Cardio Machines that Suck
Elliptical workouts aren’t effective!
Guest post by Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Recently, I was in Tampa, Florida, at a seminar. Between sessions, a physician from Georgia stopped me in the hall and said, “Hey Craig, you were right about those crosstrainer machines. I’ve had your program for a few months now and I’m getting better results with the bodyweight circuits.”
It’s always great to meet clients, and I was curious to find out how he heard of me. Turns out, he found me through Google, landing on an article I wrote about “how elliptical machines (crosstrainers) suck for fat loss”.
That’s right, I think those machines are almost a complete waste of time.
“I was using one of those machines for a long time and was wondering why I wasn’t getting any results,” the physician continued, “I’m so glad I found your program and now I’m using the bodyweight circuits from the Dumbell-Bodyweight Fusion Workout”, he added.
I told him how I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I’ve never personally known anyone to get great results with one of those crosstrainer machines. Now I’ve watched really lean people use them, but they didn’t get lean with those machines.
I know some people will be angry with what I have to say because they like exercising on the crosstrainer, but the truth is that they just don’t work as well as harder forms of interval training.
And hey, any time you are traveling or want a break from regular interval training workouts, you can use one of the 4 bodyweight circuits from the TT DB-BW Fusion Fat Loss program that you get as a bonus when you order the Turbulence Training fat burning workout routine.
Click here to get Turbulence Training
==> http://www.turbulencetraining.com
Let me know how it goes for you,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Photo: CWCav
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August 1, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Amen! I hate being a hamster on a treadmill, or stuck on an elliptical at the gym. I’d MUCH rather be running on the track at the high school.
August 2, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Elliptical workouts may or may not be effective, but one thing is for sure: You cannot entirely eliminate aerobic exercise, if you want to keep your heart and lungs in relatively good health, you have to incorporate some type of cardio workout to increase your heart rate and take in more oxygen.
August 2, 2011 at 5:52 pm
@Anne, you’re absolutely correct. Craig’s not saying no cardio, but a different kind of cardio that’s combined with your strength training.
August 3, 2011 at 1:16 pm
I’m glad I read this, that’s always been the machine I’ve gotten on when I’ve gone to the gym. Now I won’t waste my time.
August 3, 2011 at 1:47 pm
@Julie, I hear you. I always liked them because it was like running, but without the impact. It reminded me of cross country skiing.
August 4, 2011 at 8:07 am
Huh, interesting! We have an elliptical and I far prefer using the treadmill. I feel like it’s too easy to “slack off” on the elliptical and you have to constantly be reminding yourself to hustle! I much prefer running I’m still working on liking weights!
August 4, 2011 at 5:24 pm
@Nicole, thanks for coming by (everybody, go check out Prevention RD. Nicole always has some awesome recipes on her blog.
I like running too (did I just say that?), but I’ll take hauling the weights around over running any day of the week.