5 Reasons I Hate Cardio Machines

Step off the cardio machine and get your body moving using intervals. The idea of steady state exercise (treadmill, eliptical, stationary bike, etc) to burn fat and improve your circulatory system is coming into question by current research. I also speak from experience. I used to be one of those people. You know them, they got up hours before the sun, wandered out of the house to the globo-gym, then logged my time on the treadmill.

Step off the cardio machine and get your body moving using intervals. The idea of steady state exercise (treadmill, eliptical, stationary bike, etc) to burn fat and improve your circulatory system is coming into question by current research. I also speak from experience. I used to be one of those people. You know them, they got up hours before the sun, wandered out of the house to the globo-gym, then logged my time on the treadmill.

After logging way too many hours I started doing some research on burning fat and heart health. The result is this list of 5 Reasons I Hate Cardio Machines:

1 – Steady State Cardio is Injury Prone

Repetition is bad, especially pounding movements like running. Your body works better when confronted with variation; just like life.

I know people that have had accidents on the machines too. Not a fun thing to imagine.

2 – Steady State Cardio doesn’t improve strength

Compare the build of marathon runners to sprinters. Steady state doesn’t not build strength. It is fitting for endurance athletes, but not ideal for the rest of us that want to be fit to live life.

3 – Steady State Cardio isn’t the best fat burner

There is a lot of recent research that indicates interval training is much better at burning fat than slogging away on the cardio machine. Consider this quote from a research study comparing endurance training and high intensity interval training.

The impact of two different modes of training on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism was investigated in young adults who were subjected to either a 20-week endurance-training (ET) program (eight men and nine women) or a 15-week high-intensity intermittent-training (HIIT) program (five men and five women). The mean estimated total energy cost of the ET program was 120.4 MJ, whereas the corresponding value for the HIIT program was 57.9 MJ. Despite its lower energy cost, the HIIT program induced a more pronounced reduction in subcutaneous adiposity compared with the ET program. When corrected for the energy cost of training, the decrease in the sum of six subcutaneous skinfolds induced by the HIIT program was ninefold greater than by the ET program.

Nine times better with 5 fewer weeks. Spend less time and get better results – complicated math, right?

– article on ET vs HIIT (9x better)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8028502 – article on ET vs HIIT (9x better)

4 – Steady State Cardio is downright boring

So maybe I have ADHD, but I just can’t stand bouncing up and down on a machine for 40 minutes (or more). I go nuts. Sure most clubs have installed TVs across the rows of machines, or you can watch NetFlix on your iPhone. Just the thought of having to waste 40 minutes makes me cringe.

5 – I can’t read while running on a treadmill

I’ve seen people read, but most of them are really only walking. Perhaps if you need to carve off some time to catch up on reading then you should stick to the treadmill. For me, I just can’t focus while sweating and bouncing while using either the treadmill or elliptical machine.

Cardio machines are not effective means to burn fat nor improve your circulatory performance (VO2Max).

A Good Use of Treadmills

This video is a bit old, but is a great example of good use for treadmills. I only wish I was coordinated enough to be able to do this ….

I love OkGo.

What about you?

What’s worked for you? My experience with the treadmill has not been good. I still use them only when I’m not feeling well or the weather outside is terrible — the last resort. How about you?