The Just Thought I'd Share Thread

[sorcerer999]

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

My heart rate monitor watch always tells me I burn about 50 calories more per half hour than the elliptical says I do. I would definitely take the number on the elliptical lightly.

That being said... I heard that for weight loss, it's better to work on the elliptical for longer periods of time as slightly lower intensities? Is this true?

I usually shake it up every other day-- one day, I do 45 minutes while cruising comfortably (yet still out of breath) for the majority of the time with short periods of more exertion. The other day, it's 30 minutes of completely kicking my own ass.

I found a really great system last year for my cardio. I only do 20 minutes of cardio a day(mostly on treadmill, but sometimes elliptical or bike). However, in those 20 minutes, I up the intensity level every minute for four minutes and repeat the cycle 4 times.

Minute 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Level 5 5 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 10 5

Level 5 being a comfortable (but not easy) starting point...and Level 10 being the hardest I can run...my threshold if you will. On the last minute, you back down to level 5 as a cool down. Upping the intensity every minute for four cycles gives you an extreme workout, and it only takes a mere 20 minutes.

And I might add that just doing this simple program made me lose 87 pounds in the span of only 6 months. I also ate healthy and drank 8 glasses of water each day of course.