tension bands for some more variety. And of course... the great outdoors has some of the best workout options of all... hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, skiing, sports, and more!
So what are the alternatives to treadmills, exercise bikes, and elliptical trainers? Here are TEN of my favorite types of alternative workouts:
1:Jumping rope - great mind-body connection - try speed jumping, crossovers, and double jumps once you get skilled at it. An amazing metabolic exercise with one of the cheapest pieces of equipment available. There's a reason that every world class boxer uses this exercise!
2:Dumbbell/Kettlebell training - nothing will get your heart pounding like high repetition swings, snatches, lifts and presses. You could try dumbbell/kettlebell circuits: this is a super metabolic type of workout that involves alternating between various full-body multi-joint exercises to get a crazy fat-burning workout in minimal time. A good example would be alternating between lunges, overhead presses, bent over rows, step ups, and squat presses all with minimal rest between. If you want to get even more fancy, then this you could try your hand at Clubbells.
3:Outdoor wind sprinting- Something thing such as 50 yards, 60 yards, 70 yards, 80 yards, 90 yards, 100 yards, and then repeat (with about 40-60 second rests between sprints). oh and 1yd = 0.9mts. (even for long distance runners this is a a core part of their training)
4:Hill sprints - same as above.
5:Plyometrics - one of the most effective workouts to build explosive power and strength and due to its start storp nature, its great way to cut that gut, although would recommend this to be done with one trainner who is profficient in this as injury risk is high
6:Yoga - we all have heard, read, tried, etc some form of yoga at some point...i would say one thing...GET BACK TO IT once you've mastered afew poses just get a mat and off you go
7:Sprint style swimming workouts - a more muscular workout than steady state distance swimming. This works on the same concept as sprinting vs jogging but in a pool instead. It's all about intensity!
8:Bodyweight exercises - Another example of great mind-body connection and much more metabolic type of training than treadmills and ellipticals, these would include, to name a few: squats, pushups, lunges, jumps, bear crawls, mountain climbers and jumpers, planks, kinesthetics, prasara, ginastica, flowfit, etc and the list goes on and on and on.
As you would have probably noticed my use of the word/phrase 'certain' cardio machines, only one machine i would highly recommend;
9:The Rowing Machine - ok, I don't really lump this in as a "cardio" machine like treadmills and ellipticals... I think the rowing machine is actually a great full body workout that actually uses resistance, and hits where it really hurts (EVERYWHERE), hence the reason this machine is always unoccupied at the gym...In my opinion the best results come from rowing at intervals with timed rest or active rest in between, ie; row for 100mt at 70% effort then rest for 30sec and reapeat several times, or, rest by rowing 75mts at 20% effort
10: Sex - need i say more?!
All these are great forms of training that are much more interesting than certain boring cardio machines. These exercises are also great examples of exercises that require an intense mind-body connection, which is missing in certain boring cardio equipment like treadmills and elliptical machine. Well, I hope this article helps give you ideas on how you can get away from all of these mindless and ineffective treadmill and elliptical trainer machines and exercise bike workouts that are just wasting your time and energy that could be better spent on more effective workouts.
If you want maximum results, it's all about your intensity levels and also your mind-body connection... and that all important mind-body connection is usually missing when it comes to these "machine" workouts, that most people do while watching TV or reading.
**any comments questions and criticisms are wlcome**
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