5 Reasons to Avoid Treadmills and Elliptical Machines
If you hate forcing yourself to spend hours on an elliptical or treadmill, here’s some good news from Certified Personal Trainer Mike Geary. The workout you get on these machines is far less effective than other types of exercise. Why?
1. It’s boring. That makes it very difficult to be consistent, which defeats your good intentions and end results.
2. It’s unproductive. Other forms of training will give you much better results by stimulating your metabolism to a greater degree. (Not to mention that other options are far more interesting!)
3. It allows a disconnect between mind and body. These are called “steady state” exercises, which means you can read or watch TV while exercising. You’ll get much better results from exercises that require you to focus your attention and concentrate on what you’re doing.
4. It’s expensive. If you work out at home, purchase of an elliptical machine or treadmill for personal use is extremely costly. There are many other options that won’t cost you anything and will give you a much better workout.
5. It’s far less effective than natural exercises. For instance, studies show that factors such as abnormal stride on a treadmill decrease the benefits of your exercise. Natural running outdoors is better, and you’ll even burn slightly more calories.
Granted, if you truly enjoy the time you spend on a treadmill or elliptical runner, then you may want to stick with it. Even though the benefits are far less than other workout options, if you love what you’re doing, you’re more likely to be consistent about your routine. In the long run, being persistent will serve you well, no matter what your choice of fitness routine.
However, if you aren’t that crazy about such machine workouts anyway, stay tuned. In our next post we’ll give you ideas of options that will not only be more fun but work better too. You’ll be on your way to lose stomach fat and get six pack abs in no time!
